Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
“You are brooding, Beck.” My aunt’s voice cuts through my dark thoughts and pull me into the present. I turn and look at my mother’s sister. She’s graceful and lovely, just as my mother had been. Her raven hair is in a neat knot at the nape of her neck. “I think sometimes you forget which half you are. You are a man of action. Leave the brooding to Cian.” Alana Dellacourt’s face falls as she remembers. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
I smile at my aunt. The words don’t hurt at all since they no longer hold truth. Now if my brother broods, I can kick his ass because there’s no reason for it. “It’s all right. I wasn’t brooding. Well, maybe I was. I was thinking about my wife.”
I hold still, watching for her reaction. I asked Dante to keep his mouth shut. I want to tell my aunt. I so rarely have good news to share.
Her face becomes a mask of well-bred horror. “Tell me you haven’t married that Liadan person. Oh, Beckett. You can’t give up hope. Annul the marriage. I will find a way to smuggle a bondmate out of Tír na nÒg. Your Uncle Don and Susie already have feelers out looking for the best way to do it. We have confirmation that Torin, the bastard, is making deals with other vampire families to sell them consorts. Obviously he would never make a deal with the Dellacourts, but we have plans.”
I take my aunt’s hand. She’s a slave to fashion, as always, and her nails are painted an emerald green with small jewels on the tips. It’s the fashion for consorts. “Tell them to stop. I’m not about to…what was the term Meg used…divorce my wife, though she might beat me when I return home. As for Cian, I spoke to him not thirty minutes ago on the tablet Dante gave us. Cian is perfectly clear-headed and more like himself than he’s been in years. He’s just as pissed with me as Meg must be, though he’s trying to hide it, the tricky bastard. I’ll have to watch my step when I get home or he’ll jump me.”
Alana gasps as she understands the implications. Before she can say a thing, a bundle of feminine energy bursts into the room and runs straight for me. I brace myself for impact and am not disappointed. Susan Dellacourt throws herself into my arms with a resounding thud.
“Beck! I can’t believe it.” My cousin looks up at me with joyful tears in her eyes. “You bonded! We all thought we were going to lose you. It’s fate. I know it is.”
“You’ll have to excuse my wife, Your Highness,” Colin O’Neill Dellacourt says with an indulgent smile. He bows formally. I recognize the sidhe. Colin was one of the refugees to make it out of Tír na nÒg before the plane closed. Unlike most of the Fae, Colin settled on the Vampire plane and quickly found himself in the enviable position of consort. “She’s been worried about you and Cian. She talks about you all the time. I’ve heard more stories about your childhood than you can imagine.”
Colin is dressed in typical vampire attire. He is casual but elegant in slacks and a pearl-gray dress shirt. He came a long way from a farm in Tír na nÒg.
“Well, I remember when she was just a wee thing, and I used to pull her pigtails,” I say, giving my cousin a squeeze. I often didn’t understand my vampire relatives, but I love them.
Susan shakes her head and plants a kiss on my cheek as she notes her brother walking into the room. “That was Ci, dear. You were always too serious to play.” She squeezes my hand. “Why didn’t you bring your new wife and Ci with you? Everyone will be dying to meet her, and I would love to talk to Cian when I don’t have to remind him who I am every five minutes.”
“You aren’t the only one, sis. He was completely out of it when I left. It’s funny now, of course, but at the time, I was concerned.” Dante shrugs my way. “Well, you told me to keep my mouth shut around Mother. You said nothing at all about Susan. Come on, man. She’s my boss and my older sister. I gotta have something on her.”
“How can you consider me your boss?” Susan asks with a roll of her emerald eyes. I hear Colin snort and realize this is a well-worn argument. Even Alana sighs as Susan continues her tirade. “You never show up for work. You’re always out gallivanting around. Sometimes I wonder if the tabloids would have anything to do if Dante Dellacourt wasn’t here to give them a headline every day.”
Dante’s eyes narrow. “Well, we can’t all be perfect CEOs and perfect spouses and perfect daughters. Some of us prefer to have a life.”