Steal the Moon(8)

“We don’t live in the Fae world, Ingrid. We live in this world where marriage means one man and one woman—at least in the state of Texas it does,” my father replied. “If Dev wanted a Fae marriage, he should be with a Fae girl.”

“Harry, give Dev a break.” Daniel sat back in his chair, the only one without a plate in front of him. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s trying to make Z happy.”

My father took Danny’s reasoning seriously. “What about you, Danny? Is this…relationship making you happy?”

“It’s working.” Daniel leaned forward and rested his hands on the table. “In a perfect world, I wouldn’t be a vampire and Z wouldn’t be a companion. We would have gotten married after college and started giving you a ton of grandkids. That ain’t happening. In this world, our current situation works. You have no idea how much trouble she can cause. It takes two of us just to keep her alive.”

“And satisfied,” Dev added needlessly with a salacious grin.

I let my head drop and just prayed the evening would be over soon. My father already knew too much about my sex life. If the night kept going like this, I should just send him a video.

“Dev and I can switch off duties,” Daniel explained, warming up to the subject. “I can handle all the dangerous stuff, and Dev can take her shopping. Don’t forget those pedicures he gets with her, either. Apparently it’s important his toes are pretty.”

“Laugh it up, Dan, with your hobbit feet. I have no idea why Zoey lets those hairy things anywhere near her,” Dev cracked. “And I enjoy shopping with Zoey. I especially enjoy all the time we spend in dressing rooms.”

Daniel sighed. “Man, I should have known there was a reason you did that. I’m going next time.”

“I’m sure Zack will be thrilled to get the day off. Zack is one of the bodyguards I provide for your daughter,” Dev explained my father’s way. “Daniel can’t protect her during the day. She’s precious to me, and I try to give her everything she needs.”

My father watched the byplay with a shocked look on his face. “The two of you get along?”

Daniel shrugged a little, relaxing again. “Once we stopped trying to kill each other, we realized we had a lot in common.”

“We both survive Zoey on a daily basis,” Dev agreed. “It builds camaraderie.”

“Well, I think it’s perverted.” Christine watched the scene with a judgmental look on her face. I thought it was nice that I got judged by a woman who practiced black magic and slept with a man more than twice her age.

“It often is perverted,” Dev said with a big smile. “As often as I can convince Zoey.”

“Zoey, it isn’t normal,” Christine continued, wagging her finger at me and pursing her lips. “You should pick one and be miserable with your choice just like the rest of us.”

“Christine, if you’ll get on board, I promise I’ll speak to your witch’s support group about the time I met Lucifer Morningstar.” I knew how to handle her. Even though I sometimes couldn’t stand her, it would help if she was on my side. It didn’t look like she was going anywhere soon.

Christine sat up straight and patted my father’s hand. She was interested in a little social climbing. Bringing in guests might get her on that committee she’d been angling for. “Honey, I think we should support your daughter’s lifestyle choices no matter how counterculture they are. She’s your daughter, and we can’t really ignore her because we don’t agree with her living arrangements. Maybe I could start a support group.”

“Does Heaven want to weigh in on this?” Dad looked to Felix for advice.

“They love each other, Harry. It might not be conventional, but it is love,” Felix stated sagely. “Now, the thievery on the other hand is something we should talk about.”

My father immediately disregarded Heaven’s opinion. “Are you happy, girl?”

I stared at him across the table. There was a tired cast to his eyes, the lines deeper than I remembered, and I realized how old my dad was getting. I nodded. “I am, Dad. I really hope you can accept it.”

My father nodded and picked up his fork.

Daniel leaned over and kissed my cheek. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”



****



An hour later, I made my way up the stairs and out to the balcony. I closed the door quietly behind me and took a deep breath. The heat of the June night rushed over my skin, but it couldn’t possibly be more oppressive than where I’d just come from.

The night had settled into a sort of awkward therapy session. My dad asked an awful lot of questions and Daniel and Dev and Ingrid answered them. I’d been much discussed but my voice wasn’t needed. I had no doubt the people in that room loved me, but they didn’t seem to want my opinion.

It was a lot like the months since Dev and Daniel had made their agreement.

When I left, Daniel and Dev had been discussing my security situation with Dad. Suddenly my father had been interested in what the boys had to say. I’d neglected to mention to him that Lucas Halfer had pledged bloody revenge on me and he was taking it seriously. Dad wanted to know everything about both of my guards and the protocols Dev had put into place concerning my security.

I was breaking those sacred protocols by coming out to the balcony. I was supposed to be in the bathroom, but I just had to get away for a minute. It had been months since I’d been on my own even for a few moments. I wasn’t even alone in the condo. Daniel or Dev were always there, or Zack and Lee were on duty.

It was a hard place to be for a woman who was used to being on her own. I’d been alone for years after Daniel died. Even when he’d come back from his Council training, we lived apart.

The pool light was on, making a silvery glow against the dark of the night. I needed to work. That was the real problem. Daniel had a job. He spent his time training the vampires he found and turned. He educated them in what it meant to walk the night. He taught them how to hunt and how to remain undercover. It took up a lot of his time. He was providing for them out of his funds and the money we made from our last job. It was imperative that those vampires remained a secret to the Council. In addition to caring for his charges, Daniel had work to do as the Council’s go-to guy for executions and other horrible acts. It wasn’t easy being the vampires’ own bogeyman.

Dev ran five nightclubs and was always thinking about expanding. He was a shrewd businessman, and though he’d ceded much of the day-to-day operations to his second in command, Roman, he still kept up to date. He was much more involved in Daniel’s politics now. Dev had become convinced that Daniel should be on the throne and the Council should be disbanded.

Both of my men had valuable things to do with their time. I shopped. I made my bodyguards regret that they had ever been born. I had an awful lot of sex. It was everything I’d been afraid of when Daniel and Dev made their proposal. I was a plaything to them; precious and beloved, yes, but also marginalized in a way. They coddled me and spoiled me, but they rarely treated me like a partner anymore.

I was a pleasure to be had. I was a problem to be handled.

I leaned over the secure railing and the lights of the pool made the night seem serene. It was humid, but the quiet made up for the heat. In the distance, I heard a bird calling a playful little cry. “Tik-tik,” it sung, but it seemed to be moving away. That bird had the freedom to just fly away when it wanted. I didn’t want to fly away from Dev or Daniel. I loved them, but I needed some space.

I couldn’t really blame the guys. I’d allowed myself to get to this place. I knew how domineering each was, and I’d let them have their way the last six months. It had been far easier to give myself over to the pleasure they offered than to fight for the relationship I really wanted. It was simple to just lay back and let them handle everything, but my laziness was coming home to roost now.

I shook my head ruefully as the bird continued to “tik-tik.” When I was running a crew, I’d had to be a badass or no one took the little human seriously. I hadn’t picked up a freaking gun in months. What the hell was happening to me?

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something moving in the trees. A large black bird sat on one of the lower limbs, its big body perched delicately. It opened its beak and the sound came out again. I leaned forward to try to get a better look at it because something was wrong with this picture. That sound was coming from far away, yet I knew it was the bird making it. It was almost as though the big black bird was throwing its voice.

I was concentrating so much on the freaky bird, I almost missed the woman who moved silently from the trees. She was small, her body slight. Her hair was pitch black, long and disheveled. Dressed in dark clothes, she blended in with the night. I almost called out, but my eyes caught on something that was deeply wrong. As she moved closer to the pool, I could tell that her feet were on backward. She wasn’t wearing shoes, so it was easy to see her toes moving across the deck. In the wrong direction.

That good old adrenaline started pumping through my body because whatever the crazy bitch with the dark hair was, she wasn’t human. I wished I hadn’t seen all those Japanese horror films. She could have starred in one. I kept my eyes on her, not willing to turn my back as I moved toward the door.