Calan pushed to his feet. “I will do neither.” Because both would damn her. She needed him to help her remain honorable. He was her shield against damnation.
“You must give her up, or fate will force the curse upon her. That would destroy you. I love you, child. I can’t allow that to happen.”
“Life isn’t black and white.” He glared at his father, who remained crouched, elbows on his thighs. “There are always more than two choices, and I will find another option.”
“You’re right.” Arawn glanced away. “But you must remember that in a game with endless players, there can only be one winner, and he is the one who has made the right choice first, not allowed shades of gray to muddle his goals.”
Calan frowned. “This is not a game.”
“Yes, it is. It’s the greatest one of all, and we are the pawns in it.” Arawn stood. “But there is strength in numbers, and together we will emerge the victors.”
Calan shook his head. His father wasn’t making sense. “This conversation is over. Neither of your options is acceptable to me. I’m making my own.”
“And that is?”
“I’ll hunt down Dar and return the curse to him before my siblings fall.” Calan straightened his spine, determination settling over him. “I will save my siblings, the world and my mate.”
Arawn didn’t respond. He merely watched him with a defeated expression stamped on his face.
Calan willed Death to him. The ghostly steed trotted forward. He leapt onto his horse’s back. There was nothing left to discuss. His vow was made. He only prayed the doubt in his heart wouldn’t nullify it.
“Son?”
He didn’t stop.
“Return to me when you realize I am right. I will sacrifice and ensure you have the option of ripping yourself from the female. It’s the best way. Better to be alone than know you caused the one you love pain. Trust me, it isn’t worth it.”
Calan stopped his horse. Gaze straight ahead, he declared, “The female’s name is Harley, my mate. You will not rip her away from me. I will take on all of Hell’s creatures in order to keep her, including you.”
“As would I in your position, but it won’t work. One man cannot hold evil at bay forever. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Then, you obviously made the wrong choice. Was yours one made out of duty?” Calan glanced over his shoulder. “Or love?”
Arawn closed his eyes without answering.
Calan gave Arawn one last glance, then urged Death into a gallop and left his fortress and father behind. Calan’s home awaited him on the human realm, and he would fight for Harley because nothing would make him abandon her or turn her into a martyr.
She was his choice.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Harley stared at the caller ID of her cell. Unknown. She knew the number by heart, however. Raul often called her. How he kept getting her supposedly untraceable number, she didn’t have a clue. Usually, she ignored him and ditched the phone. Today she fought the temptation to answer it.
The ringing stopped, and she breathed a sigh. She tossed the sleek phone onto the bed. It bounced, and she resumed her pacing. Tonight’s battle and the encounter with Raul had troubled her. So had Calan’s words. She’d allowed Raul to play on her emotions. He’d known she would want to protect Allie, and he’d used her empathy to ensure Calan didn’t kill him.
She felt like a damn fool for falling for his game, but what she’d told Calan was true. She didn’t have the right to choose one life over another.
The cell started ringing before she could take the thought further. She picked it up, looked at the ID and answered. “Raul?”
“Meet me in ten minutes at the greenhouse if you want to save Trevor. Dar has ordered me to bring him in. He wants to make him into…what I am.” The line went dead.
Oh God. Trevor.
The phone slipped from her fingers and hit the floor. The screen cracked. She left it and ran out of the room, skidding down the hallway to the service stairs. When the home had been built, servants had used them to access all the floors so as not to disturb the family of the house. The outside door at the bottom was what she headed for. It opened onto the path leading to the greenhouse.
She grabbed the handrail and ran down the worn treads. The bulbs in the rear section of the house were burned out. She didn’t need them. Her fairy genetics gifted her with heightened senses, but the darkness and the closed space of the stairwell triggered her fears of being locked away.
She stumbled halfway down the steps. The tightness in her chest and racing pulse warned she was close to an anxiety attack.
No, dammit! I don’t have time for a breakdown.
Memories of her time spent in the basement of her house and the bunker, a plush apartment deep under Ian’s security company, returned anyway. No matter how comfy either place had been, she’d hated them. Without windows to let in the sun and breeze, it had felt like a tomb.
Breathe, Harley. You’re not locked away. You’re fine. So is Calan. He’s free of that horrible cell he’d been confined to.
“Calan.” She stopped with her hand on the door handle at the bottom of the stairs.
He’d told her to reach for him. She opened her mind to him, but her muddled emotions left her thoughts hazy. She couldn’t focus on anything beyond the need to save Trevor. He couldn’t die. Ian loved Trevor. It would crush her brother if something were to happen to Trevor, exactly as Ian’s death would destroy her.
Eyes squeezed, she groaned. There had to be another way to reach Calan.
The hounds. Of course, they were linked to him. She flung the door open and scanned the backyard. One of the male hounds lay in the grass near the driveway. Harley whistled. The dog trotted over.
She crouched and looked into the animal’s intelligent eyes. “Tell Calan I need him. Now.”
The dog didn’t move. Harley waited a moment more, then pushed to her feet and ran. She’d have to hope the animal would understand and obey her. She didn’t have time to wait any longer. The clock was ticking.
The greenhouse stood on the other side of the butterfly garden, opposite the lake. She skidded down the driveway and turned at the overgrown area. Harley bent under the drooping limbs and smacked into a hard chest. A yelp escaped her, the sound muffled behind a large palm.
She inhaled. The scent of a campfire invaded her nostrils. The tension she hadn’t realized had seized her muscles dissipated. She glanced into Calan’s face.
“Be calm. It’s just me.”
The tiny brush of butterfly wings danced across her mind. She didn’t resist the yank of her anxiety. She shoved it at him.
He slid his fingers to the column of her neck and massaged gently. “What has happened?”
“Raul, he called, said Dar wanted to turn Trevor into a redcap.”
“Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“He said I had ten minutes, and I…”
What? Jesus, what had she been thinking? She’d played right into Raul’s trap.
“Do not endanger yourself again. It is my job to protect you.”
She nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
He kissed her neck and stepped back. “Follow my lead. We end this tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Calan crouched in the woods just out of reach of the redcap’s senses. He and his hounds had been hunting the fairies and their creatures long enough to have narrowed it to a science. At the distance his dogs sat surrounding the greenhouse, the fairies or their creatures wouldn’t sense them unless they spotted them. Unfortunately, at nearly one-hundred-fifty pounds, each of the beasts could blend in only so well. Still, they provided valuable information and could hunt without rest night after night.
Harley squatted behind him, one hand on his lower back. Bringing her along had been a gamble. Even if Raul
couldn’t sense the Huntsmen, he would know she was here. He’d always know, and he’d always be able to find her. Unless Harley turned Unseelie and completed the ceremony, making Raul her redcap, she wouldn’t have the same advantage, however. No way would Calan allow that to happen.
The redcap needed to die.
Using his mental link to the newly initiated Hunter, Calan shared his plan with Ian, who mimicked his pose to the left of the greenhouse, closest to the house. A mental equivalent to a nod answered him.
Assured Ian would watch Harley’s back, he let his mind seep deeper into Harley’s and pulled her close. “I want you to approach the greenhouse and draw Raul outside. It’ll be easier for my hounds to restrain him there.” He reached a free hand back and rested his fingertips along her thigh. “Then I will kill him.”
“And Allie will be lost too.”
He tore his gaze from the building to peer over his shoulder. “Maybe, maybe not. A redcap’s word is not enough to go on. Once my siblings are released, we will search for her. For now, we must focus on returning the curse to Dar.”
“You’re right.” She tightened her grip on his waistband. “This is a trap, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t be certain of what, but he suspected Dar was behind it. “Now go, and remember, I am here. I’ll protect you.”
She nodded and pushed to her feet. With quick strides, she closed the distance. He followed her with his gaze and waited. She reached the clearing at the same time as squealing tires sounded in the distance behind him. Between one heartbeat and the next, the mark of the Hunt pulsed, announcing the arrival of a member of the Unseelie Court who wasn’t invisible to the Hunt—Dar.
Calan pivoted on his heel and faced the opposite direction. For a second, he was torn between his need to protect Harley and his duty to the world, but he couldn’t miss the opportunity to capture Dar. Everything depended on it, including Harley’s fate.
He ordered his hounds to stay with her, leaving them under Ian’s command, then allowed his Huntsman form to emerge. The change swept over him in a rush of pain he welcomed. The strength in his Hunter’s body fueled his limbs. He ran, the woods rushing by in a blur of color. He broke the tree line near the butterfly garden and cursed.
Dozens of sluaghs waited, all hidden from his detection: Raul’s puppets. Calan’s anger surged. The redcap would suffer for every human life he’d destroyed.
With a thought, Calan called Death to him and willed his sword to take shape. Both appeared in a puff of smoke. He leapt onto his horse’s back and raised his weapon. Flames danced over the length, snaking its way along the obsidian blade much like the living fire caressed Rhys during his unending torture.
Calan urged his horse forward and targeted the nearest rotting body. Once a young male, his muscular frame stood hunched, his spine contorted as his muscles and ligaments liquefied under the force of the chaotic taint eating away at its body. Without the immortality the fairies and redcaps held, the sluaghs’ existence was limited. It was why they killed. Fresh blood and flesh extended their pathetic lives.
Calan swung, the blade sliding easily through the soft flesh and bone. The head fell to the ground with a smack, blood and gore splattering. The sluagh’s soul rushed up in a vortex of light and wind from the headless husk. A sigh carried on the breeze, a thanks only a Huntsman heard.
He acknowledged it with a small dip of his chin, then leapt from his horse and turned to face the others even as the sound of the car grew louder. He swept his gaze over the unfortunate humans who awaited the mercy only he could give them. All appeared as malnourished as the one he’d just struck down.
Raul had been starving them.
Why? Surely he had suffered their hunger too, as they were linked to him.
Calan pushed away the thought. He didn’t have time to dissect the redcap’s motives. The sluaghs advanced as one, clawed hands stretched outward. Their garbled grunts and groans carried over the rumble of the approaching car.
He raised his sword and cut through the nearest puppet. A slash and another fell. He spun on his heel, swinging and thrusting at the group. One by one, they lost their heads. The whoosh of escaping souls echoed in his ears, along with their whispered gratitude.
With a whack, the last human victim found relief. Calan pivoted and ran toward the driveway just in time to see headlights crest the hill. The black sports car with its tinted windows took the turn too fast. It skidded sideways, spun and came to a stop amidst a haze of smoke and burning rubber.
The driver’s unblinking, vacant eyes stared forward. Compared to the sluaghs Calan had just killed, the one in the car appeared surprising healthy. Whether glamour hid its monstrous body or it had been fed well, Calan couldn’t tell. He only knew it too would die after he dealt with the fairy whose taint rolled across Calan’s skin in a nauseating caress.
Stronger than it had been the last time he’d felt it, Dar’s evil presence swamped the area. The ground trembled, and gray clouds rolled across the sky where none had been. Lightning sparked, thunder rolled, then the heavens opened. A line of torrential rain passed over the area. Behind the downpour, a wave of fog mixed with the tendrils of pure chaos weaving around his feet.
A human might be terrified by the raw display. Calan wasn’t impressed or frightened. Eagerness held him in a tight grip. He widened his stance and waited for the fairy to finish his little show of power.
The rear car door opened. Dar stepped out. The magical disguise he’d favored years ago—tall, lean body with golden hair and green eyes—hid his true form. Only his clothing and hairstyle were different. His black slacks and thin gray sweater matched the short, perfectly trimmed hair. Rings adorned his fingers, and a heavy silver watch reflected the light from the souls still whizzing in the air above.
Calan snapped his muzzle, the clack of teeth loud in the still of the night. He knew exactly what a bystander would think upon looking at them. His Huntsman form appeared hideous compared to the sleek male in front of him. Calan didn’t hide what he was inside, nor did he fight his true nature. He embraced it and used it for the purpose he’d been handed—to protect and avenge.
He curled his talon-tipped fingers. They itched to grab the blade he’d taken from his cell. He resisted the impulse. He had to play their encounter carefully.
“Enough with the posturing, fairy. Come here and accept your punishment.”
A grin on his face, Dar stepped forward. His confident amble stirred Calan’s unease. He pushed it aside, allowing the rage to build instead. The fairy about to meet his fate was the bastard who had damned Harley.
A growl trickled from Calan’s throat. Saliva pooled. The prospect of ripping out Dar’s throat stirred his primal hunger.
Dar leaned against the hood of his car, arms and ankles crossed. “And what punishment is that, Hunter Calan?”
“Has the chaos finally rotted away your mind?” Calan laughed. The rough sound meant to strike fear into those who heard it echoed in the night. A tic developed along Dar’s jaw, pleasing Calan. He chuckled again just to watch the slight flinch from the supposedly all-powerful fairy. “Do you expect me to believe you’ve forgotten the sentence handed down to you from my father?”
“He has no authority over me, not anymore. I rule here among the mortals. This is my playground.”
Calan moved forward. One step, two. Dar watched him but didn’t move. Calan stopped and narrowed his gaze. “My task hasn’t been fulfilled. You will join your followers in Hell.”
“No, I don’t think I will.” A smirk punctuated the defiant declaration. “I’d rather play. Do you want to play my game, Hunter Calan?”
Dar didn’t give him a chance to answer. He waved his hand toward the woods. Out of the corner of his eye, Calan watched the approach of several redcaps, all tall and muscular with various baseball caps to hide their blood-soaked wraps.
“Aren’t
they lovely specimens, Hunter? I hand selected each one. Trained them myself.”
As one, the redcaps rushed him.
Calan raised his sword and ran to meet them.
Guess he was playing after all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Harley pressed a balled fist to her chest where the dull ache had developed. Dar had arrived, exactly as Raul had warned. She scanned the woods for him. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ian racing toward her with hounds flanking his ghostly horse.
“Ian, no.” She held up a hand. “I’m fine. Help Calan. Dar’s here.”
Her brother closed the last few feet, ignoring her order. Perched on his horse, in sleep shorts with his reddened eyes and flaming sword, he looked like a cross between a weekend warrior and something out of a nightmare. His gaze drifted to the greenhouse.
“Not with that fucker in there. He’s got Trevor.”
“Raul won’t hurt me or Trevor. It’s a ploy to manipulate me. I can handle him.” At least, she hoped she was right. “The curse. This is Calan’s chance to transfer it back. That’s more important. Remember, I can’t die.” The words rushed out, leaving her breathless.
“Trevor can.”
Remembering her failure when she’d stopped Calan from killing Raul because she’d wanted to save Allie, she made a decision that broke her heart. Trevor’s life would have to be risked. “If Calan fails, the world will suffer. Please.”
Ian cursed. He glanced at the hounds around him. Faces contorted in rage, saliva dripped from their mouths, yet none made a sound.
He waved them off. “Go.”
As one unit, the dogs turned and fled across the woods.
“Dammit, Ian—”
He slid off his horse. “I can’t disobey Calan. He ordered me to stay with you.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but turned toward the greenhouse where she felt the awareness of a sluagh. Cynthia walked out of the woods at the same time as Raul exited the building with Trevor. Duct tape covered Trevor’s mouth, and a thick rope bound his hands, but it was the gun Raul had pressed to Trevor’s temple that stopped Harley’s heart.
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