Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“Fine. How about our afterglow? Maybe that will convince you he isn’t what you think he is.” Amanda turns the volume up.
They are talking. It penetrates my brain. They are discussing Dante finding a consort. His father demanded it. Amanda tells him to find someone unsuitable.
I turn and smile at Amanda. “Oh, I know this about my husband.” I grope for the proper words. What did Susan call him? It seems like the right word for him now. “He is a dumbass.”
He is. He was caught in his own trap. He sought out a consort who would horrify his family. And I managed to do that. He sought a consort so unsuitable no one would question him when he set her aside. He found the perfect one. No one will say a word against Dante if he finds me someplace far away to live.
He can never let me go. I am half of him.
I bet he never expected that.
I try to get to my feet. It is time to find her gorgeous, sexy, dumbass husband and explain a few facts of life to him. I want to be on top from time to time. It looks like a nice position, and I refuse to accept less than his ex-mistress. “I do not know why you seek to hurt me, but this will not work. I know he makes foolish plans from time to time. I was the odd plan of his that worked out for the best. And I will fit in here. I will make sure of it. You should understand that if you come near my husband again, you will find out how quick I am on four feet. I am not allowed to eat anything that speaks no matter how stupidly it speaks, but Dante never said anything about maiming. I will maim you.”
Of course, I will have to be able to walk first. I grab onto the bar, trying to hold myself up. Where has Dante gone? I cannot feel him anymore. I cannot focus long enough to even make the attempt.
“How much did you give her?” Amanda asks. Her voice sounds far away. “Gods, Jeremy, if you’ve killed her, Chalen will have both our heads.”
Amanda’s arms go under my shoulders. I struggle to move. I am beginning to understand that I am in trouble. “I do not want to be killed.”
I feel so weak. What is happening? Did they talk to the demon? Did they give me his elixir? It made me weak before, but now it makes everything fuzzy, and my limbs are limp and useless.
“I’ll take her. I’m stronger than I look.” Jeremy picks me up. “And I’ve carted more than one druggie out the door. Security won’t think anything of it. I want my payout in cash. I’m going to have to leave Dallas. If my boss ever finds out what I did, he’ll pull my fangs out of my head, and that will be the nice part of my day.”
My world upends. My mind seeks Dante’s but finds only fog. I start to drift in and out of consciousness.
When I open my eyes again, I am being placed in a large hovercar. A man with cold, dead eyes looks down at me.
“Hello, Mrs. Dellacourt. My name is Chalen Palgrave. I think you’re going to like your new accommodations. Well, until the vivisection begins. Then you might not think it’s so nice.”
The car takes off, but I sink into darkness once more.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dante
I feel older as I walk out of Julian’s office. I was only in there for an hour and a half, but I swear I aged ten years.
It’s really happening. After all these years, the fight is finally here. Torin will come after Beck and Cian, and he’ll have the Vampire Council’s support. Well, maybe not their support, but they’ll look the other way if it means royals once again gain full access to consorts.
Torin is going to be the acknowledged king of the Seelie Fae, and Beck and Cian will be the rebels. I’m having a hard time processing it.
And Chalen Palgrave is trying to kill me.
William Roan walks out behind me, a grim look on his face. “Mr. Dellacourt, I understand that you don’t trust me, but I’m your best bet to stay unharmed until such time as this misunderstanding with Palgrave can be fixed.”
I don’t want to fix the misunderstanding. I want to eviscerate Palgrave.
“Roan really is excellent at what he does,” Julian says. “I’ll vouch for him. Use him as a bodyguard for a while until we deal with Palgrave. He’s insignificant compared to ensuring the safety of the true Seelie kings.”
I want to growl my frustration to the world. I don’t need this shit with Palgrave while my cousins are in danger. “I didn’t kill Kinsey Palgrave and neither did my cousins. If they had, I would have heard about it. If I killed Kinsey, I damn straight wouldn’t hide it. And, if I killed him, it would have been because he was doing something he shouldn’t have.”