Beast

by Sophie Oak

  “She’s gone fucking insane. Do you think she has rabies?” Palgrave took a long step back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. When he flicked it on, a little charge pulsed through the room and a blue light flashed. “This is a sonic blade, you dumb bitch. Do you know what it can do to you?”

  “I think she understands quite well what we’re planning on doing to her. You see, this is why using animals without reasoning skills is really better. This one understands English. She’s not going to be distracted by a treat when she understands we’re going to remove one of her limbs for study.” White Coat shook his head. “I can get her to stop that infernal howling. If this kills her, at least we’ll have some quiet.”

  He flipped the switch, and Kaja’s howl stuck in her throat. The pain was even worse, but Dante’s voice was there, comforting her, sharing the pain. She felt him stop. He was close, so close. The connection between them was a strong rope tethering her to the plane. She felt her heart beating too fast, but then it slowed, even as Dante took the pain.

  Play dead, Kaj. Hurry. I can’t hold out much longer.

  Kaja dropped to her belly and let her eyes go blurry and unfocused. The pain wracked through her, but it was less now. No matter how bad it got, she wouldn’t move because Dante needed her. She thought about closing the connection again, but felt a low growl roll across her skin. It didn’t come from her. Dante had sent it. It was a warning to obey him.

  If she didn’t, she would get the worst spanking. Kaja stopped breathing. It was time.

  The machine flicked off. It took every bit of concentration to keep her body still.

  “Gods be damned, Doc. I didn’t want the bitch dead.” Palgrave still held his knife. Kaja could hear it.

  “Bah, she’s better dead. None of my techs would have been willing to get close to her. She’s too dangerous. Now I can perform an autopsy and get everything I need.”

  There was a loud crash, and Kaja opened her eyes. He was here.

  Dante fell from a hole in the ceiling. He landed on his feet and stared at her. She could feel his rage. He had understood that she was in a cage, but seeing it seemed to have opened something volcanic inside him. His eyes became orbs of pure forest green, and his claws were far longer than she’d ever seen.

  “What the fuck?” Palgrave quickly yelled for security.

  “Did you think you could take my consort and I would let her go?” Dante’s voice was deep, his words clipped.

  “I thought you would run around trying to figure out why that fucker Torin had your consort.”

  Another body fell from the ceiling. Kaja immediately recognized him as the mercenary who had taken Dante and Meg. He was out of breath, but he had a weapon in his hand. It was reassuring since he seemed to be working with Dante, not against him.

  “I’m afraid I have a new friend, Palgrave.” Dante wasn’t out of breath. He stood there, a solid figure casting his shadow across the room. Roan moved to stand next to him. Neither one seemed to notice White Coat behind them. He was moving quietly, the needle in his hand.

  Kaja barked a warning, but Dante was already in motion. He moved fluidly, his body twisting around. Before White Coat could raise the needle, Dante had a hand around his throat and he squeezed. His claws sank into White Coat’s throat. Dante picked the smaller man up. White Coat’s feet dangled, kicking out uselessly. After a moment, the man stopped moving, his face blue, his throat a mottled mess of blood and tissue.

  Dante tossed him away like a rag doll.

  “Whatever you’re on, Dellacourt, it’s some good shit.” Roan watched him with obvious appreciation.

  Dante ignored him, preferring to look at Palgrave, who now had the backing of three security guards. Each held a sonic Taser unit in his hand.

  “I really should have come more prepared,” Roan said. “I feel naked without my kit, but I can still take out the two on the left.”

  “Let my Kaj out, and she can take them all.” Dante’s lips quirked up as he looked over at her. She could feel his love and desire. “Kaja, when you get out, I want you to know that I release you from that whole ‘no killing things that talk back.’ You can kill any asshole in this place. Except that one.” He pointed to Palgrave. “He’s mine.”

  “Like you could take me,” Palgrave preened. “You’ve never been a fighter, Dellacourt. You might be able to take a lightweight like Doctor Wilson there, but I doubt you can take a royal.”

  “I will kill you, Palgrave. You touched her. I would kill you if you had touched her with affection. I’ll take you apart for touching her in violence.”

  Roan was inching toward her cage. Kaja got prepared to pounce.

  One of the security guards aimed and fired his Taser unit at Dante. The air crackled with electricity, but Dante ducked, his body bending backward with grace and precision. The dart bit into the wall behind him. Dante straightened up, and his hand was on the tether that connected the dart to the hand unit. He jerked the line back, and the guard moved with it. Before he could think to scream, the guard stood before Dante. With a quick flick of Dante’s fist, the guard fell.

  “Not so smart, Palgrave, but then I should have expected that from you. None of us killed your brother, you know.” Dante stepped over the unconscious body of the guard.

  “I know one of your cousins did the deed,” Palgrave spat. “I’m not stupid.”

  Roan was close, so close. Dante seemed to be trying to keep Palgrave’s attention on him. “Torin had a hag in the village. We think she’s the one who called your brother to the Refugee plane.”

  “You’re lying. And it doesn’t matter. I know what I know.” Palgrave strengthened his stance and held the blade tightly.

  The two guards behind him moved forward.

  Roan leapt across the distance, his hand reaching for the button that released her cage. Both security guards fired and hit Roan. His body jumped, spasming as the electrical current ran through it. Struggling, his hand moved forward. His teeth gritted, but he slapped his hand on the button, and her cage opened.

  Chaos reigned. The guards released the darts and brought their weapons back online. Palgrave moved forward, his sonic blade lifted and ready. Roan fell, utterly unconscious. Kaja leapt from her cage. Her body ached, but it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was getting Dante out of here alive. She attacked the first person she saw. The guard screamed as she went for his throat. He tried to get the Taser unit to work, but he dropped it as she dug her teeth in. She felt the blood begin to flow and let go. She didn’t have time to play with him.

  When she looked up, Dante had caught the second guard’s dart and had it wrapped around his throat, but Palgrave was coming for him. Before Kaja could jump, Palgrave was thrusting the blade into Dante’s back. She smelled the blood beginning to flow, felt the horrible pain, but she took it because it was halved. Dante was able to twist and block the next blow. He swung out, catching Palgrave in the chin.

  Kaja leapt into action. She jumped up, trying to get Palgrave’s throat, but he was fast with the knife. It caught her leg, and she fell.

  “Kaja!” Dante screamed her name, but she felt it more than heard it.

  He got to his feet and faced off with Palgrave.

  “Give it up, Dellacourt. I have reinforcements coming. You can’t win.”

  “You’re not leaving here alive.” Dante was unarmed, but he didn’t back down. “Kaja, you get behind me.”

  Limping, Kaja moved to his side.

  He looked down at her. “Yes, love, I suppose that is your place. I love you, Kaj. I’ve never loved anyone before. You’re half my soul and all of my heart. No matter what happens, I want you safe. When the time comes, you run and don’t look back.”

  She heard the words, but she wouldn’t heed them. She would never leave him. If this was the end for him, then she would take out whoever she could, and she would follow him. Kaja didn’t know what came after this life, but she would follow him.

  Palgrave pounced. He
raced forward, knife out. He hit Dante with the full force of his bulk, and the two men went down. They rolled, and then Dante got to his feet. He’d been hit again, this time low in his gut. Palgrave moved, circling her husband. Kaja growled and got ready to leap.

  “Mine, Kaja. This kill is mine.” Dante bared those magnificent fangs her way.

  “You’re not killing anything, Dellacourt. You’re bleeding out. You’re so fucking weak, I won’t even have to try this time.” Palgrave’s lips curled in a sneer.

  Dante was weak. Kaja could feel it. She remembered how females during the hunt sometimes sent their mates energy. She took a deep breath and sent every spare bit of energy she had his way. Her body sagged down, unable to stand a moment further. She was done. If Dante fell, she would go with him. She held tight to the invisible thread that bound them together. If he went down, he would take her, and they would be together.

  “That won’t happen, baby.” Dante could read her thoughts. He stood tall, his skin practically glowing. “I’m taking you out of here.”

  Palgrave ran, and Dante was with him. They met in the middle, and there was a horrible crack as Dante punched at Palgrave’s chest. His fist met flesh and didn’t stop. Kaja managed to lift her head as Palgrave’s face took on a horrified blank look.

  Dante pulled his hand out of his opponent’s chest. It didn’t come back empty. Palgrave’s heart was in Dante’s hand.

  “That was for my consort.” Dante held the heart as it turned to dust and everything that was Chalen Palgrave become a pile of dirt on the floor.

  Dante turned and raced to her. He got on his knees. “Baby. Gods, baby, tell me you’re all right.”

  She was tired. So tired. She felt her body failing, but it was all right to go because Dante was safe. Dante was whole. The energy she’d sent him had healed and saved him. She wanted to hold him with two hands. Using the very last bit of strength she had, Kaja changed. She brought her hands up to touch his beautiful face. He was her magnificent beast.

  She heard Dante curse. When she looked up, his eyes were still full green, but there was a sheen of tears in them. He clutched her with one hand, but drew his other to his mouth. “Don’t you leave me, Kaj. This has to work both ways.”

  He gouged at his own flesh, and his blood began to flow. He put his wrist to her mouth. “Drink, baby. I’m full of you. Your blood, your energy, your strength. Take it all back. Please. I need you.”

  Kaja felt the blood fill her mouth. Immediately she felt the healing begin.

  “That’s right, baby. Take it. I can handle it. Drink.” He pressed his wrist to her mouth, cradling her head.

  Kaja fell back the instant she knew she would be all right. She heard Roan groaning in the distance. Her body was laid across Dante’s, and she could feel his soul reaching for hers, brushing and touching. Safe.

  But he was still a vampire. He pulled out his phone. “Hey, Susie. Yeah. Start a hostile takeover of Palgrave. No. He won’t fight back. Why? Because I just pulled his heart out of his body. Yes, I’m serious. I want half.”

  Dante tossed his phone away and cuddled her against him as he stood.

  “You all right, Kaja?”

  She managed to nod. She was whole and happy to be alive.

  Chapter Twenty

  “It’s official.” Dante’s father laid his tablet down with an audible thud. The silence in the room was utterly oppressive.

  Dante looked between his cousins as they stood in his father’s office.

  Beck paled at the news. “We’re renegades?”

  Dante forced himself to speak. His cousins needed to understand how deeply fucked they were. “Every mercenary on the plane will be after you.”

  Dante’s own heart seized even though he’d been expecting the news since Julian had told him what was going on only hours before. Dante knew he should be in bed, holding his wife while she recovered, but this couldn’t wait.

  His family surrounded him. His mother and sister were crying. Colin looked grim, but kept holding Susan’s hand. Kaja placed a hand on Meg’s shoulder. Kaja looked tired, but resolute.

  Beck and Cian were silent for a long moment, something unspoken passing between them. Meg sat beside Kaja, her eyes tearing up, but her chin had settled into a stubborn lift. She wore casual clothes, but there was no mistaking who Megan Finn was. She was a queen.

  “Can you get Meggie off this plane and back to the Earth plane?” Beck asked, his shoulders squaring as though he knew he was in for a fight.

  Meg appeared ready to give him one. She stood and went toe to toe with her warrior husband. “I’m not going anywhere, Beckett Finn. Do you hear me?”

  Cian got up and lent his strength to Beck. “Meggie, you can’t stay.”

  “Try to get rid of me, Cian. I know the way home. You can dump me somewhere, but I’ll be back.” Meg’s hands separated and grabbed a fistful of both her husbands’ shirts. “I won’t stop. I’ll fight. I’ll fight to my dying breath.”

  Beck’s face was a mask of pain. It was mirrored by his brother’s own face. “That’s what we’re afraid of, love. We can’t lose you.”

  “Well, man up, Beck. This is war, and I won’t be left behind.” Meg let go, her hands shaking.

  His father stepped in. “None of you can stay. The Council voted twenty minutes ago. The Vampire plane has aligned with Torin. I have guards at every access point, but by morning they will have warrants to extradite you both to the Seelie plane. We have very little time to get you out of here.”

  Beck shook his head. “You can’t get us out. They’ll be on us the minute we leave the Dellacourt building. You can’t save us, Uncle Alex. It’s fate that we came back here just as this happened.”

  Cian’s mouth turned down. “Save Meg. Beck and I will find a way. Torin will wait to kill us. He’ll want to make it public.”

  Dante’s mother stood and grasped his father’s hand. “Please, Alex. You have to help them. We can’t turn them over. They’re all I have left of my sister.”

  His father looked down at his mother, love shining in his eyes. Gods, he loved his parents. Dante turned to Kaja and sent out his own love. His parents had taught him how to love. He’d always thought their wealth and position was the greatest gift they had given him, but now he could see. His parents’ passion had informed his own. Kaja was a song in his soul.

  “I would never turn them over, wife. They’re my blood, too. Dante and I have a plan.” Alexander waved to the servants. They opened the door.

  Vampire Meg walked in, and all eyes shifted her way.

  “Holy shit, that’s me.” Meg stepped up and looked at the mirrorlike version of herself.

  “That’s so cool,” they both said in unison.

  “There are two of them,” Cian breathed as he and Beck stepped up. “Will you look at that, brother? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  Beck slapped at his brother’s chest. “No. I know what you’re thinking. And you’re crazy if you think she’s going to do that. I’m thinking that’s twice the trouble.”

  Real Meg turned, her face in a perfectly outraged mask. “Cian Finn. That is not happening.”

  Vampire Meg smiled at the brothers. “I don’t know. That might be fun.”

  Meg’s eyes narrowed.

  Vampire Meg paled. “Or not.”

  “And they call you the smart one,” Beck huffed under his breath.

  Kaja had come to Dante’s side, and she slipped her hand into his. Just touching her brought him a feeling of peace. He kissed her hair and prayed he never ran into her twin. One Kaja was all he could handle. “Vampire Meg has agreed to pose as the queen. We found a set of vampire twins with the proper coloring. In thirty minutes, they are going to flee the building. Shortly after that, Beck, Cian, and Meg will leave very quietly from the ground. We have a hovercar and a group of soldiers waiting to take us to the west door. It will be guarded, but Simon Roan assures me he’ll kill anyone who tries to stop us.”

  Beck turned to
him. “It sounds dangerous.”

  “Everything is dangerous from here on out, cos. You know the way this will go.” Dante squeezed Kaja’s hand.

  Cian put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Yes. There is no other path, brother. I know you wanted to live peacefully, but Torin won’t allow it. And you know what he’s doing. If he has his way, he’ll purge the Seelie plane of undesirables, and then he will go after the other planes. We can’t duck this fight anymore. It’s time to stand. It’s time to claim what is ours.”

  Beck seemed to grow taller. He took his place at Meg’s side, the three connected in ways Dante knew most people couldn’t dream of. “Then we’ll go. We’ll meet with Fergus and see what happens.”

  His mother hugged all three of them. “We’ll work from here. We’ll do everything we can.”

  Cian shook his head. “You have to be careful, Aunt Alana. You can’t let them know you’re helping. If it comes to it, you have to renounce us.”

  His father took his mother’s hand and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Susan and Colin stood.

  “It won’t come to that,” Susan said. “We have power, Ci. Once the Council realizes what our sunscreen can do, they will back off. We won’t be able to openly defy them, but we’ll have their balls in our hands, if you know what I mean.”

  That was his sister, a ballbuster to the end.

  He was going to miss her.

  “We need to leave soon. I want to be on our way right as the decoys leave.” Dante had a bag packed for both him and Kaja, but they wouldn’t be taking much. He would have to learn to travel light.

  The room erupted into chaos as his parents and sister began to argue. Dante listened to all the reasons he shouldn’t go with a patient ear. This was why he hadn’t mentioned this part of the plan until now. Meg started in on how it was too dangerous, and Cian told him to stay behind as well.

  “Stop!” Beck’s command had everyone taking a step back. The room quieted. The warrior king of the Seelie Fae looked at Dante. “You know what you’re giving up, cos?”