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plane and the human plane are parallel. I wonder if there’s another me
on the human plane. I bet I’m getting an enormous amount of tail
there.”
“Hush,” Rhys said. “It’s starting.”
Meg leaned forward and watched as a line of men walked out
from the far side of the arena. A masculine voice boomed loudly,
announcing each as they walked through. It was easy to tell the Fae
males from the vampires. The Fae wore only pants and boots. Their
chests were bare, and their long hair was pulled back and knotted
behind their heads. The vampires wore long sleeves and gloves on
their hands. They wore sunglasses like Dante’s, and their shirts came
with a hood covering their heads.
“We burn easily,” Dante said when she asked about it. “Our skin
is very delicate. The sun on our plane isn’t as strong as the others. We
don’t have a lot of ultraviolet light. Dellacorp is currently working on
a cream that will protect the skin.”
“Yes, it’s called sunscreen.” Meg felt a strange sense of pride.
Score one for the humans. “We piddling humans came up with it long ago.”
“Seriously? You don’t happen to have any of that on you? I could
make a killing with that.” Dante’s business sense was quickly shelved
as a vampire walked into the arena. Dante stood up and went to the
railing, his sunglasses flowing as he moved into the light. “Well, if it
isn’t Kinsey Palgrave, you stupid ass. You suck, Palgrave! And your
profits were down ten percent last quarter! Yeah, everyone saw it, you
pathetic chump. Your stock’s going to take a nosedive.”
The other vampire shot Dante the bird and bared his fangs. “Why
don’t you get down here, Dellacourt? Or do you need your sister’s
permission?”
Meg could hear the “eat shit” smile on Dante’s face. “My sister
would never allow me to fight in this tournament.”
The big vampire, who looked like he might be taking steroids,
laughed. So did all his friends. They seemed to be having a laugh at
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Dante’s expense. “Big sister doesn’t want baby brother to get a boo-
boo?”
“Big sister knows it’s stupid to fight the warrior half of symbiotic
twins.” Dante’s face twisted into a sweet little smirk. “Besides, I
would never fight my cousin.”
It seemed to Meg like the entire arena suddenly fell silent. The
vampire named Palgrave went even paler than before as he stared up
at his rival.
“Beckett Finn is here?”
Dante pointed at the back of the arena, and Meg saw that Beck
was just walking in. He didn’t really walk. He strode. There was
confidence in his easy gait as he strode into the arena. The rest of the
males had sunk into the sand, but Beck seemed to almost glide above
it. He was graceful. He was a shark, and suddenly everyone else
looked a little like guppies.
“They’re scared of him,” Meg breathed, sensing the anticipation
in the crowd. The minute Beck stepped out, the crowd fell silent and
the whispering began. Every eye in the arena was on the big, dark-
haired man with the stormy gray eyes.
“He is a bad ass.” Dante sat back down. He opened his jacket and
pulled out what looked like an iPad. He pushed the screen a few times
and then touched his ear. Meg hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a
small device in his ear. “Yeah, give me my sister. Hey, Susie, you
gotta dump all the stock we have with the Palgrave funds. No, I am
not out drinking. Listen to me. Kinsey Palgrave is about to fight Beck.
Yes, that’s what I said. Even if Beck lets him live, he’ll be out of
commission for weeks. His even dumber brother will be acting CEO.
Dump it now before the price goes down. You’re welcome.” He
smiled smugly at Meg. “That will teach them to call me a screwup.”
“How many does he have to fight?” It was starting to sink in that
this was really happening. These men would fight. The one who was
left standing would expect her to go home with him. She would be his
slave.
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“Stop panicking,” Dante said, leaning back negligently. “It is all
going to be fine. You’ll love Beck, and you’ll be crazy about Cian.
No woman can resist Cian when he’s on his game. They’ll treat you
like a princess. This is going to be a piece of cake for him. There’s
only twenty-five, no, there they go…fifteen to fight. Wow, they must
be desperate. I was sure we’d get it down under ten.”
A group of men shook their heads in disgust or fear and walked
out of the arena.
“They don’t want to fight the great Beckett Finn,” Rhys said with
no small amount of pride. “He’s a legend across the planes. The
vampires will stay because of pride. If the word got out that they paid
for an entry and then wasted the money by walking away, they would
bring their families shame.”
Dante nodded, agreeing with the gnome. “Vamps are damn
serious about corporate funds. The Fae can walk away because there’s
no shame in surrendering to the King.”
“King?” She’d heard Beck referred to that way, but now it seemed
serious.
Dante’s arrogance was gone, and in its place was an earnestness
that made him almost angelically attractive. “Yes, Beckett Finn is the
rightful King of the Seelie Fae. A pretender sits on his throne and has
since Beck was seventeen years old. Beck lost his mother, father,
sister, home, and kingdom all in one day. He has been on the run ever
since. He has been forced to live as a peasant, barely getting by. He
sells his sword to put food on the table. All he has in the world is his
brother.” Dante sat forward. He placed his hand on hers. It was
slightly cool to the touch. “You can change that for him. You can
make his life worth living. I love my cousin. He’s more like a brother
to me. If Cian makes a comeback, it is entirely possible I can get my
sister to back them financially. Once the money starts flowing, Beck’s
loyalists will come back.”
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Meg sighed. She knew there had been more to this than simple
lust-at-first-sight. He had ambitions, and she figured into them. “He
wants to take back his throne?”
“Yes,” Dante replied, as though it should have been blatantly
obvious. “He wants to overthrow his murdering uncle. I know that
you intend to run at the first opportunity. Don’t try to deny it. I would
do the same thing in your place, but I’m asking you to give him a
chance. Is there anything you could do on your home plane as
important as freeing an entire population from tyranny?”
Well, put like that, getting back so her TiVo didn’t fill up seemed
a little silly. The store where she worked wouldn’t be a problem.
When she didn’t show up, the district manager would just fire her and
put another in her place. She’d been told on more than one occasion
that she was a dime a dozen. There were overeducated morons
and started new families. It would be months before they even
realized she was gone.
She could feel her face setting in stubborn lines. She hadn’t asked
to be brought here. Just because her life was a little dull didn’t mean it was inconsequential. She had friends. Well, she’d had Michael’s
friends, and they had all taken his side in the divorce, but she intended
to make friends one day. She couldn’t do that if she didn’t get home.
Cara’s small hand patting her in a comforting way didn’t count as
friendship. The little gnome was her jailer.
No, no matter what that vampire said, she was leaving as soon as
she could.
A loud horn sounded, and the crowd leaned forward expectantly.
The battle was beginning. Meg’s breath caught as she saw Beck look
for her. Their eyes met, and he bowed formally to her.
Yes, she would leave. Even though he made her heart pound, she
couldn’t stay. Could she?
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Chapter Four
Beck watched Meg in the stands. It would be difficult, but he had
to keep a firm grip on his emotions during this fight. Everyone
thought Cian was the only one feeling the lack of a bondmate, but
Beck had felt his hold on his temper slowly dissolving over the last
few years. He felt his rage build after a fight rather than dissipate. He
had become brutal when he didn’t need to be.
Just weeks ago, he had been hired to clean out a group of bandits
plaguing the road to the marketplace. When he’d been surrounded by
them, he’d gone a little crazy. He killed all thirty, and only just held
off killing the females who had been travelling with them. His rages
were getting worse. He wouldn’t be able to cover them for much
longer. If they were forced to try to put him down, many people he
cared about would die.
Cian might fade from existence like a candle being slowly snuffed
out, but Beck feared he would go out in a blaze of blood and death.
Dante was under strict instructions to use vampire technology to kill
him if necessary, but he doubted his cousin would be able to do it.
Meg was the answer to all his problems. He bowed formally to the
woman he intended to wed. At least she wasn’t trying to run, yet. He
would have to deal with that eventually. He’d felt a small piece of her
soul when he’d made her come before. He knew she was a stubborn
girl. She was also a lonely girl. He didn’t need to see into her soul for
that. She was lonely and scared. Beck wondered what she had left
behind on the Earth plane. Had she left behind a husband, or worse,
children? She was of an age to be a mother. His conscience hurt at the
thought of leaving a baby without a mother, but there was nothing he
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could do about it. She would learn that there was no way back to her
plane. Only a Planeswalker could take her, and she wouldn’t like the
cost of the trip.
Beck felt the sand beneath his feet. He’d trained in an arena like
this one back when he’d had loyalists who thought they could get him
on the throne. He knew well how to fight here. The vampires were
struggling, though. It wouldn’t take them long to adjust. Beck didn’t
underestimate the vampires. They might seem soft because their true
passion was business, but they were fierce predators. When the fight
began, they would be in touch with their primal natures.
“Your Highness,” a young Fae said, not quite meeting his eyes as
he walked past.
He was the first of ten men who walked past him. Beck could feel
their disappointment. They had paid their money and laid their hopes
on the line, too. Beck tried not to feel guilty. He had to do whatever it
took to save his brother.
“Bastard,” one of the vampires spit as he walked up to Beck. His
fangs were out, a sure sign of his rage. “Don’t even try to pull that shit on me, Finn. You aren’t a late entrant. Those fucking gnomes kept
you out of sight until it was too late. None of us would even have
tried, knowing you were going to be here.”
Beck was very still, though his eyes watched every move the
vampire made. He looked vaguely familiar, but then, vamps often
looked the same to Beck. “I paid my money like the rest of you. I
wasn’t responsible for the list of competitors.”
The vampire sneered, and now he had others backing him up. The
sidhe had all left, but the vampires were standing against him. “Right.
You don’t have any sway with the gnomes.” His voice was filled with
sarcasm. “They still see you as their king. Are you taking a cut?”
Beck’s eyes narrowed. A few of the smarter vampires took a step
back. “I just want the girl. I’m not getting anything out of this except
the girl.”
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He tamped down his rage with ruthless precision. He thought
about Meg sitting in the stands watching. He’d have given years off
his life for her not to watch him. He didn’t want her scared of him.
“We’ll see about that.” The vampire’s fangs were already long in
his mouth as the referee entered. The vamps retreated. They talked
amongst themselves as the gnome needlessly explained the rules.
Everyone knew them. No technology was allowed. Ancient
weapons were the only ones allowed. The vampires were able to use
their fangs and claws. If Cian had been here, Beck would have been
allowed to use their psychic connection. Other than that, there were
very few rules. Mercy must be given if asked for. If a combatant
requested quarter, the warrior fighting him must give it. The fallen
fighter would leave, and the battle would resume. If no quarter was
asked, then death was an acceptable outcome.
Beck felt the weapon in his hand. It was his sword, once his
father’s. He had managed to save it as he fled Tir na nÒg. He had
heard that his uncle mourned its loss. It was the traditional weapon of
the Seelie King. No amount of money or power could replace what it
meant to their culture. Some said that as long as Beckett Finn still
carried the sword, there was hope. Beck wasn’t sure about that. A
large part of him simply wanted to live out his life in some form of
comfort. The idea of being king was a vague dream. Now he only
wanted to save his brother and find a stable life. Winning Meggie was
the first step.
There was a roar in the crowd as the referee held up a small black
flag. A battle horn sounded, and the tournament began.
There wasn’t a burst of fighting. Beck knew that the vampires had
used their time well. The vampires stalked him, attempting to distract
him while some worked their way around to his back. Beck sighed.
They intended to surround him. They would work together to take
him out, and then they would fight each other.
They didn’t understand a thing. He very much preferred it this
way. Chaos was his enemy. If he knew they were all coming after
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>
him, he knew exactly who to kill—every blasted one of them.
Adrenaline began to course through his body like an old familiar drug
in his system. Beck held his sword calmly at his side, patiently
waiting for them to get into position.
“Fucking idiots! He loves the pack rotation” Beck heard his
cousin shouting. It shouldn’t have surprised him that even in a crowd
of peasants watching a fight, Dante stood out as obnoxious.
It was a technical term for this type of fight. The vampires were
circling him like a pack of wolves. Beck was particularly talented
when it came to defending against a pack rotation, but Dante didn’t
need to point that out.
Beck shot the vampire a look. Dante was standing at the edge of
the railing. Meg was standing right beside him, her face sheet-white
as she watched the men surrounding him. She felt the connection, he
realized. Beck had expected the connection. He had opened himself to
it, but if Meg had felt it, too, it must be strong. Something warm filled
Beck at the thought of it. It was the only explanation for why she was
standing there, looking like her world was about to fall apart. She
knew they belonged together. She might not be willing to admit it,
even to herself, but the bond was already being formed.
And then Beck sensed something coming at him, fast. He had a
bare second before the vampire was on him. Beck leaned down, trying
to time it perfectly and get just the right angle. The vampire hit his
back. Beck shoved up with everything he had. It sent the vamp flying
through the air, knocking down a rival on the other side of the circle.
Beck was immediately back on his feet, anticipating the attack from
the other side.
Vampires were fast. They talked fast, and moved even faster when
they needed to. When fighting a vampire, Beck knew it was more
important to rely on his fighting instincts than his eyes. Sometimes a
vamp could move faster than the eye could track. It came down to
anticipating the next move. Vampires were immensely logical
creatures. They trained and tended to do everything by the book. It
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was why Dante had trouble fitting in. Dante thought more creatively.
In this case, the vampires’ slavish devotion to the method came in