Steal the Moon

Chapter Six

I walked into Ether hopeful that Declan would be able to keep up his end of the bargain. I needed him to be Dev in order to get past my bodyguards. Since I moved into the grotto, I had access to everything in the penthouse, but no one had given me the key to the small armory Dev kept in the club. It was tightly locked down and only Dev, Daniel, Zack, and the head of security had a keycard. That was just one of the things that was going to change if I stayed here, but for now, I needed a ruse to get in.

Looking up at Declan, I could see he’d already turned on his Dev face. He looked less arrogant, his smile decadent and smooth.

The club was quiet during the day, with only a minimal staff taking care of restocking, cleaning, and maintenance. I let my hand find his. “You need to look like you want to sleep with me.”

That was a requirement for anyone trying to pass as Dev.

“Not a problem, lover,” he replied, sounding exactly like his brother. “As I stated before, I find you attractive. If you would prefer to spend the afternoon in coitus, I would be more than happy to oblige. It would not be the first time my brother and I have shared a woman. Devinshea can be generous with his lovers. Perhaps I will allow him to bring you back to the sithein when we leave, and then we could share you in all ways. Would you like a future king in your bed, Zoey?”

“I think I’ll take a pass on the offer, but thanks.” I already had enough kings in my bed. Between my vampire king and my personal faery prince, my royal dance card was full. Declan sounded far too much like Dev for my sanity.

Zack and Lee were sitting at a table when we reached the bar area. They were having lunch and going over reports. They looked up and Zack frowned. “Mr. Quinn, I thought you were going to call us when you were ready to go.”

“Ah, Zack,” Declan said in Dev’s smooth tones. “There are some things that require privacy.” He let his hand drop mine and pulled me into a more intimate embrace. He gave me a smile that told the wolves I had probably done something naughty. His arm was around my shoulders, and he used his free hand to nudge my chin up for a kiss. I had to play along, allowing Declan to explore my mouth briefly, but I promised myself I would get him back. He nodded to Zack, who had completely bought the act. “My girl here would like to go to the shooting range and practice this afternoon. Would you be so good as to escort her to the armory? She would like to select her own weapon.”

Zack sighed heavily, like escorting me into the armory was the last thing he wanted to do. It probably was. I was sure the thought of an armed Zoey was not a pleasant one for my bodyguard, but then I had given him no reason to believe me competent. He would have no such impression of me after today.

“Of course, Mr. Quinn,” Zack said in his best professional voice. I thought it made him sound like a kiss ass. He pulled the card out of his pants, and I allowed him to lead the way.

As I walked past Lee, he stared at me, brown eyes searching mine, looking for something. I gave him an encouraging smile and he relaxed slightly, but I saw him staring at Declan as I turned the corner. Lee was going to be far worse trouble than Zack.

Zack let his keycard slide into the door to the armory, and he held it open for me. The odor of gun oil washed over me, the sweet scent of home. I smiled at the thought of being well armed again. Today there would be nothing between me and whatever came my way but my own skills and a happy gun. And Declan, since if anything tried to take a shot at me, I firmly intended to jump behind him. He deserved it and he would heal.

“Let’s see, Zoey.” Zack looked around, probably trying to find the smallest caliber possible. “I’m sure I can find something for you.”

I rolled my eyes and went for the specialized Ruger Daniel had modified for me years before. Why I had ever let myself be parted from it, I had no idea. Somehow it wound up in here when Daniel and I moved in with Dev. I opened the box and took a moment to balance the weight. It felt good in my hands. It belonged to me. It meant something to me.

Sighing, I pulled out the second box that contained the exotic rounds the Ruger had been altered to handle. There were silver bullets, cold iron bullets, wooden bullets, bullets that sent salt through the victim’s body, bullets that injected colloidal silver, and the one I was looking for—tranquilizers.

“Zoey, that’s Donovan’s gun. I don’t think you should play with that,” Zack said like the big brother I never wanted.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Zack.” I loaded the gun quickly and efficiently. “It’s not Danny’s gun. It’s mine, and I’m not playing with you anymore.”

I twisted around and shot him squarely in the chest. I have to say I grinned as he went down with a really surprised look on his face. I didn’t move though because I knew exactly what was coming next. The gun might be quiet but there was no getting past those wolf ears. I firmed my stance and waited.

Lee kicked open the door and had a semiautomatic in his hand. His eyes first went to his brother and then to me. “Zoey, what the hell is going on?”

“He’s fine, Lee.” I kept my aim level with his chest. “It was a tranquilizer dart. He’s just going to take a little nap.”

“Who the hell is that out there, and don’t try to tell me that it’s Quinn because I know it’s not,” Lee said, proving his senses were better than any of us suspected. I always thought he had the look of an alpha but this proved it. Not even Daniel had been able to sense the difference between Dev and his twin.

“It’s his twin brother, Declan,” I explained, not quite able to keep the vindication from my voice. “I’m sorry for having to take Zack out, but it was necessary. He can be entirely unreasonable. The boys told you about last night?”

Lee nodded. He still had his gun trained on me. It was a nice little standoff. “I take it they were wrong. I thought we should check into it, but this is Zack’s gig. I let him make the decisions. So the twin was there last night.”

“Yep. We’re going to hunt down the thing that tried to kill me. I would prefer if you came with us but understand this, Lee, this is my mission and I won’t be bossed around.”

He sighed. “Zoey, that’s not…”

The minute I heard the negative, I shot him. I had a distinct advantage on him and I used it. He didn’t want to harm me. It made him slow to act. Like his brother, he went down, though his eyes stayed open longer. I leaned over him. He was in a really uncomfortable position. If I left him like that, he would be sore and while I had no problem with Zack having back spasms for days, I would feel bad about Lee. He was just trying to look out for his brother. I kicked the gun out of his hand and helped him down to a more suitable position to lie unconscious in for several hours.

“Zoey.” Lee managed to speak even as his eyes were getting heavy. He should have been out, but he fought it. “Don’t get yourself killed.”

“I promise. I’ll bring you back a head or something, Lee. You’ll wish you had gone with me.”

“I probably will, you crazy bitch,” he said with a smile as the drug finally took effect.

“Night, night, Lee.”

I stood up and looked around my own little candy store. I would love to have been able to take one of those cool looking P90s, but they were really hard to conceal under a skirt. I would have to rely on handguns and knives. I could probably fit a couple of grenades and flashbangs in my really big bag. Kelly had sworn it was the handbag of the season. At the time it seemed like a bit much for a girl who only carried a wallet, a cell, and some lip gloss, but now I saw the advantages.

“You took out the wolves.” Declan stepped gingerly over my now defunct bodyguards.

“I told you I would.” I steadied my foot on a shelf and hiked my skirt up to mid-thigh. I efficiently strapped on the leather piece designed to hold knives. I selected two, turning them slowly in my hands to test their weight before securing them against my leg.

“I admit I was skeptical.” Declan carefully watched every move I made. He frowned when I smoothed the skirt down. Looking around the room, his eyes widened as he took in the weaponry. “Why does my brother need such an armory? You said this was a club. If I know my brother, he declared it a place of peace. He never did like to take sides, or rather he never liked to appear to take sides.”

I shrugged as I placed the Ruger in my bag. I would have preferred to have it in a handy holster, but it was summer in Texas. I was wearing a skirt and one of those recently outlawed tank tops. I could conceal the knives but not the bulky gun. “He sometimes has security problems. Even a place of peace has to have a security team.”

My logic was sound even as I lied through my teeth. Since Dev had thrown his lot in with me and Daniel, the armory had grown exponentially.

“This is not for simple security. Someone is planning a war. What has my brother gotten himself into this time?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, unwilling to get into that argument. “I’m just a soft, sweet girl. He wouldn’t tell his little mistress about his plans. Now drop the glamour.”

“What?”

I gestured up and down at his perfect facsimile of Dev. “I’m talking about the glamour you’re using to look exactly like your brother. You’ve been apart for a long time. I seriously doubt you tracked down his hair stylist and asked for ‘the Dev.’ You were watching us the other night and you copied him. I want to see the real you.”

The prince nodded and dropped his perfect glamour. I gasped at the quick change. His hold on the magic was damn near perfect. I saw the real Declan for the first time and couldn’t help but stare. Declan still looked exactly like Dev with a major exception. His hair was really long. It created a midnight black waterfall around his handsome face. It reached halfway down his back. It strangely didn’t make him look feminine. It made him look slightly savage, as did the gold circlet that sat on his head. In the center of his forehead was the same sun symbol that adorned my necklace.

“When did Dev cut his hair?” I made no effort to hide my fascination. Even in the awful florescent light, Declan’s hair shone. I found myself thinking about what Dev would look like with all that hair. It would cover me like a blanket when he laid on top of me. I would get tangled in it when we cuddled together. It was so black it almost looked blue.

“He used a knife to butcher it before he left the sithein.” Declan lowered his head silently, giving his assent for me to touch him. I let my fingers run through the thick, silky fall of his hair. It was truly his crowning glory. “It was then I knew he meant to leave.”

“You’re beautiful, Declan,” I said because he was and it was polite in Fae society to compliment someone on their looks. “Your hair is the sexiest thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

He gave me an arrogant grin, bowing slightly. “Thank you, Zoey. And I think your breasts are completely succulent. If I had found myself with more time the other night when I shot the undead creature, I had planned on getting them in my mouth.”

“Nice,” I replied with a shake of my head because faeries were also big on the over sharing. “How many guns do you want? I always try to carry at least two.”

He shook his head. “I do not carry such weapons. They are not honorable.”

He turned and showed me that he wore a long, ornate bow on his back along with a quiver containing arrows—a traditional Fae weapon. It was also pretty much crap in the urban field. A longbow worked well when you had the high ground against an army, but I preferred bullets. They were quick, did their job, and I didn’t have to notch one every time I needed to fire. There were other reasons I didn’t like the bow as a weapon.

“You know what’s not honorable? Shooting a hostage in the belly with an arrow. It hurts like hell going in and that is nothing compared to the way the sucker feels when you have to shove it out through the back. I’ll take a bullet wound any day of the week. That weapon there isn’t honorable. It’s barbaric.”

“You have had this happen to you?”

“Oh, yeah,” I assured him. “Just ask your brother about it. He was tied up at the time, but I’m sure he remembers the experience. He was quite impressed that I managed to shove the whole arrow out the back and I only passed out once.” To be honest, I was pretty hopped up on vamp blood at the time or I would have been dead, but I didn’t need to tell Declan that. I suddenly remembered we were alone, and I had some unfinished business to take care of. “Declan, this is for Dev.”

I hauled my fist back and put every bit of strength I had into breaking his nose.

The Gaelic started flying, and I suspected it was not a flurry of polite words. There was an odd rush of energy against my skin, and I suddenly found myself shoved against a row of shelves with a knife at my throat. I was held firmly in place by a large male with long white hair who had not been in the room thirty seconds before. Declan had been serious about the fact that I couldn’t see his guard. The new guy’s pale eyes told me he would slit my throat in an instant and probably enjoy the experience. So this was what passed for a bodyguard in the Fae world. I was suddenly glad for Zack.

“Padric, release her,” Declan ordered, holding his nose.

I’d drawn blood. That made me happy.

“She attacked you, Your Highness.” Padric proved he had an excellent talent for stating the obvious. I stayed really still because that knife was starting to cut into my throat just the tiniest bit. “I cannot allow the insult to pass.”

“You can and will obey me,” Declan ordered, his temper on a short leash. “Do you think I cannot handle one small female on my own? I am a warrior of the sidhe. Now let her go. This is my brother’s mistress, for the goddess’s sake. If you harm her, he will never come back with us. You know how he is about his females.”

Padric looked me up and down, and I could tell he found me wanting. “I do not understand your perverse interest in human females. They seem so breakable and short.”

I was, compared to Padric. He had to lean down to hold the knife to my throat. I hoped it caused a crick in his neck. Of course at barely five foot four, I was short, period. If Dev didn’t like me to wear four-and-a-half-inch heels, I would reach the middle of his chest. I only barely made it to Daniel’s shoulders. That day I was wearing flats, and Padric loomed over me.

“I do not require your understanding,” Declan declared, and Padric finally let me loose. “You are ordered to remain hidden until such time as I call you. Is that understood?”

Padric nodded and was suddenly gone. I looked around but there was no sign of the big scary Fae and his knife that I could still feel at my throat. I would love to have known how he pulled the invisible trick though. Something like that would come in handy when running a job.

“You will explain.” Declan had managed to wipe himself clean of the blood, and I could see now his nose wasn’t actually broken.

I didn’t pretend to misunderstand. I remembered the episode Dev and I had experienced on the Hell plane like it was yesterday. Dev and his brother had been barely seventeen when they were sent to the Unseelie sithein for a bit of torture their mother had decided should be part of their education. Dev was the mortal of the two but he had handled it so much better than his immortal brother. “You left him. You left him to the mercy of those Unseelie monsters to save your own hide, and I promised him I would beat the crap out of you if I ever met you.”

Declan laughed. “Now I see why my brother finds you so amusing. He would enjoy the idea of a woman defending his honor.” His eyes turned serious. “I remember that day well. I was ashamed of my fears, and I lashed out at the brother who had sacrificed to save me pain. I have not forgiven myself for that day, so if you choose to hit me again, I assure you it will be a drop in the bucket compared to what I owe him.”

It meant something to me that he was willing to own up to what he’d done. Ingrid had said there was always two sides to the story. I was willing to listen to Declan.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “I have one more thing I need. It’s in the kitchens and then we hunt down this bitch.”