“Hurry, woman, I want you.”
“And I need you.” She picked up the key and returned to his side, then dropped to her knees. “But I need to deal with Raul first.”
“The redcap?” A red haze slipped over Calan’s vision, along with an unreasonable surge of jealousy. “You know his name?”
Harley paused with her hand on the manacles binding his ankles and flicked her gaze to his. “He’s the one who’s hunted me for years. He almost got me a couple of times. The knowledge you pushed into my mind saved me.” She lowered her gaze to focus on his rigid cock hidden behind his pants. A slow swipe of her tongue accompanied the hungry, low groan she made. “I’m going to thank you properly for saving my life and giving me a reason to fight. I’ll make sure you never regret it. I promise you, but I can’t worship you now.”
He managed a nod when all he wanted were the details of everything he’d missed in the years they’d been separated.
With her eyes locked on to his, she turned the key. A shock wave resounded in the room. The walls shook, and energy rushed into him. Without thought, he grabbed Harley’s shoulder and shared the unrestrained power and its accompanying ecstasy with her.
Her cry mirrored his. The rush eased, and for the first time in a millennium, he shifted his legs from the widened stance he’d assumed because of the chains.
She wrapped trembling arms around his thighs. “What was that?”
The huskiness of her words brought a smile to his lips. Pure power offered a high of its own, one that rivaled raw lust. He ran his fingers through the silken strands of her hair. “What has been denied to me. Power. My power.” He tipped up her chin. “Finish it.”
The first hint of caution bled into her eyes. “Promise me you’ll protect my brother, Ian. No matter what. He’s human, innocent in all this.”
Calan caressed the edge of her mouth with his thumb. “That requires no promise. I will.”
She closed her eyes on a long sigh. “Good.”
“Harley?” He waited until she met his gaze. “Why ask such a thing of me?”
She stood, stretching on the tips of her toes, and fitted the key into the remaining lock. She turned her head to face him. The full, bouncy curls framing her face swayed, tickling his chin. For a long moment, she didn’t say anything. Finally, she pressed her lips to the spot just below his ear. Her heated breath sent shivers racing down his spine.
“In case I’m wrong and releasing you will damn me.”
The click resonated. The manacle opened, and another rush of pure energy bled from the walls, the air, and the ground beneath his feet.
Calan banded his arms around Harley and held her tightly against him. Freedom had never felt so good. He wanted to thank her for being his salvation, but first he had to deal with the threat to her family.
Eyes closed, he opened himself to the power of the Hunt, the only way he could connect to those who carried the taint of darkness. The conscious effort took precious time and energy.
He stretched his ever-expanding circle over the countryside. His mental swoop encompassed Harley’s house, out to the sprawling town at the base of the mountain, and farther still until he touched the neighboring cities. No evidence of the taint the fairies’ creatures carried reached him. In fact, he didn’t even feel Harley’s chaos, but he wouldn’t. She was partially bound to him, thereby invisible to the Hunt. He pulled back with a frown and faced her.
“There are no redcaps or sluaghs within the reach of my power, not in the town closest or the two farther out.”
An incredulous expression spread over her face. “He’s there, in town. I just left him and came straight here after he threatened my family with his sluaghs.”
“Then most likely he has gone to call them forth from a fairy ring tied to him.” Most redcaps had dozens of such portals to the fairy realm. Their sluaghs could only roam during the nighttime hours. The sunlight turned them into useless husks.
The tension in her limbs eased. She slumped, then immediately straightened her spine. “We need to be ready when he returns.”
He caught her shoulder, stopping her from walking away. She flashed him a narrowed glare. “I will send out my hounds. They are connected to me. They will hunt for him and any of his creatures. The moment they find one, I will know no matter where I am or what I am doing. I’ll go immediately to them, but you and I have unfinished business.”
Her cheeks took on a faint blush, but lust darkened her eyes. Still, she shook her head. “We can’t take any chances. The trip down the mountain—”
“Will take mere moments on my horse’s back.”
With her gaze on his mouth, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Her slow nibble on the tender flesh dragged a groan from his throat. She let the teased flesh slip free and met his eyes. “And I will be left behind while you hunt them?”
It was voiced as a question, but he saw her knowledge of the truth in her tense expression. Testing him or confirming her suspicions? He didn’t care which drove her inquiry. She’d get the truth as much as he could give it to her.
“Yes, with plenty of my hounds to protect you.” Calan pressed a finger to her open mouth. “I will shield you from the ugliness of my life as much as possible. You do not need to be anywhere near the redcaps or their puppets, especially without my complete tie to you. I will
