Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
I have to smile a bit. “I’ll try.”
Beck gets to one knee. “They want to deal with you, Prince Lachlan. Can you handle them?”
“Yes. I can handle them. I know them well.” I was always fascinated by the sluagh. “Duffy, grab the box, please.”
The gnome hops down and retrieves the box filled with trinkets. Gifts for the unshriven dead.
“Go on then.” I nod to the sluagh leader.
Duffy flushes, standing there with the box in his small hands. “You want me to give it to him?”
“If you’re scared, I’ll do it.” I say the words with a harsh edge. Duffy wants to be a warrior. A warrior should be able to handle the simple passing of a gift.
The gnome’s face firms into a stubborn pout. “I ain’t scared of nothing.” He marches to the sluagh and holds up the box. “Gifts from the princes.”
A wicked smile crosses the sluagh’s face as he opens the box. “Treasures. Come and take your part.”
The group descends like a pack feasting on a kill. There’s shuffling and the pressing of shade to shade, but finally they break up, each holding some small piece in their hands. And one by one they fade away until only the leader remains.
“You are wise, King of the Dead.”
I shrug. It was a good bet I could thin the herd with a simple gift. “I listen to my people.”
“And they will listen to you.” The sluagh cocks his head, taking in Cian Finn. “I don’t like that one. Send him away.”
Cian. The Green Man. Light to his darkness.
“No.” I won’t let a sluagh control this. If I’m the King of the Dead, then I make the rules. I can feel my brother’s support. “The Green Man stays. Now, sluagh, I’ve given you your gifts. I’ve allowed you to feel my power. Tell me your secrets. It’s why you’ve come.”
If there’s one thing the sluagh love more than small trinkets, it’s secrets. They listen in, hiding always, to hear the great secrets of the planes, hoarding them like diamonds until the time is right to trade. And then they whisper, a touch here or there, sending one country into war and suggesting another go down a path that leads to famine. Both benefit the sluagh.
I’m walking along the razor’s edge with them.
“Torin is gathering power.” The sluagh waits.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I stand again, Shim at my side, moving as one. “Only today the Seelie kings have come with this news. This is nothing I can use. Be gone.”
I can feel the sluagh’s shock. “I have more, Your Highness.”
“Then you should tell me more or I will cast you from my kingdom.”
The sluagh frowns. “Fine. We have heard the plans of Torin and his hags. They mean to kill all the non-sidhe on their plane, and then they will move on to this one. They will attempt to control the Vampire Government with fresh consorts, but each one will be spelled to turn on his or her master when the time is right.”
Beck Finn goes white. “He’s promised a hundred consorts to the royals. He’ll bring down the whole plane.”
Dante Dellacourt steps in. “The economic ramifications alone would destabilize us. You’re talking about the most powerful vampires on the plane. They control everything. And I doubt they’ll believe a damn thing I say. I became an outlaw the minute I chose to leave with Beck and Cian. Perhaps Julian could persuade them.”
My cousin looks thoughtful. “I can try, but my influence is small compared to how hungry the royals are for proper consorts. We age without consort blood. Look at Lach and Shim. Look at me. I’m fifteen years older and yet I look younger than they do. This is a royal’s birthright, and for thirteen years, Torin has held us hostage. They won’t want to listen to reason.”
Lach turns back to the sluagh. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
The sluagh sighs, his whole form moving in a lazy wave. “There’s always more, Your Highness.”
A long pause. Bloody sluagh. “We’ll fill your bellies for a month.”
The ogre alone will keep the carrion eaters happy for weeks. Another can be found.
“More, Your Highness.”
There will always be more if I don’t take a stand. The sluagh are greedy.
Shim whispers, his hand cupping his mouth. “There’s a reason they’re here, Lach. And it’s not for corpses. They wouldn’t pick a side if it didn’t benefit them. Think on it. Devastating the Vampire plane would be good for the sluagh. The Unseelie falling would bring more than enough corpses to feed their armies. Why are they here, then?”
My brother has a point. My mind races with possibilities, but only one makes a lick of sense. “Torin’s found a way to kill you, hasn’t he?”
The sluagh frowns. “Torin seeks purity of race, and the Host is an abomination.”