Steal the Night (Thieves)

by Lexi Blake

  The computer helped me. I thought long and hard about how that little piece of technology could be the opening I needed.

  It seemed to take hours before they were willing to break up. I heard Louis curse as he realized dawn wasn’t far away. Niles and Elof left the room but not before Niles looked down at me and shook his head. He was suspicious. I would have to be careful around the Brit.

  “I don’t think they like me, Louis,” I said, sounding very insecure.

  “They’re just jealous of me.” The door closed and Louis was pulling off my robe, his hands finding my breasts. “I have such a beautiful, bright companion. They can’t stand the thought that they will never possess one such as you.” His breathing was heavy, and I knew he was going to take me on top of the desk. His lips roamed across my neck.

  “You don’t think they will…try to steal me?”

  Louis’s head came up, and I saw the beginning of sweet, sweet paranoia in that brain of his. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  I bit my lip and threw my arms around his neck. “You’ll keep me safe.”

  “I promise, Zoey. I’ll keep you safe from them.”

  Just before dawn, Louis led me back to the bedroom. He kissed my hand, turning the palm over to rub against his cheek affectionately. “Trent will take you back to your rooms, darling girl. Your little wolf should be there by now.”

  “Thank you for that.” I picked up my sadly worn jeans and T-shirt. “I guess I’ll have to clean them again. May I keep the robe until they’re clean?”

  Louis had promised to give me the things I needed. Under the influence of my blood, he would really want to keep his promise to me. “I’m sorry about the state of your wardrobe, Zoey. I know you’re used to better than this. I intended for Rose to purchase nice clothes for you but…perhaps one of the other companions has something you could borrow. I know Elof’s companion is already here.”

  I’d seen her. She was beautiful and cold and way skinnier than me. I sank down on the bed and did something that would have annoyed Danny to no end. “I can’t, Louis. The other companions…I’m too fat to fit into their clothes.” I sniffled slightly.

  This would be the time when Daniel yelled at me for insulting myself. He’d long ago stopped listening to me when I did things like bitch about my weight. He wouldn’t let anyone insult me and that included me. Louis simply knelt down beside me. “Non, non, mon ange. Tu es pour moi la plus belle. You are beautiful. Did I not prove how much I love your body tonight?”

  “I know. It’s just the other women. They can be mean.”

  “Then you must have your beautiful clothes,” he replied, clucking. “But Zoey, I can’t send you out into the city. Donovan is watching.”

  I thought for a moment, even though I knew exactly what I was going to say next. I bit my bottom lip like I was thinking really hard. I finally smiled as if I’d come up with the best idea ever. “I could order them off the Internet.”

  He sighed and I knew I had him. “Zoey, I will know if you have tried anything.”

  I smiled brightly and threw my arms around his neck. “I promise, Louis. I’ll just play around in the good websites. Neiman’s and Nordstrom and Harrod’s! I think Mark Jacobs has a new collection coming out. Neil can help me. He knows what looks good on me. Oh, I’m so excited. Can I start this afternoon?”

  He pulled away slightly. “Perhaps you should wait until I’m awake.”

  “Oh, so you want to spend your time with me picking out clothes?” I asked, giggling like a fucking idiot. “I think you’d rather take them off me, Louis. If Niles and Elof let us have any time at all.”

  His face darkened. “I am still their master, Zoey. They will obey me. Fine. But if I find you’ve done anything you shouldn’t…”

  “Are you going to spank me, Louis?” I asked with a little smile. “I warn you, I might like it.”

  “God, Zoey, you’re going to drive me crazy. I’ve never met anyone like you. Go. It’s almost dawn and I need to get to my resting place. Don’t ask me where it is. It’s better you don’t know.” He released me and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out two things, a Visa and a set of keys. “If you look in the top drawer of my desk, you’ll find the address of a hotel in the city where I keep a suite. Have your packages sent there and I will send someone to collect them. Zoey, don’t break me, darling. We’re in the middle of a war.”

  “I promise nothing,” I said with a smile. I kissed the bastard and walked to the door where Trent would be waiting.

  “I’ll see you soon, mon ange,” Louis said and the poor man looked love-sick.

  I left his bedroom with the keys to Daniel’s salvation firmly in my hands.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Neil was pacing the floor wearing nothing but a pair of sweat pants and an overly large T-shirt when I slipped into the room. It took him a minute to realize I was with him, and I used that moment to study my best friend. He seemed…older, slightly harder. I couldn’t have explained it if I had to, but I knew Neil was different.

  When he turned his eyes to me I saw that he’d been crying. “Is it true?”

  I didn’t pretend to not know what he was talking about. I knew he’d heard everything Marini had said to me, including the fact that I blamed him for Dev’s death. I felt the tears that were always there, just on the edge of my eyes, begin to seep out. “Yes.”

  Neil’s mouth dropped open and he held his head in his hands. “Why? Why would Marini kill Dev? What the hell does he get out of it? Oh, god, how can Dev be dead?”

  “I can’t quite believe it either.” I did what I did when I thought about Dev now. I breathed. I lived. My heart felt like it would stop, but I made sure it kept beating. It had seemed a distant reality while I was working, and that was what I thought of spending time with Marini, but it all rushed back in now. “I keep expecting to run into him as I walk down a hallway. He’ll grab my ass and pull me into an alcove to have his way with me.”

  Neil slumped down onto the sofa. There was a plate of food on the table but he hadn’t eaten much of it. If I hadn’t already known something was wrong, that would have been a huge clue. “I knew the minute I figured out you were down here that Lee was dead. He wouldn’t have let them take you. He would have fought to the death to keep you out of here, and he wouldn’t have retreated, even though it probably was the smartest play. I knew when I caught your scent here that they’d killed him but…I thought Marini would want to keep Dev around.”

  “He did.” I hesitated because I knew the next few minutes would be some of the worst minutes of my best friend’s life, and now I was very unsure I wanted to be the one to tell him. “It was a stupid ruse to trap Marcus. He’s in a silver-draped coffin god knows where.”

  “So how did Dev die? Was it an accident?”

  “It wasn’t an accident. He was murdered.” I couldn’t quite make myself form the words that would shatter his world but he was a smart boy. He knew there was only one name I wouldn’t just toss out there as truth.

  “No,” he said resolutely. “No. It wasn’t Chad. He wouldn’t do that, Zoey. I know he seems crazy but he’s harmless. I know him.”

  “I watched him do it, Neil.” I had to tell him the truth. I couldn’t risk Neil trusting Chad. Who knew when Chad might decide he needed another person in that body of his? “He drained Dev and then he tossed his body on Danny’s doorstep. I watched it happen.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Neil said firmly.

  I was tired and I’d had to spend hours making love to my worst enemy and pretending to enjoy it. I wasn’t about to argue. “Believe what you want, Neil. If you hurry maybe you can find your lover before dawn takes him. He can tell you all about how good Dev tasted.”

  I walked into my bedroom and placed the keys and the credit card on the dresser and made my way into the bathroom. I needed a steaming hot shower. I needed to wash his hands off of my skin and feel vaguely clean again. I entered the shower with a certain bitterness I hadn’t exp
ected to feel this morning. All night, while Marini had used my body, I consoled myself with the fact that Neil would be waiting for me and I would find comfort with him. Now I wished he’d found Daniel instead of me. I wasn’t going to listen to him argue that his lover was innocent. I still had a picture of Chad inside my head, standing over Dev’s lifeless body with his precious blood dripping from his fangs. If Neil chose Chad then I would be done with him.

  I scrubbed my skin with a vicious purpose. I knew I was being hard on Neil. I had no idea what he’d been through but grief is so selfish. I wasn’t thinking of Neil that night. I was thinking of myself and how Neil had let me down. It wasn’t fair and even in my grief I realized that, but I couldn’t quite make myself care. I was focused on one thing and one thing only—getting into that office and getting the combination to that safe.

  I went over the whole thing in my head and felt pretty good about the plan by the time I shut off the shower and realized I had absolutely nothing to change into. I wrapped a towel around myself and just stood there for a moment feeling completely numb. Neil’s belief in Chad had thrown me for a loop, and now I only cared about finishing the job so I could get to Daniel. Danny would believe me. Danny would understand.

  “How about we agree to disagree?” Neil asked from the doorway. His eyes were red from crying.

  “This isn’t an argument over what television show to watch, Neil,” I heard myself saying. I felt hollowed out, like someone had opened me up and scooped out all the important parts. “Your lover killed my husband.”

  Neil’s voice was quiet, cautious. “If he did, then he did it to save you or Daniel.”

  “Not good enough,” I spat back, getting really angry with him. He hadn’t been there, hadn’t seen it. Did he think I just made it up for fun? “He enjoyed it, Neil. He liked killing Dev. He’s wanted him forever. Sorry, but your murdering boyfriend wanted to cheat on you and when he couldn’t have Dev, he killed him instead.”

  Neil shook his head. “Z, everything you say about it just reaffirms my belief that he was acting. He loves me. He wouldn’t cheat on me. I know that deep in my soul. We’re missing something.”

  I pushed past him to get out of the bathroom. “I didn’t miss anything. I saw every second of it in vivid, vibrant color. Look, I’m tired, Neil. I fucked Marini all night. I want to sleep. I don’t want to hold your hand because you don’t like the fact that your precious boyfriend is a lunatic killer. Just stay out of my way until I can get the job done and get us out of here.”

  I managed to get to the bed and I sat down feeling absolutely nothing. It was kind of nice to be so very, very numb. After the turmoil of the past few days, it felt damn good to shove Neil away. I didn’t have to care about him. Caring about him would just hurt and I’d been hurt way too much. I didn’t have to care about anything. I could just curl up in a little cocoon where no one could hurt me anymore. I would do the job and have the babies, but I didn’t have to let them touch me. I owed Dev their lives. They were all that was left of him, but did I have to love them? Maybe my love had died with their father. I could build up my armor and I would be safe.

  Then I heard him. He was trying to cover it up. I knew what I would find if I went back into that bathroom. He would be on the floor, his head buried in his hands, sobbing his grief away and trying to be quiet about it.

  Those hated tears started up again. I didn’t want to give a damn about his pain. I didn’t want to love him or anyone at all. Shoving him away had felt good. It had felt empowering. Hearing him cry made me feel vulnerable because I was already on my feet, learning that my heart didn’t give a shit what my head wanted. My heart would love and love and love. It didn’t matter how many times it shattered to a thousand pieces. It was going to love, and there was nothing I could do to change it.

  When I walked into the bathroom he was there, sitting on the floor looking as hopeless as I felt. I sank down beside him and wordlessly wrapped my arms around him, asking for forgiveness and giving it in return. We would agree to disagree, but there was no question I needed him and he needed me.

  After the longest time we found our way to the big bed and Neil lay down beside me. I turned the lights out and his hand found mine. We were quiet for a moment.

  “Zoey,” I heard Neil’s voice through the darkness. “Are we going to survive this?”

  I gave him the only answer I could. “I don’t know.”

  * * * *

  I pulled aside the framed picture that covered the safe anchored to the wall even as Neil found the website for Nordstrom.

  “Why do they bother carrying the crappy shoes?” Neil asked, selecting the premier designer collection.

  I touched the metal of the safe, letting it play against my skin. “We should be happy they do. Up until a couple of years ago we bought all our shoes from discount stores, and only when they had the buy-one get-one-half-off deal.”

  “I don’t remember that ever happening,” Neil said. “That espadrille is heavenly. What kind of shoes do we need down here? Do you think your foot will stay a seven and a half or will the babies fatten up your feet, too?”

  “Neil, hopefully we’re not going to be around to actually wear these clothes. They’re a smoke screen to detract from what we’re really doing, which is cracking this bad girl.”

  Neil turned in Marini’s chair, looking at the safe. “Is it a 1 or a 2?”

  I rotated the combination lock. “Luckily, this beauty is a 2.” Combination safes come in two varieties known as 1s or 2s. The 1s are infinitely harder to crack because their combinations can accept up to six numbers. The 1s have more wheels in the lock mechanism. The type 2 combination is the type that would typically be found in a home or small office where someone just wanted to deter the average criminal. I wasn’t average.

  “His security is shit, Z.” Neil turned back to the computer and ordered the aforementioned Valentino espadrilles. “I would have expected better.”

  I spun the knob, listening for the sweet sound of wheels tumbling. “He’s the most powerful vampire in the world. Well, he thinks so. Who’s going to steal from him?”

  “You,” Neil replied.

  “Yeah, but only out of necessity. The catacombs themselves are a safety measure. Now, hush. I need to figure out how many wheels this baby has.” It was an older model safe and I’d already tried the obvious. I’d searched the desk for the combination and made sure Louis hadn’t left the safe in a day-lock mode where I would only need to know the last number of the combination. No such luck.

  “Zoey,” Neil said suddenly.

  I turned from my work. “Yes?”

  “How long was I gone?”

  I thought it an odd question, but time worked differently on the Hell plane. It was the first time he’d mentioned his time away. I had asked briefly last night, but he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. “It’s been five days since Marini took us.”

  “No,” Neil said. “That’s impossible. I know I was gone longer.”

  I got down from the chair I was standing on. “Sweetie, how did you get away from Stewart?”

  Neil was quiet, and I thought he was going to go back to his shopping for a moment. Then I heard his answer. “I don’t know.”

  “How can you not know?”

  I watched his curly blond hair shake and there was something about it that made me pause. I was looking at him very closely, and something was off about my BFF.

  “I woke up in a field, Z. I don’t know how I got there or where I was before. The last thing I remember was Stewart putting that collar over my head and leading me away, then I woke up naked in a field outside of Paris. The only thing I knew was someone had put a sock in my hand. It was one of yours and I followed the scent to the catacombs. Someone wanted me to find you.”

  But I was still looking at his hair. I walked over and ran my fingers through it.

  “That feels nice,” he said, leaning back.

  Neil’s hair is practically platinum, but I could see
some very subtle differences. There was gray in there and a lot of it. There was gray that hadn’t been there before.

  “Look at me,” I ordered him.

  He turned to face me. “What is it?”

  There they were—fine lines around his eyes. I’d never seen them before. “You were gone for more than five days, Neil. Is there anything else odd?”

  He hesitated but then lifted the T-shirt Trent had given him that was a million sizes too big for his body. I gasped in shock at what I saw.

  “How is that staying on your body?”

  An elaborate tattoo covered the left side of Neil’s chest. Werewolves loved piercings and body art, but the sad fact was unless the piercing was silver, the body would heal around it and the minute the wolf changed forms, the piercing was usually lost. Tats were even worse. The body reverted to its original form after the change. The ink wouldn’t last through a change. I’d heard wolf after wolf bemoan that little fact. It was worse for the female. Her hair color reverted to natural following a change, so L’Oréal didn’t last long on a she-wolf. She tended to get used to pesky grays.

  “I don’t know.” Neil lowered the shirt again. “I woke up in human form and it was there. I figured it was a little demonic ‘property of’ sign so I changed as fast as I could, but it won’t go away.”

  “And you don’t remember anything?”

  He growled. “No, I don’t remember anything.”

  I shrugged. “I was just checking. Danny tries to hide stuff so I don’t get worried.”

  “When was the last time I tried that on you, Z? I’m not your husband,” Neil pointed out. “I’m much more important than that. I’m your gay husband. If I’m freaked you better be freaked, too.”

  “Well, I’m pretty damned freaked, Neil.”

  “Good.” He smiled slightly and pulled a granola bar out of his pocket. “Here. I stole some from the kitchens when I got our breakfast this afternoon. I’ll steal some crackers tomorrow. You might need them to deal with your morning sickness.”