of the Hunt, he’d be subjected to a whole new set of rules, ones that would make him the best he could be. They wouldn’t be easy. Somehow, she didn’t think he’d care.
“You’ll have their gratitude.”
“For riding? No. They’ll have mine. I can’t wait for a chance to deliver the Unseelie Court to Hell.”
“For giving me a reason to live again.”
He cupped her face in his hands and studied her. “Don’t forget that either. No matter what happens. Remember today. Remember me. Remember us .”
“Yes. I promise. I’ll never forget.” It would be an easy promise to keep with him in her life, because she refused to lose him. Ever.
C HAPTER T EN
Dusk was fast approaching, and guilt plagued Rowan for the second time in one day. She glanced at the house. Her siblings were no doubt getting ready to call the Hunt. Not her. No, she was preparing to disobey Rhys’s order and neglect her duty to mankind.
Every night offered another opportunity to eliminate the redcaps and sluaghs, as well as to locate Dar. Each Hunter was capable of the feat. Arawn had made sure his children—sons and daughters alike—were skilled in battle. None had gotten the chance to deliver Dar’s punishment, however. He continued to evade them, despite the Chaos that clung to the former Seelie king.
Dar was corrupted, body and soul, and that taint acted as a beacon in the night to those with the ability to call the Hunt. Unlike Craig and his brothers, who were linked to Harley and thereby shielded from the Hunt’s detection, there was no way Dar could hide from the Huntsmen. Yet he had.
The last time he’d been spotted was right after Calan had mated Harley. That failed attempt to transport Dar to the Underworld had brought the deception against the Teulu to light.
They had been betrayed.
A little over a millennium ago, someone with the power to traverse the barrier between Hell and the mortal realm had stolen the dagger Arawn had used to condemn the corrupt Fairy Court to eternal damnation. That person had then given the magical weapon to Dar, who’d used it to trap the Huntsmen in the fairy prison.
The way she looked at it, there were only two possible candidates—the angels and Arawn’s children.
She wouldn’t put the deplorable act past the angels. Despite their tie to the heavens, they weren’t innocent. They were warriors in their own right. Their purpose of protecting the living put a kink in her theory, however. The Unseelies were the biggest threat to the humans.
That left the Huntsmen, but no Hunter would have betrayed their father or their Teulu. On that she’d stake her eternal soul. They were one, connected not only to Arawn but each other. Hurt one member and all suffered.
She honestly didn’t know who could have deceived Arawn, but the Huntsmen would find out. When they did, that person would wish they hadn’t been foolish enough to betray the Huntsmen. Immortal beings never forgot the wrongs done to them.
With determination fueling her steps, she hurried down the path to the butterfly garden. At the edge of the fragrant area, she stopped. The patch of ground still looked serene and beautiful despite the rapidly cooling temperatures from the change in seasons. It almost felt wrong to expose the peaceful spot to the stench of the Underworld, but it was here that Calan had first established a portal after being released from his chains.
Sure, they could open a doorway anywhere. Doing so stressed the fabric of the world, however. This section of the earth remembered the pathway to Hell. Why not use it?
Energy hummed in the air around the pretty bushes and the new wooden bench that sat along the path. It called to that part of Rowan she’d inherited from her father. Power rushed into her pores. She embraced it with open arms. As monstrous as it made her, both in appearance and in actions, she felt privileged to have been born one of Arawn’s bastard children. She was a defender of mankind, not a
“You’ll have their gratitude.”
“For riding? No. They’ll have mine. I can’t wait for a chance to deliver the Unseelie Court to Hell.”
“For giving me a reason to live again.”
He cupped her face in his hands and studied her. “Don’t forget that either. No matter what happens. Remember today. Remember me. Remember us .”
“Yes. I promise. I’ll never forget.” It would be an easy promise to keep with him in her life, because she refused to lose him. Ever.
C HAPTER T EN
Dusk was fast approaching, and guilt plagued Rowan for the second time in one day. She glanced at the house. Her siblings were no doubt getting ready to call the Hunt. Not her. No, she was preparing to disobey Rhys’s order and neglect her duty to mankind.
Every night offered another opportunity to eliminate the redcaps and sluaghs, as well as to locate Dar. Each Hunter was capable of the feat. Arawn had made sure his children—sons and daughters alike—were skilled in battle. None had gotten the chance to deliver Dar’s punishment, however. He continued to evade them, despite the Chaos that clung to the former Seelie king.
Dar was corrupted, body and soul, and that taint acted as a beacon in the night to those with the ability to call the Hunt. Unlike Craig and his brothers, who were linked to Harley and thereby shielded from the Hunt’s detection, there was no way Dar could hide from the Huntsmen. Yet he had.
The last time he’d been spotted was right after Calan had mated Harley. That failed attempt to transport Dar to the Underworld had brought the deception against the Teulu to light.
They had been betrayed.
A little over a millennium ago, someone with the power to traverse the barrier between Hell and the mortal realm had stolen the dagger Arawn had used to condemn the corrupt Fairy Court to eternal damnation. That person had then given the magical weapon to Dar, who’d used it to trap the Huntsmen in the fairy prison.
The way she looked at it, there were only two possible candidates—the angels and Arawn’s children.
She wouldn’t put the deplorable act past the angels. Despite their tie to the heavens, they weren’t innocent. They were warriors in their own right. Their purpose of protecting the living put a kink in her theory, however. The Unseelies were the biggest threat to the humans.
That left the Huntsmen, but no Hunter would have betrayed their father or their Teulu. On that she’d stake her eternal soul. They were one, connected not only to Arawn but each other. Hurt one member and all suffered.
She honestly didn’t know who could have deceived Arawn, but the Huntsmen would find out. When they did, that person would wish they hadn’t been foolish enough to betray the Huntsmen. Immortal beings never forgot the wrongs done to them.
With determination fueling her steps, she hurried down the path to the butterfly garden. At the edge of the fragrant area, she stopped. The patch of ground still looked serene and beautiful despite the rapidly cooling temperatures from the change in seasons. It almost felt wrong to expose the peaceful spot to the stench of the Underworld, but it was here that Calan had first established a portal after being released from his chains.
Sure, they could open a doorway anywhere. Doing so stressed the fabric of the world, however. This section of the earth remembered the pathway to Hell. Why not use it?
Energy hummed in the air around the pretty bushes and the new wooden bench that sat along the path. It called to that part of Rowan she’d inherited from her father. Power rushed into her pores. She embraced it with open arms. As monstrous as it made her, both in appearance and in actions, she felt privileged to have been born one of Arawn’s bastard children. She was a defender of mankind, not a
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