“We need to find Trevor and Allie.”
She slipped from his arms. “Yes, let’s find them and get out of this place. It’s not right.”
No, it wasn’t. It also wouldn’t let them take its playthings so easily.
There’d be another sacrifice. He was sure of it.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tegan and Ian made their way through the endlessly changing forest. One moment their path lay before them, the next a tree or cluster of rocks blocked them and they were forced to go in a different direction. It was driving her nuts.
She gripped his hand tighter, afraid she’d lose him if she let go.
“It’s toying with us, that’s all.” He caressed her wrist with his thumb and offered her a smile.
“I know that, but how are we ever going to find your friends in this place, then get back to the fairy ring we entered through? It’s not responding the way it should.”
“Harley.”
She frowned, but the confident look he wore gave her hope. “What do you mean?”
“Fairies can control this realm. Harley’s going to give it a shot.” He shrugged. “Hopefully, she already is, and that’s why nothing’s staying the same.”
The redcaps controlled the fairy rings from the human realm. It made perfect sense that Harley would be able to do the same. Then again, she’d never learned how to be a fairy. She’d resisted its lure her entire adulthood.
“And if she can’t?”
“We find another way.”
She opened her mouth to ask how, but closed it without voicing the question neither of them had an answer to.
“Trust me, angel.”
She stopped walking and glanced at him. He’d been clear in his love, no matter what she’d said or done. After betraying his secret to Arawn and restraining him in the Haven, he’d still reached out to her, wrapping his love around her. Not even finding her in Bjorn’s arms had dimmed it. It was there in his eyes and touch, exactly as it had been in their dream encounters.
She laid her hand over his heart. “You are an amazing man, my mate.”
“I’m only what you need.”
She grinned. “Then I must need an incredibly sexy hero.”
His answering smile turned her heart over. “One who can’t wait to get you naked again.”
“Oh, Ian, I—” Her gaze strayed to the house in the distance. She pointed. “Look.”
He pivoted. “It’s Trevor’s place.” He tugged on her hand. “Hurry.”
They ran across a meadow of white flowers and hurdled a fence. Allie rushed out the door, no longer the smiling, innocent girl from the pictures Tegan had seen. Dark circles marred Allie’s pale skin. Her blonde hair hung in disarray around her shoulders, and the cartoon sleepshirt she wore was bloody, torn and dirty. Above all, it was the haunted and slightly crazed look in her eyes that tugged at Tegan’s heart.
“Ian!” Allie hopped the stairs and ran to meet them. “Trevor was attacked. These guys popped out of thin air and stabbed him.”
“Is he all right?” Ian asked.
Allie shook her head, sending her hair whipping around her. “I can’t stop the bleeding.”
“He can’t die here.” Tegan gave Ian’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “The magic won’t let its toy go.”
“No, but he can suffer.” Ian yanked her toward the house. He flung the door open.
She covered her mouth to muffle her gasp. The inside of the house didn’t resemble a modern one. Thick animal pelts covered wide rough-hewn boards. A deep fireplace took up one wall. And a bed faced it. The small room reminded her of the kind she’d seen in earlier times, but it couldn’t be.
And why not? The fairy realm could’ve taken the memory from me.
She shrugged off the thought, not willing to allow herself to question the reality of her surroundings, and followed Ian to where Trevor lay bloody and beaten in front of the hearth.
Ian pressed his fingers to Trevor’s neck. “He’s alive.”
Trevor slapped his hand away. “I’m fine. Just weak.”
To prove it, he pushed into a sitting position. Ian helped him until he sat leaning against the foot of the bed.
“Allie said you were attacked.” Ian lifted Trevor’s hand from where he pressed it to his gut. Curses fell from Ian’s mouth. “They got you good.”
Trevor snorted, then cringed. “Would’ve killed me if I’d been back home.”
Tegan swept her gaze over the room. Memories of a similar room and tragedy surfaced. Please let me be wrong. “What were you doing when they jumped you?”
Allie knelt next to them. “We saw Trevor’s house and came inside. One minute it looked normal; the next it turned into this.” She swept her hand out to encompass the space. “We started to explore it. Trevor walked toward the hearth. I went upstairs. I heard him curse, so I rushed down. Three guys surrounded him. They stabbed him, over and over.” She flicked her gaze from Ian to Tegan, an imploring look in her eyes. “I couldn’t stop them. I tried.”
Tegan met Ian’s gaze. “That’s how Rowan’s mate was killed. This room resembles his home too.” And Rowan never forgave herself for going upstairs. The expression on Allie’s face suggested she blamed herself too.
Ian cursed. “She was sitting outside the ring when I got there. Maybe the magic fed from her thoughts.”
Of course. She closed her eyes. “It does. If you’re close enough, it can tap into your mind and draw out whatever it thinks will lure you into the ring.”
“I saw you and Bjorn.”
She met his gaze. “And it worked to get you here. Rowan’s revisited her mate’s death too many times. She’s indifferent to it just as she is to love.”
He sighed, then glanced from Allie to Trevor. “We need to move. Only way out is through a fairy ring. If I help you, can you walk? Or do you want me to carry you?”
“I’ll walk.”
Ian pulled Trevor up and supported him with an arm around his waist. He groaned but shuffled to the door. His breaths grew shallower the longer they moved, but he kept placing one foot in front of the other.
The sun overhead slipped below the horizon, and the first twinkling stars dotted the clear sky. They stepped into a garden with roses in a variety of colors. Some grew on bushes; others hung from trellises and arches.
Ian tensed.
Tegan linked her hand with his free one. The beat of his pulse against her palm quickened. She swept her gaze over the beautiful space, looking for whatever had set him on edge, but didn’t notice anything. Trepidation settled low in her belly, churning it.
“Do you recognize this place?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
One word delivered in a biting growl and her heartbeat raced too. “What—”
Cynthia approached them, arms open and a welcoming smile on her face. “Ian, you came back to me.”
Tegan sucked in a rough breath.
“Take Allie’s hand and follow my lead, angel. Trust me.”
She did, and they kept walking. Each foot brought them closer to where Cynthia stood. Her smile turned into a sneer. She bared sharpened teeth at them. Talons punched from her fingers.
“Don’t ignore me, Ian. I hate when you do that.”
He pulled Tegan closer and took another step.
Cynthia pointed at Tegan. “That’s the little bitch you tossed me away for? I held on to my virginity for you and gave up so many chances to date guys who actually desired me—all for what? You got me killed!”
Ian didn’t respond. He continued forward, dragging them with him. Cynthia morphed into a sluagh—with gray, saggy skin and soulless eyes. She leapt for Ian, claws extended, and disappeared in a puff of smoke before making contact.
Tegan stared at him. “How did you know she’d disappear?”
“I didn’
t. I held your image in my mind and blocked hers out, reminding myself it was an illusion.” He caught her gaze. “That’s what I did whenever I encountered one back home. I was hoping we’d be able to combat it the same way.” His mouth quirked into a lopsided smile. “I was right. You are the key to saving me, just as I am yours, here and in all ways.”
“I’m glad.”
They held each other’s gaze for a long moment. A world of understanding and love flowed between them. It left her a little unsteady but stronger than she’d ever been. She turned away before the emotion morphed into lust. Her mate could turn her on without trying, and there was no room for it while they were surrounded by danger.
She jerked her chin toward the trees around them. “The landscape’s not changing as much. I think Harley’s getting the hang of controlling it.”
He glanced at her and gave her a small smile. “I think you’re right. The gazebo we just passed looks like the one on our property.”
Allie stepped onto her other side and whispered, “Trevor’s not looking good.”
Tegan peered at the human. Sweat soaked his hair, and lines of pain marred the skin by his eyes and mouth.
They needed to get him help. He might not be able to die in the fairy realm, but as a human, he could heal only so quickly, and tramping through the woods wasn’t helping. Actually, she prayed he could mend his wounds. The other alternative chilled her. She might’ve died repeatedly while in the fairy prison, but she’d had periods of utter silence broken only by Calan’s visits. The thought of being in constant pain chilled her. Trevor faced that possible future, however. Ian would be heartbroken if it happened. He would suffer along with his friend.
She went to Trevor and draped his arm over her shoulder. His limp body told her the truth. Ian supported him completely and gave him the illusion of strength. It would’ve been easier to carry him in a fireman’s hold, quicker too. Trevor wanted to walk, though. Ian respected that, just as he’d offered her support without condemning her choices.
She met Ian’s gaze and fell a little more in love with him. She’d mated a good man, one who placed other people’s needs above his own.
Honorable. Strong. Passionate. He was her true prince, not a shadow of a man who’d lived and died centuries ago. Bjorn had never earned her heart completely, but Ian had without so much as saying a single word. Whereas words could be given freely, his actions had proved his feelings.
“We found it!” Allie pointed.
A fairy ring sat in the center of a wooded grove. Tegan tugged on Ian’s sleeve. “Hurry.”
Ian lifted Trevor so his feet brushed the ground. They jogged toward the circle of mushrooms and stepped over the barrier. Nothing happened.
“That guy called me into it last time, saying he’d help me get out.” Allie spun on her heel. “Maybe it’s not working.”
“The magic wants a sacrifice.” Tegan grabbed a rock from the ground and gouged a cut into her palm. A momentary rush of pain skipped up her arm. She ignored it and squeezed her hand. Drops of her blood hit the ground, sizzling on contact.
The earth beneath them trembled, then gave way. They fell. Allie’s screams followed them into a sea of nothingness. Her cries cut off abruptly, along with all light and sound. Only Ian’s hand in hers grounded Tegan. They hit the earth, feet first, and stumbled. Ian collapsed with Trevor pulled to his side.
The roars of sluaghs and the whoosh of blades filled the night. Tegan scanned the woods. Her brothers fought several redcaps and dozens of sluaghs. Harley stood on the other side of the ring, arms outstretched and her dual-colored hair streaming around her. Eyes squeezed shut and body vibrating, she murmured in the ancient language of the fae.
Rowan rushed to the ring and held out her hand. “Hurry, Harley can’t hold it much longer.”
“Hold what?” The words were barely out of Tegan’s mouth when a barrage of flaming arrows hit an invisible dome surrounding them.
She glanced at the mushrooms, and fear stole her breath.
Ian pulled her forward. “Come on.”
He handed Trevor over to Rowan. She pulled him out.
A tremor shook the ground, and the earth beneath them heaved. Fissures opened, and smoky wisps of pure chaos snaked out of the cracks. Ian fell backward, and Tegan stumbled, but Allie’s screech yanked Tegan’s attention. Allie hung by her fingertips inside a fissure that ran from one side of the ring to the other.
Tegan reached for her and drew on the power of the Hunt to strengthen her limbs. Ian grabbed Allie’s other wrist. Together, they lifted her out. They hurried to the edge of the circle.
Ian pushed Tegan forward. “You have to pull me out. Remember, I’m no longer a Hunter.”
She nodded and cleared the ring while Rowan grabbed Allie’s hand. Rowan groaned and yanked the younger woman forward. They fell in a tangled heap. The world around them shook. A roar sounded while the earth shifted and heaved. Harley screamed and fell, one leg caught in another crack. The protective barrier she held around them broke with a pop. Fire rained down around them.
Tegan stretched a hand out to Ian. He grabbed it with both hands. She pulled against an impossibly strong force. The magic didn’t want to lose its last inhabitant. She gritted her teeth, dug in her heels and tugged. His head breached the circle. His shoulder passed the invisible barrier next.
“Watch out!” Harley screamed.
Heated air whooshed by Tegan’s head. A flash of light burst from the ring, and fire scorched her hand and Ian’s chest. She locked her gaze with his. A good-bye hovered in his eyes.
“No!” Tegan embraced her alternate form and used every ounce of strength she had to rip her mate from the portal, but between one heartbeat and the next, he disappeared along with the mushroom ring.
The sounds of battle continued around her. Harley and Rowan spoke to her. Hands pulled at her, urging her to move. Tegan blocked it out, her gaze on the spot where the fairy realm had reclaimed the man she loved.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Tegan watched the fissures close and the hunks of dirt seep back into the earth. Then she stared at the patch of grass where Ian had disappeared and waited for something to happen. Maybe he’d pop back into view, or she’d get a glimpse of him in the fairy realm. Minutes turned into hours, yet nothing changed.
Still she sat there, lost and more alone than she’d ever been. The endless days trapped in her personal hell didn’t come close to touching the emptiness in her heart. She pressed a hand against her chest. The ache centered there had spread. It chilled her.
The world around her brightened as night turned into day. The murmur of voices surrounding her quieted, and the last of the hounds faded into the Underworld with their horses. Her siblings had long since slunk away after offering her empty words of consolation. All save two.
Calan laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find another ring and draw him forth. Harley is confident she can do so more quickly this time.”
Tegan nodded. He gave her a comforting squeeze, then left. Rhys sat across from her, legs crossed and elbows propped on his knees. Time stretched, and silence reigned. She welcomed it, but knew he wouldn’t leave until he’d said whatever it was he came to tell her.
Finally, he took her hand, the one with the Triad’s mark, and held it up for her. She glanced at it, not caring what it showed, but gasped at the sight.
The jagged line that had spread up her arm after she’d mated Ian had cracks running through it. Her tanned flesh showed in the gaps that had appeared. The mark had thinned too.
“You’re winning.”
Instead of happiness, the pain in her heart consumed her. “It’s not worth the price, Rhys. All I want is my mate back. I love him. I don’t want him to suffer because of me.”
“You need to trust him.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I need to trust myself. I have no contr
ol over his choices.”
Rhys frowned. “Exactly. You need to trust that he’ll make the right ones.”
“I connected with Bjorn in the fairy realm. He brought my fears to the surface. Yes, they centered on Ian, but it is my doubt over loving someone completely that will destroy me. There’s a vulnerability in love, Rhys. No amount of strength or cunning can conquer it. It takes trust, in your lover and yourself.”
She stood, the thought settling over her. The rightness of it eased the churning in her gut. “Don’t you see? When you love someone, you set yourself up for the greatest joy or the darkest pain. No matter how much I want it, I can’t force Ian to remain faithful or even love me back.”
“But he will”—Rhys pushed from the ground—“and he does.”
“Then we will thrive and conquer our issues. Together.”
“And if he does stray? Will you forgive him?”
She gave the only answer she could. “No. I won’t.”
“Then you’ll end up alone and bitter, like Rowan.”
She shrugged. “But if he doesn’t, I will have an eternity in the arms of the man I love. It’s worth the risk.”
* * * * *
Ian landed in the center of the rose garden, the place where he and Cynthia had planned to exchange their marriage vows. She waited for him in the long wedding gown she’d designed. Her hair was twisted in some intricate design he couldn’t describe, and just the right amount of makeup brought out her features. She was beautiful. He always knew she would be.
“Have you figured out the rules of the fairy realm yet?” she asked.
Bjorn had given them. To make its illusions real, Ian had to give them life. Love them, fear them, acknowledge them. No way did he want a shadow of a life when his heart and soul remained with Tegan. He’d rather spend eternity alone.
He turned his back on Cynthia and walked away.
“Ian, come back! We can finally have our happily ever after.”
He ignored her and started walking. Her pleading faded with each step until silence surrounded him. The forest thickened. Vines hung, blocking his path. He pushed them aside and kept putting one foot in front of the other. He ducked under a low-hanging branch and stumbled to a halt. The tree limbs morphed into beads. He shoved the strands aside and groaned at the sight of the Haven’s main room.
Hunter Forsaken: Wild Hunt, Book 2 Page 23