“I don’t think he’s lying either, Betty,” the woman said, touching Betty’s arm. “He did come alone. The unseelie must know that we’re here. They wouldn’t send one lone warrior against the Wild Hunt.”
Betty still did not look convinced. “Don’t underestimate unseelie cunning, Hope. You know how subtle they can be. His story doesn’t make any sense. Why would an unseelie high sidhe want to free a human tithed to his own sidhean?”
“I would do anything for her.” Cuan hesitated, searching for words. “I am not sure whether I can explain this in a way that you will understand. I do not think you have this concept here in the human realm.”
Betty folded her arms. “Try us.”
“Tamsin and I are…connected.” He would have gestured, had his hands not been tied behind his back. “We are not fully joined by vow and ritual, but even so, our souls resonate to each other. We were brought together by fate, not chance. She is the only woman in any realm for me. From the moment our eyes met, I knew—”
“Oh,” Betty and Hope said together, in exactly the same tone. It was very different from the way they’d spoken to him before.
Daisy looked from one hellhound to the other. “Oh?”
Betty drew a knife from her belt, flicking it open. She stepped forward, and Cuan braced himself—but she only reached round to slice through his bonds.
“You’re Tamsin’s fated mate,” she said, as the ropes fell away. “Tell us how we can help.”