Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“Are you still with me?” Lach asks.
I groan. “Sorry. I was thinking about her. Yes, I think that’s the queen, and she’s not what we thought she would be. And the one named Kaja mentioned Dante. Gods, did Julian really bring Dante Dellacourt here? Shouldn’t he be in a strip club on the Vampire plane?”
“I think she heard you.” Lach nods toward the women.
The slim one is watching us with narrowed eyes. “Explain this stripping club to me. I do not like the sound of it. It sounds like a place my husband should stay far from.”
Queen Meg smiles. “It sounds like a place Dante more than likely used to frequent before he got married.”
“Bloody hell. Dante Dellacourt is married?” Duffy walks up, two big mugs of goblin whiskey steaming in his hands. The gnome belches a bit. “Is it one of the crazy women from the DL we all watched? That was fun. We made it into a drinking game. Every time that idiot would say ‘hey, baby,’ we would all drink. I never been so drunk in all me life.”
I’m about to apologize when the queen’s laughter rings through the hall. The goblin she was accosting runs like a demon is on his heels. Queen Meg laughs it off. “We drank every time he took off his shirt or got into a hot tub. I got pretty drunk myself. And yes, Dante Dellacourt took a consort. This is Kaja Dellacourt. I would tread carefully, Your Highnesses. She’s a little bitter. We passed many an interesting creature on the road here, and her husband would let her feast on nothing.” She gets down on one knee. The Seelie queen is dressed in informal clothes, but there is no doubt she’s a queen. There’s an air of authority to the woman. But there’s also a pleasant smile on her face. “Hello, wee one. What’s your name? I can make a guess as to who those two are, but I was unaware there were gnomes on this plane.”
Duffy steps forward. She got down to his level. It’s an unexpected sign of respect. I’m starting to like the Seelie queen. “Me name is Duffy, Your Highness. I was a foundling. Me mum left me on the road, and the Unseelie queen, rest her soul, took pity on me. She brought me to the palace, and I was raised here.”
“A third brother.” Queen Meg nods his way. “It is good to meet you. I was wondering, Duffy, if you might have a bit more of that delicious brew?”
Duffy shoves that mug in the queen’s hand quicker than I ever saw him move before. He looks back at me, apologies on his small face. “Sorry, Shim. I meant that for you, but she’s prettier.”
Queen Meg winks at the gnome and then takes a shockingly long drink of the goblin brew. “Thank god. We’ve been on the run. I haven’t been able to find any. Don’t worry, I’ll trade for it. Anyone here ever heard of cupcakes?”
The doors to the king’s room open, and a silence falls across the hall. King Fergus enters, followed by our cousin, Julian Lodge, a royal vampire named Taggart who serves as Julian’s bodyguard, the Seelie kings, my father’s chief advisor, a vampire I don’t recognize, and the infamous Dante Dellacourt.
None of them look happy, and it gives me a damn good idea of what my place is. I was left outside of the meeting. I was left with the women.
Queen Meg gives me a wisp of a smile. “If it helps at all, we were a bit earlier than we expected. I don’t think your father intended to leave you out.”
But my father is overly protective. My father still thinks we’re children, not thirty years old. I understand why. My father is still waiting for us to fade, to die because we refuse to take a bondmate. King Fergus of the Unseelie doesn’t believe it’s possible that his sons bonded with a woman on another plane. No one believes we bonded with Bronwyn Finn as she lay dying.
They certainly don’t believe that Lach and I were the ones to bring her back to life, giving a piece of our soul and half of Lach’s face in return.
“Father isn’t interested in our counsel.” I’m well aware of the bitter flavor to my words.
Lach stares at me. “Well, it doesn’t help when half of us goes down to the beach and no one can find us.”
I knew I didn’t help things, but I wasn’t able to resist. I woke this morning and I felt sunshine on my face. I smiled because it’s a cloudy day here. But Bron can feel the sun, and I can feel her delight in it. I was suffused with her unique energy as she ran through the fields.