Steal the Night (Thieves)

by Lexi Blake

  I tried to pull away, panic starting to take over. “We can’t leave him here, Dev.”

  Dev shook his head. His face was pale, his eyes older than before. “We have to. I meant what I said, wife. Kicking and screaming if necessary. Lee? Neil?”

  “I’ll come with you,” my wolf vowed and I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be leaving his brother behind.

  “I’ll go for now,” Neil said, but he had commitments to his lover, too.

  I was shaking as I looked back at Daniel. His face in the morning light was so beautiful as he stared at me. “I love you, Z. Always have, always will. You and Dev go make those babies.”

  I started to cry as Dev led me away. I turned as Ronald demanded Daniel disarm. There were two men walking forward with long, thick strings of silver rope that would hold my husband and burn into his flesh.

  “Mr. Donovan,” Ronald’s voice was all business again. “I see the sword on your back. Carefully take it out and set it on the ground.”

  Dev cursed again and I heard him sigh because I wasn’t complying. I wanted to get to Daniel. Dev swept me up into his arms and started to walk away. I couldn’t stand it. We would get on a boat that would take us to Scotland and I wouldn’t see Danny again. I wouldn’t see my home plane again. I might have those babies, but they would never know their other father who would have loved them so much. I struggled in Dev’s arms to try to get one last look at Danny as his hand pulled Excalibur from its sheath and the sword glittered in the morning light.

  “Oh my god,” I heard Ronald swear.

  Everything seemed to still as Daniel held that sword and then one by one every soldier in the area dropped to one knee, head down, right fist over their hearts.

  “Dev, stop. You have to stop.” I practically screamed at him because something was happening. Something amazing.

  “You should stop, Quinn.” Lee had turned, his eyes taking in the scene. Neil stood beside him.

  “What?” Dev asked, turning to take in the scene. He set me to my feet as we heard Ronald’s reverent voice.

  “My liege, the Order of Galahad is yours to command.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “Is the coffee to your liking, Your Highness?” the soldier asked. “I could try to find some cream if you like or perhaps some sugar?”

  It was surreal. One minute Dev was hauling my ass to another plane because we’d worn out our welcome on this one, the next minute we were being given the freaking keys to the kingdom. It had been an hour since that dramatic scene had played out and our whole world had changed.

  “Black is fine, thank you.” I was lucky they’d been able to find coffee at all. “If you wouldn’t mind seeing to the needs of my guards?”

  “It would be my honor, ma’am.” He scurried off to look through the rations the soldiers had been carrying.

  I sat back, taking in everything that had happened. Daniel stared intently at all the action moving around him. After Excalibur had been drawn, everything moved very quickly. The soldiers had lain down their weapons and sworn fealty to the very surprised new head of the Order of Galahad. We’d been escorted into one of the buildings that had survived Daniel’s crash down and the highly efficient soldiers quickly set up a command post and did their best to make the king feel comfortable. I reached across the table we were sitting at and placed my hand over his. He glanced up and a brief smile touched his lips.

  “You should be thrilled,” I said quietly.

  He sighed. “Baby, there was a part of me that was relieved when I thought it was over. You and Dev would have been safe.”

  I frowned at him. “Well, suck it up, Your Highness. Fate isn’t letting you out of this so easily.”

  He shook his head and refused to let go of my hand. “Don’t be pissed at me. I’m adjusting.”

  The door opened and Dev walked in, looking nothing like the reckless man who had wanted to take on everyone on the island not so long ago. He’d cleaned up and was polished and in control once more. “I found someone with proper skills. He believes he can make a fairly decent Eggs Benedict from what he found in the rations and got from some of the locals. There’s a shower in a small room on the second floor some of the ferry captains use when they get stuck on the island. It’s worse than a motel but it will have to do.”

  “I’m sure we’ll survive, Devinshea,” Daniel murmured, slightly amused at Dev’s distaste. “We’ve slept in worse places.”

  Dev agreed. “The soldiers are bringing in Nim and the other one, but the giant ass who tried to kill our wife wants a word with you before I execute him.”

  Daniel laughed outright at that one. “Please send him in, Dev. I would hate to refuse the final request of a condemned man.”

  Dev walked back out to bring Ronald James in and I turned on my husband. “You are not going to execute that man.”

  Daniel grinned, sitting back in his chair, looking every bit the king. “I’m not, baby. Dev is going to. Really, you should take it up with him.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  Dev hauled Ronald in, dragging the poor man by the front of his flak jacket. “Say whatever you need to say to the king, Ronald, and then get ready to kiss your ass good-bye.”

  I stood and Dev got a stubborn expression on his face. “You aren’t killing him, Dev.”

  “Oh, yes I am, my goddess.” He walked around the table to go toe to toe with me. Though he towered over me, I felt not a bit intimidated. “You aren’t talking me out of it this time. He almost got you killed and he felt no remorse about potentially blowing you away.”

  “Yes, I did,” Ronald interjected. “I believe I said at the time I regretted the need.”

  “You shut up,” Dev spat before looking back at me. He traced the line of my jaw with his thumb and I felt a hint of warm magic pulse along my skin. “Besides, I have Bris back. I don’t think you’ll be cutting us off any time soon and if you try, I’ll persuade you otherwise.”

  I took a step back. “I promise you, Dev, if I decide to cut you off nothing you or Bris do will sway me, and you’re forgetting something very important in all of this. We need him.”

  “Give me one reason we need this asshole.”

  Daniel took that one. “How about the fact that we just acquired an army located on the very continent where we have to fight Marini and a good portion of the Council? Did it occur to you that a show of force against Marini might get us out of this war with minimal bloodshed? It would make us look less like barbarians to our new army if we don’t immediately execute their leader.”

  Dev huffed and shook his head before dropping my hand and taking his place at Daniel’s left-hand side. He sank into his chair, a sullen pout on his lips.

  “And don’t you think about going behind my back,” I warned husband number two as I sat at Daniel’s right. “You will not be arranging a handy accident, is that understood?”

  “Well, my lover, I’ve found I have to kill people behind your back,” he shot my way. “You so rarely allow me to kill them in front of your…front.”

  Daniel laughed out loud as he gestured Ronald forward. “I’m so glad we had this little adventure. I like that our wife finally has to confront your savage nature. You hide it so well, but now she’ll force you into therapy just like me. We’ll do group therapy and make Lee join us.”

  “As long as she doesn’t make me read self-help books,” Dev muttered.

  “She made me watch old Oprah episodes, Dev,” Daniel confessed. “She found copies of all the Dr. Phil episodes.”

  Dev shuddered and I sent him a look that let him know I would do it to him, too.

  “I think you’re safe, Mr. James,” Daniel assured the Brit.

  Ronald James looked very serious as Daniel nodded for him to take a seat. “I’m willing to accept whatever Your Highness thinks is correct.”

  “You were doing your job,” Daniel said. “You’ll have to excuse my partner. He often lets his anger get the best of him. He has the luxury. It’s not one
I can afford any longer. Now it would be helpful if you would explain what just happened out there, Ronald.”

  “Of course.” The Brit sat very upright in his chair. “I didn’t understand who you were. We only knew that the wizard’s prison was being threatened. It’s our highest directive to protect the crystal prison of Myrddin Emrys until such time as the King of the Sword returns.”

  “I’m not Arthur,” Daniel said firmly. “If you’re waiting for the reincarnation of King Arthur then we should go with the first plan and send my queen into exile.”

  Ronald stared pointedly at the three of us, and I could see his brain working. “You’ll have to forgive me if I see some similarities, but you don’t understand. It doesn’t matter that you can’t remember some mystical past life. That isn’t what Excalibur is about. Over the years there have been several to carry the sword. No one is exactly sure where the sword was created but many believe it was forged on the Heaven plane by those who fought the demons in the early days of creation. Since then, when this plane was in danger of falling into darkness, a king has risen and the sword taken up. An order of supernatural females was formed to protect the sword and make the decision when the time was right.”

  “Nimue,” I said.

  “Yes,” Ronald agreed. “She’s the latest and has been at her work for the longest time. Arthur was hers. He’s merely the most famous of the Sword Kings, but by no means the first. You, Your Highness, are this era’s champion and the first vampire to hold the sword.”

  “Yes, I believe I mentioned that to you after I woke up from that grenade thing you used on me,” Nim complained as she walked in the door.

  Daniel’s eyes widened and Ronald explained. “It was a flashbang. We’ve found them effective on almost all supernatural creatures.”

  Nim’s mouth was a flat line as she stared at the Order’s head. “They’re also very good with wards and binding magic as well. They aren’t so good with believing the truth when it stares them in the face.”

  Ronald stood and gave her a deep bow. “I apologize, Lady. We’ve had trouble in the past with witches who believed they were the Lady of the Lake. Some were simply insane and some tried to use the Order for their own designs.”

  The door opened and a nervous-looking soldier stuck his head in. “King Daniel, there is a…there is a thing out here that claims to be your servant. I think it’s a demon.”

  “Never heard of him,” Daniel said with a smirk. “You should exorcise him ASAP.”

  “Daniel,” Nim said, sighing. “We still need him. I need him to wake the wizard.”

  There was a long pause. “Fine. Let him in.”

  Stewart walked in with a radiant smile on his borrowed face. Gone was the skate punk clothing and in its place an immaculately made pair of trousers, dress shirt, and sport coat. His shoes were polished even out here in the isolation of the island. He had cut the young man’s hair into a trendy, fashionable style.

  “He made us stop for a manicure, too,” Nim admitted, noting my surprise.

  “Oh, you liked it, you little minx. Don’t lie,” Stewart said with a wink.

  Nim shrugged. “I certainly like the rubbing my feet part.”

  Stewart made a great show of bowing deeply to Daniel. “Your Highness, it is my greatest pleasure to find myself once again in your glorious presence. We have located the place you seek.”

  “So I heard,” Daniel said shortly. “Are we close?”

  “Very close, but it will be more easily accessed at an in-between time,” Stewart said. “I thought dusk would be perfect.”

  That got Daniel’s attention. “Does this have something to do with the veil between worlds?”

  I heard the slight hitch in his voice as he asked the question. It was important to him. We’d been searching for someone who knew how to navigate the veils as the Tuatha Dé Danann, the oldest of faeries, did. The ancient Fae had left the plane and the faery worlds attached to it long ago. The only way to access those pieces of Faery was to open the veil, but the magic was old and for the most part had passed from our plane. We’d met a group of Fae who knew how to navigate in such a fashion, but they were long gone. The only trouble was they’d taken my and Danny’s daughter with them. Daniel had been seeking a way to get her back ever since the revelation that the magical child had truly been a combination of us.

  “Very good, Your Highness,” Stewart said obsequiously. “It’s very much like that. Nimue created the pocket world that contains the crystal palace and hid it from this world in such a fashion.”

  “I did the same thing with Avalon,” Nim replied, sympathy creeping into her voice. “But Daniel, this isn’t what you need to know. I can create a pocket world, but I don’t know how the ancient Fae travel. I came into existence long after they were gone. I will research it further. I won’t give up.”

  Daniel’s face remained passive though I knew he ached inside. It was a private hurt, and he wouldn’t dwell on it in public.

  “The thought makes the king very sad,” Stewart said, looking seriously at Daniel.

  “Drop it,” I warned.

  Stewart’s eyes shifted to me. “It’s a private ache between the two of you. It doesn’t include the Fae creature, though he worries about it. On the one hand, the Fae creature wants the two of you happy, but he worries if you and the king resolve the trouble you will no longer have a need for him. Is it a child?”

  “She said drop it,” Dev growled as he stood.

  Stewart held his hands up innocently. “I apologize. You’re a very strong transmitter. So easy to read, unlike the king. He has to ache with the pain before I can see an image from him. But you, Fae creature, you’re just one big ball of ache. Deep inside you’re still the little boy everyone loved one day and wanted to toss out with the garbage the next. You would fade if these two abandoned you. I can see it clearly. You would lie down and fade from existence. It would take a while, but time would mean nothing to you because you would be dead the minute they discarded you. Everyone discards you. You’re useful for short periods of time, but you always prove unworthy in the end. When the king has his crown and a child with his queen, he won’t need you anymore.”

  “Shut up,” I yelled at the demon as I crossed to Dev. His face was pale and his hands trembled slightly. Stewart must be diving deep in his head to make him shake.

  “Stewart, if you don’t get out of his head, I’m going to have my soldiers cut off yours,” Daniel explained.

  It was kind of cool to see six men step forward ready to do Daniel’s will. Stewart actually backed off.

  “Devinshea,” Daniel said quietly, looking up at his friend. “Those are your worries, not my feelings.”

  Dev nodded shortly. “I understand.”

  “Trust me, the last thing I would want if we found Summer would be to leave you. I have no intention of having the women outnumber me.” Daniel tried to smile at Dev, but he seemed to avoid his eyes.

  “Why do we need Stewart?” I asked Nim.

  “Because he’ll be able to see the veil better than I will,” Nim admitted. “And I need his blood along with the sword to wake Myrddin. The wizard is the child of an incubus and a devout woman. I need something from each plane to call to him. Excalibur is a gift from the angels and Stewart here…”

  “Came straight from Hell,” I finished for her.

  “Our prophecies have all pointed to the next king being the one to free the wizard from the prison,” Ronald interjected after a short silence. “The question becomes what is the Order to do if the wizard is supposed to walk free? It has been our quest to ensure it didn’t happen.”

  “Until such time as he was truly needed,” Nim corrected. “That time is now. The Order is still necessary. The Order was comprised of the Knights of the Round Table who survived Arthur’s final battle. The Order’s main objective has been to guard the wizard’s sleeping place, but its true mission is and always has been to support the King of the Sword. You are his knights, an honor passed
down through the generations. The time has come again and the Order will stand behind Excalibur.”

  Ronald put a hand over his heart and bowed his head. “We will do anything the King needs.”

  Daniel chuckled, but there was no real humor in it. “Don’t offer the impossible, Sir Ronald. My little war isn’t going well. I’ve been declared an outlaw by the Council. I’m on the run and unable to go home. Even now, my vampires are going into hiding.”

  “Hugo is making arrangements for Justin, Jean-Marc, and the others to meet us in New York. We need to regroup.” Dev seemed calmer now.

  “But Your Highness, there’s no place more secure than our headquarters,” Ronald replied. “We have no affiliations with any vampire and we’re heavily fortified. If your intention is to raid the Council’s home base, then you need to be close to Paris. We have everything you need.”

  “Except our allies,” Dev pointed out. “We need to bring the wolves and the Fae with us if this is going to work. We need a united front.”

  “Agreed, but perhaps the Order is more capable of handling our exile than an endless procession of borrowed homes until we’re finally ready,” Daniel mused. “Louis wouldn’t think to look there and it would keep our vampire allies’ hands clean until the battle.”

  “I can have everything ready for you,” Ronald promised. “I’ll begin working on it immediately. As I said, your knights stand ready to provide you with anything you need.”

  “Do you know what I need right now? I drove all night and if I can’t meet with the wizard until nightfall, then I would like to rest,” Daniel said pointedly. He stood and took my hand. “Devinshea, can I trust you to not kill the head of our knights?”

  Dev frowned. “I suppose so.”

  “Good,” Danny said shortly. “Then do what you do best and organize our exile. I’m very hungry. You’ll join us when you’re done?”