Steal the Night (Thieves)

by Lexi Blake

  “It’s all right, Neil,” Daniel reassured the werewolf. “I’ve listened to it for long enough now. I can translate.”

  Dev drove the Mercedes along the lonely road. We’d been driving most of the night and dawn was close now. I was glad that vamps picked up on languages quickly because when the Welshman had opened his mouth to tell us what road to drive on and where to turn, I’d just stared openly, trying to figure out what the heck the dude was saying. Our vampire, however, made a nifty universal translator. It made travel so much easier when all I had to do was wait for Danny to soak up enough local speak that he could order another beer for me without having to refer to a handy basic phrase book.

  Daniel sat in the front seat with Dev. I looked out the back and saw that Zack and Lee were keeping up nicely in their car. There had been almost no traffic at this time of night. We left Hugo’s home at dusk and spent the night on the road. It would have been faster to let Daniel fly, but I put the kibosh on that idea. We needed to stick together from here on out. I didn’t want Daniel facing things on his own while Marini had the Blood Stone.

  During the day, while I sat waiting for all our travel plans to come together, I had been struck by one of my awful, terrible, shouldn’t-even-consider-it plans. Jacob had made it very plain to me that this was my show. Danny might be the king and Dev might be the man with the plan, but they weren’t a nexus point. I was. If the fate of the entire Earth plane was up to me, then that could only mean one thing. Someone, somewhere needed a thief.

  If I was going to save us, I would have to steal that damn Blood Stone back. I didn’t think either one of my husbands would like how I was going to have to do it, though.

  The plan was simple, as almost all good plans were. I had to get close to Marini. That might have been hard if it wasn’t a state he had devoutly pledged to attain one way or another. I would just have to make his little fantasy come true. I would surrender myself and play into his demented delusions that I was unhappy with Daniel. It would get me close to the Blood Stone and my blood would do the rest. I would need a way out or a way to tell Daniel once I had the stone, but this little plan in my head was a work in progress and I hadn’t shared it with anyone but Neil yet. His pale blue eyes had widened, and I could tell he had wanted to talk me out of it but couldn’t think of another way.

  “You called ahead?” Daniel asked Dev for the thirtieth time.

  Dev’s voice was calm and patient. It made me wonder about the changes being with me and Daniel had wrought in Devinshea. If the prophet was right about Dev’s past death wish, then the changes were phenomenal. “Yes, Dan. The boat will be there to pick us up. Nim and Stewart are waiting at the inn.”

  Daniel’s fingers drummed against the dashboard of the rented Benz. I could feel his leg bouncing, too, a sure sign of his nervousness. I reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder. He covered my hand with his palm and gave me a little half smile. “You all right back there, Z?”

  “It’s not how I planned our first trip out of the country.” I’d been to Faery and the Hell plane, but this was my first Earth plane foreign country.

  Dev’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I know, sweetheart. I promise, once all of this shakes down, you, Daniel, and I will have that honeymoon we’ve talked about. We’ll go to Hawaii and drink and have sex and just relax.”

  “I’m holding you to that.” We could make babies, too.

  “It’ll be good, Z,” Danny promised, but I didn’t like the sound of his voice. It was the tone we use when we want something to be true but don’t think we’ll actually get there. I use the same tone every time I promise myself I’ll lose the ten pounds that would put me in a size six.

  Danny sounded like a man who didn’t think he had a future.

  We drove the rest of the way in near silence, each of us caught in our own fears. Mine played out over and over again in my head. I was going to lose them both, and it would be my fault. I would fail at whatever I was supposed to do. All my friends and family would suffer because some idiot at the Fate Office made a terrible clerical error when they assigned this shit to me. I didn’t want to be a nexus point. I didn’t want to play with fate or have some grand-ass destiny. I wanted to go to Hawaii with my two hot guys and make babies and be as ordinary as we could possibly be.

  I felt Neil’s hand slip into mine, and he squeezed it reassuringly. I leaned into my BFF and rested my head on his shoulder. I had to give whoever had chosen me as this nexus point some props, though. If I had to face all of this crap, at least I had the best friends a girl could ever want surrounding me.

  “Whatever happens, Z,” he vowed, “I’ll be there with you.”

  The miles passed silently and I knew that I couldn’t ask for more than that.

  * * * *

  “Wake up, baby,” Daniel said from the front seat.

  I opened my eyes just as the sun was coming up. I stretched as Neil sat up beside me.

  “Are we there?” Neil yawned behind his hand.

  Daniel nodded shortly. “We’re at the docks. Dev is making sure the captain he hired has everything ready for us. Lee’s trying to get you some breakfast.”

  “How far away is this island?” I asked as I got out of the car and caught sight of the coastline. It was stark and from here I could see the island we were trying to get to. Even though it was spring, there was no doubt these waters were cold and the morning air left me chilled. I pulled the sweater I wore tightly around my shoulders. There was a mist on the water and it wasn’t hard for me to believe that island in the fog held some serious secrets.

  “It’s only two miles.” Daniel adjusted the sword he was carrying. We wouldn’t be seeing many people from here on out, so Daniel put Excalibur in a sheath along his back. He shrugged into a leather jacket, but he could easily pull the sword with one hand if he needed to. “We’re in someplace called Porth Meudwy. We’ll travel by boat across St. George’s Channel to Bardsey.”

  “I thought it was Ynys Ennli.” Neil got out of the car, joining us.

  “That’s the original Welsh name.” Daniel repeated the information Dev had told them. I’d heard them talking about it while Neil and I tried to sleep. “Long ago Christians renamed it Bardsey. It means the Island of the Bards.”

  “Why didn’t you say so?” Neil asked, irritated as he watched Lee and Zack approach. “That’s so much easier to say than the other way.”

  “He’s gotta show off those vamp talents and that brain of his.” Lee passed out the coffee and little packages of pastries. “Sorry, this is all I could find. What I wouldn’t give for a 7-11 right about now. Come on. Dev says the boat’s ready for us.”

  I wished I hadn’t downed that coffee fifteen minutes later as the small ferry started across the channel. The boat listing in the heavy waves. It was not doing great things for my digestion.

  “Come here, my goddess,” I heard Dev say and he gestured me over to where he and Daniel stood. They didn’t look as green as I felt.

  Daniel grinned as he pulled me into the circle of his arms. “You’ve gotta see this, Z.”

  I stared down into the waves where Daniel was pointing. I took many a deep breath before I finally realized what those shapes moving through the waves were. They followed the boat and I counted twelve just on this side alone. At first I thought they were dolphins and I grinned, but then one turned. She rolled her body over and I was shocked by the human face solemnly looking up at me.

  “That’s a real, live mermaid.” I’d never seen one before. I thought they were extinct or pure myth.

  “Yes, it is,” Bris said, taking over suddenly. He leaned his tall body over the bow of the ship, and I had a heart-stopping moment as he placed his hand close to the water. He let his fingers graze the surface and the mermaid smiled a watery smile and allowed her long fingers to brush his before turning back over to swim with the school.

  Lee, Zack, and Neil had come over and were staring into the water.

  “You can’t ea
t them,” I growled at Neil because I knew that look in his eyes.

  He pouted. “But I like seafood.”

  Bris was amused at our exchange. “I wouldn’t try it, little wolf. They look lovely and docile, but they’ve plagued these waters since men first thought to take to the sea. Can you hear their song?”

  I listened closely and discovered that the sound I thought was merely waves against the side of the ship had a rhythm and lilt that nothing natural could produce. Once I knew to listen, I could hear the mermaids’ song. It was haunting but also warm and welcoming.

  “Are they dangerous?” Lee was always looking for a threat.

  “Usually, I would say yes.” Bris pointed to the edges of the school. “The selkies are here as well.”

  Sure enough, I saw the seal-like creatures swimming along with the mermaids and mermen. Their seal-brown pelts were shiny in the water and they moved so gracefully I caught my breath. They were in full seal form, not a hint of the human-like creature they could become when they removed their skins.

  Daniel had a concerned look on his face as he turned to the fertility god. “What do you mean by usually?”

  Bris smiled down at the creatures following us. He seemed wholly content with the situation, his free hand on my waist. “Normally when a group of mermaids or selkies show up it is to cause trouble. These have announced their intentions with their songs. Daniel, listen for a moment and tell me what you hear.”

  Daniel listened intently, trying to see if he could make sense of the lilting song of the seafolk. After a moment, his face broke into a cautious smile. “They’re welcoming…their king?”

  “And their queen,” Bris completed with a pleased look.

  “How do they know Daniel and Zoey?” Neil asked. “We’ve never met a mermaid before or a seal thing.”

  “They don’t know them, Neil,” Bris explained. “Not in any way you would understand. They do, however, know that sword on Daniel’s back.”

  “Excalibur?” Daniel’s hand went to the sword. Ever since we’d returned from Faery where Nimue had told Daniel the sword was his, Daniel hadn’t like to be parted from the gorgeous weapon. He’d spent hours and hours practicing with Dev until the sword worked like an extension of his arm.

  “Yes, Daniel,” Bris said teasingly. “Did you think it was just a trinket the Lady of the Lake gives out as a party favor?”

  Daniel’s face was blank for a moment. “I guess I thought she gave it to me so we could find Merlin.”

  “Myrddin, please,” Bris corrected, now in full-on “I know more than you do” mode. “Merlin seems to be the modern version, but his original name is Myrddin Emrys. I’m certain Excalibur will do wonders in waking the wizard from his sleep, but when you accepted Nimue’s gift, you took your place in a line of kings. The mermaids and selkies recognize their king and their queen, and they will aid you in any way they can. Excalibur is only needed in times of great danger. They’re throwing their lot in with you, Daniel. It’s a great honor.”

  Daniel frowned. “How do I…I don’t know, thank them?”

  Bris gestured down at the water. “Do you see the shining one?”

  Daniel nodded. There was one who shone above the rest, her hair glimmering in the water, and she stared straight at me. She held her hand up to the surface. I leaned over with Bris’s strong hands around my waist as he lowered me to the water so our fingertips touched. We smiled at each other before the moment was broken and Bris pulled me back in.

  He nodded at me approvingly. “Very good, my goddess. Daniel, your greeting is different. You’re a king but you’re also a vampire.”

  “Of course,” he said with a self-deprecating grin. “It always comes back to the blood, doesn’t it?”

  “Blood is the true language of all creatures,” Bris explained sagely. “Humans simply neglect that truth because it’s unsavory to them.”

  Daniel rolled up his sleeve and his fangs popped out. The creatures following us got very excited. The water swirled around them and bubbled into a froth as they got ready for their king’s gift. Daniel winked at me as he bit sharply into his wrist and poured the blood over the water. The merfolk and the selkies came to the surface for that velvety blood, and Daniel opened his wrist three times before Bris said it was enough. The boat sped toward the island as we left the creatures behind. I could still see the foamy churn of the water as they lapped up that unique blood and their song reached a grateful crescendo.

  “You did well, Your Highness,” Bris said.

  “Please,” Daniel returned with a sigh.

  “Daniel,” Bris corrected himself. He looked down at me and brought his lips sweetly to mine. “I’m tired, sweet goddess. It will be many days before I’m at my full strength, but if you have need of me, you have only to say my name and I’ll find the strength.”

  He kissed me again and then Dev was back. I knew the instant my husband regained control because the kiss became deep and domineering. Bris enjoyed a certain sweetness to his sex that Dev just didn’t have the time for. Devinshea liked it down and dirty, and it showed in his kiss.

  He came up for air and stared back to the spot where we’d left the seafolk. “Mermaids. Cool.”

  I saw a look pass between Dev and Daniel. It was over my head, but I knew that look. Daniel’s blue eyes widened and his lips quirked up on one side and then Dev replied with a sure, satisfied smile and slight nod of his head. I rolled my eyes because I could read that conversation.

  “So you slept with a mermaid once.”

  My husbands stared at each other, the same slightly startled expression on their handsome faces as the boat slowed and we pulled into the dock. The island was small, barely two miles across, but there were some signs of civilization. A few houses. A dock.

  “We’re going to have to get new signals, Daniel,” Dev said, flustered that I understood their silent boy speak. They sometimes held entire conversations without saying a word when I was listening in.

  “Yup.” Daniel laughed as he jumped off the boat onto the dock and turned to help me. “She’s got us translated.”

  “Where are we supposed to meet Nim and Stewart?” Lee asked, leaping to the pier behind his brother.

  Neil pointed in the distance. “There they are.”

  There, past the small village, stood Nim and Stewart. They didn’t move, just stood there waiting. The fog from the channel made them look like ghosts peeking in and out of the early morning light.

  “Shit,” I heard Lee curse as he looked back and the boat suddenly pulled away. He had a hand on my arm, and I could tell he was thinking about making a jump for the boat, but it was too far away now. “We’re not alone.”

  “How many?” Dev pulled his gun, his eyes looking for the threat.

  Zack was at Daniel’s back, and Neil and Lee stuck close to me.

  Lee opened his senses. “Too many.”

  “Very good, Mr. Owens,” a familiar voice said as he walked from behind a small building. There weren’t many buildings on this island, but the roofs were suddenly full of men with high-caliber rifles. Snipers. Ronald walked out in his flak jacket. He wasn’t taking chances this time. I had to give the old guy some credit. It was less than twenty-four hours since Dev shot him and he was standing tall. “It’s true. There are far too many of us. Surrender, Mr. Quinn, if you want to live to see the inside of our prison cells.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “This is the same group we dealt with earlier with the exception of a male of unknown species,” Ronald said into his headset. The Order of Galahad was very up-to-date, technology-wise. They each had a small Bluetooth device in their ears. “The faery is in charge and should be considered very dangerous. The three males in the back are werewolves and the female is a companion. Assume they’re all on vampire blood. Head shots only for a kill.”

  Daniel had snorted when the leader of the Order said Dev was in charge. “He thinks you’re the dangerous one, Devinshea.”

  Dev lifted one sho
ulder negligently. “I did shoot him. You haven’t shot him yet. Besides, I don’t think he has any idea who you are.”

  My husbands stood together, presenting a united front against the Order. Dev handled his gun like it was an old friend, but Danny’s hands were still empty because he didn’t need anything yet. Daniel was in his day clothes. After feeding off the magic of Bris’s reintegration, Daniel probably didn’t need the mirrored aviators to protect his eyes or the hoodie under his leather jacket to protect his head. He wore them out of habit. He was dressed in head to toe black with the exception of his favorite pair of Levi’s. While the clothes Daniel wore protected his skin from the sunlight, they had the added bonus of concealing his identity.

  Lee held my arm with his non-gun-toting hand. He never took his eyes off the men on the rooftops. “You obey me, Zoey. This is one of those times, you understand? When Donovan and Quinn pull whatever crazy-ass stunt they’re gonna pull, you obey me.”

  Lee and I had an understanding. We’d made an agreement the day he became my formal bodyguard. He let me go crazy most of the time. He’d followed me into some wild shit, including several illegal ventures. But when he decided the situation was too hot, he put his foot down and I let him do what he did best—keep me alive. I nodded, letting him know I wasn’t going to fight him.

  “Should I change?” Neil asked because he followed Lee’s lead. Zack had moved to stand by his master, who was his primary responsibility. Zack stood at Daniel’s side, ready to obey his command or take a bullet for Devinshea if he had to.

  “Not yet,” Lee said out of the side of his mouth. His eyes darted around, looking for a potential escape route. Unfortunately the Order had blocked us off. They surrounded us on four sides and I didn’t think we would be swimming in that cold channel any time soon. We were well and truly stuck. “I think it might start them shooting, and I want to put that off as long as possible.”