Hunter Betrayed, page 14
part #1 of Wild Hunt Series
Harley, need—
“What the hell did you find?”
Harley jerked at Ian’s barked question, but Calan didn’t flinch. He continued to worship her mouth and grind his erection against her.
“Dammit, get your tongue out of my baby sister’s mouth and answer the goddamn question.”
Calan smiled against her lips. He pulled back and she got lost in the lust simmering in his eyes.
Thank you, flower, for reminding me of what I am.
He shifted his attention to Ian. “I found Raul’s fairy ring. A female sluagh’s footprints led up to it.”
Ian groaned. The agonized sound cut at her heart. She covered her mouth. “Oh god, Cynthia.”
Calan closed his eyes. “I can’t say who it was.”
She glanced at Ian. He held his face in his hands. She faced Calan. “If you smelled something of hers, would you be able to tell.”
A growl rumbled his chest. “No.”
She frowned at the anger laced into that one word. “What about your hounds?”
“No.”
“But they’re dogs and—”
“Where’s the fairy ring?” Ian cut her off.
Calan peered past her to focus on Ian. “You do not need to know, human. I will avenge the sluagh’s death and free her spirit.”
“No.” Ian stepped forward. “If it’s Cynthia, the creature using her body will die by my hand. I will be the one to give her peace.”
Calan raised a brow. “That so?”
“Yeah, that’s so.”
With a gentle hold on her waist, Calan lifted her and set her to the side. He faced Ian, stance widened and arms crossed. A small smirk played on his lips. Seeing it worried her, but her attention landed on her brother’s agonized face.
“Do you wish to join the Hunt for her?”
She tensed, instincts flaring again. “Ian don’t—”
“Yes.” No hesitation. Ian reached a hand out. “I’m in.”
Calan grasped it and squeezed. Ian’s nostrils flared. Minutes passed in silence. She glanced between the two men. No emotion showed on their faces. They didn’t even blink. She held her breath and waited.
Finally, Ian nodded and turned his back, but not before she caught him pressing a balled fist to his chest.
“What’s going on?” No answer. “Ian, are you, okay?”
Again he nodded.
She stepped in front of Calan. Hoping to keep her voice calm, she asked, “What did you do to him?”
“I shared with him knowledge of the Hunt. He needs to know what he’s in for.” Calan grabbed her hand and tugged her against him. “Now, come with me. Daybreak is less than an hour away. I want to show you something before it rises.”
He led her across the room. At the door, he glanced over his shoulder. “Prepare yourself, human, and keep my hounds close. We ride tomorrow at dusk. Have your final decision made.”
The horse waiting in the middle of Ian’s backyard was a phantom in every sense of the term. The trees behind it showed through its ghostly body. Harley froze, mesmerized and repulsed by the skeletal creature. It turned black, fathomless eyes on her. She got lost in the abyss. It sucked her in, wrapped around her and showed her an image of herself she didn’t understand. She stood beside the lake on her property, arms stretched out and head tipped back. Black streaks bisected her platinum curls. Lighting flashed. Her scream echoed in her head.
Within one heartbeat and the next, the picture disappeared. She jerked backward. Calan linked his arms around her waist, stopping her tumble.
“Be calm, Harley. This is my horse, Death.”
She settled against his hard body, the press of his erection and the comforting scent of a campfire chasing the unsettling image from her mind.
“Death?” She tipped her head back. “You named your horse Death?”
The sight of his lifted lips curled her toes. Dear god, the man could turn her on with only a smile. Did he realize the power he had over her?
“My sire named him actually. Each rider is given a horse from Arawn’s stable. Death is bonded to me.” He pressed his hand to his pec, where the living tattoo marked him as a Huntsman.
“I’ve never ridden a horse.”
The smirk on his full mouth faded. He tensed. “Does he frighten you?”
She peered over her shoulder at the big animal. It watched her with its fathomless eyes. She swallowed hard. The horse did scare her. She got the impression it could see into her soul. Her tainted soul. She swallowed hard and faced Calan. The careful way he watched her, as if expecting her disgust, stopped her from telling the truth. “No.”
“Good.” Calan settled his hands on her hips and massaged. “Get on, Harley. I grow impatient.”
“What is that you want to show me?”
“A warehouse.”
His flat tone sent a chill down her spine. “What’s in it?”
A tic developed on his jaw. “You’ll see.”
“Just tell me. We’re wasting time that you could be using to hunt Raul.”
He worked his jaw and shifted his gaze to the woods surrounding Ian’s house. “The night wanes and unless I pass him on the street, I won’t sense him.”
“But I thought you said—”
“I know what I said, but I won’t find him.”
“What do you mean?”
The hard look had returned to his eyes. “I’ve bonded my body to yours, Harley. As my mate, you are safe from the Hunt.”
The conversation she’d had with Raul repeated in her head. Trepidation settled over her. “And what does that have to do with Raul?”
“The redcap is partially bonded to you. So that means the Hunt is blinded to him and his sluaghs also.”
She gasped and covered her mouth to muffle the sound.
My blood. Oh god. I really have endangered everyone.
Chapter Fifteen
Calan helped Harley off his steed’s back. She’d remained silent on the ride to the warehouse near Cynthia’s home. He’d tried to get her to talk about Raul, but she’d only shaken her head. She’d needed a moment to deal with the news he’d delivered. Calan had given it to her. The time had come to face the implications of her past, however. For both of them.
Nine years had gone by without Calan knowing Harley’s fate. He wanted the knowledge of the life she’d lived. What she’d done. If she’d loved the males she’d accepted into her body. How Raul had hurt her. There would be no secrets between them. They would close the gap.
Starting now.
He led her across the lot, opened the door and ushered her inside. Her gaze zeroed in on the fairy ring.
“Here? He’s had a damn fairy ring right in our hometown?”
She didn’t wait for the obvious answer. She stormed into the building, hands flexing and releasing at her sides. With quick strides she circled the mushroom border, an expression of rage twisting her features. He extended his mind to hers. A wall met him. An actual brick wall. He felt the roughness of the blocks under his mental fingers.
She’d blocked him.
“Harley.”
Her limbs trembled and her pace quickened. He rushed forward. Bringing her here had been a mistake. Without their complete tie, he couldn’t touch her mind unless she allowed it. Her refusal of his assistance made it harder for him to help her through her anger. He should’ve anticipated her reaction to the ring. He’d been too focused on uncovering the reason why she’d sought out other men instead of him, the one who’d worship her for eternity.
In the face of her anger, it had been a damn selfish reason and one he regretted.
“Harley, stop.” He stepped into her path.
She cut him an irritated look. Her nostrils flared and she promptly sidestepped him to continue her looping. On the next pass, he grasped her wrist and tugged her tense body against his. She didn’t resist but didn’t relax into his embrace either.
“Flower, let me in.” He pressed his lips to her ear.
She shook her head. He pressed kisses to her neck, her jaw and finally licked the seam of her lips. She pushed against his chest. “Calan, st—”
He slid his tongue between her parted lips and led her in a slow, drugging kiss. On and on, he twined their tongues. Finally, she linked her arms around his neck.
The wall separating them came crashing down.
He swept through her in a metaphysical caress, easing her tension and spreading warmth into her. She moaned in response to the sexual push he gave and kissed him harder. He probably should’ve felt bad for influencing her, but sex offered a Huntsman a safe way to alleviate their pent-up rage. It’d do the same for Harley. Their struggles weren’t all that different, simply flip sides of the same battle.
Lust built the longer they kissed. His cock lengthened and ached for the cushion of her body. He wanted to love her. The warehouse with Raul’s fairy ring and display of Harley’s pictures wasn’t the right place for it. He broke their kiss and cupped her face between his hands.
“Do not block me, Harley. For both of our sakes, I need to be able to touch your mind and comfort you the way you have done for me. We need each other.” He brushed his lips over hers once more. “Understand?”
“Yes. It’s just that…” She leaned back, putting enough space between them to motion toward the portal to the fairy realm. “This has been here for a while, hasn’t it?”
The mushrooms grew with each passing year. Some of the older ones he’d seen had stood as tall as a man. “Several years at least.”
She pushed away from him and knelt next to the ring. “Ian owns a company that does security work for the government and sometimes personal protection cases. At least that’s the side of it that makes money. In truth, he uses all the contacts he’s made to protect me.”
“I’m glad. I’d like to know how he managed to keep you out of harm’s way.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “He hasn’t. I’ve moved every time I’ve drawn the notice of one of the fairies’ creatures. What he has done is kept detailed records of sluagh kills and has the profiles of at least two-dozen redcaps. When word reaches him of murders that fall into either category, he investigates and searches for their fairy rings. He burns any he finds.”
Calan tensed. “That’s dangerous. As a human, he wouldn’t know of the danger he was in until the monsters revealed themselves.”
“I know. He feels it’s his duty to protect as many people as he can, but he could never find the fairy ring close to our home. He’d always suspected there was one. Too many locals had disappeared over the years and the types of murders in the neighboring cities suggested sluagh activity. It drove him nuts.” She swept her gaze over the dirt floor. “Raul is smarter than I thought.”
His heart skipped a beat. He mimicked her pose and tugged her away from the ring. It wouldn’t cloud her mind during the daylight hours, or afterward for that matter. Her fairy blood made her immune to its influence. Humans, on the other hand, were lured into the rings by illusions.
Most often they saw people dancing who would then invite the unsuspecting person to join them. Other times, they saw someone in distress, beseeching their help. No matter what captured their attention, the end result was the same. Once a human stepped past the ring of mushrooms, they tumbled into the fairy realm and became a slave to the owner of the ring.
“Be thankful your brother never ran into a sluagh or redcap.”
“I made him a dagger, so at least he had something to fight with if he had.” She gave him a wan smile. “If I lost Ian to them, I would’ve killed myself, no matter what promise I made.”
“You love him that deeply.” A stupid question maybe, but he needed the answer. Although he’d invited Ian to ride the Hunt, Calan hadn’t decided if he’d let him. Once the human accepted a horse, he’d be bound to it and the rider who invited him for eternity. Such a commitment was not accepted or extended lightly.
“With all my heart. Ian and my vow to you are the reasons I’ve lived so long.” She reached forward and laid her hand on his chest. “It hasn’t been easy, Calan. Every day the temptation has grown and so has the guilt. Everywhere I go, people die. I’m a menace to everyone, more so now.”
He covered her fingers with his and stroked her knuckles with his thumb. “They would kill and torture whether you lived or not.”
She chuckled. “You sound like Ian. That’s his favorite argument. He even has the statistics to support it.”
He treasured the lighthearted smile and hated that he had to erase it. The sooner he got it over with, the better. “Do you notice anything different about this circle?”
She held a hand out to hover over the nearest mushroom. “It’s not diseased.” She scrunched her brows and glanced at the skylights. “Why, because it’s out of the direct sun?”
“No. Raul has fed from you and you still retain your goodness. The ring will remain healthy unless you succumb to the chaotic madness that destroyed the Seelie Court.” He tipped her chin up. “How did he get your blood?”
She choked on a sob. “It was a couple weeks after you saved me. I was on my way to find you and…”
Her voice trailed off. His first thought centered on the knowledge that she had tried to keep her promise. The second chilled him.
“Raul stopped you,” he spoke the words she hesitated to say.
She nodded. Tears filled her eyes.
“What happened?”
“I stupidly fell for an illusion he created. I saw a young girl on the side of the road crying. She had a suitcase and…” She groaned. “I pulled over to see if I could help her. God, I was so damn naive.”
A growl crawled up his throat. Raul had played on Harley’s goodness.
She skimmed her fingertips across his back in a soothing caress. He savored her touch. Here she was, recalling a difficult time, and still she sought to comfort him. He pulled her closer.
“Raul was waiting, wasn’t he?”
“Yes.” She rested her cheek over his heart. “I should’ve expected it. You’d left me with the knowledge of the tricks they played. I just hadn’t really believed anyone would do that. I…I didn’t have much experience with people.”
He thought back to the first time he’d spied her. She had to have been close to nine. Her goodness had been a beacon to him. It had confused him. He’d sensed the taint on her soul but there hadn’t been any evidence of its damage. For years afterward he’d pondered why. He’d never come up with a plausible explanation. Her words gave him one.
“Your mother knew what had raped her.” She had to have. Normal people didn’t ring their homes in protective circles of iron spikes.
“I believe so. Whether he’d told her or she’d guessed, I can’t say but she used the knowledge to protect me. Unfortunately, she did so by isolating me from the outside world.” She sighed and lowered her voice. “I grew angry and bitter as I got older. Finally, I started sneaking out. Within a week, Raul found me.”
He pressed his lips to her hair. “I’m sorry, flower. I wish I could’ve saved you from the pain and sadness you’ve experienced.”
She clutched him tight. “Me too.”
He held her in silence for a long moment but he wanted the rest of her story. He suspected whatever happened made her change her mind about returning to him. “When you got out of your car, Raul attacked you.”
She dragged in a shaky breath. “He dragged me into the woods and he…”
His anxiety spiked. “Did what?”
She shook her head and slipped out of his embrace. Her back to him, she wrapped her arms around her chest. “He gnawed and sucked on my ankle, as if I were a juicy fruit or something.” She shivered. “God, Calan, the sounds he’d made sickened me. I used the distraction to stab him in the heart.”
“With your dagger?”
She peered over her shoulder. “Of course.”
“Why didn’t you finish it?”
She lifted trembling hands to her face and pressed them to her eyes. “There was so much blood and I just wanted to get away. He…” She cleared her throat. “He hurt me.”
He turned her into his arms and gently pried her hands away. Tears collected on her lashes. A terrifying idea took hold. “What did he do?”
She buried her face in his shirt. “Nothing.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the display of pictures. Raul was obsessed with her. He’d watched her for years. Calan focused on one of Harley sleeping naked on top of her bed. Raul had gotten close to her while she’d been unaware. Partially bonded to her or not, he would’ve hungered for her power. He hadn’t taken it. She would be dead if he had. No, the redcap wanted to mate her. He hungered for her body as well as the strength he could get from her.
Why? Because he’d enjoyed it before?
Calan prayed he was wrong. It would kill him to know his beautiful mate had been violated. “Tell me.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shoved at his chest. He tightened his grip and she relented. “I got away.”
Anger gripped him. Harley had suffered and he hadn’t been free to protect or even comfort her. “Tell. Me. Now.”
“Why?” She tensed and pierced him with narrowed eyes. “So you can embrace your rage?” She shook her head. “No. I won’t give you a reason. It happened nine years ago. I lived.”
The look in her eyes told him the truth. He had to be sure. “Raul raped you, didn’t he?”
She swallowed hard. “Almost.”
A roar tore from his throat.
She wrapped her arms around him. “Calm down, Calan. I stopped him. It’s okay.”
His body shook from the power rushing into his muscles. He fought the downward spiral and focused on Harley’s small hands caressing him.
“Skin,” he rasped.
She shoved his shirt up and ran her fingers over his back. The anger subsided, not the need for revenge. “He will suffer, my mate.”
“Good, make him hurt for me.”
