Steal the Moon (39 page)

I knew suddenly that it didn’t matter. His not loving me didn’t change the way I felt about him. It just made my heart break.

“All right, Danny.” I wiped the tears from my eyes. Fighting wouldn’t change anything. Yelling at him would only make me look like a fool. “If that’s what you want, I can’t stop you. I’m really sorry about Joel, though. I didn’t mean…I never thought trying to steal that artifact would hurt anyone like that. I thought I was helping.”

“You always do, Z,” Danny said with a sigh.

I stood back up. I was going to leave, but stopped because something he’d said finally penetrated the haze of pain the conversation had caused. “Why is she in my house?”

Daniel frowned, turning to Dev. “You haven’t told her what we decided?”

Dev shook his head. “You decided this, and you told me what I was going to do. Don’t you dare pin this on me.”

“I thought we were in agreement that this was the best course.” Daniel had that hard edge to his voice that told me he was getting angry because things weren’t going the way he planned. He was more emotional than he was letting on. His eyes found mine. “You’re going to the
sithein
with Dev the day after tomorrow.”

Son of a bitch. Bastard.
I laughed, a humorless sound, because now I knew his game. “No, I’m not. I’m going home the day after tomorrow, and she better not be there, Danny. I won’t take it well. You should fly back and get her settled into your place because I’ll be damned if I let you toss me out of my home. If we’re getting a divorce, I’m keeping Dev and Dev’s keeping Ether.”

I wouldn’t be relegated to a prison because Daniel found me inconvenient.

“Dev, would you like to explain this to her?” Danny’s every word was clipped and hard.

Dev stopped stooping over and raised himself to his full height. He walked over to me and slipped his hand into mine. “We need to go to the
sithein
, Zoey. There are some things I need to do. I’ll explain it all to you later, but I have obligations I need to fulfill. If the ritual goes as I hope it goes, I’ll be a true high priest, honored in every way after I make the rounds in Faery. It won’t take more than a month,” he explained and I heard Daniel sigh impatiently, unhappy with what Dev was saying. “But, sweetheart, we have to face certain realities.”

“Finally,” Daniel said under his breath.

“The minute Daniel takes another companion, you become fair game.” Dev neatly explained the impossible situation Daniel was trying to maneuver us into. “I assume he’s going to make a big announcement.”

“I’m required to inform the Council,” Daniel said casually, as though he wasn’t changing my entire life. “It’ll be all right, Zoey. As long as you’re in Faery no vampire is going to touch you.”

Dev ignored him completely. “So when we get back from Faery, I think our best option is Marcus. He’ll let us stay together. We’ll get back from Faery and head immediately to Venice. I already contacted Marcus earlier today and informed him of what’s going on. He’ll have everything ready, and he’ll perform the ceremony the night we arrive. Marini won’t take you away from Marcus. We’ll be safe.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Daniel’s face was stark white and his hands gathered in fists at his sides.

“Give him a call, Dan,” Dev replied, his eyes giving nothing away. “You’ll find everything is ready. I never bluff about a good plan. You should know that. Marcus is more than happy to accommodate us. He’s quite eager to take a new companion. I also find myself unwilling to throw my mistress out of the only home she has left. You’ll remove your new wife from the penthouse. You have a perfectly good apartment. I suggest you use it. I set up an account in your name. It has ten million in it. I think that’s fair. We’ll need the penthouse. Marcus has agreed to split our time between Venice, Paris, and Dallas. Zoey will want to spend time with her friends and family. We’ll keep ourselves out of your life and your line of fire, but we won’t leave our home.”

“Why? Why the hell would you do this? Why would you give her to Marcus?” Daniel practically roared the question.

Dev stood his ground. “She won’t be happy in the
sithein
forever. I won’t be happy there, either. I like this plane. I’ve made it my home. Marcus is offering us a way to stay together and be safe. He cares for Zoey, and he’s promised to allow us all the freedom we have now. I believe that he’ll be kind to her and tolerant with me. It’s our only option if we don’t want to run for the rest of our lives or be held in a cage. That’s what this little plan of yours leaves us with. We must remain on this plane. She has obligations here.”

“What obligations does she have here?” Daniel asked, confused.

“I have to work for Marini or he’ll kill you,” I responded quietly. “I have to go to Faery and do the job, and then I’ll do the job after that and so on and so on. I’ll do what I have to. Dev is right, though. Marcus can keep us safe.”

“That’s the stupidest plan I ever heard,” Daniel said, stalking toward us.

“Don’t,” Dev warned. “Don’t you dare question my judgment when you’re leaving me all alone to take care of her. You’re leaving both of us. You have no right or say in anything we do after this, Daniel. We’ll be on our own, and we’ll make our own way.”

“Why, Zoey? Why would you work for Marini after I leave you for another woman? Why would you let her, Dev?” Daniel’s face was filled with emotion now. He couldn’t stop it.

I stared up at my soon-to-be ex-husband and knew I was blotchy and red because I looked like hell when I cried. It didn’t matter. “I’ll do it because I love you, Daniel. I always have and I always will. I’ll love you until the day I die. I’ll stand by you even if you don’t love me anymore.”

Love didn’t have to be returned. It only had to be honored. I wouldn’t allow Daniel to turn me into something I wasn’t. I loved him. I would fight for him. I would be kind to him. Even when he wasn’t kind to me.

Now it was Dev’s turn. “I love Zoey and I believe in you, Daniel. I believe in the man you are. I haven’t had many friends in my life. I’m going to miss you. I really am. You talked to me yesterday about how you watched us walk through the valley and how different our reception would have been had you been by our side. I would have walked with you anyway. You mistake respect and need for love, Daniel. I would take my friend over a thousand affectionate strangers. Zoey and I would walk anywhere with you. Leave us if you must. We won’t abandon you. If you ever need anything, just come to Venice.”

Dev pulled me close to him and started to lead me out of the room and down the hall toward the front door. We needed fresh air. I needed to be away from Daniel. I needed to cry for a really long time.

“What’s going on, Zoey?” Lee asked as we walked toward the outer door. I was sure he heard more than I would have wanted as he sat in his chair in the front room.

I shook my head, but he was a brick wall. “I’ll be fine, Lee. Danny is leaving us. Could you please let Albert know that he’s leaving tonight? Albert doesn’t like surprises.”

“I don’t either,” Lee replied, looking behind me with a stern frown. “I don’t like them at all.”

“I don’t think I’ll be leaving until we clear a few things up, Zoey,” Daniel said, following us out into the parlor.

I ignored him. He’d said everything I needed him to say. He’d brought another woman in. She was waiting at my house. I had to stifle a cry because of all the things he could do to me, I hadn’t expected that. I suppose it wasn’t fair. I had Dev. I wasn’t exactly pure, but Dev was part of us. I thought we’d gotten past that.

Dev walked up to Lee. “Zack will be going with Daniel. I hope you’ll stay on with us. Zoey is comfortable with you and she’s going to need your help more than ever. We’ll be doing a bit of traveling, though.”

Lee’s gaze shifted between us and Daniel. “I’ll follow Zoey. I said I would. I’ll take care of her.”

Daniel shook his head. “What the fuck are you doing, Dev? This isn’t what we talked about. You know why I’m doing this, and you’re fucking everything up. You promised me if everything went to hell that you would take care of her.”

Dev turned back and acknowledged Daniel’s presence. “It hasn’t gone to hell, but you obviously have made up your mind. I talked to McKenzie earlier. He found me during my ritual. He was very intent on making sure I knew he’d changed his mind. You have your meeting. The alphas will be gathered at ten thirty this evening in the main house.”

His blue eyes wide, Daniel stared at us. “How? He was extremely negative last night. It’s why I decided to do this now. You said so yourself.”

“He told me he was impressed with Zoey. She saved Neil earlier today from a pack of wolves. She stood up to all of them, McKenzie included. He said any man with a woman like that could probably be trusted,” Dev explained. “Good luck, Daniel.”

I heard Daniel curse as we left the tent.

Dev pulled me into his arms, carrying me as we fled the tent. Even as I started to cry into his shoulder, I heard Lee and Daniel screaming at each other. I lifted my head and turned back toward the sound.

“Don’t, Zoey,” Dev commanded as he walked into the forest. “Lee can handle himself. I think your big brother is giving Daniel a much-needed lecture. I take back everything I said about that wolf, by the way. He’s a perfect guard for you. He’s welcome in our household.”

I held onto Dev for dear life as he walked through the quiet forest until he found the spot he was looking for. It was a clearing near a pond, and he sat down, shifting me in his arms so I sat in his lap as he relaxed on a huge rock. He stroked my hair and let me cry for the longest time.

I finally looked up at him, wiping the tears from my face with the back of my sleeve. “She better not touch my shoes.”

Dev chuckled, holding me close. “I promise you, my love, she cannot fit in your shoes. Her feet are enormous. They’re not sweet and dainty like yours.”

“So she’s really big?” I asked hopefully. “The only answer here is she’s an awful person and she’s horribly unattractive and she’ll make Daniel miserable.”

He smiled faintly. “All of those things, lover. She’s quite mercenary, actually. I’ve only spoken with her briefly on the phone, but Daniel described her to me. He really did think to bring her in for his vamps at first. He’s been negotiating with her. Obviously he would never bring in an unwilling companion. He was going to bring her in and allow her to choose.” He took a deep breath. “Zoey, I’ll take care of you.”

“And I’ll take care of you. So we’re going to Venice, huh? I’ve never been out of the country.” I held on to him so tight. I knew what Marcus was going to want. It made me uncomfortable, but Dev was right. I didn’t see another way to go. I didn’t want to end up on the auction block. Marcus was strong enough to defend a companion, and I knew he cared for me. He would never give me a platonic, marriage-in-name-only arrangement though. He would want blood and sex in exchange for that protection. I steeled myself. If that was what it took to protect Dev, myself, and my dumbass husband, then I could handle it. Even now, when he’d broken my heart so completely I wondered if it would ever be whole again, I knew I couldn’t leave him to fate.

Dev pulled my face to his. His green eyes were serious. “Zoey, I will never share you with Marcus. I would kill him first. I have no intention of selling your body for our protection.”

“But, Dev, it makes sense,” I argued.

“No, Zoey.” His expression was the tiniest bit savage. “I will not have it. That was just a bluff to break Daniel’s game. You wanted me to fight, sweetheart. Well, I don’t fight fair. That’s the way to lose. It still might work. Daniel seemed perplexed that things didn’t go the way he wanted. If it doesn’t work, then I have another plan.”

I shook my head in amazement. “You always do, Dev.”

“It certainly doesn’t involve marrying you off to another damn vampire,” Dev said under his breath. “I’ve enjoyed our relationship with Daniel, but that’s the extent of our experimentation. After tomorrow night, there will be no more threesomes, lover, not if Daniel proves too stubborn. It will be you and me. Daniel said something about using his assets. Well, I intend to use mine. I’ll be making a deal with the Unseelie. When we return to this plane, you’ll be tied tightly to Faery. You’ll have Lee and apparently Neil, and you’ll have an Unseelie guard. I assure you, lover, that I can find some nightmares to protect us. Literally. They’re actual mares, though they have some really nasty teeth. Please, don’t try to give them carrots.”

I nodded. My trip to Faery was going to be educational. There was a certain comfort in Dev’s planning. It left me feeling less bereft. It gave me something to hold on to.

“If all goes as planned tomorrow night, when we get back from Faery, Declan and Padric will return with us and we’ll meet with Marini. We’ll set down all the rules and regulations regarding your employment. He can agree or he’ll have a war on his hands. And, Zoey, if anything ever happens to me…”

I knew what he wanted, and I was willing to promise him anything. “I’ll go to Faery and find Declan.”

“Not Marcus,” Dev reiterated.

I wound my arms around his neck. “Not Marcus.”

Dev pulled me into the warmth of his body and kissed me passionately. There was a lot of emotion between us in that moment. There was love and sadness and an overwhelming sense of commitment. My heart ached at the thought that Daniel wasn’t with us, didn’t want that commitment from us.

There was a rustle in the forest, and Dev shot straight up, shoving me behind him. He cursed as he reached for the gun that should have been in a holster at the small of his back. In the chaos, he’d forgotten it. The SIG Sauer was still in the nightstand where I’d replaced it earlier. We hadn’t thought about safety or weapons when we were fleeing the scene with Daniel. Lee had stayed behind because he trusted me with Dev. He wouldn’t be prowling around.

“I thought I smelled you,” Mitchell Roberts spat as he walked out of the woods. “Are you going to try to shoot me again, bitch? I won’t give you a second chance.”

He snapped his fingers and two large wolves prowled out of the trees, baring their teeth. One of the wolves was a sandy blond, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was Wyatt Roberts. He’d healed from the gunshot wound I’d given him and anything McKenzie had done to him earlier in the day. The other wolf was gray. The fur on their backs was standing straight up. They were ready for blood.