“This is as far as I can go, lass. The green groves of Faerie are not for me.” He nodded his chin towards the grassy meadows where the undines had frolicked. They’d vanished over a hill, but I still heard their laughter. “Follow the sound of their voices and you’ll come to the door back to the human world. You’ll be able to open it. You’ve become more powerful since I saw you last.”

“But what about you?” I asked, running my hand down his clenched arm. He was straining just to keep the iron from dragging him deeper into the water.

“I’ll stay in the Borderlands. I’ve learned to avoid the more dangerous creatures that lurk here – like the shell-eaters. I’ve even been able to help a few creatures across.” He smiled. “I know it will never save me – the way your love would have – but I like to think I am making some amends for the souls I’ve drained over the years in my quest to become mortal. I thought for years that it was their fault for not being able to love me, but after you … well, I see now that I never loved them and that’s why they couldn’t love me.” A tear slid down his face. He tried to shrug his shoulder to wipe it away, but the effort was too much for him.

“Oh, Liam,” I said, reaching over to wipe the tear away. “If only you hadn’t lied to me. Couldn’t you have told me who you were?”

He shook his head and a lock of his dark hair fell over his eyes. “No. I’m not allowed. Would it have made such a difference?”

I brushed damp hair away from his eyes. It would always be wet now. I’d condemned him to this watery hell. His skin was cold. He would always be cold. I wanted to warm him with my flesh. I stepped into the water and ran my hands down his arms until my fingers grazed the cold iron. “If I let you come back, you’d drain me. I’d let you. Neither of us would be able to help it.”

“I know, Callie. I know I can’t go back to your world … but if you release me from my bonds, at least I could stay here in Faerie.”

I looked into his eyes. “Do you promise you would stay here?”

Tears welled in his eyes. “I’d never risk harming you again.”

I touched the iron key. It lay cold and heavy on my chest. Why had I kept it on if not to use it to release Liam? The knowledge that he was in eternal pain because of me had haunted my dreams. This was my opportunity to free him – and free myself from those dreams.

I slipped the chain over my neck and brought the key to the manacle on his right wrist. My hands were shaking so much I could barely fit the key into the lock. Was it from cold? Or fear that I was making a terrible mistake?