“Yes,” Dellacourt said slowly. “We need to talk about that, little man. What would you say if I told you I could triple your business on this sweet little piece of ass?”
Rhys sighed, and Meg decided that he and Dellacourt probably had a long history, and not a lot of it was good. “I would say that the day I start listening to a slick vampire salesman is the day my wife should carve me up with a piece of wrought iron.”
Cara nodded somberly. “I have it all ready, too. The minute he goes soft, I’m taking him out.”
Cara held out her small hand, and Meg placed hers there. The little gnome started to lead her out into the sunlight. Dellacourt didn’t miss a beat.
“Seriously, I can make this a very profitable venture for you, Rhys.” Dellacourt followed them into the sunshine. There was a small whirring sound. Meg gasped as sunglasses formed around the vampire’s eyes. Dellacourt grinned down at her. “Nanites, babe. Those are tiny computers, to the less technologically advanced. All of our clothes and accessories have nanite tech in them. They are intensely useful little fuckers. Of course, every now and then they band together and try to take over the world. Hey, what’s progress without the occasional apocalypse?” He turned back to Rhys. “Back to my point, I just need a few hours. I’ll give you a half-million in gold, and all you have to do is delay this tournament until, say, eight o’clock.”
“That ain’t happening.” Rhys turned from the vampire and continued walking.
Meg studied her surroundings as Cara led her into what looked like a small marketplace. There were stalls with vendors hawking their wares in odd languages. She had calmed down from her initial rage and terror. Now she could concentrate on her surroundings.
The gnome had mentioned that she didn’t speak Gaelic. This was the language that was spoken all around her now. It made sense in a weird way. The creatures around her appeared to be straight out of Irish lore. Gaelic was the ancient language of Ireland. While she was bound in the tent, she had decided to use a little of her old literature training to figure out what Beck was. It was obvious he didn’t think of himself as human. From the way the gnomes treated him, Meg had come to the conclusion that he was a faery of some kind. From the looks of him, he was more than likely a sidhe. They were the human-looking faeries and the ruling class. She wondered which tribe he came from. Human myths broke the Fae into two tribes, the Seelie and the Unseelie. The Seelie were the blessed, shining ones while the Unseelie held all the monsters the Fae had to offer. She rather thought him a Seelie. She hadn’t gotten a look at his ears. According to some lore, they should be slightly pointed. Of course, not all myths were proving true in this strange place. The vampire was proof of that since he was walking around in the daylight.
“Hey, vampire guy, shouldn’t you be all crispy and fried by now?” Meg asked bluntly because he seemed like a blunt kind of man.
Dellacourt stopped in his tracks and laughed. “Damn, she really is from the Earth plane. Darling, the vampires there are idiots who got lost and couldn’t find their way back. I read all the DLs on the subject. Horrifying stuff, really. You see, your sun is different. It has a bad effect on my kind, see? It puts us into a weird fugue state during the daylight hours, and if we get caught in it, we sort of explode.” He shuddered. “And apparently, the animals there aren’t fit for consumption, so they end up eating a diet made up entirely of human blood. Though I’ve heard your kind tastes spectacular, sweetheart. I’ve often thought that if I could get a trade route onto the human plane, I could make a ton of money selling human blood.”
Rhys pressed on. “Go away, Dellacourt. You’re scaring the girl.”
“Mr. Dellacourt doesn’t scare me exactly, though I find him slightly repugnant,” Meg admitted, eliciting a snort of agreement from Cara. Rhys was right.
“Oh, no, that won’t do. The name’s Dante, sweetheart. Please, all the beautiful women call me Dante. And I’ll have you know I am considered extremely good-looking.”
Meg shrugged as she walked on. She supposed he was. He was tall and lanky but seemed strong. His hair was a thick reddish gold and cut in a stylish fashion. It was long and spiky and probably required a lot of upkeep to look that messy. She’d noted his eyes were green before they were covered by his sunglasses. All in all, though, he looked like a wimp compared to Beck. “You sound like a used car salesman.”
Rhys piped up, seemingly eager to pile on to Dante. “His sister runs one of the biggest corporations on the vamp plane, but Dellacourt here is only allowed to oversee the family’s computer chain. They rebuild old machines.”
“Yep,” Meg said with a satisfied smile. “Used car salesman.”
They were getting close to what appeared to be a massive arena. It was circular and constructed from a combination of wood and stone. There were several arches that appeared to be entryways. Meg could hear a crowd roaring their approval.
Dante pulled on Rhys’s arm. He got to one knee. All previous sarcasm had fled, and in its place was an earnest desperation. “I am begging you. Give me half an hour. You can delay half an hour. Look, Beckett Finn is in the woods somewhere hunting. I’ll pay his fee to enter the tournament. His brother is dying. He needs her. Don’t you owe your king something?”
“Rhys of the Gentle Hills is forever loyal, Dante,” a soft voice said.
Meg turned and saw Beck standing mere feet from her. He had removed his vest and changed into dark pants and a different shirt. He held that long, ornate sword in one fist as he moved toward the arena.
“Excellent.” Sarcasm poured out of the vampire. “I just spent the better part of the day running around a freaking forest looking for you, and here you are, looking fresh as a daisy. Cian said you had gone hunting. I went to your brugh when I heard about the tournament.”
“I told Cian I was hunting because I didn’t want to get his hopes up.” Beck spoke to the vampire, but his eyes didn’t leave Meg.
He was gazing at her like a predator preparing to pounce. His gray eyes blazed through her, and she knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to take her away from here. He wanted to go somewhere private where he could lay her down and spread her thighs. At least that was what she hoped he wanted.
“Are you going to make big puppy eyes at the girl for the rest of the day, or are you going to go kick some ass?” Dante asked.
Beck shook his head and walked straight up to Meg. “You’ll have to forgive my cousin. He’s a bit of a pain, love. You’ll get used to him. He can’t help it. He’s a vampire.” He leaned over and kissed her soundly. “I know you’re scared, but remember my promise. We’re in this together now. I won’t let you down. And, love, please remember anything I do, I do to protect you.”
With those mysterious words, he turned. As he walked toward the gates of the arena, he shouted back to Rhys. “What did he promise you to try to get you to put off the tournament?”
“Half a million in gold, Your Highness.”
Beck stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his cousin. He had a look of impressed awe on his face. “You broke bastard. You didn’t have half a million before your sister cut you off.”