just because you have some crazy theory you want to chase after. Now all I have to do is take those wards down and hand over that prize.”
“You should understand that I will kill you the minute these walls come down,” Marcus said, and it was easy to tell he was having to talk around his fangs.
I could feel his fear and rage, both directed at the man in front of us.
Levi held his gun up. It looked like what Taggart had been carrying, so I had to hope it was a tranq. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll try, but I will forgo fighting with you. There’s a woman on another plane I need to go see. She married the wrong man. It’s time to take care of that. Where did those fucking dogs go?”
“I’m a wolf,” a feminine voice said. “Not a dog, and you should not have done that.”
Marcus backed me up, his arms coming out as though he could protect me from the new threat.
The new threat was naked and lithe. She had lovely brown and gold hair that reached almost to her waist. Before Levi could turn and face her, she leapt on his back and I heard the sound of a crunch as she twisted his head in her small hands, and then the thump of a body hitting the floor.
The woman immediately went to Charlotte and dropped to her knees. “Daniela, can you get them out?”
I watched as the small pup rolled to her feet, her very human-looking feet. “Of course, Mama. I watched him put the code in like Papa taught me. Is Miss Charlotte all right?”
“I don’t know. I hope so,” the mother said. If she was worried that she and her daughter were naked, it didn’t show at all. It didn’t bother me either. The Fae, while we love long, flowy gowns, aren’t opposed to letting it all hang out.
I’ve heard werewolves are free and open, and that’s what we were dealing with here. I’ve been to a plane where the werewolves settled. It was cold and pristinely beautiful. Much like the wolves themselves. Were they after me, too? How far would I have to run? Should I even bother?
“Bella, I want you to stay behind me. We don’t know who they are,” Marcus said under his breath. “I promise I will get us out of this. I will protect you with my life.”
I believed him. The question was going to be whether or not I let him.
“Don’t give up hope,” he whispered, proving I wasn’t the only one who was feeling the connection.
The mother stood, her slender shoulders going back. “My name is Kaja Dellacourt. This is my daughter, Daniela.”
I heard a whooshing sound and the smell of ozone hit me as the young werewolf managed to get the sonic walls down. The minute they were down, Marcus walked out of the cell, keeping distance between us and the wolves.
But I’d heard something that gave me hope. I spent a lot of time on this plane, much of it with Dean’s family. The Malones were one of Dallas’s wealthiest families, and they had many business dealings with the others. I hadn’t met the Dellacourts, but I knew the name.
“You’re Dante Dellacourt’s wife?” Dellacorp was a major business on the Vampire plane, though from what I understood the daughter of the family ran the business while the son had been a bit of a rebel. “You work with the Seelie kings of Tír na nÓg.”
She nodded, pulling the dart out of Charlotte’s chest. “Yes. They are our cousins, and that is why we’ve come. You must return to your home, Summer of the Gentle Winds. Charlotte was right about the convergences, but you’re in too much danger here. Oh, I pray you’re all right, my friend.”
Daniela dropped to her knees beside her mother, a sheen of tears in her eyes. “Is she dead? I don’t want Miss Charlotte to be dead. She gives the best treats and she plays with me.”
I pegged the girl to be around six, though I didn’t know enough about werewolves to understand how they age. I did remember that Kaja had run from her home plane and found her husband when he went looking for a consort. At least that’s what the tabloids reported.
“You know who she is?” Marcus asked.
I nodded. “She’s close to the royal Seelie family on the plane where I lived for many years. According to what I was told, she and her husband