Page 7 of Beneath the Earth (Seven Wardens 3)

“Both?”

He smirked and got to work. She loved how he made hers first, the vegetarian sandwiches, while the others had to wait for their dead animal version.

Although she did pity them a little when she took her first bite and they all stared at her with hungry expressions.

Sorry, boys.

She shifted almost as soon as her body hit the water. Rónán wanted to have their lesson outside of the swimming pool, but Macey ignored him, the pull of the water too much to resist. Her human mind told her that it was wrong, that she usually had more control, but the kelpie side whinnied happily and dived to the bottom of the pool. Macey missed the loch she’d grown up in, its various shades of green, the kelp at the bottom that would gently tickle her scales when she swam through it, the delicate warmth of the sun rays breaking through the surface.

Maybe they could put in a little stopover at the loch. Her father may not even know that her brothers were imprisoned… although no, Nessie would have told them.

Nessie.

Macey growled at the thought of her aunt who might be more than just that. The kelpie she’d trusted and who may have lied to her entire life. She refused to think of the m-word in relation to her. Macey already had parents and they were her parents, no matter what she’d been told. Her father was the kelpie king and her mother his wife.

Oops, she thought the m-word.

“Macey!” Rónán called out loud enough for her to hear below the surface. Macey turned and saw he was sitting on the edge of the pool, his legs dangling in the water. With a grin, she swam towards him and gently rubbed her head against the soles of his feet.

He laughed and wiggled his toes, giving her the most amazing head massage. The antenna on her forehead waved from side to side as if it wanted to touch his legs.

“You need to be human for our lesson,” he said loudly, but she refused to resurface. She was a kelpie and she was going to enjoy the water for a bit longer. The solid ground could wait.

Macey playfully nipped at his leg and he cried out in surprise. Why didn’t he want to play with her?

She gripped his other leg with her teeth and pulled him into the water. With a splash, he entered the pool, her home. She wasn’t going to leave this place. Why would she ever leave the water?

Her men could move in with her. Maybe the house was going to extend the swimming pool to make it big enough for all of them.

“Macey, stop it,” Rónán spluttered, resurfacing.

Such a party pooper. She was just playing, why didn’t he want to play with her? Maybe he liked it rough?

She dived lower and pulled on his legs again, making him stay below the surface. Why didn’t he shift and join her? He was so boring as a human. They couldn’t breathe for long in the water, she remembered that much even in the haze that her mind was trapped in.

Maybe if she kept him beneath the surface he’d shift. Maybe he needed some help with it. Just like young kelpies had trouble shifting into their human form and needed some encouragement.

Somehow, he slipped from her grip and swam up before she could stop him. As soon as his head resurfaced, he shouted, “I can’t shift! Stop it, Macey! I can’t shift!”

See, she’d known. He needed help with his shifting.

He was swimming fast to the edge of the pool, where the ladder was that made it easier to get out. Was he playing with me? Finally. She decided to give him a little head start. With his puny human legs, he wasn’t very fast. He moved them differently from other humans though, as if they were sewn together at the thighs.

“What’s going on?”

“Empty the pool!”

Who was speaking? She took a deep breath and lifted her head from the water to take a look. Jared was standing in the doorway, looking very confused.

Someone else to play with! She whinnied in delight.

“Empty the fucking pool!” Rónán shouted again. “She needs to get out of the water.”

Jared stared at them for another moment, then ran to the wall to his right and pressed a button on the pad that controlled the water temperature.

A vibration went through the pool and a gurgling sound made her dive again. In all four corners, holes had begun to open and water was running into them, leaving the pool.

No!

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