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“No. What I’m doing is protecting myself and all I hold sacred. I’m fulfilling my duty to my family.”

Jack glared back at me. “I’myour family, Aran.”

“No, ya’re not—not anymore, Jack. Not even the worst drunkard among the O’Malleys ever threatened to kill a family member for no good reason.”

It was a hurtful thing for me to say to the man I promised my loyalty to, but Jack was making me choose Conn over him.

I lifted my chin and kept it high so I didn’t look like a child standing next to him. Never in my life had I wished harder to be six feet tall.

I projected my energy as much as I could under the circumstances and glared up at Jack for making me do this. “If ya want to talk about magickal retribution, no magickal person in the world would arrest me for chopping off yer body parts to defend myself. Challenging me would not be a good idea.”

Jack’s lips formed a sneer. “Are you willing to lose me and our daughter because of your demon? Because he’s going to cost you both of us.”

Heartbroken at the idea of losing Fiona’s love, my voice was quiet when I spoke this time. Any threat concerning my daughter pushed my heart as far as it had room to break.

“No matter what ya tell our daughter, Jack, one day she’ll learn the truth. Yer lies and deceit won’t stay hidden forever.”

“These circumstances are your own fault. They’re not mine. I’m not the villain here, Aran. I don’t even want to do this. You’re giving me no choice.”

I held up my wrists to make sure Jack and his council saw I was still bound with the cuffs he’d placed on me. “Ya’re the only one here with any sort of choice. So kill me if ya want, husband. At least then, we’ll be truly done with each other. Conn will pass on to another in my family line. Once that’s done, though, ya better watch yer back. There won’t be anywhere on this planet where ya can hide from my family.”

Jack’s yell was that of a man being tortured. “Why are you trying to make me into the villain?”

I blinked up at a man I no longer knew. “If not a villain, then what are ya, Jack? Ya’re not being a loving husband. Ya’re not being the caring father of my child. Killing a demon in self-defense is one thing, but killing a bound creature would be flat out murder.”

“Fine,” Jack reached into a small pocket and pulled out a copper chain with a glowing black stone dangling from it. “I’ll just use this amulet of yours to call him here. If Conn believes you’re in real danger, I’m sure he’ll come to your aid.”

My heart sank into my stomach when I saw what Jack held in his hand. Whatever little love I had left for him died the cruelest of deaths in a single dark moment of clearing seeing him for the man he was.

Once again I lifted my chin and glared. “Ya’ve already broken my heart a hundred times yesterday and today. Did ya have to steal The Dagda Stone as well? Ya can’t use it for anything. Not even my own kin can do that. The Dagda Stone is mine and mine alone until my death. Ya’ve betrayed me for nothing. Connlander of the Fir Bolg has nothing to fear from the likes of ya. He won’t come no matter what ya do.”

Jack sighed and hung his head. “Why can’t you side with me instead of against me? I can’t save you from yourself, Aran.”

Snorting at his condescending tone, I spat the truth at him. “Until today, I thought ya were the one person who would stand by me through everything life threw at me. Ya can’t imagine how it feels to learn how wrong I was.”

Jack pressed his lips together. “No matter how difficult this is for me, I will do what must be done. One day you’ll thank me for having the strength to do the right thing.”

“No, I won’t because I’ll be too busy hating ya for doing me wrong. I’ve been the best wife I knew how to be. In the past, I bowed to yer wishes instead of doing what I knew to be right, but I won’t be giving into yer demands today. I can’t let ya murder someone in my family. I’d die myself before tainting my soul with such an act.”

“Nonsense!” the council woman said as she waved a hand. “Demons do not belong to families. They do not feel loyalty.”

The Dagda Stone necklace disappeared from Jack’s hand and magickly appeared in hers. Apparently, the demon hunter woman was also some kind of witch.

“Aran of The Dagda, you are to be magickly incarcerated for a term of twenty years, which should be enough time for you to reconsider your stance.”

I drew myself up to a stiff five foot one. “I don’t know what authority ya believe ya have over me, but it’s not as much as ya think. And to be blunt, council woman, I’ve been reconsidering all my life choices for the last several hours. Divorcing my traitorous husband is now at the top of my to-do list, and getting even with ya for helping him steal my private property is next. Consider yerself warned, council woman. Ya better take superb care of my necklace while ya have it. The true owner of it is a Celtic god who’s not as merciful as I tend to be.”

Jack frowned at my threat before defending himself again. “I don’t want a divorce from you, Aran. I love you and the life we made together, but I can’t let you run around calling forth a demon all the time. You are not above the rules.”

I swung to glare even more fiercely at him. “Whose rules, Jack? Are they yer rules? Are they yer council’s rules? The only rules I follow are the ones sanctioned by the Goddess Danu. And I’m pretty sure she’s okay with Conn getting to live or he’d already be dead.”

Jack glared again. “Humor won’t change the seriousness of your infraction nor keep you from being incarcerated for your refusal to cooperate.”

I sneered at Conn’s would-be murderer for daring to chastise me. “Yeah, well, using big words to describe locking me up won’t change how wrong ya are in using yer authority for this purpose. There will be consequences for yer behavior today. My family does not take betrayal lightly.”

“Myjobis to remove all demons from the Earth permanently. Why can’t you let me do my job without fighting me every step of the way? You have never supported my work.”

My disappointed sigh was loud and long, but no tears fell. Ironically, I considered not weeping over my heartbreak to be a small win for my pride... and I desperately needed one. My future looked very bleak for the next few years.