Harley eased back. The weight of her stare forced his lids open. Tears welled in her eyes, yet her expression remained neutral. “You can taste it, can’t you? It’s not just me.”
“It acts as a disease. Dar became infected when he turned his back on the strict laws of the Seelie Court and opened himself up to the chaos. It gave him strength, power, everything only the highest-level gods could achieve, but he was never meant to harness the uncontained raw force. It corrupted him.”
She swallowed hard. “And he passed his infection to me.”
Unable to lie to her, he met her gaze and let her see the truth in his eyes. A single tear trailed down her flawless cheek. She shoved away from him and fell back on her rear. More tears dripped from her eyelashes, while anger contorted her face. She trembled, visibly fighting her emotions.
“Be calm, Harley.” He reached out to her with his mind as he’d done earlier in the day.
She shoved him out, slamming a proverbial wall between them. “Don’t try to pacify me.”
“I’m not. I’m trying to help you.” At her narrowed eyes, he sighed. “Giving in to anger will quicken your transformation into an Unseelie fairy.”
Harley dropped into a crouch, rocking on the balls of her feet, then stood as tall as her petite body would allow. She raised her chin. “I’ll kill myself first. I will never become like them.”
“You’ve matured. It’s too la—” He snapped his mouth closed, not soon enough. Her eyes widened. She took a backward step.
The thought of her leaving him sped his pulse. He strained against his bonds and stretched his arm toward her.
“Don’t leave me.” Harley froze at his words. “Don’t condemn me to suffer here when I could be hunting Dar. You do want me to stop him before he rapes another woman and gets her with child, don’t you?”
Her eyes turned to saucers. He hated seeing the despair and sadness in them, but he couldn’t allow her to abandon him.
He inhaled slowly and forced his muscles to relax. “That’s right. While I hang here, unable to carry out my vow to protect humanity, Dar is creating more babes who will suffer the fate you’ve been handed. Your sisters and brothers are dying as we speak.”
“They’re going to die anyway!” She strode closer but stopped just out of reach. “Once I release you, you’ll carry out your purpose. You’ll kill Dar, then sweep the world and pick off each of his tainted creatures, including his children…including me. Won’t you?”
He reached out a metaphysical hand and cupped her mound. She squeaked and tumbled forward, exactly the response he wanted. He caught her with his free hand and yanked her against his body. Harley fought him, pushing and squirming against his iron grip. He reached around her rear and pressed his hand between her legs. She stilled and stared at him, shock and desire simmering in her dilated eyes.
“And what about the humans who die to sustain his redcaps or the unfortunate humans who are turned into sluaghs?” He narrowed his eyes, letting her see the seriousness in his pointed questions, hoping she’d understand. “And don’t forget the humans that his creatures torture and rape for fun. What about them? Only the Huntsmen can mete out justice, but we can’t because my siblings struggle under the curse they were never meant to carry.”
She flinched.
He hated having caused her discomfort, but the situation was too important. Harley needed to understand that he couldn’t allow any corrupted fairy to live, even if it meant killing her siblings.
“Dar wants to free the rest of his Court from Hell and rule over the human world. Only my siblings’ endurance in upholding the barrier to Hell has stopped him.”
He considered telling her how his siblings upheld the barrier—by offering their pain and suffering to feed the living magic that makes it up. The myriad of emotions flashing across Harley’s face stopped him. He couldn’t risk pushing her over the edge and sending her running if she knew what awaited her should she turn Unseelie. Because Calan had no choice but to condemn Dar and his followers to the same fate Calan’s siblings endured. Besides, upholding the barrier was the Unseelie Court’s punishment in the first place.
“I promised you I’d live, but now you’re telling me it was all for nothing. I’m fighting the inevitable.” Harley stood on her tiptoes, bringing those turbulent eyes closer to his. “I would’ve given up years ago if it hadn’t been for you. You lied to me. I have nothing to live for except this, releasing you. I’ve watched friends and family suffer and die so I could live long enough for this moment. Am I right?”
The full impact of what she’d endured hit him with her confession. She’d fought the darkness and won…for him. He’d seen with his own eyes how quickly the fairies fell once they became infected. The chaos acted as a drug, and the euphoric high it gave lured even the most noble to give in to the temptation.
The woman before him had experienced the effects of the chaos—had gloried in causing other people pain. Although still mainly Seelie, there were pockets of damage on her aura. She’d tasted the power being Unseelie could give yet had turned her back on it. He’d been right. She was his salvation, his heaven.
The decision he’d made nine years ago was the right one.
Harley was his.
“No, my precious flower, you’ve lived long enough for us to save each other.” He stroked his thumb over the opening of her cloth-covered sex. “Kiss me. Open yourself up and let me inside.”
Chapter Six
Harley’s entire focus centered on the man lazily rubbing her cleft. The look in his eyes stripped her bare, left her aroused and wary. She didn’t understand what he asked of her, but she sensed it would change her for all time.
She leaned back
