Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Beck
I stand looking out the window on the hundred and
second floor of the Dellacorp building. This is the penthouse my aunt lives in,
and it always makes me nervous to be so high in a non-natural structure. Below,
the neon lights of the city give the night an ethereal quality. It’s an odd
sight, and one I wish I could share with my wife. Meg would be fascinated by
this world. I wonder if there’s a Dallas on her plane. According to the vampire
scientists who study the planes, this one and the legendary Earth plane are
oddly interconnected. I will have to ask her.
She would likely enjoy the ridiculous lights and soaring
heights the vampires live in. It makes my stomach ache, but it might be worth
it if Meg likes it.
I can’t risk it. I can’t risk the chance that she could run
away here and probably find someone who will take her in and hide her away.
Probably? I’m being too positive. If I brought her here, she would find no end
of handsome vampires willing to save her from her unwanted marriage. She’s a
beautiful bondmate, and they would consider her a perfect consort. She would
have vampires fighting over the privilege of who got to save her from her
husband.
“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.”
“How can you call that a life?” Susan mocks her baby
brother. “You drink and go out with a new model every night. That isn’t a life.
It’s a blood disease waiting to happen. I don’t even want to know where your
fangs have been, brother.”
“Susan!” Donald Dellacourt’s voice booms through the great
room as he enters. I try to hide my smile. My uncle is a bit larger than life.
“Give your brother a break. He’s a young man finding his blood. So what if he’s
a little wild? He’ll fall in love and settle down one of these days. You have
to be patient with him.”
Dante’s green eyes are suspiciously innocent as he pours
himself a Scotch. Vampires might not eat the way the Fae do, but they love to
drink. “Father is right, Susie. I drown myself in booze and loose women to hide
the pain in my heart from not finding true love. It could be that my tale ends
tragically. I fell madly in love with a beautiful consort, and Beck stole her
from me. I suppose I’ll have to find something that will make me feel better.
Perhaps a Ferrari. It won’t fill the hole in my heart, but I have to make do.”
My uncle rolls his eyes and readjusts his Stetson. “Don’t
push it, son. I’m not a fool. I started with next to nothing.”
Dante’s eyes glaze over. His mouth moves in time with his
father’s. He’s obviously heard the tale about a million times, but then, so
have I.
“All I had was a hundred head of cattle and a dream,” Don
says as he pours himself a Scotch, too. “A dream to refine their blood into an
easy-to-swallow nutritional pill that made storage problems a thing of the
past.”
Susie is mouthing the familiar conversation as well. My
uncle continues his story of building Dellacorp into a giant of the industry.
Alana slides her arm around my shoulders as her husband lectures their children
about how easy they have it.
“Come along. He’ll be at it for hours now.” Aunt Alana leads
me onto the balcony. The air is cool and the night calm, though in a city as
large as Dallas, it’s never quiet. “Tell me about your bride. How did she make
it out of Tír na nòg?”
“She didn’t.” I look out over the city, feeling the distance
between me and Meg. It weighs heavily on me. Did I do the right thing? Should I
have brought her with me? “She’s from the Earth plane.”
Alana steps up to the railing. She doesn’t seem to have the
same problem with heights that I have. “I heard rumors the Planeswalkers were
taking advantage of Torin closing Tír na nòg. Humans are closely related to the
Fae. Some historians believe we originated on their plane, after all. It
follows that some would be suitable as bondmates, though I’ve heard that only
human females have the ability to bond, and only a small percentage. She must
have been terrified.”
“To say the least.” A vision of tears running down her
pretty face when I left her at the cottage haunts me. She will never understand
all the reasons I left. I could have put off this business trip for a few days
until she settles in, but I fear what I would have done if I was alone with
her. The night before was a close call. It’s sad that the one woman I will ever
love is the one I can’t trust myself around. “Do you think she can ever be
happy so far from her home?”
My aunt smiles brilliantly. “Of course she can. She’ll
settle in. I was overwhelmed when I first came to this plane. Still, I love
your uncle. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And your bride has two devoted
men to make sure she’s happy.” A cloud passes over Alana’s face. “You can love
her? I know some bondings come without it, but if you can’t love her, it would
be better if you let Don and Susie try their plan.”
“No.” My voice is harsh, the answer quick enough to put a
smile on my aunt’s face. “I don’t want anyone else.”
“Good,” Alana says. “I’m glad you’re happy with her.”
I wish my mother was alive so I could talk to her. My aunt
is the next best thing. “I wish she was happy with me.”
“Give her time. She wasn’t prepared for this life. You have
to make allowances.”
I feel my jaw firm as a part of me tries to stop the
conversation right here and now. It should be easy. I should simply keep
everything inside as I always have. But since bonding with Meg, I’ve discovered
nothing is simple anymore. “I can’t control myself around her.”
Alana puts an affectionate hand on mine. “Of course you
can’t. She’s yours. When I said you had to make allowances, I was talking about
you, too. You have to change your mindset. I’ve read about the humans. I find
them intriguing. They’re a passionate people. Sometimes not so smart, but
passionate. You might discover she wants a different relationship than what you
expect from a bondmate.”
I shake my head. “She is trying to please me. I’m her
husband, her king. She’s saying what she thinks I want to hear. Women will say
anything to placate their king.”
With a short burst of laughter, my aunt puts her hands on my
shoulders, turning me gently so I look her in the eyes. “Perhaps some would, if
the prize were big enough. But, Beckett Finn, you are the king of a refugee
plane. You don’t offer her enough to debase herself. Whatever she’s offered
you, she’s offered because she wants it. I’m speaking to you plainly, as your
own mother would have. Don’t deny yourself and your wife. Your father treated
my sister like a porcelain doll. It made her crazy.”
“Mother was happy with Father,” I argue.
“You saw what you wanted to see,” my aunt insists. “Your
father trained you to be a great king. He didn’t train you to be a good
husband. Let your wife tell you what she wants. I assure you, if you don’t,
Cian will. If you aren’t careful, you’ll find yourself out in the cold.” Alana
pats me and moves back toward the doors. “Come inside. I’m sure dinner is
almost ready. Go easy on Colin. He’s nervous about dining with his king.”
I nod but continue to stare out into the night. I wish I was
home getting ready to go to bed. It will be quiet there. Cian will have enjoyed
his first day of peace in a long while. I imagine sitting in front of the fire
with Meg on my lap. After a pleasant evening, Cian and I would lead her to the
big bed and slowly undress her. We would make love to her together, bonding
even further. I would be gentle and make sure she’s satisfied before taking my
pleasure. I would then, graciously, turn her over to my brother. I would sit
back and enjoy watching Cian please our wife. Watching Cian fuck our lovely
bride would get me hot and bothered again, but I would survive. Meg would be
tired. She would sleep peacefully between us.
Instead, I’ll spend the evening dodging questions about when
I will attempt to take back my throne. I turn to the penthouse doors and sigh.
Politics. I hate politics, even when discussing them with family. At least Meg
is safe from politics. She’s safe and protected on our little farm.
I take a deep breath and rejoin my family.