Chapter Thirteen
Dante felt her fall. It was like some invisible connection that was always there in the back of his mind had been cut off abruptly. As though Kaja was in his brain, a low soothing hum, and now it was silent.
“Something’s wrong with Kaja,” Dante said, getting to his feet.
His heart was racing, panic threatening to overtake him. Maybe he’d fed too much. Gods, if he’d hurt her, he would die himself. Please, please. He sent out silent pleas. Let her be all right. Let it be a mistake.
But he knew it wasn’t true. He knew something was wrong. The connection between them had been cut. Kaja wouldn’t do it. She didn’t even know how to. Dante pushed through the brush and into the small copse where he’d left her sleeping.
Why had he left her at all? He knew how dangerous it was. He was an asshole who couldn’t even take care of his wife. He’d left her here alone and vulnerable because he couldn’t deal with how she made him feel. He was as irresponsible as everyone made him out to be.
She was gone. Her clothes had been left behind in a neatly folded pile. The grass around them was a mess, but he couldn’t count that as evidence that she’d been dragged away. He’d fucked her on this grass. He’d rolled with her and played and screwed. He’d let her fall asleep in his arms.
Where the hell had she gone?
“Dante?” Meg’s soft voice reminded him that Kaja wasn’t the only female he was responsible for.
He turned and felt his eyes widen. Meg was covered in butterflies. They clung to her hair and sat on her shoulder. Beautiful, winged jewels that glistened in the sunlight. Meg was a lovely picture standing there with butterflies creating a halo around her head.
“She says she knows where they took the wolf,” Meg said.
“The butterfly?” Dante sighed. There was a reason he didn’t spend a lot of time in Faery forests. The animals knew better than to talk back on Dante’s plane.
“They’re pixies, Dante. Calm down and you’ll be able to hear them.”
Dante didn’t want to listen to insects, but if they knew where Kaja was, then he would do it. He moved close to Meg, and sure enough, there was a small cacophony of tiny, musical voices.
“The wolf tried to save us.”
“Pretty wolf.”
“Bad goblins. Mira hates goblins. They smell bad, and they tried to make Mira into soup. I don’t want to be soup.”
“I want my papa.”
Kids. They were just kids. Well, naturally his Kaja had tried to save a bunch of lesser Fae from getting put in a pot. “Where is Kaja?”
“In the woods.”
“They took her. They put lightning in her belly and took her.”
They went on and on, their wings fluttering as they all spoke at once.
“Please, younglings, one at a time,” Meg said, her voice pleading.
And then a larger butterfly swooped by Dante’s head. Larger than the younglings, she would still fit in the palm of his hand with room left over. But there was no doubt this one was in charge.
“Stop. The queen is right. We must remain calm.” Her voice was tinny, but Dante’s ears were damn good. Dante stared down at the pixies. He’d never seen one up close. Lesser Fae. It didn’t mean that they were truly less important, merely smaller. The brilliant blue pixie landed on the hand Meg held up. “Your Gracious Highness. I must ask for your help. There was a young woman who came to my aid. She saved my babes, but it was a trap. The goblins captured her.”
“Goblins?” Dante wanted to be sick. Goblins could do just about anything to her. And they would, unless they realized they could make a profit from her. “Where is the chieftain?”
The pixie shook her head. “It’s not a tribe. It’s only a handful of goblins. I thought there were only two of them, but once the nice woman had turned into a wolf, they leapt from the bushes and grabbed her. They had magic.”
No, they had technology. “The vampires caught up with us, and they brought friends. Why the hell would they bring in goblins?”
Meg shrugged. She’d paled, as though she couldn’t stand the thought of Kaja being caught, either. “It’s Torin. We’ve heard he’s made some deals with disloyal Unseelie. They don’t seem to realize that he intends to kill anyone who isn’t sidhe.”
The pixie’s wings fluttered. “Please help her, Your Majesty. She was so kind. I can’t stand the thought of her being harmed for helping me.”
“Where are they?” Dante asked. His voice came out in a harsh rasp, and he noticed his claws had popped out. He felt rage begin to build, shoving the panic and fear to the side. Another fucking vampire had taken his consort. If that mercenary had laid a hand on his consort, Dante was going to tear it off his body and shove it down his throat.
The pixie turned from Meg. She then flew back behind Meg’s head as though begging for protection.
“He’s not going to hurt you, little one. You’re not the one he’s angry with,” Meg said. “Dante, you have to be careful. You’re obviously very upset. Damn, you look scary.”
Meg had never seen him in this state. She’d seen his fangs and claws, but even when they had killed the hag, he’d remained in control. Now, the thought of someone touching his Kaja was making his eyes bleed out. It was something that opened his senses and prepared him to fight.
And he would fight. He would kill, because no one was touching his consort. “Where is Kaja?”
Meg held her hand out, and the big blue pixie landed gracefully. “Take us there. The wolf is the vampire’s mate. He will be grateful to you, and so will I.”
“Meg, you can’t come with me.” He’d lost Kaja. He wasn’t about to lose Meg, too.
Her face hardened, and Dante could believe she was a queen. “If you leave me here, I’ll just follow and probably cause trouble. Kaja is my friend. She saved me too, you know.”
There wouldn’t be any moving her. And she really knew how to cause trouble. “Fine, but you hide when we get there.”
The small pixies fluttered off Meg’s hair and seemed to be talking to the mother. They flew off, more than likely in search of sanctuary, but the mother stayed behind. She flew in front of them, leading them through the woods.
Dante ran to keep up. The pixie was a little dart flying through the woods toward Dante’s target. He longed for a weapon—any weapon. They’d been forced to leave the gun behind. Kaja had buried it. He didn’t even have his tablet. All he had were his claws and fangs, but he charged through the woods like a man with an army behind him.
He could feel Meg running to keep up. When the pixie stopped, he turned to Meg.
“You hide. You watch. You wait for Cian. He can get Beck, and he can save Kaja.” Dante stared at her, letting her feel his will.
Meg frowned, but did as he asked. She placed herself behind an enormous oak tree. Dante felt better when the tree’s braches seemed to move to conceal her. She disappeared, masked by green vines and leaves.
Cian was here, even if he wasn’t a physical presence. He would watch after his wife. It was time for Dante to take care of his.
There was nothing for it. He was alone. He had no weapon but one. He had to turn himself in and hope they would let Kaja go.
They wanted him.
Dante walked into the open and was immediately surrounded by soldiers.
“Mr. Dellacourt,” a very upper-crust voice said. “How nice of you to join us.”
He was surrounded. They moved quickly to encircle him, the vampire mercenary unit proving how well trained it was. Discipline marked their every move.
The impulse was there. He wanted to fight. He wanted to tear into these men and feel his claws rip through flesh. He would feast on their blood. It would fill his belly when he took his consort back. What had happened to him? That was barbaric. Only primitives fed on their enemies. But he wanted to.
One thing held him back. The sight of Kaja in Roan’s arms. The soldier held her, her human body naked and limp. Her beautiful brown hair trailed down toward the ground. Her skin was pale, but her chest rose and fell with her breath. A strange feeling gripped Dante’s heart. Kaja. She was alive. That was what mattered.
“Let her go,” Dante said.
The man who held her tightened his arms. There was a distinctly possessive stance to his hold. “I think I have the upper hand, Mr. Dellacourt.”
Dante really hated this guy. “I can cause a lot of trouble.”
The mercenary looked down at Kaja. Dante couldn’t miss the way his eyes softened. Simon Roan didn’t even try to hide the soft spot he had for Kaja. Of course, now that she was in her human form, she couldn’t hide her glow. Any royal with a soul would be soft toward her. Dante might be able to play on that.
“She might be worth a bit of trouble,” Roan said. “I was rather surprised. When I hit her with the Taser, she changed forms and became one of the loveliest females I’ve ever seen. Look at that glow. She would have every vampire with the money to enter a tournament after her. In the old days, we would have fought wars over her. How did you end up with such a gorgeous consort?”
Because other people were too stupid to see how amazing she was. “Just lucky, I guess. I won’t let you have her.”
“No, I suppose you won’t. It’s going to tear apart our plane, you know that, right?” He pulled Kaja close to his chest. His fucking head rubbed against hers as though he enjoyed the contact. Dante felt sick. “I’m one of the greatest warriors of my time. I can’t find a consort. I’m aging. It isn’t right. I could kill anyone in battle, but there are no battles to be had. I have to steal one if I want a consort.”
The fucker wasn’t going to steal his consort. “She won’t go with you. We’re bonded.”
Roan shrugged. “Perhaps she could bond again. The bond would be broken with your death. Someone wants you dead, Mr. Dellacourt. Someone wants your cousins dead so trade can flow, and we don’t have to tear each other apart over what should be our right.”
“She doesn’t belong to you.” Dante had to force the words from his mouth. His fangs seemed far too large for his head. “She’s mine.”
Roan sneered at him. “You didn’t fight for her. I saw the records. There was no tourney. Just a simple sale. How much can you buy with money? When do you have to prove yourself?”
He’d been asking himself that question a lot lately. His blood was up. If Roan wanted a fight, Dante would provide it. “Is that all you want? You and me, asshole. Let’s go now.”
Roan’s fangs were out. “If only it were that simple. I would love to kill you and properly claim the consort, but I can’t let you go so easily. I signed a contract to bring you in alive. Your death will have to wait.”
Torin. It had to be Torin. “What about my Kaja?”
Roan’s eyes become hooded with suspicion. “I believe my employer might be somewhat cruel toward her. It’s better I keep her.”
“Or, you could let her go. I won’t fight if you let her go.”
But the beast inside wanted to fight. It wanted to kill. Dante was stronger. If he could save Kaja, it would be worth it. He hadn’t done much with his life anyway.
Kaja was the best thing he’d done.
Roan looked down at her as though considering it. “I might be persuaded, but you have to tell me where the queen is.”
His gut hurt. He couldn’t give up Meg. How could he?
“I’m here.”
Damn it. Meg walked into the circle.
“Your Highness.” Roan nodded. “I promise, I will see to your safety. I had it written into my contract that you were to come to no harm.”
“Very nice of you,” Meg said with a wry smile. Dante wanted to shake her. She really should be more afraid. “So, you’re just going to kill my husbands and I’m supposed to thank you for leaving me alone in a Faery forest? Let me tell you, buddy, no one would thank you for that. Faery forests are freaky. There’s a ton of shit out there, and it’s all waiting to eat you.”
Yep. Meg had lost her damn mind. “Meg, get behind me.”
She shook her head. “So they can kill you first?”
Roan gently laid Kaja on the ground. “Your Highness, this really isn’t necessary. I have no intentions of leaving you to fend for yourself. Once the renegade kings have been captured, my men will be more than willing to see to your every comfort. We’ll take care of both you and Kaja.”
Meg’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, I’ll bet you’ll take care of us. I can imagine what kind of care we’ll get. Don’t worry about it. I think Cian will be here soon, and he’ll have a few things to say.”
Roan frowned. “What about the warrior king?”
Meg shrugged. “He was busy. That, or Ci drew the short straw. I know they weren’t playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. Cian always wins that because Beck always picks rock. There’s a reason Cian’s the intellectual half, if you know what I mean.”
Roan laughed. “Well, I suppose then I shall have double the reason for the warrior king to come to me. This is good. We can easily kill the intellectual half, and then the warrior will be vulnerable.”
It was Meg’s turn to smile. “You go on and try that, buddy. You just try to kill my Ci.”
Dante kind of wished they were both on their way. And he didn’t see what Cian was going to do. Cian was good with plants. Was he going to have the flowers attack or something?
“Don’t worry yourself, Your Highness,” Roan promised, his men standing stalwartly behind him. Dante tried to do a quick count. It looked like he had ten well-armed vampires. “As I told you, I will make sure you are unharmed.”
One of the goblins walked toward Meg, yellow teeth gleaming. “I won’t. I’m being paid double to take you down, Your Highness.”
Dante took off, his feet moving faster than ever. He wouldn’t let them take Meg. He couldn’t. He let his claws sink into the goblin’s flesh.
“Dante, don’t,” Meg called.
Two other goblins jumped him. He roared as he felt goblin teeth bite at the flesh of his shoulder. He winced and tried not to think about how nasty a goblin mouth was. Dude probably didn’t floss. He simply threw his elbow out and caught the fucker in the chin. The goblin fell off Dante’s back with a thud.
Meg was busy slapping at goblin hands as the vampires surrounded her, pulling the goblins off. No one seemed eager to help Dante. He hit the grass as a goblin shoved a fist in his belly. Goblins were squat but so strong. He was on Dante in an instant. Dante put his hands up, shoulder aching, but he managed to keep the goblin from his neck.
Black eyes stared down at him, and sharp teeth gnashed. “Torin will have your head.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll have your balls, asshole.” Dante brought his knee up, viciously catching the fucker’s balls. Goblin, sidhe, vamp, or human. It didn’t matter. If it was male, it didn’t like having its balls busted.
The goblin howled, and Dante was able to roll him off. He sprang to his feet. Meg was surrounded by vampires now. They formed a phalanx around her, keeping the goblins at bay.
Dante punched out at the goblin who came at him. He looked back at Roan. “You’re really trustworthy.”
Roan Tasered one of the goblins. The sickening smell of burning flesh hit the air. Cold iron. The mercenaries had tipped the darts with cold iron. They were really prepared to kill Beck and Cian.
Roan turned to Dante. “This was not my plan. Bloody hell! You better get your consort, Dellacourt. I don’t dare leave the queen unguarded.”
Dante turned, and Kaja was getting to her feet. She was unsteady, but she reached for a rock. There was a goblin running straight for Dante, a wicked, curved blade in his hand. Kaja was weak and obviously disoriented, but she threw the rock at the goblin’s head. It hit him, and he turned, growling at his new prey.
Not going to happen. With a burst of speed Dante didn’t think himself capable of, he crossed the distance between him and Kaja just as the goblin lashed out. It caught him across the chest, opening a gash in his skin. Dante hissed at the pain. That blade had gone deep. He heard Kaja scream as the goblin raised the blade again. Her hands pulled at him, as though she would take his place and the blade for him.
His brave, sweet Kaja.
He didn’t have time to avoid the blade. He shoved Kaja back and took it straight to his gut. The pain burned, an agonizing fire in his flesh. He was close, so close to the goblin.
“Enjoy that, vampire.” He shoved the blade in further, twisting it.
Dante stumbled back, the blade coming out of his gut. Blood. So much fucking blood. The world seemed to slow down. It got louder. Meg was screaming. Kaja called his name. The goblins began to circle, sensing blood.
He needed a fucking weapon.
“Kaja, run.” He held his hand to his gut, trying to keep himself together. The goblins would tear him apart, but they would take their time. Their bloodlust was up. They would ignore Kaja until they’d taken apart Dante. “You have to run, baby.”
It would be all right as long as Kaja got away. He could take the pain. His hands shook, but he could stay alive long enough to let Kaja get away.
The ground was shaking. Fuck. Why was the ground shaking?
Dante fell, the earth beneath him moving. Vines burst from the ground, sending dirt flying. Kaja was suddenly kneeling beside him, her hands covering his, trying to keep his guts on the right side of his skin.
“I told you to run,” he growled her way. Even as he roughed up his voice, something inside him calmed as her scent, the touch of her skin, her very nearness washed over him.
She shook her head. “I cannot.”
“This is going to cost you a very nasty spanking, Kaj.”
“Survive, Dante,” she replied, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Survive and I’ll lay over your lap.”
Her arms wrapped around him. The very earth seemed ready to swallow them whole. Vines and roots spat from the ground.
“Retreat!” Roan shouted, his eyes wide as he seemed to catch sight of something terrifying.
“Baby.” He forced himself to talk when it hurt to even move. “You have to go. Something bad’s happening.”
Kaja’s arms tightened.
Roan was suddenly in front of him. “Feed. No one likes to talk about it, but your consort can save you. Her blood can heal you, Dellacourt. I never meant to hurt the women. If I’ve been betrayed, then I assure you I’ll take care of it. Feed.”
Roan took off, and Dante finally got a good look at what had sent the mercenary running.
Cian.
He walked forward, the trees and bushes bending around him to give him access. Cian Finn’s hands were stretched out as though he embraced the world around him and it embraced him in return.
Dante watched as the goblins were caught by vines. They snaked across the field and caught their fleeing prey. The vines wrapped around their ankles and pulled the goblins screaming into the ground. It was as though they were being swallowed feetfirst. The goblins clawed and fought, but they went down screaming, the earth sucking them down.
“What is happening?” Kaja asked, her voice tiny and frightened.
“Cian is happening, love. He won’t hurt you.”
His cousin was utterly transformed. The Green Man walked toward them now, and he was pissed off.
The vampires were fleeing, but some of them got caught by the trees. They leaned over, and their heavy branches became wooden swords.
Kaja’s arms tightened around him, one hand covering his heart as though she could stop the trees.
Smart trees. And they had damn fine aim. A vampire screamed and exploded as a tree branch caught him straight through the heart.
Chaos reigned. Blood flowed. Dante just felt tired. Kaja would live. Cian would see to it. Cian would take her to Dante’s family, and his father would take care of Kaja. His father. Anger fled. He loved his dad. And his mother. And his annoying sister.
The world was loud with the business of dying, but Dante still spoke to Kaja. “Baby, tell my family I love them. Can you do that? You go to them. They’ll take care of you.”
Dante saw Meg run to her husband. She leapt into his arms and wrapped herself around him. The goblins were gone, taken deep into the ground. The vampires had fled, and those who weren’t fast enough were puddles of blood. Cian kissed Meg. It was a beautiful sight. The little pixies clung to Cian’s hair.
They had gone to find the Green Man. Clever pixies.
“Please, Dante,” Kaja begged. She put her wrist to his mouth.
Oh, he wanted to, but Dante wasn’t sure he was strong enough to stop. Instinct told him that Roan was right. Kaja’s blood could save him. Fuck. He couldn’t risk her. It was better to die than to live without his Kaja.
He leaned back against her. “No, baby. I could hurt you.”
Cian and Meg were suddenly in front of him. Cian looked down at him.
“You’re worse for the wear, cos.”
Ci was good at stating the obvious. “Yep. You suck, man. Next time, give me the heads up that you’re leaving.”
“Will do.” Cian’s gaze turned to Kaja. “I heard the asshole who I intend to kill say that you could save Dante.”
“Don’t,” Dante warned.
“Yes, but he needs to feed. He won’t feed.” Kaja’s voice was pleading.
Cian smiled. “I think I can fix that.”
“Don’t you fucking dare, Ci.” There was a knife in Cian’s hand.
Cian Finn neatly sliced a small hole in Kaja’s wrist. Not much, but enough to get the blood flowing, and Dante’s instinct took over when she pressed it to his mouth. Sweet, rich blood flowed and he couldn’t help it. His fangs sank in, and he drank.
Velvety warmth flowed into his mouth, and Dante could feel himself healing.
She invaded his system. Her memories, her hopes, her dreams assailed him. She was so sweet, so strong. She’d been battered, but her heart was whole, and she offered it up.
“That’s unbelievable,” Cian breathed.
“It’s working,” Meg said, relief obvious in her voice.
But Dante was concentrating on Kaja. His defenses were down, and he let her flood him. He was battered with her emotions. She’d wanted to die when she’d seen him gutted. She’d wanted to lie down beside him and never get up. She wanted to bear his child. She wanted it so much.
She loved him.
He saw himself as Kaja saw him.
Dante felt his skin knit together and forced himself to stop.
Kaja slumped to the ground.
Dante touched her hair. She was utterly exhausted, nothing more. He’d taken a bit too much, but he could sense she would be all right with rest and care. He stood and hauled his lovely, brave bride into his arms. She curled against him.
Cian looked at him. “Still thinking about setting her aside?”
“Never,” Dante said, and he walked from the forest.
He might not understand what had happened, but he knew one thing.
He would never let her go.