Page 79 of Beast

Torin is going to be the acknowledged king of the SeelieFae, and Beck and Cian will be the rebels. I’m having a hard time processingit.

And Chalen Palgrave is trying to kill me.

William Roan walks out behind me, a grim look on his face.“Mr. Dellacourt, I understand that you don’t trust me, but I’m your best bet tostay unharmed until such time as this misunderstanding with Palgrave can befixed.”

I don’t want to fix the misunderstanding. I want toeviscerate Palgrave.

“Roan really is excellent at what he does,” Julian says.“I’ll vouch for him. Use him as a bodyguard for a while until we deal withPalgrave. He’s insignificant compared to ensuring the safety of the true Seeliekings.”

I want to growl my frustration to the world. I don’t needthis shit with Palgrave while my cousins are in danger. “I didn’t kill KinseyPalgrave and neither did my cousins. If they had, I would have heard about it.If I killed Kinsey, I damn straight wouldn’t hide it. And, if I killed him, itwould have been because he was doing something he shouldn’t have.”

Julian walks out, closing the door behind him. “Ian has beenworking on the problem. According to his sources, Kinsey Palgrave went to theRefugee plane and didn’t come back. He received a message from someone. Wemanaged to find a record of the call. I have excellent government contacts.They’ll tell you they’re all about privacy, but there’s little on this planethat doesn’t get recorded somehow. It’s fuzzy. I can only make out a blondewoman telling him to come pick up a consort. Kinsey left shortly afterreceiving the call. Am I correct in saying there was a hag stalking the kings?”

Julian’s sources are utterly impeccable. I bite back a surgeof bile. I can still see that hag. “You’re right. She’s dead now.” I had a handin killing her. “And she was blonde. Her name was Liadan. She was sent by Torinto kill the twins. When she couldn’t manage that, she caused trouble.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the hag was responsible,” Juliansays. “She would be strong enough to kill a vampire. It doesn’t matter now. Idoubt Chalen will listen to anything I say. You need to get your consort andreturn to the Dellacorp building. Let Roan handle Palgrave while Ian figuresout where to stash the kings until I can get them to the Unseelie plane. I’m incontact with King Fergus. He’s offering them asylum.”

“In exchange for what?” I’m not stupid. The last thing Iwant is to walk my cousins into an ambush.

Julian’s lips turn up. “He’s my uncle, you know. King Fergusmarried my mother’s sister.”

No. I didn’t know that. The Unseelie are secretive. “Are thetwins part vampire?”

Now Julian is full-on smiling, but the fangs he shows offgive it a menacing feel. “Worse. They’re half-Unseelie-royal,half-royal-vampire, and all symbiotic twins. Lachlan and Shim are moredangerous than you can imagine. And they’ve matured past an age where they mustbond. I could smuggle a mate off the Seelie plane, but they insist on onlyone.”

“That’s insane. They can bond with any bondmate.” I thinkabout how fast Beck and Ci would have taken a mate if they could have foundone. They wouldn’t love her the way they did Meg, but they would have done it.

Julian shakes his head. “They’ve dreamed about this one foryears. Don’t you think my uncle has offered up any female who could bond? He’spromised the Planeswalkers a multitude of riches if they bring him a bondmatehis sons will accept. But they want the princess in the tower. That’s what theycall her. They insist that Beck and Cian Finn hold the key to finding her andbringing them into their true power.”

As Meg brought Beck and Ci into theirs. I don’t want tothink about what kind of powers the Unseelie princes will gain from bondingwith the perfect mate.

Julian stares at me. “Please trust me when I tell you myuncle will do anything to save his sons. The Seelie kings are in no danger.”

It’s almost too much to take in. I nod at Julian. My mindisn’t made up, but it does no good to argue now. I’ll discuss it with mycousins.

I know Julian is right, but it rankles. I want to wrap myclaws around Palgrave’s throat and not stop until the fucker’s head pops off.But Kaja has to be my first concern. I have to get her home to the safety of myfamily’s building. Once she’s back in the penthouse I’ll set security on herass. At least six guards. A full unit. Then I can take care of Palgrave anddecide what to do about my cousins.

A worried-looking young man strides up to Julian and speaksin hushed tones. He has to go up on his toes to reach his master’s ears.Julian’s face goes stone-cold, his eyes darkening with every word the young manspeaks.

“Show me,” Julian says.

The younger man holds up a tablet, and within minutes,Julian is cursing a blue streak.

“What?” If there’s going to be trouble in The Club, I wantto get Kaja out as soon as possible.

Roan is on high alert, his every muscle rigid. “What’s goingon?”

“Your consort is gone,” Julian says flatly, every word aknife to my gut. He holds out the tablet, showing me a still picture of Kajasitting at the bar next to a familiar face. “Do you know this woman?”

Amanda. Fuck. I sent her a nice note and a largecheck, but it looks like she didn’t appreciate being given her walking papers.“She was my mistress until I got married.”

Roan clears his throat. “I think you’ll find she has ties toChalen Palgrave. I saw a picture of her in his office.”

A fucking spy and now a kidnapper. I never had the besttaste in women until I met my Kaja. “Where would he have taken her?”

“Not to his penthouse,” Roan says. “I would bet he took herto his company headquarters. It’s one of the reasons I broke the contract. Isuspected he wanted to hurt the consorts, both yours and the queen. I didn’tspend much time there. I know the main office, but again, I think he’ll avoidit. If we call the cops in, it would be the first place they would look.Palgrave Industries has a couple of different arms. Some of the small divisionsare in other buildings across the city. Can we look up the building plans?”

Julian whispers something to his employee, who turns andtakes off running. “I’ll do one better. I can get you a guide.”