“He’s trying to say that vampires fall deeply in love with their consorts,” Cara said primly.
“You say potato, I say potahto,” Dante sang.
“You, Miss, could serve as either a bondmate or a consort,” Rhys interjected over the increasingly impatient crowd. “The psychic connection apparently comes with some changes in the blood. Normally, there would be plenty of suitable men and women. It is a common thing in Fae creatures. It’s why our poor king is related to that one. Mr. Dellacourt’s father took the king’s aunt as his consort. The Fae and Vampire planes are closely linked.”
“Well, they were until that bastard Torin took over,” Dante said.
“And why does everyone speak English?” Meg found that very confusing. “I don’t get it. Dante sounds like every half-assed player prowling the bars on a Saturday night.”
Dante touched his chest and looked horribly offended. “Now who’s rude? For your information, I speak English because my people created it a really long time ago. You can’t possibly think your ancestors were intelligent enough to come up with such a convoluted and ridiculous language. At some point in time, my people found the door to your plane and taught you a thing or two. It probably happened around the time your people started standing upright. By the way, fire? Also a vampire discovery. You have us to thank for that, I’m sure. As to my speech patterns reminding you of your home plane, I can only say, ick. I don’t mean to sound like some human. It’s an unfortunate truth that our planes are very closely connected. If the DLs on the subject are correct, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Think of it like this—our planes started out on the same track, but humans took over your plane, and vampires were the evolutionary winners on mine. There are bound to be many, many similarities.”
“Like the potato song,” Meg mused.
“You have that, too? Funny how that happens sometimes. I’ve heard you can run into yourself on planes like that. The Vampire plane and the human plane are parallel. I wonder if there’s another me on the human plane. I bet I’m getting an enormous amount of tail there.”
“Hush,” Rhys said. “It’s starting.”
Meg leaned forward and watched as a line of men walked out from the far side of the arena. A masculine voice boomed loudly, announcing each as they walked through. It was easy to tell the Fae males from the vampires. The Fae wore only pants and boots. Their chests were bare, and their long hair was pulled back and knotted behind their heads. The vampires wore long sleeves and gloves on their hands. They wore sunglasses like Dante’s, and their shirts came with a hood covering their heads.
“We burn easily,” Dante said when she asked about it. “Our skin is very delicate. The sun on our plane isn’t as strong as the others. We don’t have a lot of ultraviolet light. Dellacorp is currently working on a cream that will protect the skin.”
“Yes, it’s called sunscreen.” Meg felt a strange sense of pride. Score one for the humans. “We piddling humans came up with it long ago.”
“Seriously? You don’t happen to have any of that on you? I could make a killing with that.” Dante’s business sense was quickly shelved as a vampire walked into the arena. Dante stood up and went to the railing, his sunglasses flowing as he moved into the light. “Well, if it isn’t Kinsey Palgrave, you stupid ass. You suck, Palgrave! And your profits were down ten percent last quarter! Yeah, everyone saw it, you pathetic chump. Your stock’s going to take a nosedive.”
The other vampire shot Dante the bird and bared his fangs. “Why don’t you get down here, Dellacourt? Or do you need your sister’s permission?”
Meg could hear the “eat shit” smile on Dante’s face. “My sister would never allow me to fight in this tournament.”
The big vampire, who looked like he might be taking steroids, laughed. So did all his friends. They seemed to be having a laugh at Dante’s expense. “Big sister doesn’t want baby brother to get a boo-boo?”
“Big sister knows it’s stupid to fight the warrior half of symbiotic twins.” Dante’s face twisted into a sweet little smirk. “Besides, I would never fight my cousin.”
It seemed to Meg like the entire arena suddenly fell silent. The vampire named Palgrave went even paler than before as he stared up at his rival.
“Beckett Finn is here?”
Dante pointed at the back of the arena, and Meg saw that Beck was just walking in. He didn’t really walk. He strode. There was confidence in his easy gait as he strode into the arena. The rest of the males had sunk into the sand, but Beck seemed to almost glide above it. He was graceful. He was a shark, and suddenly everyone else looked a little like guppies.
“They’re scared of him,” Meg breathed, sensing the anticipation in the crowd. The minute Beck stepped out, the crowd fell silent and the whispering began. Every eye in the arena was on the big, dark-haired man with the stormy gray eyes.
“He is a bad ass.” Dante sat back down. He opened his jacket and pulled out what looked like an iPad. He pushed the screen a few times and then touched his ear. Meg hadn’t noticed it before, but there was a small device in his ear. “Yeah, give me my sister. Hey, Susie, you gotta dump all the stock we have with the Palgrave funds. No, I am not out drinking. Listen to me. Kinsey Palgrave is about to fight Beck. Yes, that’s what I said. Even if Beck lets him live, he’ll be out of commission for weeks. His even dumber brother will be acting CEO. Dump it now before the price goes down. You’re welcome.” He smiled smugly at Meg. “That will teach them to call me a screwup.”
“How many does he have to fight?” It was starting to sink in that this was really happening. These men would fight. The one who was left standing would expect her to go home with him. She would be his slave.
“Stop panicking,” Dante said, leaning back negligently. “It is all going to be fine. You’ll love Beck, and you’ll be crazy about Cian. No woman can resist Cian when he’s on his game. They’ll treat you like a princess. This is going to be a piece of cake for him. There’s only twenty-five, no, there they go…fifteen to fight. Wow, they must be desperate. I was sure we’d get it down under ten.”
A group of men shook their heads in disgust or fear and walked out of the arena.
“They don’t want to fight the great Beckett Finn,” Rhys said with no small amount of pride. “He’s a legend across the planes. The vampires will stay because of pride. If the word got out that they paid for an entry and then wasted the money by walking away, they would bring their families shame.”
Dante nodded, agreeing with the gnome. “Vamps are damn serious about corporate funds. The Fae can walk away because there’s no shame in surrendering to the King.”
“King?” She’d heard Beck referred to that way, but now it seemed serious.
Dante’s arrogance was gone, and in its place was an earnestness that made him almost angelically attractive. “Yes, Beckett Finn is the rightful King of the Seelie Fae. A pretender sits on his throne and has since Beck was seventeen years old. Beck lost his mother, father, sister, home, and kingdom all in one day. He has been on the run ever since. He has been forced to live as a peasant, barely getting by. He sells his sword to put food on the table. All he has in the world is his brother.” Dante sat forward. He placed his hand on hers. It was slightly cool to the touch. “You can change that for him. You can make his life worth living. I love my cousin. He’s more like a brother to me. If Cian makes a comeback, it is entirely possible I can get my sister to back them financially. Once the money starts flowing, Beck’s loyalists will come back.”
Meg sighed. She knew there had been more to this than simple lust-at-first-sight. He had ambitions, and she figured into them. “He wants to take back his throne?”