Steal the Sun Read online

  Dev picked up the flagon that should have been mine and offered a toast. “I learned from the best. I spent much of my youth in this tavern drinking and picking up women. The picking up women part may be over, but the drinking never ends.” Dev proceeded to prove his point by taking an obscenely long drink. He sighed as he emptied the large mug in a single drink. “So good, Ross. Please, if you don’t mind, I’ll take another. My partner doesn’t believe this is the best beer he’ll ever taste, and I have to prove it to him. Forgive me, lover, I’ve stolen your beer. Make that two, Ross.”

  “Just the one, please,” I interrupted with a shake of my head. “I don’t think I’ll be drinking today.”

  Dev frowned, and I noted Sarah’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

  “Are you not feeling well, my goddess?” Dev asked, concern in his eyes.

  “I am sure Zoey is simply nervous about meeting our mother,” Declan offered. “I think it is a mark of her burgeoning maturity. She is a wife now. She has to present herself differently.”

  This was one of those times I would love to roll my eyes and get drunk just to piss off my brother-in-law. I didn’t point out that I had been a wife for several years and marriage hadn’t cut down my consumption. Actually marriage to Danny had refined and refocused my love of vodka. It wasn’t being a wife that was curbing my drinking, but the thought of being a mom definitely was. I saw Dev bought Declan’s explanation, but I wasn’t so sure Sarah was sold on it. She studied me carefully, her brown eyes making connections I would, no doubt, hear about later.

  “Sweetheart, don’t be nervous.” Dev kissed my cheek, his hands smoothing over my hair. “She is going to love you or we’ll go home. I, for one, intend to drink as much as I can before having to face my mother.”

  “He probably should,” Declan agreed with a nod. “I doubt Mother would recognize him sober.”

  I glanced up where the shining white palace stood. It glimmered like a jewel in the distance. That palace was going to be my home for the next month or so. It was like something out of a faery tale but there was a reason for that. This was the place faery stories had originated. I had walked into a faery tale but I suspected it would prove to be more a Grimm’s tale than anything Disney would put out. I couldn’t expect a happy ending here, not one I didn’t purchase with blood and sacrifice.

  “You’re unhappy,” Dev accused me softly, forcing my attention back to him.

  I shook off my ominous thoughts and tried to smile brightly. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin Dev’s homecoming. It was all he had talked about for weeks. “No, baby. It’s like your brother said. I’m just nervous. I’ve never had a mother-in-law. Danny’s mom died when he was a toddler so your mom is my only hope for an overbearing relationship with an in-law. Declan aside, of course.”

  Declan chose to ignore my comment about him. “I think you’ll find Mother easy to deal with. She wants one thing from you, Zoey. She wants you to make Devinshea happy. That, and of course, as many grandchildren as your body can handle. Trust me. The moment you prove your fertility, Mother will think you walk on water.”

  Dev gave his brother a dark look but turned back to me. “Don’t listen to him, sweetheart. You make me happy and that will have to satisfy Mother for now. I won’t let her push you into anything. Our relationship is far more complex than that.”

  “Prince Dev.” Loran walked out of the tavern with Ross, mugs of ale in his small hands. The gnome kind of waddled toward us with a big grin on his face.

  “Loran, it is good to see you,” Dev replied. “The gardens look lovely.”

  The gnome bowed slightly, pleased at the compliment. “I’ve had to work hard since you left. I managed to keep up the ones in town, but our fields are in terrible shape. You’ll have to walk the countryside putting things to rights. You’ve come back just in time.”

  Besides his fertility powers, Dev was quite good with agriculture. Declan had told me once that when Dev walked barefoot through the sithein, he left a trail of green wherever he went. It would be interesting to see how his powers had grown with the taking of Bris into his body.

  The gnome suddenly got to his knees and took a subservient position.

  “That is not necessary, good gardener. I require no obeisance.” The words came out of my husband’s mouth but the voice wasn’t his. I looked up and stared into solid emerald eyes. I almost scrambled out of his lap but he anticipated the move, holding my waist tightly. Bris did not come out often but when he did, he liked to get his hands on me. He was always gentle but he loved to touch me and kiss me. I was scared of just how good he could make me feel.

  “Bris,” I heard the Seelie whisper reverently among themselves. “It is the god.”

  “Hello, my sweet goddess,” he said with a little smile. “Are they giving you a hard time?”

  “Not so much,” I lied, trying not to look too deeply into those eyes. Bris had an effect on me. I suppose I should expect that a fertility god would be intensely attractive, but I found my reaction to him disconcerting. When he put his hands on me, I wanted to melt. It was the same as my reaction to Dev, only more intense. As he had said the night we met, he was Dev and something more.

  “They are an arrogant people. They tend to dismiss anyone not like them,” Bris said quietly to me. “Give it time, and they will see you as we see you. We think you are the most beautiful woman here, and you should not doubt it.”

  He leaned in and kissed me softly, his lips brushing mine, and suddenly I didn’t want to get off his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let his soft magic skim across my skin. Bris’s magic was like a warm wave that blanketed me. The world dissolved around us and I kissed him freely, opening my mouth under his and letting his tongue play against mine. I moved closer, wanting to meld with him, brushing our chests together, needing more. His hands were in my hair when I heard Sarah.

  “Snap out of it,” she said sharply, and I came to my senses.

  Sarah was a good girlfriend. We’d made a deal. She wouldn’t let me make an idiot of myself in public. I pulled back and Bris looked disappointed. I didn’t try to break free, but I wasn’t about to get lost in those eyes again.

  “I apologize, good gardener,” Bris said with a sigh, turning his attention back to the gnome. “I came out for a purpose and got distracted by my goddess. I find her tempting. Now, you said the fields are fallow?”

  “Aye, My Lord, that they are,” Loran replied soberly because gnomes took their gardens seriously. “Our crops have been weak ever since we lost our Green Man. One more season like this and we’ll have trouble feeding our people.”

  Bris nodded. “Then this shall be our first task. Tomorrow we will tour the fields and decide what must be done to correct the problems. I shall make sure you have no issues with scarcity.” He turned to me again, and his eyes were hot. “Of course, we will also be performing some fertility rites. It’s another problem the Fae have been plagued with, and we must help. I’m looking forward to that, my goddess.”

  “I just bet he is,” Dev said with a self-deprecating smile. He looked up, reassuring me Bris had gone dormant again. “Sorry, I told him he could handle the heavy agricultural lifting. He’s excited about making things green. It’s been a long time since he used his powers.”

  I doubted that was the only thing he was excited about. “So, fertility rites?”

  Dev looked sweetly sheepish. “Yeah, I kinda promised we’d be doing some of that. I hope you don’t mind but it is my job. You’ll love our temple, though. It’s beautiful and peaceful.”

  “Is it going to be as…intense as the last time?” We had performed a fertility rite for a large group of werewolves, and the experience had been draining, to say the least.

  “No,” he replied quickly. “This will be much simpler. I promise. I’ll handle everything. You just need to let me take care of you.”

  Ross sat another beer down in front of Dev and looked at the coffin on the table next to us. “So, Prince Dev, has trage
dy befallen your group? If someone has passed on, then allow me to offer my condolences.”

  Dev’s smile became devilish as he drank his beer and eased me out of his lap. He crossed to the coffin and leaned against it. “He’s not dead. He’s just a lazy bastard. He didn’t want to walk all this way.” Dev knocked on the top of the coffin. “How ya doing in there, Dan?”

  There was an angry blast like Danny had punched the coffin from the inside. “It’s fucking hot in here, Dev. Move this caravan along. This thing is almost dead.”

  “See, he’s fine,” Dev said with a shit-eating grin. He held a hand out toward Zack. “You got the spare I asked you to bring?”

  Zack produced the extra game system, and Dev quickly opened and shut the coffin, shoving in the needed item.

  “He gets pissy when he can’t play his games,” Dev explained, winking my way. We had put together a “you have to spend several hours in a hot coffin” care kit for Danny. Danny and I had also done some fooling around in the small box because he said he liked my scent. It made him more comfortable when he could sense me near him. I was his companion, and we were connected on a basic level. He’d finally started asking me for what he wanted, and I worked hard to make sure I gave him what he needed.

  Declan frowned and crossed his arms petulantly over his chest. “How exactly is the vampire doing anything in his coffin when you were supposed to make certain he was wrapped in silver chains?”

  Dev didn’t bother to look guilty. He stared his brother down. “Well, he is my partner. Those chains are uncomfortable. They burn his skin. He’s also good at revenge. I wrap him in chains and I assure you he spends the entire trip coming up with some way to get me back.”

  “Are we there yet?” Daniel must have been screaming because even I heard him.

  “No,” Dev screamed back, not caring that his whole town was watching the byplay. “Suck it up, Donovan. I’m drinking.”

  “That beer better be worth it, Quinn!”

  “Would the man in the coffin like a drink?” Ross asked, confused because unlike the tabloids, he apparently hadn’t heard the rumors.

  “Oh, he’d like one,” Neil explained. “He just has to wait until Dev’s blood alcohol level is up.”

  “Working on it,” Dev said, finishing off beer number two. “Keep ’em coming, Ross. I have an ‘interview’ with my mother in a couple of hours, and I would like to be shit faced before I have to deal with that. If I work hard, Dan can be drunk off his ass too when we finally have to deal with the royals.”

  I noticed Lee out of the corner of my eye. His head came up suddenly and he yelled. “Neil, six o’clock. Cover her!”

  Neil was starting to leap as I saw the man on top of a building to our left. He drew back an arrow and sent it flying my direction.

  I’ve had many people try to kill me before but this was my first assassination attempt. And I’d only been in Faery for a few hours. Yay, vacation!

  Chapter Three

  “Oh, god, it’s in my ass.” Neil fell to the ground, pulling me under him. He had done his duty, tossing his body in front of mine just as the archer let loose his arrow. Neil had leapt high, covering my torso with his body, and the arrow that would have hit my heart did indeed lodge itself in my best friend’s butt cheek.

  I hit the ground hard, my breath fleeing in an instant. Amid the screaming and general confusion, there was a mighty crack that split the air. Daniel kicked open the coffin and burst forth, his feet hitting the table we’d just been sitting at. I nodded at him to let him know I was all right.

  “Let’s go, Donovan.” Lee jumped onto the roof of the tavern, moving to catch the man who had shot at me.

  I lay beneath Neil as Daniel took off. Lee quickly climbed up the tavern and started leaping across rooftops in pursuit of the assassin. I turned to try to see Dev. The royal guard had appeared at the first shouts, and it was obvious they had orders. Dev had five guards on him and Declan four. They formed a protective wall around the twins.

  “Let me go.” My husband struggled against his guard. He tried to get to me, but they were well trained and in this case did not listen to their charge. They had one and only one duty and that was to get the heir and the spare to safety. Anything else could wait.

  “I have an arrow in my butt,” Neil said, his face close to mine. He covered me even as everyone around us ran.

  “I know, sweetie.” I wished I could see what was going on. Dev was gone, dragged away by his guard. Danny was off chasing an assassin.

  “It hurts and I think it’s in my left cheek,” he whispered.

  I raised my head slightly and caught a glimpse of the offending arrow. It was lodged firmly in Neil’s left cheek. With his healing powers, we would be cutting that sucker out. “Sorry, babe. It’s definitely the left cheek.”

  “But that’s my perfect cheek,” he said, resting his forehead against mine. “I’m gay, Z. My ass is my money-maker. I’m scarred for life.”

  He wasn’t. He would heal and his butt wouldn’t be any worse for the wear, but I have some experience with arrows and I knew they hurt like hell.

  “Are you okay? You know, is everything okay? Even the small stuff?” He had hit me hard, trying to make sure he took the screaming arrow instead of me. He’d acted instinctively and with no thought for the fact that I might be carrying a child.

  “I’m fine.” I was in absolutely no pain. I was arrow free so I was calling this a win.

  “Let me go!” Dev yelled, and I could hear the fury in his voice as the royal guard carried him away. They carried him bodily into the relative safety of the tavern. “Get my wife. I’m not going without my wife.”

  But he was. God inside or not, he wasn’t proof against five immortal, well-trained warriors of the sidhe. He and Declan were hustled out of the line of fire. Declan obviously hadn’t debriefed his full guard because he was yelling orders, too.

  “Her Grace is more important,” he ordered even as they dragged him away. “Protect her!”

  They weren’t listening and wouldn’t do anything about me until their future king and their current High Priest were safe and sound. I was just some chick Prince Dev had married, and he could probably find another who looked just like me.

  Sarah, Felix, and Zack rushed to my aid. Now that the place was quieter, they managed to surround me. Felix helped Neil up while Zack kept watch over the courtyard. He had a gun in his hand and his eyes moved, watching for any further trouble. Sarah got to her knees beside me.

  “Are you all right?” She smoothed the hair from my forehead. “The area’s clear.”

  “I’ve got a good line of sight, Zoey. You can get up now,” Zack said. “Are you hurt? Neil took you down pretty hard.”

  Screw the royal guard. I’d take my crew any day of the week. Sarah helped me up. I struggled to my feet. “I’m fine. Neil’s ass took the bullet for me.”

  I was used to fighting for my life but the whole assassination thing didn’t give a girl much of a shot. It was a bit unsettling, and I was gratified by the fact that we were almost alone now. Even the satyr and gnome had rushed into the tavern. I stretched, making sure everything was moving, and then got to my knees to take a look at Neil’s injury.

  The crowd had dispersed the minute they realized there was going to be violence. Now, it was actually fairly quiet with the singular exception of my husband’s continuing vitriol. I could hear him from the tavern where the guard had him under protective custody. The only one shouting as much as Devinshea was Declan.

  “Zack, I’m going to need a knife.” I tried to gently probe the arrow wound. It had ruined the tan pants Neil was wearing. The arrowhead must have been large because the wound was huge. I didn’t want to think about what it would have done to my chest.

  Neil gasped. “No, Z, you are not cutting up my butt.”

  Zack pulled a wicked stiletto out of his boot, offering it to me. He frowned as he stared at the tavern where Dev was proving he knew lots of cuss words. “Should I g
o save my boss from the people trying to save him?”

  I shook my head. “He’d kick your ass for leaving me, Zack. They won’t hurt him. Danny and Lee will be back any minute one way or another. As soon as they return, I assume the guard will let Dev go and try to figure out if we’re alive or not. Well, they’ll let Dev go or Danny will probably kill them all.” Danny was a little possessive. He wouldn’t like the idea of the guard hauling Dev away. “Neil, sweetie, I have to cut this out or you’re never going to sit down again.”

  “I’ll just stand,” Neil vowed tearfully.

  “Birds are going to perch on your ass, babe.” Sarah put a hand on his shoulder.

  “I like birds.” He did. He liked to eat them.

  Zack rolled his eyes, reached down, and with one brutal move pulled the arrow out of Neil’s cheek. There was a long, loud howl that filled the courtyard.

  “Zack, that was rude.” I got to my feet and fixed the werewolf with a stern stare.

  Zack shrugged, utterly nonplussed at my outrage. “It’s like pulling off a Band-Aid, man. Do it quick. Take the pain. The anticipation is worse than the pain.”

  “No, it wasn’t. The anticipation didn’t hurt.” Neil was holding his wounded buttock and asking Sarah to make sure it was healing to its normal lovely self.

  Daniel hit the ground in front of me, and before I realized he was there, I was in his arms. He ran his hands all over me, searching for any possible injury.

  I submitted to the inspection. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he was sure. “I’m fine, Danny. Neil got hit, but I’m fine.”

  Daniel looked down at Neil, frowning. He could see the blood, but the wound had already closed. Neil was getting up with a hand from Felix. He looked at Daniel, but they didn’t say anything to each other. It had been like this ever since Neil had come back. They circled each other and the rest of us just waited for the blow up.

  Lee walked up, lugging an unconscious body behind him. He dragged the tall faery by the neck of his shirt with ease. He nodded my way. “You okay?”