She couldn’t possibly fight her way past him. And from what she’d seen of him so far, she didn’t think she’d be able to appeal to his sense of compassion.
“Please,” she said, trying anyway. “I left my dog behind, he’ll have no idea what’s going on. He’ll be cold, hungry…I’m begging you, please let me go!”
“I can’t do that.” Aodhan’s tone was as sharp as always, though she thought his sapphire eyes had softened, just a little. “I can sense the chains around you, human. You were tithed to the fae. You’re bound to the unseelie court. To the high sidhe.”
“Those are Maeve’s people, right? But you aren’t one of them.” Neither Aodhan nor Motley looked like the elves—or high sidhe, she guessed she should call them—who’d captured her. “You aren’t part of this court. Why do you care if I escape?”
“Oh, believe me, there’s nothing I’d like more than to see those insufferable high sidhe lose one of their precious games.” Aodhan shrugged. “But you can’t go back to the human world. Or rather, you can, but I don’t think you’d enjoy the experience much.”
“Why not?”
“Because you were tithed to the fae,” Aodhan repeated, and there was definite pity in his eyes now. “You’re bound to this realm. And if you leave, you’ll die.”