“So she’s a companion.” She looked me up and down, letting me know she didn’t see anything special.
“She’s my wife,” Daniel corrected, apparently not noticing she refused to speak directly to me. I heard Dev chuckle behind me. “We’ve been together since we were kids, but we just got married about two years ago. Gosh, I guess I haven’t been in here in a really long time.”
“Yes.” Her mouth tightened with displeasure. “You just stopped coming.”
Daniel shrugged, looking past the foyer into the hallway beyond, searching for something. “I guess you could say I prefer to eat at home. Do I need to sign Zoey and our friend in?”
Stacy shook her head as though trying to shake something off. “Your companion is already on the books, but your friend will have to sign in. Your name is Quinn, right?”
“Yes, Devinshea Quinn, Prince of Faery, at your service.” He bowed at the waist but not before I saw the amusement in his eyes.
Stacy produced a leather-bound book and Daniel signed it. While he handled the formalities, I took a moment to look around the place that had been a mystery for so long. There had been a time when I would have given anything to follow Danny in here as his companion. Now I just wanted to go home.
The carpet beneath my feet was lush and ran the length of the foyer. It looked expensive and old. The room was lit with candles and gas lamps. I could have been on the set of a Victorian film. Music thudded softly from somewhere in the building. It was a sexy hip-hop beat, much like the stuff that played at Ether, and I wondered just how the Council partied. I’d attended a ball last year but that had been a formal occasion. This was a more casual affair, and there was a small part of me that was fascinated by seeing vampires in their element.
“I’ll need the conference room,” Daniel was saying to the blonde, who nodded vigorously and promised she would do anything she could to help him. “Are they in the parlor?”
“Yes, they are.” Stacy began to lead us down the hallway. She smiled back at Daniel. “You should know that I don’t believe any of those rumors about you. I know you, Danny. You aren’t like that.”
“Like what?” Daniel asked, not sounding like he really cared.
I cared. She said “Danny” in an intimate way. Danny was my husband. Danny was the boy I grew up with. Daniel was a badass vampire. Everyone called him Daniel except me. She might as well have called him “baby” or “lover.”
Stacy turned and she almost touched him. Her hands came out to reach for him before she caught herself. “I know you aren’t really living with him. You’re not the type.” She glanced back at Dev and was the first woman I’d ever met who didn’t melt at the sight of him. She glared at him like he was a bit distasteful. “Did the Council force you to take a companion? It makes sense. They need you to be strong for the important work you do. You don’t have to pretend with me. I can keep your secrets. The faery can have her. You can come back to me and no one is going to think less of you.”
Daniel looked to Dev, a confused light in his eyes.
Dev laughed outright. “Seriously, Dan, you’re screwed now. Don’t you know to handle your ex-lovers before introducing them to the wife? The preference, of course, is to never introduce them to the wife.”
“Lover?” The question came out of my mouth as a little screech.
Daniel went the slightest bit pale. “Z, baby, I swear to you. I never…”
Stacy put her hands on her almost nonexistent hips. “I was his favorite. I fed him for years. He’ll come back to me. He only keeps you because of that blood you have.”
Dev’s arms went around my waist just in time to keep me from launching myself at the woman and snatching that bleached blonde hair straight out of her head. “Don’t, sweetheart. She isn’t worth messing up that dress. It’s Versace, and you’ll ruin the line if you tumble around on the floor.”
“Z, I never slept with her.” Daniel was talking as fast as he could. “I swear I never touched her except to feed. I had to eat. That’s what this place is for, but I didn’t even feel her up or anything. There was no funny business going on.”
“He was a gentleman because he loves me,” Stacy continued. “Tell her about all the nights we sat up talking, Danny. Did you know he used to take me with him when he went on assignments?”
“You did what?” I growled at my husband and tried to bring my heel down on Dev’s toe. He was far too used to my moves as he avoided the four-and-a-half-inch stiletto with ease.
My husband had the good sense to stay a couple of feet away from me. “It was only a couple of times, baby. I had to go kill some people in really rural places. It was easier to pack a lunch than find one in the field.” He frowned at Dev. “You don’t have to look so damned amused.”
“Oh, I assure you it is entirely necessary,” Dev returned. “I’ve dreamed of this day, Dan.”
“You never take me on assignment.” I tried to push Dev’s arms down. It was no use.
Stacy had the audacity to put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder.
Daniel stepped away quickly. “I don’t take you with me because it’s dangerous, baby. I love you so much. I’d never put you in harm’s way like that. God, I do everything I can to keep you safe.”
Stacy rolled her eyes. “That’s not you talking, Danny. That’s the addiction. You fought it off once before and I’ll help you do it again. You don’t need her. She’s been nothing but trouble from what I’ve heard. She isn’t even a good companion. I was good for you. I took care of you. She gets you in trouble. And she’s far too short for you. I certainly didn’t expect her to be so pudgy.”
“Let me go, Dev,” I snarled.
“Oh, thank the heavens.” Marcus’s rich voice was filled with amusement as he leaned against the wall and watched—which apparently is something he really likes to do. “I worried after the earlier events of the evening that Zoey would be far too embarrassed to misbehave. I see I was mistaken. Don’t listen to her, cara. You’re stunning and she knows it. Daniel might be attracted to your shine above that body of yours, but I believe Mr. Quinn will attest to the fact that there is nothing pudgy about you.”
“Zoey knows how I feel about her body.” Dev loosened his grip.
“I’m pretty damn attached to her body,” Daniel corrected. “I think I proved that earlier tonight.”
Marcus shifted his stare to Stacy, and the affectionate look on his face vanished. “As for you, Miss Sears, if you ever treat Mrs. Donovan in that fashion again, I will see you turned out. She is your mistress yet you insult her. You’ll remember your place or I’ll be forced to show you. Make your apologies.”
Her head was down now and her eyes averted. “I’m sorry, master.”
“Not to me. To her.” Marcus gestured my way.
“Please accept my apologies, Mrs. Donovan,” she said quietly, and I realized this wasn’t the first time she had been forced to humble herself.
“Of course,” I returned, and Dev finally let me loose.
“Miss Sears, try to stay out of Mrs. Donovan’s way for the rest of the night. And you should definitely keep your distance from her husband,” Marcus ordered.
The blonde walked away, a sheen of tears in her eyes.
I turned on my husband and pointed at him. “You have a lot of explaining to do. I believe that you didn’t sleep with her, but that girl is obviously in love with you. She was hurt. You should have told me about her and don’t throw Dev in my face because I never hid him from you.”
“How can you hide him from me when he’s always on top of you?” Daniel asked, still seemingly confused by the entire episode.
“I’m not always on top,” Dev replied. “I often enjoy being on bottom. I like the view.”
Daniel had gotten good at ignoring Dev. “Z, I had no idea she thought that about us. I swear I just needed someone to talk to, and she was a good listener. Hell, most of the time I was talking about you. I never said anything to make her believe she was more than a friend.”
“I’ll have her reassigned,” Marcus said with an imperious wave. “I won’t have her causing trouble. The last thing we need is our slaves wreaking havoc. I warned you about getting too friendly with them, Daniel.”
“Slaves?” I asked, my voice tight.
Daniel grinned at his patron. “I’ll leave you to the explanations. I have to set up.” He kissed me hard and quick. “Stay out of trouble, Z.”
As I watched him disappear down the hall, I had a feeling that wasn’t going to be easy.
“Come, cara.” Marcus offered me his arm. “You can rail at the injustices of our world in the parlor.”
“So slaves?” I let Marcus lead me down the hall.
Marcus shrugged. “Of course. Did you expect vampires to run the club? We have human slaves to do menial labor.”
“By menial labor he means all labor,” Dev pointed out helpfully.
“How exactly does one become a slave?” I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear the answer, but it was like a car accident.