No answer. That in itself was one. Not wanting to argue, she focused on driving. The scenic mountain road spilled out onto a busy two-lane highway. She merged with traffic and fell into the slower traffic that kept her from Ian.
“This is taking too long.” She cut Calan an irritated look.
“Would you rather risk the humans seeing my horse when it’s not necessary?”
No, she wouldn’t. “Can’t you cloak us or something?”
His weary sigh added to her anxiety. “The power of the Hunt is limited to darkness. Some abilities I can still call upon during the day. That is not one of them.”
“You told me you didn’t sense any redcaps or sluaghs close. I believed you. It was the only reason I spent the night with you.”
He jerked his hand back. She regretted her words but didn’t retract them. She hurt, dammit. Ian was everything to her, and she’d endangered him so she could fuck the man of her dreams. If Calan hadn’t been curled around her body all night, he might’ve caught Raul.
“I told you the truth. My hounds didn’t smell the taint of darkness anywhere. They’ve been hunting by my side from the moment I matured.”
“It is possible they’d forgotten—”
“No.”
Harley peered at him. The stony look matched the punctuated word. Fine. If Calan wouldn’t give her answers, she’d get them on her own. She hit the button on her phone to speed-dial Ian. It rang once.
“Hello?” Trevor’s voice, not Ian’s, filled the car. It didn’t surprise her. They were close. Of course Trevor would go to Ian when he needed someone on his side.
“It’s me. What happened?”
“Hell, that’s what happened.”
“What are you talking about?”
Someone yelled for him. She couldn’t make out who from the muffled sound.
“Look, I don’t have time to talk. Just get out to Cynthia’s place. Now.” The line went dead.
“What did your dog say?” She’d asked Calan several times already. He hadn’t answered her, but she couldn’t help asking again.
He turned his head and stared out the window. “She smells death but can’t get close enough to see more. Human police arrived minutes after a young woman ran screaming from the house.” The grinding of his jaw sent a shiver down her spine. “But Riesa didn’t pick up any trace of chaos.”
At a stoplight, she faced him. “That’s impossible. If Raul or his sluaghs killed Cynthia’s family, your dog would’ve scented them.” She frowned and tacked on, “Right?”
Calan ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “Right. The chaotic darkness leaves its mark on the earth. It fades, as smells do, but with my hound sitting there all night, she should’ve not only scented the owner but seen him. Even Dar couldn’t have hidden from her senses.” He turned in his seat. “It is possible a human committed the crime.”
She doubted it, not after Raul’s threat. The light turned green, and she drove. She’d find out soon enough. Raul would’ve left his signature all over the kill if it had been him. He’d want her to know what disobeying him meant.
The part of town Cynthia’s parents lived in had two sections. The middle-class homes with small yards and cars parked along the curbs dotted the outermost area. Interspaced among them were a few pizza joints, mini-marts and offices. The poorer family homes circled the cul-de-sac at the very end of town. It butted up against the section of woods separating the town from the abandoned sewing factory that had once supported many of the local residents.
While Harley had never been inside Cynthia’s home, she knew where Ian’s girlfriend lived along the curved road in the rundown section. Even if she hadn’t, the strobe lights and police tape would’ve pointed out the location.
She slowed the car to a crawl, then hit the brakes. The sight of body bags being loaded into the coroner’s van triggered a lifetime of memories. She’d seen too many murder scenes. It sickened her to know she had inadvertently caused the one before her. Ian could recite his statistics all he wanted. They meant nothing to the tragedy she knew had played out behind the walls of the older home.
People had died because Harley had led Raul here.
“Harley?”
She glanced at Calan. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
He touched her with teasing mental fingers and yanked her anxiety away. She breathed a sigh of relief he captured with his mouth. The soft brush of his lips to hers infused her with strength. He pulled back and held her trapped in his gaze. “You’re not, but you’ll feel better once you hold your brother in your arms.”
She nodded, knowing he spoke the truth.
“Turn around, and drive back to the last intersection. I’m going to get out and meet up with my hounds. I want to sweep the area myself.” His brows pinched. “Make sure. Something isn’t right.”
She backed up and double-parked next to a pickup near the four-way stop. “Make sure of what?”
He shrugged in answer. The way he worked his jaw, however, suggested he had a guess. “Go immediately to Ian and reach for me if you feel in any way threatened.”
He peered past her. She followed the direction of his stare and caught a flash of white and red between a tarp-covered boat and someone’s garage. His hounds crouched in the shadows. A surge of protectiveness rose. She hated seeing them lurk as if they were the evil ones.
“Can’t you alter their image?”
“No. Glamour is a fairy skill.”
If the bite to his words indicated his feelings, the fact annoyed him.
“Too bad I can’t use it.” Riesa reminded her of a Doberman on steroids. Harley would like to see the hound be able to walk around without frightening everyone with her blood-colored eyes and red ears.
Calan opened the door, then took her hand. He pressed his thumb to her left palm, the one with his circle. “You will. You’ll be powerful.” He raised his gaze to hers. “I’ve changed my mind. I won’t stop you again from completing our bond.”
“You won’t?” After his
