She dropped her picture and met Trevor’s eyes. “Allie is probably already lost, you know.”
“We have to—”
The door opened, and Ian walked in. Her first instinct was to demand where he’d gone. She bit back the words. She had no reason to question him.
Trevor scowled. “It’s about time you showed up. Where were you?”
“I ran into Rhys.” Ian’s heated, lust-filled gaze caught hers. “Sorry to make you wait.”
The warmth in his voice quickened her pulse. She dropped her gaze to the table. Allie’s pretty face stared up at her, the sight a reminder that Tegan was about as far from Heaven as she could get. Hell was her home. Happiness had no place there. Neither did love. Arawn had tried to hold on to it by mating Minerva, but she’d left him alone more often than not. Minerva could visit Heaven while Arawn was tied to his realm.
And she’d cheated on him at least once while gone. No way would anyone in Hell be foolish enough to touch her.
Ian was proof of her infidelity, and if his father was one of the Archangels, it would explain why he’d been able to visit Tegan. Dream-walking was one of their gifts. Of course, there was still the question of how Minerva had conceived a babe. Only mated couples could reproduce… Except, Arawn had given up the chance of having children with Minerva in order to break that rule when he fathered the Huntsmen. Tegan had learned of her sire’s sacrifice to the Triad on one of her trips to the Haven with Minerva.
Tegan groaned and shoved the thoughts away. She could hypothesize all she wanted about why and how Ian’s soul got placed in a human body. Only Minerva knew the truth. Well, the Triad would too. The deity knew everything. Unfortunately, Tegan couldn’t access the heavens to ask them. As a child of Arawn, she was banned from the realm.
She flipped Allie’s picture over, unable to look at her sweet expression any longer. She was the type of female an angel’s child belonged with, not one who could turn into a beast from Hell.
“I was explaining to your friend that Allie is probably already lost. It’s true that time moves slower there, but over a week has passed. She would’ve gotten hungry, and the fairy realm is…well…” Tegan tried to put what she knew of the place into a concept they’d understand. “It’s filled with living magic much like what fueled the curse we suffered under.”
Ian leaned forward. “It’ll cause her pain.”
She bit her lip and debated how to answer him. Truth, or something to ease their minds? One peek into Ian’s hazel eyes and she knew a lie would be impossible. “Not directly. It feeds off its inhabitants, causing illusions and even breathing life into your worst fears or desires and making them real. The longer a non-fairy is there, the worse it gets. It’ll tempt her with food, wine, lovers. Whatever it thinks she wants.”
“Why?” Trevor asked.
She met first Trevor’s gaze then Ian’s. “It doesn’t exist unless it has people to give it life. The fairies controlled it when they lived there. They bent it to their will and harnessed it to create magnificent cities and abundant riches, but it’s been dormant for over a millennium. It’s hungry and won’t want to lose Allie.”
“Or anyone else who goes in after her,” Ian finished her thought.
“Exactly.” She nodded. “Harley should be resistant, but I can’t guarantee it. She still doesn’t know how to wield the power she has.”
Ian crossed his arms over his chest. “No. I am not risking Harley’s life or her sanity. She’s been through too much.”
She closed the file folder and matched Ian’s pose, arms crossed under her breasts. “Then Allie’s lost, and we’re wasting our time.”
“I think I found another way.” Trevor dug through the folders and pulled out several sheets of computer paper. “I did some research. There are stories about saving humans who’ve fallen into a fairy ring. If the lost person can be coaxed into the circle in the fairy realm, Harley might be able to pull her out without entering it.”
She ripped the paper out of his hand and read the source. On a groan, she tossed it at him. “An Internet search? That’s what you’re basing your research on?”
Trevor shrugged. “There’s a grain of truth in every legend and myth. The key is to pick it out from the garbage.”
Ian snatched the paper and read. “Is there any way to confirm it?”
“Arawn would know.” She sighed. “I’ll ask him.”
Ian grabbed her hand. “You don’t have to go back to Hell to do that, do you?”
“I can let him know I want to talk to him through one of the hounds or horses, but yes, I need to go back to speak with him.” And pray he didn’t suspect she was hiding anything about her and Ian.
He stepped around the counter and drew her against him. She considered refusing him, but she didn’t care what the other human thought. He’d already seen them locked in passion.
She linked her hands around Ian’s waist. The thick length of his erection pushed into her belly. Shivers of awareness skipped through her. She splayed her hands on his back and drew him closer. Not even an hour had passed, and she wanted him again.
“Hurry back.” Ian brushed her hair away from her ear with his chin. “I need you more than you can imagine.”
Her breathing quickened. She nodded. No words would form.
“Come to my room as soon as you return.” Ian kissed her neck. “Okay?”
She slid her hands over his tight ass. She couldn’t wait to feel him push his length into her. That first moment of becoming one with a lover had always thrilled her. Knowing it was Ian who had control over her pleasure made it better.
“Yes, I’ll come.”
“I know you will, every damn time I command you to.”
He took her mouth in a slow kiss, the kind she’d learned to anticipate from him. Her muscles loosened. Only Ian’s hold on her waist stopped her from crumbling to the ground. She didn’t know how long they kissed, minutes maybe, but Trevor finally cleared his throat and brought her back to reality.
Ian broke their kiss but held her trapped in his gaze. A faint glow emanated from his hazel eyes. Beautiful. He ensnared her. The sound of Trevor shuffling papers reached her ears. Still she couldn’t break Ian’s focused stare.
“I’ve pulled all the files I could on the redcaps we’ve been watching,” Trevor said.
Ian squeezed his eyes shut. The trance he’d cast over her broke. “Any luck finding recent activity close to here?”
“Yeah, Craig.”
Ian whipped his head to look at Trevor. “Fuck, really?”
She glanced between the two men. “You know the redcap’s name?”
The human redcaps were the leaders of the fairies’ army of sluaghs, walking corpses who’d terrorized the humans for millennia. Eliminating the leaders was essential. Without them, sluaghs would be no more than harmless husks.
Ian took the folder and focused on the printout. “A few of them. Craig is Raul’s brother, well, one of them.” He met her gaze. “Raul was one of quadruplets. I’ve tracked their string of serial killings back to the seventies.”
Raul, the redcap who’d tormented Harley for years, had shot her a little over a week ago and stolen her blood. Redcaps shared in the immortality of their fairy master through a blood-soaked cap they wore. He’d used Harley’s blood to break his bond to Dar and tie himself to her but had also taken enough blood to do the same for three additional redcaps.
His brothers.
Tegan groaned. “If Craig is wearing the cloth soaked in Harley’s blood, he’ll be invisible to the Hunt.” As Harley was invisible because of her bond with Calan. She was tied to his soul and not considered a threat. Neither would anyone linked to her be viewed as dangerous.
Ian nodded. “My guess is all his brothers are linked to Harley.”
Along with the sluaghs linked to them.
Tegan’s chest tightened on a surge of anger. The Huntsmen couldn’t protect mankind if they couldn’t sense the danger to them. Their ability to se
nse the enemy was the reason the Wild Hunt had been so successful.
She shoved the emotion aside before rage could consume her. It would do no good. They’d have to rely on other means to defeat their enemies. She wouldn’t accept failure.
“Craig’s last kill was in New York City.” Trevor once more dug through his folders. He opened one and spread a series of victims’ pictures over the kitchen table. All women, all with their hearts cut out and placed on top of their chests.
Tegan curled her fists. The urge to find the redcap and dig his blackened heart out with her claws seized her. Protecting humans was her purpose, a core aspect of her being she couldn’t change. She’d failed the nameless women displayed in the police shots.
Trevor pointed to a photo of a young redhead. “This was his last victim. Craig had dated the girl for close to a month. There were sightings of them all over the city. The girl had told her coworkers her boyfriend had asked her to move in. Next day, she’s found on her doorstep.” He paused to crack his knuckles before curling his fingers into fists. “They call him the Heartbreaker.”
“How long ago did he kill her?” Ian asked.
“Three days.” Trevor glanced at her. “Craig enjoys toying with the cops. He’ll leave clues and mess with their heads, creating illusions. He’s even managed to pin his murders on innocent people. Actually, they’re calling this woman’s death a copycat killing since the man they’d labeled as the Heartbreaker has been in jail for years.”
“Great.” Ian gathered the papers and shoved them into the manila folder. “Get in touch with our contacts down there and see what they’ve got on the boyfriend.”
“Already did. They said they’d contact me soon.”
Tegan glanced between the two men, amazed by how well they worked together, as if anticipating the other’s needs. It reminded her of how the Huntsmen interacted. She peered at Trevor and couldn’t help but wonder if he too had what it took to become a rider. She filed the thought away. She’d mention it to Calan when she saw him next. The Huntsmen had always deferred the decision of adding to the legion to him.
“And what good will that do?” She focused on Trevor. “You said he likes to mislead the cops.”
Trevor took the folders from Ian and slid them into his backpack. “He does that by creating an identity and giving them someone to hunt. He’ll have assumed the life of a missing person who resembles him, thereby giving him a family whom he often visits and a job to support him.”
“That’s one of the things the brothers share in common,” Ian added. “They like to pretend they’re human. A couple of them have even married before mysteriously disappearing. Surprisingly, they’ve all left their wives alive. Their girlfriends, on the other hand, aren’t always so lucky.”
She let her breath escape in a slow exhale and reined in her temper. “You’re hoping to search close to where he lived in order to find a fairy ring.”
Ian nodded. “And when we do, I’m going in after Allie.”
She grabbed his arm and pierced him with a hard stare, daring him to challenge her. “No, you’re not.”
His features tightened, but a slow inhale and exhale visibly calmed him.
“I have to. I promised.” He cupped her face between his large hands and brushed his thumbs along the edges of her mouth. “I won’t take the chance on bad karma ruining our future together.”
“What we did today doesn’t automatically give us a future together.”
“No, but it convinced me I want one with you.”
She wanted the same, but there were too many uncertainties surrounding them. “Ian, I—”
He prodded the seam of her mouth with his tongue, a gentle insistence she couldn’t resist. She parted her lips, welcoming him inside. His kiss warmed her from the inside out. She tightened her grip on him and gave him her passion.
Trevor coughed, reminding her of their situation. She broke the kiss and stepped back.
“I’m out of here.” Trevor slipped the strap of his backpack over a shoulder. “I’ll call soon.”
The moment the kitchen door banged shut, Ian slid his hands around her waist and pulled her against him. He nibbled from the base of her neck to her ear. “I want to lay you down on the table and feast on you.”
She wanted him to make that image a reality. It couldn’t happen. “We don’t have time to indulge in our lusts.”
“I need you.”
The confession whispered in her ear almost overrode her duty. She shook off the compulsion to meet his desires and focused on her task at hand.
“I have to go to Arawn first.”
His shaky exhale heated her skin. “I know. It’s just that I don’t think my dick has ever been this damn hard before.”
He ground his erection against the crack of her ass, proving his point. Her lower belly warmed, and her body readied for his first rough thrust. She stifled a moan.
“You want my dick inside you, don’t you?”
“Yes.” She didn’t bother denying it. What was the point?
He flexed his hands on her hips and took deep breaths. She got the impression he was trying to rein in his lust. Finally, he lifted her and set her at arm’s length. “You don’t know how badly I need you.”
The knowledge filled her with power and satisfaction. She stroked his forearm. “A few hours, then you can have me all night.”
“The first of an eternity.”
He didn’t give her the chance to respond. He turned and strode from the room. She stared at the door for a long moment. The man promised her everything she’d always wanted. So why wasn’t she happier?
Because Zeph was right. Bjorn broke her. The only problem was, she didn’t know how to fix herself.
Chapter Twelve
The tick-tock of the clock in Arawn’s office counted out the minutes Tegan had been waiting for him. She usually didn’t mind. He was busier than most humans would ever know. Hell and its ever-growing population ultimately answered to him. Yes, he had assistants who carried out his dictates, but only he determined the punishments of the damned, as he was the only one who could hear the cries of their victims.
He took his position and the task the Triad had handed him seriously. At the moment, his dedication wore on her patience and state of mind. She had a very specific reason for coming to him. Once she had the answers Ian sought, she planned to hightail it out of his office before Arawn questioned her mood or her relationship with Ian.
The patio door opened, and the scent of a campfire swept in with the breeze. She turned and found her father standing motionless in the open entrance. Eyes closed and hands fisted at his sides, he breathed deeply and rhythmically, calming himself. She’d watched him go through the motions too many times not to know the signs. He didn’t hide from his children the stress he suffered as a consequence of his abilities.
She waited until the lines of pain eased from around his eyes, then cleared her throat. He didn’t need the reminder she stood mere feet from him, but the clock was ticking. She couldn’t wait to return to Ian. After learning the man was as mesmerizing as the fantasy lover who’d saved her from madness, she yearned for his company. She wanted to get to know him more. His confession of loving her only made his appeal stronger. She knew better than to fall for empty words of devotion, especially when they came days after meeting her in person. From Ian, though, they hadn’t felt hollow or rushed. And that was what she feared.
“I hadn’t expected you to return so soon.” Arawn closed the door behind him and moved toward the wet bar in a slow amble.
“I need to find out how to get a human out of the fairy realm.” No use dallying with idle talk. Neither of them had time for it anyway.
“Station a hound on the ring and wait until it steps out as a sluagh.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Surely you haven’t forgotten the tricks to the Wild Hunt over the time you were forced to bear the weight of my failure.”
“Your failure?”
“Yes.” He scooped ic
e from a bucket, poured whiskey, and took several sips before turning and leaning against the mahogany bar. “I should’ve anticipated better and planned my responses accordingly. I didn’t, and the millennium you’ve been imprisoned has pained me more than you can imagine. I hate knowing I failed my children.”
She went to him and laid her hand on his arm. “I don’t blame you. Neither do my brothers and sisters.”
Eyes downcast, he swirled the contents of his drink. “You should.”
She dropped her hand. “Well, I don’t. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
He drank the contents of his glass in one long swallow, then set the tumbler on the counter behind him. “Ian is determined to save the girl?”
“Yes. He made his vow, and I promised to help him.”
“You’re involved with him.”
A lump lodged in her throat. She fought the accompanying anxiety. Ian’s well-being depended on her ability to remain calm and keep his secret. “Yes.”
Arawn made a noncommittal sound. Relief eased the tension in her muscles. He wouldn’t question her, at least not at the moment.
“Only fairies or those bonded to them can traverse the fairy realm, although few redcaps are strong enough to withstand the living magic for long. They fear it, as they should, and avoid it. Sluaghs, on the other hand, have no free will, so they are immune to the influence of the realm.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “If the human female Ian wants to save is truly trapped there, she’s lost.”
“They tell me she’s stronger than she appears and won’t crumble easily.”
The disbelieving look her father gave matched what she felt after seeing the girl’s photo. He shook his head, then focused on pouring another drink. “If she knows what to expect, possibly she might. She can’t die there, no matter how hungry she is or hurt. She’d simply need to endure until she can be pulled out.”
Cursed Page 10
