Steal the Moon (26 page)

“That’s not true,” I argued.

Lee moved on, choosing not to engage me. “Quinn is smart as hell and plays the game better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He might seem soft, but it’s an act. He’d make the hard calls, the calls that cost people their lives without hesitating or regretting the loss as long as it paid out. There’s one thing and one thing alone that keeps them in line.”

“Zoey,” Marcus said. He’d decided that was true a long time ago.

“Take her out of the equation and you get a bloodbath. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is that the safety of my whole world revolves around that?” Lee pointed at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him tartly. I don’t think it made him feel any better about the situation.

It wasn’t long after that Marcus needed to get back to Dallas to meet Marini for his flight to LA. He drove us back to Ether, and all the while my mind played the conversation over and over. It made me wonder what Danny would be like if I’d rejected him after he’d come back from Paris last year. It wasn’t the most pleasant of thoughts. Dev had only gotten involved with Danny because of me. I had to admit that he relished his role. He liked the game. He liked the power and the politics and even the subterfuge.

I was still contemplating all that Lee had said when we dropped Marcus off. It was getting close to dusk when I told Lee I needed to go out to the farm. He herded me to his old beat-up Ford truck.

“I can drive if you like,” I said, my humor returning. I’d watched him in the rearview mirror during our trip to Fort Worth. “If I drive, you can hang your head out the window.”

“I make no apologies for that. It feels nice.” Lee climbed into the cab, and I was forced into the passenger side where he apparently liked to keep his empty fast food bag collection. He had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed as he cleared off the seat. “I’ll clean that out tonight. I don’t have many passengers.”

“You could let me drive.” No one ever let me drive anymore.

“You’re never driving my truck, Zoey.” He turned the engine over with a twist of the key and then slapped my hand away from the console. “And don’t you dare change my radio.”

I sighed, thinking I would have to listen to George Strait for the next twenty miles.

“You want to tell me what you’re going to do with that thing if you actually get ahold of it?”

“Oh, I’ll get it, Lee. Don’t doubt it for a minute.” I rested my head on my knees. My feet were on the dashboard because there really wasn’t room for them on the floor. “What I’ll do with it from there is extremely simple. I’m going to destroy it.”

“What if it works?”

“Then I’ll make damn sure it never does again.”

Lee grunted his agreement. “Those boys of yours are going to be damn upset about it.”

I shrugged, the gesture much more negligent than I felt. “They’ll live with the disappointment.”

“All right then. You just tell me what to do.” Just like that he went from bodyguard to accomplice.

I wasn’t going to hide anything from Danny or Dev, I promised myself as the miles went by. I was going to tell them exactly what I was going to do. If I was their conscience, it was probably past time I got to work.

Chapter Sixteen

We arrived at the farm just as another car was pulling in. Justin Parker was getting out of an old Chevy Malibu, his hands full of grocery bags. I slammed the passenger door shut, my feet hitting the gravel with a satisfying crunch.

“Hey there, Justin.” I gave the vampire a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

“Zoey, you’re just in time. Angie’s making empanadas.” Justin waved a hand toward Lee. “Though I’ll have to tell her to double the recipe now. Have you seen that guy eat?”

Lee scratched his stomach but made no comment as his eyes checked out the area. I had no doubt his senses were wide open, and he could give me a rundown of every living creature in a three-mile radius. He chose to follow me into the house, so I figured we were all right.

The heavenly scent of frying food wafted from the kitchen. Justin walked through the doors that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

“Thank god.” Angelina Hernandez took the bag out of his hand. “I thought you were going to take forever, baby.”

Justin shrugged, looking down at his girlfriend with great affection. “I wasn’t sure which one you wanted, so I bought all three.”

Angelina was contemplating the three pounds of cheese Justin had bought when her sister, Lisa, looked up from the conversation she was having with Zack. “Hey, Zoey. Good to see you, girl. Are you hungry? We’re making plenty.”

“I’m starving,” I admitted, but a thought crossed my mind. “Please tell me that’s chicken and not cat.”

Angelina shook her dark hair. “No, honey. If you want good cat, there are some vendors on Good Latimer who make great tacos.”

Everybody knew that but me. I really needed to start getting those memos. Maybe there was an underground Zagat’s survey.

“I see you managed to survive the day.” Zack congratulated his brother with a manly slap to his shoulder. He looked younger and happier now that his day was over. His tie was loose and his dress shirt was slightly rumpled, probably from making out with Lisa. I was never going to tell him I had made that happen. “Did she thrill you with endless rounds of shopping and salon services?”

“It was an interesting day.” Lee’s yawn didn’t make the case for “interesting.” “I got to watch another vamp try to seduce her, though he was strangely less annoying than that faery. On the plus side, it looks like we’re going into the hijacking business, brother.”

Zack held a hand up. “Nice. See, maybe if she’d tried something like that when I was around, I would have found her less obnoxious.”

“I seriously doubt that, Zack. We’re only getting into the hijacking business if I can convince the boys.” Of course, I was going to convince the boys. I would ask until they said yes. “Where are they?”

I’d noticed Dev’s Audi outside. Danny wouldn’t have taken a car.

Justin was attempting to disentangle himself from his girl. “I have to go. I’m already late, baby. My master’s going to be pissed.”

“You tell your master if he has a problem he can just come and see me,” Angelina said. It was the voice of a female who knew how to handle a man.

A couple of months before, I’d asked Angelina if she was happy with Justin. Most of the wolves I knew wanted to be with wolves. They weren’t happy dating other species, but Angie always seemed glad to be with the vampire. She told me that Justin was sweet and so much easier to handle than a wolf. If he stepped out of line, and he never did, not only could she cut off his access to sex, she could deny him dinner.

Looking around the house, I wondered if any of the occupants realized just how odd their lives were compared to normal vampire society. The vampires here were trained with discipline but allowed to make their own decisions. Torture wasn’t a part of their training. These men had chosen to turn and become a part of Daniel’s army. The women here were all wolves or shifters. From what I could tell, their vampire boyfriends treated them like queens. They ran this household. It was the opposite of the relationship the vamps would have had with Council-trained companions.

“Come on, Zoey,” Justin said. “I’ll take you out to Daniel.”

I followed the vampire out the back door. There was no real yard with a fence. The house sat on a couple of acres of land. The nearest neighbor was over a mile away and his name was Chad Thomas. As Chad was with Marini and Marcus flying to Los Angeles, there was no worry about prying eyes. This was the country and people for the most part left others alone.

Daniel stood, watching his small group of trainees as they fought each other using only hand-to-hand combat. He also trained the vamps in weapons, both handguns and heavier artillery. There were lessons in stealth and hunting.

Dev had taken to teaching the more academic pursuits. He taught the vamps about the creatures of the supernatural world. These men had grown up believing they were human and knowing nothing of the hidden world around them. Dev taught them how to deal with such things as weres, shifters, demons, and Fae creatures. Dev knew the cultures and how to get along. Daniel knew how to kill them if it became necessary.

Daniel’s new vampires numbered seven, including Chad. Chad’s year of training was almost up, and Daniel would be forced to send them another fledgling. I didn’t recognize the new guy. Daniel had turned him two weeks ago. I knew his name was Joel and Daniel had found him in Oregon.

“Nice of you to join us, Justin.” Daniel sent a glare to his fledgling as we entered the training field. The fighting stopped and the vampires moved back. “I believe we said nine o’clock. It’s now nine fifteen.”

“I’m sorry, master,” Justin began, his head slightly down, not making eye contact with the man who’d guided him through his turn.

“Give him a break, Danny.” I never liked watching the way all these vamps kissed Danny’s ass just because his blood gave them power and strength and crap. “Angie’s making dinner and she needed cheese. Cheese is a serious thing. You used to love cheese.”

Daniel’s blue eyes widened with sarcastic glee as he looked at Justin. “Well, don’t let a little thing like training for a war stop you from some serious grocery shopping, buddy. Is there anything else you need to do for your girlfriend? Does Angie need new shoes?”

“No, master,” Justin said, utterly chastened. He took his place next to the new guy.

I glared at Daniel, shocked at that attitude. This was not a man who told his wife no often. This was a man who said “sure thing, baby” and “right away” when I asked him to do something. He might put his foot down on occasion, but he could show Justin a little sympathy. “Daniel Donovan, is that any way to talk to Justin? He was just trying to be a good boyfriend.”

Daniel made sure he turned his back on his men. He kept his voice low. “Hey, baby, don’t do this now. I have to…you know, at least look tough. I have to keep these guys in line.”

I moved around my husband because there was a more pressing problem than Daniel’s unreasonable attitude. The new guy had just gotten a look at me.

“All right, Joel.” I pointed at him with my best “do not mess with me” hand gesture. Joel’s fangs were long and his eyes were focused on me, the iris bleeding out to fill his eyes with brown. It was a very scary thing that I no longer put up with from any vamp, much less a baby one. “Let’s get some things straight right off the bat…”

“Zoey.” Daniel tugged me behind him. He placed himself between me and the hungry baby vamp. Newbies aren’t known for their rigid control, and I was a tasty treat.

Justin had a steadying hand on Joel’s shoulder. He leaned into the new vamp, his voice filled with understanding. “Really man, I know she’s pretty and all glowy and stuff, but you do not want to mess with that. If you try to get a bite of that, you better hope the master kills you first because he’ll do it quick. If she gets ahold of you…”

Justin leaned in and whispered into Joel’s ear. The new vampire’s eyes got wide and I was surprised when his fangs detracted and his eyes went from scary to scared.

“Do those grow back, man?” Joel asked Justin, his voice slightly shaky.

“I think so, but it probably hurts,” Justin replied sagely.

Now all the vamps were taking a short step back from me. Daniel turned to me with a shake of his head.

I grinned up at him. My reputation was secure in at least one venue. I went up on my toes and planted a kiss on his perfect lips. “You were worried about your tough-guy reputation? They’re all impressed you’re brave enough to risk your balls around me.”

Danny’s dimples came out in full force, and he gave my bottom a nice little slap. “After what you did to me last night, I’ll risk a lot more than that. I’m a brave man.”

One more little kiss and I pulled away. He was obviously busy and besides, I really wanted to break through the weakest link before I started in on Danny. “Where’s Dev?”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “He’s in the weight room. What’s this crap about him growing out his hair? We need to talk about that, Z. I already have to unclog all the drains in the condo twice a week because you shed everywhere.”

I shrugged as I backed away. “I can’t help it, Danny. That hair is hot. If I have to get a naval ring then Dev has to grow out his hair. I’m not sure what I want from you, yet. Maybe a sexy tat on your ass.”

I heard his groan as I practically skipped back into the house. I loved being at the farm. I loved the chaos and the noise and the weirdness. I neatly sidestepped a lovely black wolf being pursued playfully by a larger chocolate brown one. Lisa was leading Zack on a merry chase into the woods. I would know exactly what those howls meant later on tonight. Angie handed me a perfect empanada as I sashayed through the kitchen. Gwen, a shifter involved with Jean-Marc, was mixing margaritas, and I promised to come back and share the pitcher.

I passed Lee, who had parked his butt in front of the TV and was already on his second beer. He grunted something as I went by. I told him Danny could take care of me for the rest of the evening, but he was already half asleep.