Page 8 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

She nods, and I allow my magic to do its thing. I don’t have to worry about it hurting her because it would never do that. Frankly, I think it is more likely to hurt me than it is to hurt her. It has taken a liking to Neith, and it did from the first moment that I saw her. As always, it is eager to help her. The scan doesn’t take very long at all, and although the results surprise me, I am relieved.

“Well?” Raiden asks, looking worried.

I smile, “She is absolutely fine, just hungry like she said. I was just a bit worried it might be adrenaline or something that was masking an issue.”

Neith squeezes my hands, making me realize that I am still holding them.

“Thank you for checking for me,” she tells me, and I nod, smiling and then letting go of her hands.

“Alright, now that we’re sure that Neith isn’t going to pass out while we’re riding back, let’s get the kelpies back to the lake, and then we can get home,” Evander suggests again.

Everyone gets back on the same kelpie that they rode here on, and I find it curious that we have all managed to get to know one like Neith has got to know Mael.

As we start to head back to the lake, letting the kelpies lead the way, I glance behind me, looking into the woods behind the ward and frowning when I can’t remember what I’m looking for.

Neith

This time, I am riding a kelpie, and it’s not because there’s a threat or a danger. That means that I’m purely enjoying it.

Leaning forward slightly, just to make sure that Mael can hear me over the sound of the wind, I say, “Come on, Mael, show me what you can do.”

Mael snorts and then kicks the speed up a gear. If I thought that we were flying before it is absolutely nothing compared to how quickly we are moving now. The trees are no more than just a blur going past me. I have no idea how he’s managing to miss them, but he is, and I am extremely grateful. He must be using his magic to make the wind go around me rather than battering me in the face, because although the wind is still making my hair stream out behind me, it isn’t stealing my breath, and it should be considering how fast we are moving.

I let out a whoop of excitement as I sit straight up in my seat, letting go of the reins. I want to put my arms out to the side, but I would most likely end up getting them ripped off by passing trees which would be extremely painful, so instead I settle fortipping my head back for a moment and just enjoying the feeling of complete and utter freedom.

It only lasts for a few moments though before I decide that I have pushed my luck far enough, and grab the reins again, quickly realizing that we’re already at the lake as we break through the trees and head for the water. We don’t slow down like I expect, but I don’t panic, somehow I instinctively know that Mael would protect me before he would harm me. Which I admit seems a strange thing to be sure of considering that it wasn’t that long ago that he and the other kelpies were trying to eat me.

We hit the lake, and instead of diving under the water, Mael runs on top of it, as we speed around the lake, icy cold water droplets tickling my face, and now that we are in such a wide open space, I do what I wanted to do in the woods and sit up in my seat, my arms out to the sides as a laugh of pure joy bubbles free.

“This is amazing!” I yell and Mael whinnies back to me happily, he is clearly enjoying this as much as I am.

I hear a kelpie call from the shore, Mael turns around and I see the guys all on the shore. They all have huge smiles on their faces.

“That was so fucking cool,” River exclaims as soon as we are back and standing with the others.

“It really was,” I reply.

“They have got to be hungry by now, they have expended a lot of energy staying out of the water, and before that, they battled the Scavengers as well. Let’s leave them to it and head home,” Raiden says as he gets off his kelpie.

When my feet hit the floor, I move to Mael’s head, and he dips it, gently resting his forehead against mine, “Thank you. I will come back soon. Come and get me if there are any more issues.”

He huffs which I am assuming means that he will, and I step back, watching as they all disappear back under the surface of the lake.

When I turn back to face the guys and get a good look at the rocky beach where the battle happened, I ask, “Where have all the Scavenger bodies gone? The beach is spotless. There’s no sign of them.”

Raiden smirks slightly, “It’s the kelpies, they would have taken the Scavengers under the water to feed.”

“Okay, I get that they have to feed, and those Scavengers were nasty, but the idea of all those dead bodies under the water freaks me out a little bit,” I admit.

Griff shudders, “Me too.”

We all head back to the house, and I’m surprised that I’m not nearly as tired as I should have been. I’m fine. I am hungry, and we’re going to need something good if we’re going to Sully’s tonight and may end up drinking, especially after all the energy that we have just burned. There are only a couple of dishes that I know how to make, and only one of those is one that I’m sure the guys are likely to have the ingredients for.

As we walk through the front door, I ask, “Do you guys like pasta?”

“Who doesn’t?” Doc asks me like my question is ridiculous, which makes me smile.

“Crazy people,” I reply seriously, although my lips tip up into a smile, giving away my amusement.

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