Page 35 of Bound (A Faery Story 1)

---

as a vampire walked into the arena. Dante stood up and went to the

railing, his sunglasses flowing as he moved into the light. “Well, if it

isn’t Kinsey Palgrave, you stupid ass. You suck, Palgrave! And your

profits were down ten percent last quarter! Yeah, everyone saw it, you

pathetic chump. Your stock’s going to take a nosedive.”

The other vampire shot Dante the bird and bared his fangs. “Why

don’t you get down here, Dellacourt? Or do you need your sister’s

permission?”

Meg could hear the “eat shit” smile on Dante’s face. “My sister

would never allow me to fight in this tournament.”

The big vampire, who looked like he might be taking steroids,

laughed. So did all his friends. They seemed to be having a laugh at

40

Sophie Oak

Dante’s expense. “Big sister doesn’t want baby brother to get a boo-

boo?”

“Big sister knows it’s stupid to fight the warrior half of symbiotic

twins.” Dante’s face twisted into a sweet little smirk. “Besides, I

would never fight my cousin.”

It seemed to Meg like the entire arena suddenly fell silent. The

vampire named Palgrave went even paler than before as he stared up

at his rival.

“Beckett Finn is here?”

Dante pointed at the back of the arena, and Meg saw that Beck

was just walking in. He didn’t really walk. He strode. There was

confidence in his easy gait as he strode into the arena. The rest of the

males had sunk into the sand, but Beck seemed to almost glide above

it. He was graceful. He was a shark, and suddenly everyone else

looked a little like guppies.

“They’re scared of him,” Meg breathed, sensing the anticipation

---