Steal the Sun (13 page)

Daniel took one last swallow and licked my neck, helping to close the little wounds though I didn’t need it. I’d had his blood. I could heal just about anything.

I reached up and kissed him. “The two of you are going to treat me like a china doll, aren’t you?”

“We want to take care of you and the baby.” Dev panted as he let himself fall to the side. “I have no intention of being celibate, though. Dan and I will just have to take turns for a while. I think that was satisfactory for all concerned. When it’s Daniel’s turn, he can bite me and I’ll be perfectly happy. We’re going to rotate days.”

“We have a system worked out,” Daniel acknowledged.

I leaned back against him, loving how safe I felt in his arms. “You’re really all right with the whole baby thing, Danny?”

I was worried. He wasn’t the biological father and could never be one. I didn’t want this to make him feel like an outsider.

He measured his words and that was for Dev as much as me. “I worry about it. What’s my place, guys? Am I the uncle?”

“No.” Dev sat up, looking at Daniel seriously. “We’re the fathers. You can be papa and I’ll be daddy or the other way around. I don’t see what the problem is. It happens all the time.”

“Here it does,” Daniel argued. “I know our relationship is perfectly normal in Faery, but we don’t live in Faery. In Dallas, we’re kind of freaky. I think we need to talk about it. How is the kid going to feel when he goes to school and talks about his two dads?”

Dev laughed. “Our son will have much bigger problems than having two fathers. What happens when all the teachers at the school find themselves pregnant? Including the ones who have gone through menopause? That might cause a bit of concern. Or when he plays with the plants and they overrun the gymnasium?”

“Oh, I can see the parent teacher conference now.” I swallowed because I didn’t know if I was ready for a regular baby much less a magical one.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he assured me with a laugh. “He won’t be going to public schools. There are enough strange creatures on our plane that we have schools to handle the more magically inclined children.”

“Nice,” Daniel said, his dimples making an appearance. “Our kid’s going to Hogwarts.”

“Something like that. Rest assured he won’t be made fun of for having two dads. The other children will be far too afraid that his vampire dad will defend his son,” Dev stated.

“And I will,” Daniel said with a nod. “And if it is a girl, I will make sure my beast is there to greet anyone brave enough to date her.”

“Oh, god, if it’s a girl, will she be a companion?” I had a new biggest fear. Some vampire was going to come after my daughter. They would try to sell her. They would put her up for auction and she would go to the highest bidder. I would die before that happened to my daughter.

Dev cuddled me close, his voice turning serious. “Zoey, we don’t know for sure that she would be a companion. We do know that she would be the daughter of the
Nex Apparatus
, and when we’re done she will be the daughter of the acknowledged King of all Vampire. I doubt they’ll be stealing her off the street.”

“I’ll take apart the first one who looks at her and then the others might learn something.” Daniel’s voice had gone guttural.

Dev leaned in and kissed me. “I love you, sweetheart. It’s going to be fine. Like I said, Daniel and I will take such sweet care of you and our children. Now, I have some fields to make green and lush. I see our vampire is back to his strength, so I leave you in his capable hands. Perhaps tonight we can go to the temple. It’s where our child will be born.”

Daniel laid back in bed. “God, Z, please eat soon. I don’t want to lose this energy. It feels too fucking good.”

Dev laughed as he pulled back the bed curtains. “I’ll have Albert bring the tea in if he hasn’t already. Oh, hello, Bibi. Good morning to you.” His voice was amused as he glanced back through the curtains. “Sweetheart, your secretary has taken up residence on the chest at the end of our bed. I hope she doesn’t mind nudity.”

She didn’t. Bibi smiled shyly and toted her notebook that was far too large for her small hands. I poked my head out of the curtains and greeted my assistant.

“Good morning, mistress,” she said. “You seemed to be involved with your husbands. I did not want to interrupt you so I waited. Mara tried to dismiss me this morning, but I told her you wanted me and she should train me or you might be angry and take your vengeance out on her. She was scared. I have notes.”

“Excellent,” I said, happy that the troll was taking charge of her life. I just kind of wished she hadn’t been listening in to mine. “How about finding me a robe?”

“Of course,” she agreed. “And the large red person has drawn you a bath, though he says you will have to be satisfied with merely warm instead of scalding. I don’t know what that means but he said he didn’t want the baby to boil. I’m very excited about the baby.”

“So everyone knows?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about my private news being made so public. I wished I’d had some time to process it before everyone started planning the birth. It was inevitable. There wasn’t a lot of privacy in a court like this. It ran on rumors and innuendo. With the fertility problems of the Fae, my pregnancy was going to be big news.

Bibi nodded. “Prince Declan made an announcement last night at the banquet. All of Faery is excited. They believe it bodes well for Prince Dev’s fertility powers. Queen Miria cried. She wanted to see you, but Prince Declan said you needed time alone. There is a tray of tea and toast when you are ready.”

I stretched and decided to enjoy my role as a royal for once. “I’ll take my breakfast in the tub.”

I kissed Daniel, slipped on my robe and began the day.

* * * *

“Daniel is obviously feeling better, Z,” Sarah said, walking into the opulent bathroom after going to check on her patient. “What’s this I hear about Bris helping out?”

I grinned up at her. “He can funnel his magic directly into Daniel’s body.”

Her eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Yep. That was a good couple of minutes.” I let the warm water heat up my skin. I was feeling damn good. Danny seemed to be all right with the fact that we were having a baby, so I was settling my mind around it. It also made me think about the fact that I was having a faery child. I should try to fit in. I made a vow to myself to attempt to get along with the court. No more hauling naked noblewomen around by their hair, I promised myself. I would try to be a lady.

“I’m just wondering how Z is going to make it through nine months without a martini,” Neil mused with a devilish grin from the other side of my overly large tub. It was more like a small pool complete with steps to get in. Neil grabbed the soap. He gestured for me to turn around and started soaping my back. “It could affect the entire Dallas bar scene. I wonder how many bars will go under without their best customer.”

“It’s more than nine months, buddy.” Sarah sat on the ledge, letting her bare feet dangle in the water. “How about breast feeding? Although with Dev’s DNA, the baby might actually come out of the womb with a discernible blood alcohol level.”

I decided to switch the topic. Maybe I wasn’t ready to confront the whole baby thing. “Where are the other wolves today?”

“Zack is going to some farm with Dev and Lee refuses to come into the apartments until he’s sure you’re clothed,” Sarah explained with a smile. “He said he was going to the dungeons to check on our would-be assassin. He seems eager to start the ‘questioning.’ Maybe I should go down there and make sure they observe the Geneva Convention.”

Neil snorted as he sank back in the warm water. “Honey, Switzerland doesn’t exist on this plane. I assure you what Daniel is going to do to that faery will make Guantanamo look like Disney World.”

Sarah sighed. “I don’t want to know. After all that time on the Hell plane, I come down firmly on the side of no torture.”

“You’re in luck then, Ms. Day,” Padric said darkly from the doorway.

I ducked down and hid my boobs under the ledge of the tub. “Hello, naked here.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Padric said. “People usually bathe nude. It’s nothing I haven’t seen.” It wasn’t. He’d seen all of me and from various angles because Dev liked to switch positions. Faery marriage ceremonies came complete with witnesses to the consummation. Padric and Declan had been mine. He did, however, look surprised that I had a guest. “Is the boy your maid?”

Neil shook his head. Unlike me, he couldn’t care less that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. “Nope, I’m the bodyguard. I’m patrolling these dangerous waters. Can’t let sharks get Her Grace.”

Padric was not impressed with sarcasm. “I wouldn’t worry about sharks, young man. You have far more to think about. The prisoner was found dead.”

Daniel was in the room almost instantly. He’d gotten out of bed damn fast. “What do you mean, he’s dead? He was fine last night. When we left him he was moaning about his headache but otherwise he was fine in his cell. The healers said he would be all right and ready for questioning today.”

“Did he kill himself?” Neil asked, getting out of the tub and drying himself off. He was perfectly professional now and ready to be serious.

“No,” Padric replied. “The healers believe someone poisoned the archer’s breakfast. We’re questioning the staff, but no one seems to know anything. The boy who delivered the food this morning is missing.”

“Lee can track a man for miles.” Daniel’s color was back to his normal pale and he seemed much stronger from his morning feeding. “Do you have anything that belonged to the boy?”

“I will check but it will have to wait.” Padric’s face went dark, his eyes trailing to the large window on the opposite wall. “We have bigger problems. The Unseelie are here.”

“With an army?” Daniel asked.

Padric shook his head. “No, they sent an envoy. The messenger said they merely wanted to visit in an attempt to restore our previously good relations. They wish to celebrate the marriage of the prince. Prince Dev was well liked by the Unseelie. If we refuse them, it will be a grave insult.”

“But you don’t think that is the real reason they are here?” I asked as Daniel held my robe up. He made certain I was covered as I walked up the steps of the bath. He wrapped it around me.

“I think the timing is interesting,” Padric admitted. “They come just as someone is attempting to kill Her Grace. There is nothing we can do but welcome the envoy and watch him like a hawk. Please get Her Grace properly dressed as well as yourself, Daniel. The queen wants all of you at her side when we greet the envoy. Zoey, please wear the dress Declan left for you. We retrieved it from Mara’s room a few minutes ago. She will not be working at the palace any longer.”

“I will make sure Her Grace is prepared for the meeting,” Bibi said with enthusiastic confidence. “And I will make sure Master Daniel is in proper costume as well.”

Padric stared down at the troll with surprise. “See that you do.” He turned back to me. “Your husband is already in conference with the queen and his brother. They will defer to him when dealing with the Unseelie. It is important that you and Daniel support him.”

I nodded. We had just been told to behave. I would object but I had come to the same conclusion myself just a few minutes before. This was Dev’s world. He understood it better than we did.

“We’ll be what Devinshea needs us to be,” Daniel promised. He owed Dev. Dev had played whatever role Daniel needed while he was trying to secure his own crown, so backing up Dev was no big deal.

Padric was almost out the door when he turned back. “And Your Grace, keep your wolves close. The Unseelie are not to be trusted. You should never be alone with them.”

With those ominous words, the head of the royal guard left us to prepare. As Sarah and Bibi went to get our clothes ready, Daniel and I moved to the window. In the distance we could see a small party making their way from the mountains. I looked out, trying to get a glimpse of the man at the head of the group.

Daniel hugged me from behind, his hand going protectively over my belly. He was quiet as we watched the Unseelie move ever closer. “It’s going to be okay, Z. You stay close to me. Dev has to do his thing, so it’s my turn to protect you.”

On our plane, Daniel trusted my protection to Dev, freeing him to do what he needed to do. It was obvious Danny intended to give Dev the same treatment in Faery. I leaned on Daniel, enjoying having him to myself for once, even if our time was going to be limited because that procession was getting closer and closer.

My eyes were probably playing tricks on me but I would have sworn the man leading the party had enormous antlers.

It was going to be an interesting day.

Chapter Eight

I held Daniel’s hand as we stepped out of the palace and onto the white steps where the royals watched the Unseelie approach with suspicious eyes.

While I had been pushed and pulled into my dress, Bibi had patiently answered many of my questions concerning the dark court of Faery. The Unseelie had their own king who had been on his throne for two hundred years longer than Miria. Dev’s mother was considered a young queen and many Seelie nobles had been waiting for the dark court to test her will. The Unseelie king was named Angus and he was half
sidhe
and half goblin. It was said he was descended from Balor and like the legendary warrior, he had a third eye which when opened could kill a man with a single glance. Bibi had explained that the envoy would be one of two ascended gods who served as Angus’s seconds, and the identity of the selected ambassador would be telling.