Steal the Night (41 page)

I didn’t understand entirely, but I had visited several planes and knew there were many I couldn’t name or even conceive of.

“Are we hearing their heartbeats?” Zack’s hands were still on my shoulders, though I think they were more for comfort than anything else. Zack and I had fought and argued over the years, but we were family.

“Yes, wolf.” Myrddin stood now and flexed his fingers. “It will tell me how much time I have. The king’s is the slower beat. A vampire’s heart beats much more slowly than a regular human, while the faery’s beat is slightly faster. I need to monitor them closely so I know when to put the king’s heart back in.”

“What?” I couldn’t have heard him correctly. He said he would have to put Danny’s heart back in. That would necessitate him taking it out.

Rather than answering, he shoved his hand through the blue light of the stasis chamber and reached into Daniel’s chest. Like his hand moved through thick mud, he had to shove just a little, but then he was wrist deep inside Daniel’s chest and after a second’s work, he pulled out his heart. It pumped in his hand.

The wizard’s smile was triumphant as he held the heart up. “See, I told you it was simple.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Zoey, don’t try anything,” Zack whispered urgently into my ear.

“He pulled Daniel’s heart out of his chest.” My hand was on the gun Lee had left me.

“That would be my point,” Zack explained. “Do you know how to get it back in?”

I hated it when Zack made sense. “Of course I don’t know how to reattach a heart, but I know enough to know we shouldn’t have let some freaky wizard pull Daniel’s out. He’s holding his heart, Zack.”

Panic threatened to overwhelm me. I looked to where the wizard bent over his tray, his fingers working rapidly. He kept moving from the heart to the small set of tools he’d unrolled prior to ripping my husband’s heart from his chest. He moved with a weird grace, his hands flowing effortlessly as he worked. Perhaps that should have given me some comfort, but I couldn’t get over the sight of Daniel’s heart pumping in the wizard’s hand.

“It worked out in
Temple of Doom
, right?” Zack asked.

“No, Zack,” I muttered back. “That dude died.”

“Well, maybe he wasn’t a vampire,” Zack offered.

I sighed heavily and told myself I wouldn’t yell at Zack. I was going to try to remain calm and not think about the fact that Daniel was lying on the table in front of us without a heart in his chest. I moved forward slightly and I could see Daniel plain as day. He laid on the table, his big body still. So very pale, but I could see his chest moving up and down with each purposeful breath. It was a forced motion, not free and easy like a normal breath would be. There was thought and effort attached to each one, and my eyes moved toward the man behind each lungful of air Daniel’s body was taking. Dev’s eyes were closed, his head down as he concentrated fully on bodily functions that should come naturally. I saw the fine sheen of perspiration that coated his body, and every now and then a tremble would start in his hands and move all throughout his limbs.

“Is it just me or is Dev’s heart rate increasing?” Zack’s brown eyes watched Dev carefully.

I listened and he was right. Every second that went by, Dev’s heart beat just a little faster.

“Are you all right, Dev?” I asked quietly, not wanting to disrupt his concentration.

“He cannot hear you.” Myrddin poked at the small silver device on the front of Daniel’s heart, testing it. He used forceps and tried to pull it off but it was stubborn. “Once the monitor became audible, Devinshea and the king became locked in the chamber.”

I walked up to the wizard, Zack following hard behind. I peered down at the heart, trying to think of it all as a surreal dream. It resembled a strange piece of meat, not that piece of my husband that held his love for me. It just pointed out to me that what we loved about others was something completely intangible. I loved Daniel’s soul, but it needed a place to stay and it would be forcibly evicted if we didn’t get his heart back in his body.

“Dev’s heart rate is increasing,” I pointed out.

The wizard stopped briefly. He listened, turning one ear up into the air and holding his body still. “Yes, you’re right,” he replied and then went back to poking and prodding.

Zack and I exchanged exasperated glances.

“Is that normal?” I asked, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice.

“I have no idea,” Myrddin admitted.

“How can you say that?”

“Well, I’ve never actually done this before.”

“Then what made you think that this was a good time to start?” He was experimenting with Daniel’s life, and he’d pulled Dev into it as well.

“I decided it was a good idea because otherwise the king would die once your enemies get close enough to set off this little device.” Myrddin had a small magnifying glass and he inspected the metallic implant closely. “This is actually quite ingenious. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the humans have come up with. They’re so sadly lacking in magical skills, but their ingenuity never fails to amaze me.”

“I’m glad you’re looking forward to technology but can we get back to the fact that you have Danny’s heart in your hand and Dev’s is speeding up rapidly?”

It was. I could hear the throb of Devinshea’s heart picking up the pace.

“It’s only to be expected,” Myrddin replied simply. “His body is working double time. It was going to struggle, though the faery seems to be deteriorating faster than I expected. Perhaps Daniel’s vampire body required a stronger balance. Oh well, if it gets worse, I’ll need you to be ready to take the faery’s place, wolf.”

Zack breathed a big sigh of relief, and I knew that sitting on the sidelines was killing him. He would much rather be in that chamber with Daniel than standing out here having to watch and wait. “Why don’t I just go in now? I don’t mind. I think you’ll find I’m strong enough for both my master and myself. Let Devinshea rest.”

I was kind of all for that plan. I didn’t like the way Dev was shaking. His skin was getting pale and I saw how his fingers had tightened, like he was worried about losing his hold on Daniel. Zack was stronger than Dev. He always had been. Zack might not be an alpha, but he was a predator, and when you combined that with a steady dose of vampire blood it made for one tough wolf.

“You’ll get your chance, wolf,” the wizard murmured.

“When?” I asked.

“When the faery’s heart explodes, the wolf can jump in and take his place.” The forceps were back in his hands. “Be quick though. The king will have very little time once the faery dies.”

I staggered back and Zack had to catch me. The only thing that kept me from throwing myself bodily at that fucking wizard was the fact that Danny’s heart was literally in his hands.

“I swear to everything I hold dear that if my husband dies in that chamber, I will find a way to kill you,” I said between clenched teeth because I knew exactly what he’d done. “You let Dev go in there because you knew he wouldn’t refuse to help Daniel. You knew he would do anything and everything you asked because he loves me and he loves Danny. You sent him in there knowing Zack was a better choice.”

“And why would I do that, my queen?” He sounded merely interested, not shocked or insulted by my accusation. He poured a solution of something over Daniel’s heart and grunted at the result.

I stepped forward. “You would do it to get rid of your rival. You know that Devinshea is Daniel’s closest advisor. He’ll be able to talk Daniel out of things you want him to do. You won’t be able to control Dev.”

The wizard chuckled. “I assure you, if I wish to control the faery, I will. It won’t be hard. It’s all about knowing what someone wants and needs and giving it to them. Those men in that chamber, they both want something. Daniel wants to know he’s not alone. He’s terrified that he’s ill equipped for the job he must do. He looks to me as Arthur did. He can lean on me. Devinshea is looking for a father figure. Even with the fertility god inside him, he wants to prove he belongs. He wants so much to be a part of Daniel’s inner circle. I can provide both with the attention they seek. Trust me. I will be invaluable to Daniel’s knights. It isn’t Devinshea who concerns me, Your Highness.”

“You can’t control Bris. Is that what the problem is?”

“There are many problems I have with an ancient deity having control over one so close to the king,” Myrddin admitted. “Look at how he reacted to me. He gave me no chance, merely began spouting the worst tales of me. He has hidden his agenda to everyone. He allowed you to let yourself believe he was interested in your husband when the truth of the matter is, he was always after you. He wants you and he’ll do what he has to do in order to get you. In the end he’ll destroy Daniel and Devinshea to get what he wants.” Myrddin shook his head and turned back to his task. “Or at least that’s the way it seems to me. The fertility god will be troublesome, but I would never attempt to get at him through Devinshea.”

“That’s not the way it looks to me.” Anger and fear warred inside me. That beat was getting louder. The strain on Dev’s heart was obvious now. The rhythm was fast, and sometimes it would get erratic for a time before settling back into a quick but steady beat. He was failing and it would only get worse.

“Go, Zack, get Dev out,” I said firmly. “Take his place and keep Daniel alive.”

Zack was on the task immediately.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Myrddin said calmly.

Zack hit the wall of light that marked the boundary of the stasis chamber and was thrown back a good ten feet. He smashed against the wall on the opposite side and fell to the floor unconscious.

Myrddin shook his head ruefully as he glanced down at the wolf. “I told you. Now there is no one to take the faery’s place if he fails. I’ll have to work quickly.” His dark eyes found me and they narrowed, and for the first time I believed fully this man had ties to Hell. “I suppose I could be content with Devinshea’s condition if the god inside him were to cause no more trouble.”

I was in a corner and now I didn’t even have Zack to back me up. I was the only thing standing between Dev and his heart exploding. “And how am I supposed to convince him to let you have your way?”

“Like I said before, I’ve found it’s only a question of discovering what a person wants and giving it to them. The fertility god wants a loving goddess. You won’t find the task unpleasant, dear. I think you’ll like serving the god. Bear him a few children, pass them off as the faery’s, and make certain you spend plenty of alone time with the god. I’ll let you know when I need Bris’s attention focused elsewhere. I don’t do this for my own good, but rather for Daniel’s. He’s my charge and my only focus. If you have objections to this plan then I can merely wait and hope Daniel survives without a balance. It’s possible. He’s strong.”

There were angry tears pricking my eyes as I glared at the wizard. “You won’t get away with this. I’ll tell Danny exactly what you said.”

“And I will deny that I meant it that way, dear.” He lounged against the table looking altogether too comfortable. “I’ll tell Daniel that I was merely speaking aloud, trying to work through some problems with the queen, who I have come to greatly respect. I need your counsel if I’m to understand. I don’t know why the queen would take things so out of context, unless she is jealous and perhaps overly emotional. Can you think of anything that happened today that might make you overly emotional, dear?”

My heart stopped. They wouldn’t. He couldn’t know about that. Not even our closest friends knew what had happened earlier today. “Besides watching you rip my husband’s heart out?”

He chuckled, the sound sickening to my ears. “No, dear, I’m talking about the three of you trying to make a babe. Given that the faery is a fertility god, I would say the odds are high. Conception happens very quickly when fertility magic is involved. It can be very draining for the female. I will point all of this out to Daniel when you make your accusations. The queen will need her rest, you know. We wouldn’t want anything to upset her delicate condition. Don’t look so surprised. Daniel already feels our connection. He wanted to share his news with me.”

“Bastard,” I snarled. He would use my condition and our babies to lock me out. He would convince Dev and Daniel that I needed to be protected, and it wouldn’t take much. They already wanted me coddled and sheltered. I was running out of options. Zack was still out. I caught sight of Nim. “Nim will tell them what she heard.”

The room reverberated with laughter as the wizard passed a hand in front of Nim’s unseeing eyes. “Child, she lost consciousness when she took hold of the chamber.” A strange, brooding look came over the wizard’s face. “If I really wanted revenge I could just leave her here like this, her body forever in this state, unseeing, unhearing. It would be fitting.” He turned back to me. “Do we have a deal, Your Highness? That heartbeat is getting faster and faster. There’s not much time left.”

The sound made my soul hurt. Dev’s heart was straining to keep up with the demand and it was going to burst soon. His heart would fail and now there wasn’t even Zack to save Daniel. It was everything I had feared it could be. I would lose them both.