Steal the Moon (43 page)

“…and drew a little blood and licked it up?”

“Yup. He got a hard-on every time I got a paper cut. I got a whole lot of paper cuts while we were together.” Neil sniffed the air deeply. “God, Z, sometimes I can still smell him.”

I heard Lee growl deep in his throat, and despite his promise to himself to never see me naked again, he came out from his hiding place. He started to circle around something as he scented the air and growled.

Neil joined Lee, though his senses were not as good now that he was weakened.

I frowned as I watched the wolves circle something that wasn’t there. Sarah stood beside me, waiting to see if we were about to be attacked, but I knew our visitor just liked to show off. I would have covered myself up, but this visitor didn’t care about boobs and hell, he’d seen them in action. “Chad, you might as well come out. Lee won’t care that he can’t see you. He’ll tear a hunk out of your invisible flesh just as fast.”

Chad appeared between the two wolves. Lee still growled but Neil took a startled step back. I could guess what he was thinking. The Chad who stood before him was a completely different person than the one he’d loved. Chad had been a straightlaced lawyer who tended toward slacks and button-downs. His hair had been stylish but conservative. The vampire who looked at Neil like he was going to eat him alive was a dominant sexual being in leather, his hair running long.

“Lee, it’s all right,” I said quietly. “He belongs to Daniel.”

Chad bowed to the wolf. “Daniel Donovan is my master, wolf. If you protect that which is his, you’ll have a care with me.”

“Yeah, I only give a shit about Zoey,” Lee replied, letting Chad know he wasn’t impressed. “I couldn’t care less about Donovan or his property.”

Chad arched a dark eyebrow curiously. “Interesting.” He bowed to me. “Good job finding him, Zoey. I knew you would do it.”

“I didn’t do it for you.” I went back to washing my hair. I had a ritual to get to and Dev would have my ass if I was late. “Did you bring the stuff from Marini?”

“I did,” Chad replied. “I gave it directly to my master.”

“That was for me.”

“It’s for my master to decide,” Chad said solemnly. “I serve him, Zoey. I follow his orders.” He turned to Neil, who was still staring at his boyfriend. “Hello, my lover. You’re far too thin.”

Neil rolled his eyes, his expression bitter. “You walk out on me and the first words out of your mouth after you get business out of the way are to complain about my looks. Nice. That’s makes everything so much easier.”

Chad pinned Neil with his gaze. “I wasn’t complaining. I was worried, Neil. I told Zoey to find you for me.”

“If there is one thing on this planet that I am certain of, Chad, it is that Zoey loves me,” Neil said quietly. “She would have found me whether you gave a damn or not. She wouldn’t have stopped.”

Chad seemed unsettled by that announcement. “I had a job to do. I’m doing this for you, Neil. I haven’t sacrificed myself for my own pleasure. I did this to protect you.”

Neil glanced my way and we had a moment of pure sympathetic connection. He looked back at Chad. “You love me enough to sacrifice a year of your life, but not enough to take five minutes to discuss the decision with me. Perhaps we’ll speak on it further when you return from the Council.” Neil turned his back on Chad and walked to the water’s edge, picking up a big fluffy towel on his way. “Come on, Z. We need to start on that hair now. We only have until midnight and it’ll probably still be damp.”

Sarah had scraped off the top layer of my skin, so I supposed I was ready. I let Neil wrap the towel around my body and rub the soft material over me. Chad watched his lover help me through angry, slitted eyes.

It was now me under the glare of Chad’s dark stare. “You think to take him from me?”

There was that good old vampire jealousy. I folded the towel under my arms. “I’m not taking anything from you, Chad. This is totally your fault. You should have talked to him. You should have treated him like a partner and not some piece of property that would just sit at home and wait for you.”

Suddenly Chad was in my face, his fangs twin threats. “He is mine. I will not allow you to take him.”

Lee was ready to pounce, but I held him off with a wave. If I couldn’t handle one vampire who was blood oathed to my husband then I didn’t deserve my title. I stared Chad directly in his dark, scary eyes. “You will back off now, Chad Thomas. You forget yourself. Neil belongs to me as you belong to me. My husband is king and I’m your queen, or do you deny me?”

Put like that, he could do one of two things. He could back his ass down or he could break from his master. Chad wisely chose to back his ass down.

Chad took a smart step back, lowering his head in a deferential gesture. “Forgive me, Your Highness. It’s easy to forget. You don’t hold yourself apart. Of course, I don’t deny you. I’ve merely missed my lover. Please accept my apologies. We do belong to you.”

I sat down on the blanket, that particular crisis averted. Sarah came in behind me and started working the comb through my hair because Neil had other things to worry about. Chad stood there looking at his feet, unwilling to leave. I took pity on him. “You should have told him that. You could also try begging. It works for Daniel.”

Neil looked at me, and it was easy to see that he wanted to be with Chad. I knew how he felt because I’d been there before so many times. He felt backed into a corner and his pride wouldn’t let him out. He was angry with his lover, but there wasn’t time for such useless emotions if he wanted to get to the good stuff. Chad would be gone again tomorrow night. They shouldn’t waste time on rage. Danny and I had done enough of that for all of us.

“Neil,” I said as Sarah fought with a tangle. “Could you escort Chad back to the tent? If you get lost on the way, I’ll understand.”

“I can do that for you.” He walked over and took Chad’s hand. “Just because I let you do some nasty stuff to me, don’t you dare think this fight is over. I won’t be in a relationship where you treat me like a piece of ass even though I’m a really sweet piece of ass.”

“Oh, the fight is over,” Chad corrected him. “You win. Let’s find some private place and I’ll do a little begging.”

Sarah and I watched as they walked into the forest, and I knew they were going to do some serious making up.

Lee sighed heavily and threw me an accusatory stare. “Gay werewolves, gay vampires, public sex, and naked women all over the place. What the hell have you gotten me into, Your Highness? I want a raise.”

Lee stalked back to his tree and tried not to see anything.

I let Sarah work her magic on my hair. In the distance, I heard music being played. The festival was starting. The bonfires would be lit and the dancing would begin. It was almost time for me to play the goddess. I’d seen how many wolves were counting on us and I hoped I was enough for them.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“God, you look so beautiful, Z.” Daniel held my hand as we walked from the tent toward the east field where the festival of Litha was in full party mode. It had been a distant music when I dressed in my bedroom, but now it was starting to sound like a roar. I was grateful for the strong feel of Daniel’s hand in mine.

“I look like a virgin sacrifice.” Between the gauzy, white dress, the garland in my hair, and my freshly scrubbed face, I looked younger than my years. I also looked much more innocent than I had ever been.

“I wish…” he started wistfully.

“What?” I asked because the look on his face was so sad. I wanted to wipe away that sorrow.

“I just wish we’d had a better wedding, that’s all,” he admitted quietly, looking straight forward.

I squeezed his hand. Our wedding had been a covert thing. I hadn’t known I was married until someone—a nasty old demon—had pointed it out. It was also an old wound that had healed for me, and I didn’t want to reopen it. “It was fine, Danny. If I recall there was more honeymoon than wedding, but it worked out. I’m still wearing the ring.”

Daniel stared down at my left hand, his eyes widening as he took in the ring. “Z, baby, you can’t wear that to this ritual. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Dev told me to.” Dev had been casual about it. “He said it was the only jewelry I was allowed to wear.” He didn’t know about the navel ring, but I suspected he would be all right with it.

Danny stopped and some unnamed emotion crossed his face. He shook his head and continued down the path. “That sounds like him. He’s a good friend. Listen, Z. He’s really nervous about this.”

“Dev has performance anxiety?” Dev had never had a problem performing, ever. Dev could perform drunk, stoned, or injured. Whatever a person could be, Dev could probably keep an erection through it.

Daniel laughed at that thought. “He’s not worried about the sex, baby. He’s worried about the magic. This is a big deal to him. Though he’s mortal, if he proves he can do this, the Fae will treat him as a true fertility god because of the ascension. You’re not afraid of the ascension, are you?”

I remembered the word ascension being mentioned in all the stuff Ingrid had said. I wasn’t sure why I was supposed to be afraid of it. “I’m fine, Danny.”

“Because you should know I’ve checked everything out. Dev will always be in control. That’s the way it works. If it works. We’re hopeful and that’s why he’s got so much pressure on him. If he can handle this magic then his place as a high priest is more than just a name thing. They’ll have to respect him if manages to do this.”

“Is that why Declan has to be here?” I asked because I was still waiting for a good explanation on why I had to get my freak on with Declan Quinn watching.

“Yes,” Daniel replied acerbically. “I swear, Z. Did you listen to a word Ingrid said to you? She explained everything. If I know Ingrid, she explained it in great detail. Declan is there as a royal witness. If he gives his consent, then you will be respected as the one woman who can bring out Dev’s magic. You’ll be his goddess.”

“So I have to bring his magic out?” I asked, for the first time really nervous about something other than the public nature of this thing. The truth was I really hadn’t listened to Ingrid. I’d been planning a hijacking, and it had kind of crowded out everything else. Now I wished I’d skipped the stupid heist altogether and listened better in class.

“You have to bring his passion out,” Daniel corrected. “The passion brings out the magic. He’s just worried about the magic and his control of it. He might not show it or admit it, but he wants his brother’s respect. He wants Padric’s respect. The more aroused he is, the stronger the magic is going to be, and the more likely his ascension is. From the looks of it, you really need to turn him on.”

Daniel was referring to the massive crowd that filled the field. Couples were everywhere as we approached Padric, who was waiting for me at the edge of the gathering. The night was lit up by enormous bonfires. In the distance, I could see the hill and the altar above it. Dev was waiting at the bottom of the hill, but I could see Declan was putting the finishing touches on the altar. Padric would take me to Dev and then take his place beside Declan as witnesses.

“Wow.” It was a lot of people and a lot of formal ceremony. They would all be watching. I was having some performance anxiety of my own.

“You can do it, Z,” Daniel said encouragingly, a grin on his lips and his dimples on display. “I happen to have great faith in your ability to turn a man on. Well, at least two specific men.”

We reached Padric, who looked regal in his white pants and flowy white shirt.

Daniel pulled me back at the last moment. He took my face in his hands and he was suddenly serious. “I love you, Zoey Donovan. I would never allow you to do this with another man. I only allow this because he belongs to me, too. Don’t think this lessens my possessiveness or makes you any less my wife.”

I searched his face, trying to understand. “I know, Danny. I didn’t think it did. I love you, too.”

Daniel smiled a secret little grin. “I’m looking forward to after the ritual, baby. I’ll leave the two of you alone for this, but I intend to share the rest of the night with you. Don’t let him completely tire you out because I have plans for you. I’ll see that Neil has different arrangements.”

Daniel kissed me one last time, gave Padric a forbidding look, and turned back toward our tent.

“That vampire is very unpleasant,” Padric said, watching him walk away. He was probably remembering the thrashing Daniel had given him. His face softened as he threaded my arm through his. “You, on the other hand, look quite lovely.”

“Not too short?” I pushed my bare feet forward and they peeked out of the hem of my gown. I was completely without the armor of stilettos.

He looked down at me with a regal smile. He towered over me. “You are that. It can’t be helped, I suppose. You make a beautiful goddess despite the height disadvantage. I think Devinshea will find a way to make it work.”

“He always does.” The crowd became less noisy as we began to walk through and they cleared a path. They watched respectfully as we walked the full length of the field. I noticed the children were missing. This was an adults-only evening.