Page 111 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Lowering its large head, he stares at me with his amber eyes. I can feel its rage, but it’s no longer aimed at me. I don’t know what compels me to do it, but I reach up and rest my hand on the creature’s nose. It doesn’t feel like any horse I’ve ever touched, more like the feeling you get when you rest your palm on the top of water. It’s cool to the touch, but not quite solid, like if I tried to grab it, I would have only a handful of liquid. It lowers its head again, coming close to my face, and I jerk back, pulling my hand away. It instantly freezes, and against my better judgement, I don’t move when he tries again.

He presses his forehead to mine, and I suddenly get flashes of images in my mind. No, they’re memories, not my memories, but the kelpie’s.

There’s a girl standing by the lake, calling out to us. Our rage and insatiablehunger wants us to gallop through the water and pull her in like we’ve done to so many others.

Down, down, down we drag them. Their screams are muffled by the glorious liquid, and the only things escaping their mouths are bubbles as they waste their precious oxygen. Their terror fuels us, stoking our anger. We will have our revenge.

The girl is skinny, won’t be much to feast on, but her fear will be ripe. There’s something about her, though, that calls to us, something that overrides the never-ending hunger. This is why we reveal ourselves, curious, only to find she wants our help. Why would we help a human when they have done nothing for us? That rage rises again, and I rear up out of the water before diving back into the dark depths. I spared her life because of that curiosity, that is the only gift I will give her.

“She has returned!”

The words, though muted through the water, make me freeze. Immediately, I turn and gallop back to the surface until I am almost nose to nose with her. If she has returned, she will help us get our revenge.

Breaking out of the memory, I fall back against the hard ground, shaking my head as I adjust to being back in my own head. The kelpie’s thoughts are horrific, their hunger is insatiable and their rage… The images of people being dragged to their watery grave will reappear in my nightmares.

“Revenge, what revenge?” I manage to bite out.

Lowering its head towards me, I take a deep breath and prepare to re-enter its thoughts.

We’re galloping through the water, my brothers and sisters behind me. The weather is warm today, so the water is calm other than the eddies our movements create. We continue through our territory when we feel it—a wrongness in the water. Throwing back my head, I neigh and speed towards the feeling, my siblings trailing close behind. That’s when we see it. There is a barrier, cutting us off from the rest of our territory. I can hear my mother on the other side of the wall. Snorting, I prepare to jump over it, no wall has ever stopped us before, but my body seizes as a sharp pain attacks my frame. I try again and again, but each time I am stopped.

I don’t fall back this time as the kelpie pulls away, and I understand where some of the creature’s anger is coming from.

“A dam,” I whisper, rubbing my arms as I remember how pain assaulted the kelpies when they went too close. “It must be protected by magic.” I’m speaking more to myself than anyone else, but the creature nods its large head in agreement. “I’msorry. It’s awful you have been blocked from your territory and family.”

A smaller head pops up from the water next to its larger brother, and I see something in its mouth as it cautiously approaches me under the watchful gaze of the large stallion. Arriving at the shore, it opens its mouth and drops a pile of green weeds. Nos weed. I reach for it, looking up, and I see the two smaller creatures have already disappeared and the larger one is slowly backing into the water.

“Thank you,” I whisper, knowing he can hear me before he vanishes entirely.

I sit for a moment longer, looking out over the lake before a sense of urgency fills me. “Vaeril,” I murmur, as I push to my feet, forcing myself to run as fast as I can. I can feel him fading. My lungs sting and my legs burn, but I don’t care, the only thing that matters right now is getting to my elf.

Hurrying past the wall of water, I sprint over to Vaeril’s side before letting out a cry of pain as I stare down at his lifeless body.

“No.” I kneel next to him, reaching out to touch his cold skin. “No, no, no, no,” I chant, lowering my head to his chest to feel for a breath. No movement. I feel sick as panic envelops me. That’s when I hear it—one slow thump of his heart. Sitting up, I lean across his body and grab his shoulders, shaking them roughly.

“Vaeril, wake up!” I shout, my voice breaking once again. “Wake up! You can’t leave me alone out here!”

Watching his chest intently, I let out a cry of pain and frustration when his body remains motionless. I close my eyes, desperately searching for any means to keep him with me, and reach for that connection between us. Looking inside myself, I immediately find our link. Before, it was bright and glowing, but now, it’s weak and faded. Grabbing it, I pull as hard as I can.

“No, you are not leaving me, Vaeril, not when we’ve come this far,” I grind out, my eyes still closed as I wrestle with the link, my anger fuelling my actions. “I need you,” I say softly. There’sa noise in the cave, but I’m so focused on our connection that I don’t open my eyes.

Slowly, oh so slowly, the light of the link starts to brighten, pulsing in my hands as I call him to me. “Come back to me.” My voice is a whisper now as I feel my energy start to fade, almost as though the brighter his link becomes, the weaker I get.

A gasp fills the cave, the sound loud and desperate, like the person has been underwater for a long time. “Alina.” Although his voice is quiet, the name echoes in my mind like someone has struck a bell. Opening my eyes, I look down at Vaeril and see some of his colour is returning, and although his eyes are closed, his chest is moving up and down as he breathes. A relieved laugh escapes me as I lean down and press my ear to his chest, laughing again when I hear his heart beating, slow and steady.

“You came back.” I can’t stop my smile as I pull away, my hands still resting on his chest. I don’t expect him to answer, but when his eyes flicker open, he gives me his signature frown.

“Of course, you needed me.” His voice is weak, and some might think his words are romantic, but he says it in a way that implies I’d be useless without him.

“Arrogant ass,” I retort with a chuckle. Usually, I would be mad at the backhanded comment, but his teasing is music to my ears. I can tell he’s about to pass out soon, so I quickly turn and pick up the forgotten nos weed. “You need to eat this, it will help you.”

His frown deepens as he looks at the clumpy green plant in my hand, recognition flashing in his eyes. “Where did you get this?”

Sighing, I push it towards his mouth, determined hewilleat it, even if I have to force him.

“Stop talking and eat,” I order, and he reaches up to take the weed from me, eyeing it suspiciously before sliding it into his mouth. An expression of disgust immediately crosses hisface while he chews the weed, his jaw working overtime as he attempts to chew his way through it.

Deciding to reward him for not throwing the weed back in my face, I take a seat, remove the pack from my back, and leaning against the cave wall. “Stix told me to speak with the kelpies, they got the weed for me.”

---