Page 55 of Ties of Bargains

“But it’swrong. And for once in my life, I want to do what isright.” Val clutched his jerkin, her body shaking with the force of her emotion.

Her freedom, it turned out, wasn’t freedom at all. Instead, she was bound to evil. To guilt. To the consequences of a life lived ignoring that true freedom was found in what was right and good and noble.

A part of her wanted to lean into him, rest her head on his shoulder, and gain strength from someone other than herself for a change.

He wasn’t at all the type of man she’d thought she’d find herself falling for. He wasn’t the strong, fierce type like the members of her Wild Hunt.

But he had something even better than strength of muscle or skill with a sword. He had a moral compass that pointed true toward goodness and kindness. No matter what the Fae Realm put him through, he’d never wavered from that.

“I don’t want to play Diego’s game. I don’t want to be the means he uses to manipulate you before he kills you. I don’t want to go back to delivering people like packages and not caring and not being good and…and…” Val half-screamed through her teeth as she released his jerkin.

She would have pushed away from him, but his hand still rested over hers. Somehow in the last few moments, his other hand had skimmed down her arm and ended up on the small of her back, holding her without trapping her.

Unlike what she was doing to him. Her gaze caught on the glimmer of the tether strung between them. And she hated it. Without it, she would at least have a choice. He wouldn’t be her captive but a friend.

“If only I could take this thing off.” Val dug her fingers beneath the cord around his wrist and yanked.

Instead of resisting, the cord slipped off his wrist as easily as if it had never been magically bound there.

What…Val froze, then lifted her gaze from the cord to meet Harm’s eyes.

His gaze held hers for a moment, his mouth dropping partly open in his surprise, before he looked down at the cord again. With gentle, slow movements, he reached out and eased his fingers beneath the end of the cord still on her arm.

The cord slid off her wrist just as easily as it had his.

Chapter Nineteen

Harm dropped the cord, and it fell into a sparkling heap at their feet. He couldn’t help but stare at it. After all this time, the cord had simply…come off. He was free.

“You said love could override bindings.” Harm lifted his gaze back to Val’s, searching the equally dumbfounded look on her face. “I would think wanting to do what is right—what is good—would have the same effect. Especially combined with…”

He couldn’t finish that last bit. He couldn’t be sure she felt the same pull to him that he did to her.

She was so attractively capable. Confident. Deadly. And yet so desperately in need of a chance to relax and smile.

“Yes…that might explain it.” Val rubbed her thumb over his wrist, as if she couldn’t quite believe that the tether was gone.

“Do you think that…” Harm’s heart beat harder. He hardly dared to hope or voice the thought. “Is my bargain still in place? Or does the cord coming off signify that the bargain is ended?”

Val’s wondering expression dropped into hopeless lines again. “No, your bargain is still in place. The cord was simply the binding of my mission to bring you to your new master, but that was something outside of the bargain, not truly a part of it.”

“Right.” He knew it had been too much to hope. “Then I still I have to go to the Realm of Monsters. Diego still has a claim on my life.”

“Yes, but maybe we don’t have to go. Maybe we can figure something else out. A way to end the bargain without breaking it.” Val’s dark brown eyes met his, liquid with desperation and pain.

“You said it yourself. I can’t risk breaking the bargain and bringing down the fury of a broken bargain on my duchy.” Harm eased his arms around Val again.

Despite the grim topic, something in him warmed when she didn’t shove away or indicate that she disliked being encircled in his arms. More than that, she leaned into him.

“Besides, if Diego is the mysterious fae who started all of this, then he has information I need.” Harm’s chest squeezed, the warmth disappearing. “Something else is going on, endangering my father, my brother, and my duchy, and Diego is the only one who can tell me what it is.”

He’d started this whole journey through the Fae Realm to save his brother. He had to keep going—no matter the risk—to make sure his family stayed safe. Even if it meant he wouldn’t see them ever again.

“He won’t tell you.” Val shook her head, her mouth pressing into a tight line. “And bargaining with a few pieces of pottery isn’t going to work with him.”

“No, but he will tell you.” Harm tugged her slightly closer, the toes of his boots digging deeper into the sandy gravel. “He thinks you’re still his loyal mercenary. He might not monologue to gloat to the human he plans to kill, but he might show off to the mercenary he used to pull this off.”

“He might.” Val toyed with the ties of his jerkin. “But he will still kill you.”

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