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Dante carried her to the bed and thought maybe he would let her eat Rhys after all.
Chapter Five
“Son of a bitch,” Dante cursed as the computer reported on the “medicine” the demon had given to the gnomes. “It’s colloidal silver and a freaking aphrodisiac.”
The gnome paled, his ruddy cheeks turning stark white in a second. “I did not know that was in the solution. I was just told that it would keep her weak. She was very frightening, even in a weakened state. If I had allowed her to achieve her full strength, I feared she would kill us all. I was only following instructions. I certainly didn’t know it contained silver.”
Beck stood over the gnome. His massive frame seemed to be a weapon of intimidation. The gnome practically cowered as Beck spoke. “If Dante had fed from her, he could have died. Vampires are allergic to silver.”
Dante looked down at the readout from his tablet again. He forced himself to take a deep breath. If he had followed his instincts, he would have taken Kaja that way. The instinct to feed from her immediately had been almost overwhelming. In the past, he had always considered it an intimate act he wasn’t interested in. He’d never taken a female that way, never sunk his fangs into a living creature and fed. He realized his father fed from his mother, and that Susan fed from Colin, but he didn’t find it intriguing. It was brutal and primal, and made him squeamish. It had, until he’d placed his fangs on the back of Kaja’s neck. She glowed, and he knew she would taste sweet. She belonged to him. Her blood belonged to him.
Dante shook off that dark thought. He wasn’t some Neanderthal seeking out the blood of those around him, keeping virtual harems of females to feed him. He was modern. He got his nutrition from meal pills.
“I am sorry, Your Highness,” the gnome was saying. His head was down in supplication. “The demon told me it would keep her quiet. Given the fact that she was terrifying on the drug, I did not want to see her without it. I thought it best to keep giving it to her as I was instructed. The Planeswalker warned she could escape if I did not make sure to keep it in her system.”
Dante glanced at Kaja. She was curled up on the bed the gnomes had brought in for them. It was the equivalent of a very nice pallet. If he’d been thinking, he would have brought his own equipment. Then Kaja could have a proper bed to cry on.
“I need to change,” she whimpered over and over again.
He sat beside and ran a hand through her clean hair. Someone had really done a number on her. “No, you don’t, sweetheart. You’re fine the way you are.”
“Please let me change,” she begged. Her clear blue eyes were narrowed in pain.
“Don’t you feed my consort that shit again,” Dante said, turning back to the gnome because he just couldn’t stand to see her in pain. He felt utterly useless. If he’d been at home, he would have doctors to care for her. Here, there was nothing. She shook and seemed to be running a fever.
The gnome looked to Beck. “Sire, this is not a good plan.”
Dante stood and showed his full fangs to the little Fae. He enjoyed the gnome’s wide eyes. “Kaja is not married to Beckett. He has no authority over her. I own her, and you will follow my instructions. If I discover you have drugged my consort in any fashion, I’ll drain you. Do you understand me?”
He might not feed from living creatures, but he would make an exception in the gnome’s case if the little bugger didn’t follow instructions.
The gnome quaked and averted his eyes. Dante noticed the gnome’s wife, Cara, enter. She went to the bed and covered Kaja’s forehead with a cool rag. “Yes, sir. We will leave the care of your consort to you, Mr. Dellacourt.”
Dante was satisfied with the gentle way Cara was treating Kaja. But he wasn’t about to treat her husband in the same fashion. There was more than just the silver in Kaja’s system. “Now, explain to me why you fed my consort an aphrodisiac.”
The gnome swallowed several times.
“Answer him,” Beck ordered.
“I wanted the sale to go through,” Rhys replied.
“Bastard,” Cara spat even as she rubbed her small hands across Kaja’s back. Dante was very grateful to the female gnome. It was obvi
ous to him that Cara had been kind to his consort. Kaja wouldn’t allow Rhys near her, but she clung to Cara’s hand.
“How could you?” Cara asked. She seemed to wait for Rhys to explain. When he didn’t, she took over, turning her head to lock eyes with Dante. “If you bedded down with the consort tonight, you wouldn’t be able to revoke the sale in the morning. You have a night to decide, but if penetration occurs, the sale and marriage are final by Fae laws.”
“Get out,” Dante snarled. He longed to wrap a hand around that gnome’s throat and squeeze.
The Fae still looked to his king. Beck stared down at him. “I would go if I were you. We will discuss your methods in the morning, Rhys. You have contracts with the demon clan, but you are still my subject. You are still bound by my laws. Cara, can you take care of the woman?”
The blonde gnome nodded as her husband retreated. “I will aid the vampire. The silver should be out of her system by morning. She was to be given the elixir every morning and every evening. The demon said it would keep the change from happening.”
Dante exchanged a glance with his cousin. He was certain they were both thinking the same thing. They had dealt with a creature that had two faces not six months before. “Is she a hag?”
Cara shot him a dirty look. “Of course not. Have you ever heard of a hag who could serve as a consort?”
“No,” Dante replied. “But then consorts don’t change forms. How do I know this isn’t a trick of Torin’s?”
