Steal the Moon(38)

I was still contemplating all that Lee had said when we dropped Marcus off. It was getting close to dusk when I told Lee I needed to go out to the farm. He herded me to his old beat-up Ford truck.

“I can drive if you like,” I said, my humor returning. I’d watched him in the rearview mirror during our trip to Fort Worth. “If I drive, you can hang your head out the window.”

“I make no apologies for that. It feels nice.” Lee climbed into the cab, and I was forced into the passenger side where he apparently liked to keep his empty fast food bag collection. He had the good sense to look slightly embarrassed as he cleared off the seat. “I’ll clean that out tonight. I don’t have many passengers.”

“You could let me drive.” No one ever let me drive anymore.

“You’re never driving my truck, Zoey.” He turned the engine over with a twist of the key and then slapped my hand away from the console. “And don’t you dare change my radio.”

I sighed, thinking I would have to listen to George Strait for the next twenty miles.

“You want to tell me what you’re going to do with that thing if you actually get ahold of it?”

“Oh, I’ll get it, Lee. Don’t doubt it for a minute.” I rested my head on my knees. My feet were on the dashboard because there really wasn’t room for them on the floor. “What I’ll do with it from there is extremely simple. I’m going to destroy it.”

“What if it works?”

“Then I’ll make damn sure it never does again.”

Lee grunted his agreement. “Those boys of yours are going to be damn upset about it.”

I shrugged, the gesture much more negligent than I felt. “They’ll live with the disappointment.”

“All right then. You just tell me what to do.” Just like that he went from bodyguard to accomplice.

I wasn’t going to hide anything from Danny or Dev, I promised myself as the miles went by. I was going to tell them exactly what I was going to do. If I was their conscience, it was probably past time I got to work.





Chapter Sixteen





We arrived at the farm just as another car was pulling in. Justin Parker was getting out of an old Chevy Malibu, his hands full of grocery bags. I slammed the passenger door shut, my feet hitting the gravel with a satisfying crunch.

“Hey there, Justin.” I gave the vampire a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

“Zoey, you’re just in time. Angie’s making empanadas.” Justin waved a hand toward Lee. “Though I’ll have to tell her to double the recipe now. Have you seen that guy eat?”

Lee scratched his stomach but made no comment as his eyes checked out the area. I had no doubt his senses were wide open, and he could give me a rundown of every living creature in a three-mile radius. He chose to follow me into the house, so I figured we were all right.

The heavenly scent of frying food wafted from the kitchen. Justin walked through the doors that separated the kitchen from the dining room.

“Thank god.” Angelina Hernandez took the bag out of his hand. “I thought you were going to take forever, baby.”

Justin shrugged, looking down at his girlfriend with great affection. “I wasn’t sure which one you wanted, so I bought all three.”

Angelina was contemplating the three pounds of cheese Justin had bought when her sister, Lisa, looked up from the conversation she was having with Zack. “Hey, Zoey. Good to see you, girl. Are you hungry? We’re making plenty.”

“I’m starving,” I admitted, but a thought crossed my mind. “Please tell me that’s chicken and not cat.”

Angelina shook her dark hair. “No, honey. If you want good cat, there are some vendors on Good Latimer who make great tacos.”

Everybody knew that but me. I really needed to start getting those memos. Maybe there was an underground Zagat’s survey.

“I see you managed to survive the day.” Zack congratulated his brother with a manly slap to his shoulder. He looked younger and happier now that his day was over. His tie was loose and his dress shirt was slightly rumpled, probably from making out with Lisa. I was never going to tell him I had made that happen. “Did she thrill you with endless rounds of shopping and salon services?”

“It was an interesting day.” Lee’s yawn didn’t make the case for “interesting.” “I got to watch another vamp try to seduce her, though he was strangely less annoying than that faery. On the plus side, it looks like we’re going into the hijacking business, brother.”

Zack held a hand up. “Nice. See, maybe if she’d tried something like that when I was around, I would have found her less obnoxious.”

“I seriously doubt that, Zack. We’re only getting into the hijacking business if I can convince the boys.” Of course, I was going to convince the boys. I would ask until they said yes. “Where are they?”

I’d noticed Dev’s Audi outside. Danny wouldn’t have taken a car.

Justin was attempting to disentangle himself from his girl. “I have to go. I’m already late, baby. My master’s going to be pissed.”

“You tell your master if he has a problem he can just come and see me,” Angelina said. It was the voice of a female who knew how to handle a man.

A couple of months before, I’d asked Angelina if she was happy with Justin. Most of the wolves I knew wanted to be with wolves. They weren’t happy dating other species, but Angie always seemed glad to be with the vampire. She told me that Justin was sweet and so much easier to handle than a wolf. If he stepped out of line, and he never did, not only could she cut off his access to sex, she could deny him dinner.

Looking around the house, I wondered if any of the occupants realized just how odd their lives were compared to normal vampire society. The vampires here were trained with discipline but allowed to make their own decisions. Torture wasn’t a part of their training. These men had chosen to turn and become a part of Daniel’s army. The women here were all wolves or shifters. From what I could tell, their vampire boyfriends treated them like queens. They ran this household. It was the opposite of the relationship the vamps would have had with Council-trained companions.

“Come on, Zoey,” Justin said. “I’ll take you out to Daniel.”

I followed the vampire out the back door. There was no real yard with a fence. The house sat on a couple of acres of land. The nearest neighbor was over a mile away and his name was Chad Thomas. As Chad was with Marini and Marcus flying to Los Angeles, there was no worry about prying eyes. This was the country and people for the most part left others alone.

Daniel stood, watching his small group of trainees as they fought each other using only hand-to-hand combat. He also trained the vamps in weapons, both handguns and heavier artillery. There were lessons in stealth and hunting.

Dev had taken to teaching the more academic pursuits. He taught the vamps about the creatures of the supernatural world. These men had grown up believing they were human and knowing nothing of the hidden world around them. Dev taught them how to deal with such things as weres, shifters, demons, and Fae creatures. Dev knew the cultures and how to get along. Daniel knew how to kill them if it became necessary.

Daniel’s new vampires numbered seven, including Chad. Chad’s year of training was almost up, and Daniel would be forced to send them another fledgling. I didn’t recognize the new guy. Daniel had turned him two weeks ago. I knew his name was Joel and Daniel had found him in Oregon.

“Nice of you to join us, Justin.” Daniel sent a glare to his fledgling as we entered the training field. The fighting stopped and the vampires moved back. “I believe we said nine o’clock. It’s now nine fifteen.”

“I’m sorry, master,” Justin began, his head slightly down, not making eye contact with the man who’d guided him through his turn.

“Give him a break, Danny.” I never liked watching the way all these vamps kissed Danny’s ass just because his blood gave them power and strength and crap. “Angie’s making dinner and she needed cheese. Cheese is a serious thing. You used to love cheese.”

Daniel’s blue eyes widened with sarcastic glee as he looked at Justin. “Well, don’t let a little thing like training for a war stop you from some serious grocery shopping, buddy. Is there anything else you need to do for your girlfriend? Does Angie need new shoes?”

“No, master,” Justin said, utterly chastened. He took his place next to the new guy.

I glared at Daniel, shocked at that attitude. This was not a man who told his wife no often. This was a man who said “sure thing, baby” and “right away” when I asked him to do something. He might put his foot down on occasion, but he could show Justin a little sympathy. “Daniel Donovan, is that any way to talk to Justin? He was just trying to be a good boyfriend.”

Daniel made sure he turned his back on his men. He kept his voice low. “Hey, baby, don’t do this now. I have to…you know, at least look tough. I have to keep these guys in line.”

I moved around my husband because there was a more pressing problem than Daniel’s unreasonable attitude. The new guy had just gotten a look at me.