Chapter Thirty-Three
Another tremor shook the earth. Calan pushed to his feet and opened himself to the power of the Hunt. Without a tie to Harley, the tainted fairy side of her was no longer invisible to him. He sensed her near the lake, along with a redcap and dozens of sluaghs. He cursed.
Something horrible had happened. It had to have. He refused to believe she had turned Unseelie or sought out Raul. With a warning to his hounds to spare Harley their wrath, he let his Huntsman form emerge, then ran.
Calan cleared the tree line and stumbled to a halt. Raul stood behind a wall of sluaghs. Beyond him, dirt and stone spilled over the lip of the sinkhole that led to his prison’s entrance. The sight didn’t make sense. Calan pushed the concern aside and scanned the woods.
Harley was close. He felt her fairy side as a low thump in his veins, but couldn’t see her. Raul had done something to her, as Calan feared. Before Raul took his last breath, he’d tell Calan.
He willed his sword to appear and rushed forward, but the sluaghs didn’t charge him. They didn’t even move. Still, he cut them down. They blocked him from getting to Raul. The sight of him hiding behind the living dead army he’d created set Calan off. The wrath he always kept tightly contained spilled over and consumed him. He let it fill him up and used the strength it offered to annihilate his enemies.
At last, the final sluagh fell. Calan directed his hounds to disable Raul, then charged the redcap, sword outstretched. Raul clawed at the dogs attacking him. He grabbed one and flung the beast. Calan wrapped his arms around the animal, catching it in midair, and set him to the side. He swung his weapon in the redcap’s direction. His blade met air.
Raul stood several feet away, panic on his face. “It’s about damn time you arrived. I can’t get to Harley. You need to stop her before she ruins everything!”
Calan froze at the sight of the redcap’s anxiety. “What have you done with her?”
“Other than use her to break my tie to Dar?” Raul shook his head. “Not a damn thing. She did this herself.”
“Did what?”
Raul motioned behind him. “She decided to make herself a martyr and save the Huntsmen.”
Calan cut a quick glance at the sinkhole. His heart skipped a beat. The sound of falling rocks and rushing dirt drove home the truth. The sinkhole was filling in because the curse had been transferred to a fairy, thereby stabilizing the barrier.
Not to Dar, though. To Harley.
She’d sacrificed herself.
“Thank you for giving my sluaghs peace, but now you need to save Harley.” A car started. “Her imprisonment will ruin all my plans. I need her alive and well in this realm.”
Raul’s words yanked Calan’s attention from Harley’s living tomb to the redcap and the choice Calan had to make. He gave the sight of his prison being buried along with the woman he loved one last glance. Emotions warred within him, but he could not allow Harley’s sacrifice to be for naught.
He’d save her. He’d save everyone. He wouldn’t allow any other outcome to prevail.
First, though, Raul had to die.
He turned his back on the sinkhole and found Raul running toward a vehicle. He jumped in and slammed the door shut. Tires squealed, and dirt kicked up. The car took off.
Calan drew on the power of the Hunt to fuel his limbs. He leapt onto the car and dug his talons into the roof. Screeching accompanied the slashing of the metal under his clawed hands. He reached into the opening and grabbed the redcap with sharpened nails dug in his shoulders.
Raul cursed and twisted the steering wheel. The car veered right, then left. Calan slid over the torn roof. The jagged metal ripped his chest open. The pain meant nothing. His blood slickening the surface did, however. Calan lost his grip. His feet dangled over the side. Only his talons sunk into the redcap’s shoulder stopped him from going airborne. Raul jerked the car. Calan’s back bounced off the trees lining the road. Still, he held on.
Again, Raul whipped the steering wheel. Again, Calan’s body was whacked off the branches. The third time Raul swerved, Calan pushed his feet off the tree he hit. The car tipped with his shove. Calan scrambled over it, reached into the window and yanked the redcap’s head free. Raul’s soul rushed out.
Calan stared at the sight of the pulsing orb. A redcap’s soul could not be freed. It belonged to its fairy master. Calan didn’t know what to make of the occurrence, nor did he have time to ponder what it meant. Harley was being buried alive.
He ordered Death to collect Raul’s soul, then raced toward the lake. He had to save her. He only wished he knew how.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Harley’s scream turned into one continuous shriek. Pain like she’d never known consumed her. Fire raced through her veins. Her skin burned, and her flesh shriveled. Every cell in her body hurt.
She willed her heart to stop, but it raced, faster and faster. Fear rushed over her. She knew what would happen. Death had claimed her several times since she’d stabbed herself. She didn’t want it to welcome her again.
She couldn’t stop it.
Her chest squeezed tight. Her last breath wheezed out. Black overtook her eyes, but unconsciousness didn’t come. Sorrow did. Her heart expanded, then burst.
Laughter surrounded her. That too faded, along with the pure misery. Silence stretched. Her moment of peace. It didn’t last. She felt her body mending; her shattered heart glued itself back together. It thumped, once then again before settling into a steady rhythm.
She used the time between her torture sessions to conjure Calan’s eyes. Love rushed over her—his and
