Betrayed

by Nancy Corrigan

  The orgasm he created with only a kiss went on forever. She trembled under the force of it. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Colors sparked in an array of light over the inside of her eyelids. And the sound of their hearts, beating as one, echoed in her ears.

  Finally, the pleasure faded. Sensations returned, and she sagged against him. He broke the kiss on a low, guttural groan. “Never knew how good…”

  “Calan.” His name was all she could manage. Never before had she experienced anything like what they’d shared. It had been more intimate than sex yet not quite as satisfying. It only made her want more, all of him. She banded her arms around his chest and held on, hoping he understood what she couldn’t say.

  “Harley, I need you.” Calan opened his eyes. A hazy ring of darker blue surrounded the pupils of his pale orbs.

  “What? Your eyes…different.” She couldn’t get the words out. She felt drunk on desire. Her mind wouldn’t work.

  A lazy, satisfied grin spread over his mouth as if he knew exactly why she couldn’t form a complete sentence. “Unlock me.”

  The compulsion behind his order hit her harder than any other. Before, she’d wanted to obey him. The command he’d just uttered demanded her obedience. She shoved away and fell on her backside for the second time.

  “Harley, come here and unlock me. I want to make love to you.”

  Calan curled his fingers. A tug accompanied the simple motion, pulling on her body.

  Harley sat there, muscles tensed, and breathed through the undeniable urge to close the distance. “What did you do to me?”

  He watched her with hungry eyes but didn’t answer.

  “Dammit, Calan, tell me the truth. Did you kiss me so you could force some kind of control over me?”

  “I kissed you because I want to save you.” The bite to his words matched the glint in his eyes. “Now come here and release me. I need to finish it.”

  She wrapped her arms around her knees so she didn’t run to him. “I don’t understand. I thought allowing you inside saved me.”

  He flicked his gaze between her hand and her face. “It started the process.”

  His harsh tone didn’t match the seductive whispers from moments ago. Wariness settled over her. She forced her attention from his and glanced at her hand. A swooping X marred the center of her palm. She traced the black lines.

  “You will need to cover that. The redcaps will recognize the sacrifice I made for you and report it to Dar. You’ll end up in an eternal prison too.”

  Harley peered at him, but his expression was one she couldn’t figure out. “What did you do to me?”

  He didn’t answer her. Another curl of his fingers matched the rough jerk on her body. She locked her knees, but not before she took several steps closer to him without realizing she’d moved. She glared at him.

  He sighed. “Do not be stubborn. Come here.”

  “No, I will not be your puppet. Release me!”

  The yank cut off abruptly. She fell a third time but scrambled up and ran for the door. An invisible hand wrapped around her waist and spun her so she faced him. “You are not a puppet, but I need you to release me. Both of our fates depend on it.”

  “You tricked me, exactly as you did all those years ago. ‘Live for me. Let me save you.’ Bullshit!” Harley strained against his unseen grip and forced her feet to move. One step, two. She grabbed the doorjamb and hung on for dear life. “Both times you acted for your wants, not mine.”

  He stared at her for a long moment and finally released a long, weary breath. “I am sorry. I truly am, but this time my motives include you.”

  She shook her head. “No—”

  “Take the night to think on what I’ve said, then come back to me. What’s one more day in hell?” He snorted, the bitter sound one she didn’t want to hear. “Promise me, Harley. Return to me tomorrow night and deliver my fate.” He shifted his gaze to her hand. “I gave myself to you. What will you do with me?”

  She lifted her hand and stared at the mark there as the words he spoke repeated in her mind. “I give myself freely to you, my Harley. I ask nothing of you in return. Take me, treasure me, or walk away, but know I will always be yours.”

  Harley curled her fingers and peeked at him from under her lashes. “What did you do to me?”

  Calan closed his eyes. “You know the answer. When you realize it, I’ll be here waiting for you.”

  She backed away without promising anything. No tug or invisible hand stopped her. She climbed the stairs and ran, but she feared it wouldn’t do any good. She’d been marked, in more ways than one, and the stamp he’d left on her heart might be the one to destroy her, once and for all.

  Chapter Seven

  Calan waited for the sounds of Harley’s footsteps to fade before sagging in his bonds. He wanted to demand she return to him but knew doing so would guarantee she wouldn’t. He’d pushed her too far, too fast. He hadn’t been able to help it. His needs, both physical and practical, demanded payment. The glimpse into her soul had shown just how precarious her situation had grown in the years they’d been apart. She was a breath away from becoming Unseelie.

  One act of violence, and she’d topple into the madness that would consume her.

  He’d lose her. Worse than that, he’d have to condemn her to an eternity of punishment. Knowing what the Unseelie Court was capable of, she wouldn’t be able to walk freely among the humans. He didn’t want that. He wanted to love her, to save her, and to protect her, exactly as he’d promised.

  Calan wanted Harley as his mate—the keeper of his body and soul.

  Was he crazy for the compulsion demanding he complete the ultimate union?

  His brother Rhys, the only one of his siblings who knew about the connection he’d formed with Dar’s child, had thought Calan nuts nine years ago. Would Ryhs think the same today, knowing how Harley had fought to maintain her goodness? The craving to learn his brother’s view gripped Calan. His siblings’ opinions meant the world to him, but Rhys’s thoughts mattered most. Not only was he second in command of the Hunt, he was also Calan’s twin.

  Calan conjured Rhys’s face. His dark brown hair and silver eyes made him both striking and frightening. Calan recalled the battles they’d won, the nights of drunken revelry, and the affection he’d always felt but rarely showed. The pull to his brother flared, and Rhys’s personal hell became Calan’s too.

  Thick smoke filled Calan’s lungs, burned his eyes, and wrapped around him in a suffocating blanket he couldn’t escape. Calan released his breath in a slow hiss and embraced the pain. It didn’t ease the suffering Rhys experienced, but the compulsion to protect him couldn’t be denied.

  Hot air washed over Calan, bubbling his skin and searing his throat. He locked his muscles and waited for the first flick of the never-ending fire. A crackle and whoosh heralded the arrival of hungry flames. The living inferno crawled up his legs, down his arms, and wound around him until every inch of his body ignited. He fought the urge to cry out, even though he knew it was the only way to make the blaze retreat.

  The flames ate away at his skin, his manhood, his sanity. A scream built in his chest. He clamped his jaw. Too much, too much. He thrashed against his bonds, twisting and turning to escape. There was none. The pressure in his lungs intensified. His lips parted against his will. Laughter echoed around him, and the fire raced into his mouth.

  He burst into flames.

  The scent of his burning flesh surrounded him along with his continuous roar. On and on the torment continued until his heart took its final beat. The flames retreated, their task complete for the time being. The sacrifice had been made, and his suffering fueled the magic.

  The barrier separating the human realm from Hell would hold for yet another hour.

  Minutes passed. He wondered if death had finally found him, but the consequence of being a child of Arawn, Lord of the Underworld, reared its head. Calan’s flesh regrew. His bones reformed. The clothing he’d worn the day he’d be
en imprisoned wove itself over his body.

  He dragged in a shuddering breath.

  “Why do you insist on sharing our suffering when you do not need to?”

  Rhys asked the same question every time they spoke. Calan gave his usual answer. “Because it is my punishment, my hell, and my sin for condemning you. I would bear it all if I could.” Instead, he was damned with the knowledge that he was responsible for his siblings’ agony. He’d led them into a trap, then left them to suffer their fate alone. His gaze drifted to the dagger on display. He was also the only one who could end it.

  Rhys sighed. “You did not know what would happen any more than I did. I would have done the same.”

  True. Rhys probably would have. Actually, any of the Huntsmen would’ve made the same choice. The knowledge didn’t alleviate Calan’s guilt. While he’d tried to save a damned human and her child, his beloved siblings were inflicted with the same punishment their father, Arawn, had delivered to the Unseelie Court. The act of deceit that resulted in the Huntsmen being imprisoned forced them to pay the curse’s price…

  Willingly. They had to voluntarily suffer and die.

  That was the aspect that angered Calan the most. If his brothers and sisters chose not to offer their pain, the barrier blocking the horrors of Hell from flooding the mortal realm would fall, and the Huntsmen would fail in their duty. Protecting the humans was their sole purpose. Nothing was more important.

  “Not even the fairy you wish to mate.”

  Rhys’s response proved how intimately they were connected. Calan could’ve blocked Rhys from sharing in his inner thoughts, but he rarely did. They’d always been close.

  “Half-fairy.” The defensive tone in Calan’s voice wasn’t one he could stop. “Harley is half-human, do not forget. Half the species we have sworn to protect.”

  “Is she?” Rhys paused, letting the moment fill with his doubt. “Then tell me how she was able to escape the notice of the fairies’ creatures for all those years before you connected with her.”

  Calan didn’t have an answer. He’d wondered the same thing. He shrugged. “Her mother must’ve known her rapist wasn’t human. It wouldn’t surprise me if Dar told her or showed her his true form.”

  “More likely Dar had lied and told her of who he once was, not the abhorrence he became.” A bitter laugh escaped Rhys. “Maybe Dar even lied and said their child would be a princess, or he could’ve tricked Harley’s mother into thinking she was sleeping with a god. It is what he wants to be.”

  The Huntsmen were born a century after Dar had corrupted his Court, turning them into monsters exactly as he’d become. Calan had heard stories of why Dar had taken the path he had. Every one suggested a woman was the cause of the Seelie king’s downfall. Calan had never been able to find out more. Whenever he’d asked his father, Arawn had walked away without answering. Calan only knew that after Dar became infected, he’d promised that the humans would call him their dark lord.

  Calan pushed away the thoughts before his anger consumed him and focused on Rhys’s suggestion. “No. Harley said her mother was raped. She knew.”

  Rhys made a noncommittal sound.

  “Harley admitted to enduring for all the years we’ve been separated because of the promise she made to me.”

  “Which promise did she deem worthy of keeping? As I recall, she made more than one.”

  Calan accepted the jab. He too felt the sting of Harley’s broken vow where she’d promised to come to him. No longer did he want to dwell on it, not when she’d finally returned. “She survived by using the knowledge I shared with her, and she held on to her honor because she promised to retain her goodness until I could finish saving her.”

  “Is she still worthy of the sacrifice you seem so eager to make?”

  Calan raised his inner guards, blocking Rhys from the knowledge of how close she was to becoming Unseelie.

  Rhys’s laughter echoed around them. “The fact that you have to hide your own doubts from me proves the truth.”

  “It proves I am protective of my future mate.”

  Rhys’s amusement died abruptly. He turned his silver eyes, similar to their father’s, onto Calan. “Do not forget the oath you made to the Triad. Break it, and you damn the world.”

  The mention of the triple-faceted deity who ruled over all sent a chill down Calan’s spine. The Huntsmen had stood in the being’s presence once—the day they’d embarked on their final battle. Never did Calan want to see the deity again. He’d felt stripped raw from its all-seeing touch. He hadn’t been able to shake the feeling his fate had been sealed in that moment. Not knowing its appraisal of his worth bothered Calan the most.

  He met Rhys’s piercing stare. “I have not, nor will I ever forget the reason I was created or my vow to the Triad that I would protect the humans at all costs.”

  “Good.” Rhys dipped his head. “Then trick Harley into releasing you and walk away. You would serve the humans better as a Hunter, not as a demigod mated to a tainted fairy.”

  “No. That isn’t an option.” Calan’s voice took on a low growl. “I will mate Harley. I will save her and the world.”

  Silence stretched. Finally Rhys sighed. “I hope that is a vow you can keep, my brother.”

  With those words, Rhys cut the connection between them. Calan opened his eyes and glanced at the dagger that had taunted him for a thousand years.

  “I will, Rhys.” Calan straightened his spine. “I vowed to avenge the wronged, and Harley was damned before she even took her first breath. If anyone deserves to be saved, she does.”

  He only hoped he could keep his promise without breaking any other one.

  Chapter Eight

  Harley sat on a thick quilt in the middle of her living room floor. Sunlight peeked around the edges of the heavy drapes. The brightness didn’t bother her. She’d trained her body to sleep in full sunlight without fear of being woken by the glare. Sometimes she did so just to add a little color to her pale skin. With her platinum hair, she often looked washed out. Today, she didn’t want to go outside or leave the shades open and risk a redcap seeing the mark on her palm. Unlikely one of the Unseelie’s creatures would find her here, but Calan’s warning forced her to take extra precautions.

  The triple locks on all the doors were secured. The windows were bolted, and she had her dagger and a gun within reach. The small revolver wouldn’t kill a redcap or a sluagh, but it’d slow them down. She’d learned to embrace everything that gave her an advantage.

  Assured she was as safe as she’d get, Harley cradled her hand and stared at the swooping X, though the description didn’t quite fit the symbol. The lines didn’t bisect at the middle. The curved edges overlapped so a small circle formed at the center. She traced them as she’d done countless times since she’d left Calan’s prison. No tingles accompanied the exploration nor did she feel the flare of the chaos she carried.

  Eyes closed, she reached inside herself—something she’d learned normal people couldn’t do after a few awkward moments with her family—and examined the evidence of Calan’s touch. A silky, shimmering second skin wrapped around her heart and spread out to coat every organ and vein.

  She examined it from all angles, then used a metaphysical hand to stroke the shrouded veil. Warm and alive, the iridescent glaze pulsed with life. The scent of a smoky campfire wafted around her with the simple stroke. Calan. Harley could taste him on her lips too. She pulled back, more confused than ever. The intimate connection to him shouldn’t be possible.

  “What did he do to me?”

  “Let me shield you from the chaos your father infected you with.” His words echoed in her head.

  Realization struck. She gasped.

  He’d imprinted himself on her, for lack of a better term, and formed some kind of barrier against the chaos she’d been born with. That was why she could feel Calan even with the distance separating them.

  “He saved me.”

  Or started the process, according to h
im, and awaited her return to finish it. By making love to her? She shook her head at the wanton thought but very much hoped it was the truth. The romantic aspect of it brought a breathy sigh to her lips.

  Harley tugged off her clothes and tossed them on the couch. The cool air in her house did nothing to alleviate the flush sensitizing her skin. The desire she’d experienced in Calan’s arms hadn’t eased in the hours since she’d left him. If anything, it had gotten worse. Her aroused body begged for release.

  The fantasies she’d indulged in for years all centered on her ghost man. Seeing him, touching him, and finding pleasure at his hands had proved her dreams paled in comparison to the real thing. Knowing firsthand what it felt like to embrace her carnal urges, she craved more.

  Harley curled her hands and fought the desire to give herself a little relief from the needs swamping her. It wasn’t right. While she sat in her living room, naked and aroused, Calan hung from chains, alone.

  She’d caught glimpses of torture from his mind when he’d invaded hers. Images of burning alive, drowning, and being repeatedly stabbed had flashed across her eyes. He’d yanked the pictures away as if he hadn’t meant for her to see them, but she suspected it was part of his suffering, what he’d alluded to the Huntsmen enduring for centuries. Real or illusionary? She couldn’t be sure, but his anxiety over the scenes had resonated through her.

  Harley wanted to run back to his side and release him, exactly as he’d ordered her. She resisted. Caution. The word had saved her too many times for her to ignore her golden rule because she lusted for a man who might condemn her to the same torment he suffered.

  If what she suspected held true, though, he wouldn’t be able to harm her without hurting himself too. She carried a piece of him much the same way she did the infectious chaos from her father.

  One day. She’d take the reprieve Calan gave her, fulfill her obligation to Ian tonight, and return to Calan. She’d survived almost a decade on her own. One more day wouldn’t matter. When she did get him alone… She shuddered at the rush of desire tightening her nipples and skipping tingles along the walls of her sex.