“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?”