Chapter Twelve
Dante glanced back at Kaja one last time before pushing through the bushes. He wanted to stay with her, to cuddle her and fall asleep, but he needed to check in with Meg. Despite the tree and rain cloud, she was still his responsibility until one of her husbands actually showed up.
And he could do with a bit of time away from Kaja. His instinct was to stay close to her every minute of the day. What the hell was happening to him? None of this was going the way he planned.
But he wouldn’t change it. He wouldn’t take it back. That kind of scared him, too.
He brushed the leaves from his clothes. The light was stronger outside, so his sunglass implants flowed to cover his eyes. The world came into sharp focus, and he could hear Meg. She sat beside the river, and his heart fell when he realized she was crying. The rain cloud was gone, and the tree seemed to be just a tree again.
Dante rushed to her, kneeling down. “Meg? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”
She glanced up at him, her face streaked with tears. She brushed them away with the back of her hand. “I’m fine. It’s just been a rough couple of days.”
Dante sat beside her. “Meg. Talk to me. You can talk to me.”
She stared at her lap and took a deep breath. “It’s really happening.”
Torin. Yes, he was feeling that, too. “Meggie, it’s going to be all right. Beck can handle anything Torin throws at him.”
“He sent a group of goblins to destroy our village. Beck said it was horrible. We lost people, and they burned down our farm. Our home is gone.”
Dante reached for her hand. He felt a strange mix of rage and sorrow. He loved that village. Beck and Ci had built it with their own hands. Dante had been there, too. They had just been kids when Beck and Ci had lost their throne. Dante had just started college. Dante’s father had offered them asylum, but the kings had chosen to stay with their people on the Refugee plane and build a world for themselves.
Beck and Ci had been forced to grow up fast. So far, Meg’s journey as a royal hadn’t been all it was cracked up to be.
“I don’t want you to worry about a thing, Meg. You and Beck and Ci can come home with me and Kaja.”
“That won’t solve anything, Dante. It will just make things worse in the end. There was a reason Beck and Ci didn’t go down that road the first time. They have people depending on them.” Her hand tightened in his. “Torin isn’t going to leave us be, is he? He’ll try again.”
“Yes,” Dante replied. It was a hard truth. Torin had to kill the twins, or he would never feel safe. He would never be able to open the plane again. Torin had been patient, but it appeared his patience was at an end.
“Dante, I’m scared.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and held her close. They had been through a lot together, he and Meg. It looked as though they would go through much more. “Beck needs to get serious about alliances. My father has been working to move the Council toward repudiating Torin.”
“It hasn’t worked in thirteen years, Dante. The Council is close to acknowledging Torin, not repudiating him.”
“Only because we need the trade. Royal vampires need consorts. If the Council realized Beck and Ci were serious about taking the throne back, I think they would change their minds. We need to talk to the Unseelie. King Fergus will never acknowledge Torin.”
“He’s heard the rumors,” Meg muttered. “Torin is enslaving the non-sidhe on the Seelie plane. He believes the Unseelie are impure. If Torin gets strong, he will go after the Unseelie on their own plane. Fergus doesn’t want that. But you know Fergus has sons, too.”
“I’ve heard the rumors,” Dante replied carefully.
“They aren’t rumors.”
Prickles of trepidation rode his arms. The Unseelie kept to themselves for the most part. Their borders were guarded. Trade flowed, but the king of the Unseelie never left the plane. It was said that he had sons. “Are they symbiotic?”
Say no. Say no. Dante didn’t want to think of super-powerful Unseelie twins. Beck and Cian had been raised in the light court. He couldn’t imagine twins with their power who had been raised by monsters.
Though Dante was rapidly realizing sometimes monsters came in many forms.
“Yes. Their names are Lachlan and Shim,” Meg explained. “They need a bondmate. They aren’t as far gone as Beck and Ci were when they found me, but it’s getting bad. It’s why Fergus reached out to us. He believes placing Beck and Ci on the throne is the best shot he has at saving his sons.”
Dante’s mind was racing. Fergus would have to be dealt with very carefully. The Seelie and the Unseelie had never exactly gotten along. The Unseelie had sent an emissary thirteen years before, Fergus’s daughter. She’d died when Torin had slaughtered the royal family. Fergus had sent assassins after Torin, but hadn’t had any luck getting to him. The word was he wouldn’t risk his sons in a war.
But what if Fergus blamed all the Seelie? After so long, it was all happening fast. There was much to consider. Dante should sit down and strategize with Cian. If Torin was making his move, it was time to get serious. Beck and Ci wouldn’t be allowed to hide anymore. They would win or they would die.
Dante meant to make very certain they did not die.
And how would he do that from the desk of his lovely office? Who was he kidding? He’d just gotten married to preserve his cushy future. He wasn’t about to throw it all away to go to war. He would make certain that his cousins had all the money he could throw at them, but he wasn’t a warrior.
Some odd emotion made his chest feel far too tight. That beast that Kaja always seemed to bring out in him was right there, pounding at him. He wasn’t a warrior. But he could be.
“Dante, don’t worry about it,” Meg said with a sad smile, as though she could read his thoughts. “You just need to worry about Kaja right now. We’ll figure all this out.”
Gods, he was sick of being treated like a kid. He was thirty years old, and everyone acted like he was a fucking teenage boy who didn’t need the stress of real life.
Maybe if you started acting like an adult, they would treat you like one.
That beast inside was starting to annoy him. If only he didn’t make so much sense. “I want to help, Meg. This is my family, too.”
“Well, I thank you for that,” Meg replied. “We need all the friends we can get. I can’t tell you how much it terrifies me. We don’t have an army, Dante.”
Oh, but they would. If rumors were correct, they would have an army of peasants waiting for their return to Tir na nÓg. Peasants could be dangerous. Dante couldn’t help but think of his plane’s own history. “We just need to find Torin’s weaknesses. We need to get on that plane.”
“He has it guarded,” Meg said with a helpless shake of her head.
“We’ll find a way.” His mind was filled with possibilities.
Meg patted his leg. “I don’t want to think about this now. It’s coming for me soon enough. Tell me about Kaja. You two seem to be getting along.”
“Yes, she’s a lovely girl.” Dante’s chest felt too tight for another reason now. Kaja was different than he’d believed her to be. She was so much deeper, smarter, more complex than he’d thought. He’d thought he could make a deal with her, but he didn’t have anything Kaja wanted. She didn’t even really understand the concept of money. What did he have to offer her except money and an impressive cock?
And yet she wants you. She wants something deep inside you, something money and fame and privilege can’t touch.
“When I make love to Kaja, I can feel her,” Dante said quietly. It wasn’t something he had expected. No one had warned him in sex ed class about some mystical connection that would form when he made love to his consort.
“Well, I would hope so, Dante,” Meg said.
He didn’t want to exchange sarcastic remarks with her. “I mean I can feel her. Sometimes it’s flashes of her history, like a movie in my head, except that I am her and I feel what she felt. I know what it was like to be Kaja, and it sucked before, but she’s still here and still trying. I don’t know if I would still be trying.”
Meg’s face was bunched in concern. “I didn’t think that happened between vampires and consorts. I thought that was something that only happened between bondmates and psychic Fae.”
Bondmates tended to boost the powers of psychic Fae, and in Meg’s case, she actually bridged her husbands’ shared soul so they each had access to the other half. “I don’t know why, I just know it’s happening and it’s gotten harder to shut it down. Every time I feed, it gets harder and harder to put a wall between us.”
Meg studied him for a moment. “Kaja is from a different plane. Maybe her bonding powers are different from others. Maybe that’s why it’s different. Why would you try to shut it down?”
He didn’t even like to admit that to himself. “I didn’t marry Kaja because I wanted to. My father forced me to. I had to get married, or he was going to kick me out of the business.”
“Well, I suppose lots of marriages started off as marriages of convenience. So you explained all this to Kaja?”
Not exactly. “I told her that we would be married for a while and then she could have her freedom back.”
There it was. He could say the words, but there was something inside him that knew he wasn’t going to let her go. He was really only fighting himself now.
Meg pulled her hand back, and he could see her withdraw. “Well, that’s disappointing. I thought there wasn’t a whole lot of divorce outside the Earth plane.”
“I wasn’t planning on divorcing her. I was just planning on going my own way and letting Kaja go hers.”
Meg’s head shook slightly, but Dante could feel her derision. “After you fucked her and fed from her. And does Kaja understand this?”
Dante thought about Kaja’s eyes. When he made love to her they were lit with desire and life. But then he would catch her when she thought no one was looking, and there was resignation there, as though she knew it wouldn’t work out. “Yes, she understands far too well.”
“So, you’re going to use her.”
Yes, that had been the plan. “I don’t know anymore.”
“Really?” Meg looked at him again, her right brow rising in a little question.
“Yeah. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know I feel more for Kaja than I’ve ever felt for anyone in my life. I don’t know if it’s going to last.” He didn’t even know if he wanted it to. Kaja seemed to be all he could think about. She was rapidly becoming an obsession. Even now, he could see her lying in the grass, her pearly skin in sharp contrast to the green around her, the twin holes in her neck on full display. When he got her back to his home, he would have to give her some of his own blood. It would heal the marks, but damn, he liked looking at them. It was barbaric. It was fucking hot.
“Uh, Dante, you having a little trouble there?” Meg asked, her eyes on his mouth.
Fuck. His fangs were out again. This was why he didn’t want it to last. He couldn’t walk around the rest of his life with a hard-on and full fangs—and this weird, soft place in his heart that clenched every time he looked at her or thought about all she’d been through.
She was so strong. “She deserves more than me.”
Meg shook her head, her hand back on his knee. “No. She deserves you, but she deserves the best you. Don’t you see, Dante? This is what happens. I’ve been where you are. I fell in love, and it changed me for the better. It forced me to grow up. It made me a better person. This is wonderful, Dante.”
It didn’t feel wonderful. It felt terrifying. He should have found another way. He should have paid some fallen royal to marry him. She would have been reasonable. He wouldn’t have been desperate for some royal’s blood and body. He wouldn’t have formed this weird connection to some sad-sack royal. It would have been a neat exchange of money for a convenient, no-emotions-involved marriage. Dante wouldn’t feel all twisted inside.
“I don’t know how wonderful it’s going to be. I’m worried that she won’t fit in.” It had been the chief thing to recommend her in the beginning. He had wanted to find a consort who would send his father running for the lawyers, but now he couldn’t stand the idea that his father wouldn’t like her.
“I think you’ll be surprised,” Meg said. “I think Kaja is very smart and adaptable. And, if you’re worried about your family accepting her, I wouldn’t. She’s different, but there’s a sweetness to Kaja that I think your family is going to find irresistible.”
The idea played around in his brain. What if it could work? The thought of loving Kaja terrified him, but the idea of not having her around caused his heart to knot. He was a mess. He wanted her. He just needed to accept it.
He couldn’t help the little smile that had his lips curling up. Meg was right. Kaja was sweet, and she tried so hard. Perhaps it would make up for her lack of proper manners. It could work.
His mother would view Kaja as a challenge, a sweet baby bird to take under her wing. Susan had always appreciated the odd creatures of the planes. Despite her ridiculous adherence to parliamentary procedure in the boardroom, his sister was actually quite open-minded.
But the rest of society would be hard on her. The press would freak when they found out Kaja spent time on four legs.
How was he going to protect her?
“Don’t worry,” Meg said. “It really will work out. And it will work out for me and Beck and Ci, too. I just have to have faith.”
Dante hoped faith was all he needed.
* * * *
Kaja came awake slowly, brushing away the small bug that seemed to be intent on biting her. Her nose tickled. She wriggled it, trying to hold on to sleep. She was warm and happy. With Dante wrapped around her body, she’d slept better than she had her whole life. Her dreams had been sweet. She did not wish to leave them.
But the small buzzing creature was insistent, and it seemed to Kaja that it had brought some friends.
Kaja opened her eyes and focused on the small thing that had landed on her nose.
Bright blue wings fluttered, and Kaja was shocked to find it had a face. Her first instinct was to eat the little thing. It wouldn’t be much of a meal, but it might be tasty. And then she remembered Dante’s words. She could not eat things that talked back.
“Hello,” she said, hoping the little bug wouldn’t talk back.
Its tiny hands flew up, and Kaja would have sworn that the thing looked grateful. Its mouth opened and a rush of beeps and light, tinkling words rushed from its mouth.
No meal for Kaja.
She forced herself to sit up. The little creature took flight briefly before landing on Kaja’s knee. The winged insect once again began speaking.
“Slowly, little one,” Kaja said, remembering what Dante had told her about the magic.
The insect shook its head, words spewing from her mouth, but Kaja was beginning to catch pieces of them now. “Save…family…bad fae…eat.”
Kaja looked around. She was alone, but Dante’s shirt was folded beside her on the ground they had slept on. Kaja breathed deeply. She could smell Dante and Meg. She opened her senses. They weren’t far away, and they seemed to be speaking quietly.
“Please to help. My babies. The pixies will be grateful always.”
Kaja couldn’t turn that down. She nodded at the blue creature, the pixie. “Where are your babies?”
The pixie took off, her wings flapping faster than Kaja’s eyes could track. She darted away from the camp. Kaja thought about finding her Dante, but then she would lose the pixie and the pixie babies could be eaten. She raced to follow the flying pixie as she moved through the forest. In and out of trees and bushes, the pixie darted. Kaja leapt and feinted around a bramble brush. She could feel her feet being cut, but she feared the pixie would not allow her to help if Kaja showed her the wolf.
Then she stopped. There it was. It was soft at first. If she hadn’t been listening for it, Kaja would have thought that it was just the play of the wind on the trees. A little mewling cry, so soft. Kaja moved forward, keeping her steps light. She didn’t even think about the fact that she was naked. Clothes were something she’d just been introduced to, and Dante seemed to shed his often enough.
The little pixie landed on her shoulder. “There. There.”
Kaja carefully pushed back a branch and took in the sight in front of her. Strange green men stood around a big, black cooking pot. The water was beginning to boil. There were two men, both with squat bodies covered in corded muscle. Very little hair covered their heads. What they had was black and wiry, and these men did not smell at all good, though they stood downwind. What she could smell was very awful.
One stood by the fire. “Almost ready now.”
The second grinned, showing sharp teeth. “Yes, I can tell that it is. These pretties will make an excellent soup. Sorry we didn’t catch the mum. She was a nice, fat one.”
Kaja felt a tiny foot stamp on her shoulder. Apparently fat was not a good thing to be. For a wolf, it was nice. It tended to mean a wolf could survive the harsh winters, but the pixie seemed to take offense.
“All right, then,” the First said. “We’ve waited longer than we promised. It ain’t our fault they aren’t out here. If those buggers have a lick of sense, they found another plane to hide on.”
Kaja wasn’t sure which bugs the being was talking about, but she felt a need to save these. The little mother was very upset, and no wonder. Kaja could see the small pixies with their gossamer wings being held in the cage. Her babies. The mother couldn’t allow her babies to be turned into some form of food.
Kaja turned her head carefully. She put her finger to her mouth to let the little pixie know she shouldn’t shout out.
In a blink, Kaja changed, her world moving from two-legged to four. The pixie landed on her snout, looking seriously into Kaja’s eyes. If the pixie was frightened of Kaja’s wolf, she didn’t show it.
“Please.” The pixie repeated her refrain.
Kaja nodded, and the pixie took off, her wings flapping.
On soft feet, Kaja burst through the bushes and attacked the first green thing.
“Get the wolf!” A man’s voice shouted, and Kaja could feel what she should have sensed all along. She was surrounded, but they had masked their scents or stayed downwind. The soldiers from before were all around, and more green beings leapt from their hiding places.
Too late. She realized the trap had been laid and baited.
“Don’t hurt her,” the leader said. He was the tall vampire who had been kind to her and fed her treats. He seemed to only have a real problem with Dante.
Dante. He was going to be so angry with her. He was going to punish her, and maybe not in a nice way this time. Dante did not like it when she risked her life. She turned and sought a way out. The little pixie was trying so hard to get the cage open and let her babies free. At least she hadn’t betrayed Kaja.
There was nowhere to run, but she could do what she set out to do. Kaja leapt and pulled down the cage. It clattered to the ground, and the door flew open. Pixie wings fluttered as they all got away.
“Saved them, did you, pet?”
Kaja looked up at the man who had caught them before.
“I rather thought you would,” he said, not unkindly. He turned to his men. “I know it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but that wolf is a consort. She is to be taken care of and protected.”
But he held the magic box in his hand. Light flowed from it and into her.
She felt fire in her veins, and Kaja fell.