Smoky’s hand on my shoulder startled me out of my reverie. I glanced up at him. He flashed me a grim smile and once again, I realized how much I loved him. My dragon lord. My prince of the skies. He had forced himself into my life and captured me with his passion and his devotion.
I caught my breath, realizing that there was no place I’d rather be than with my three men, whether it was in the bedroom or on the battlefield. We played together, and we fought together, and together we would navigate the storms that befell us.
“I love you,” he mouthed.
I blew him a kiss, and then turned back to the path. We were nearing a breach in the trees and through it, I could hear the breeze playing against the currents of the pond. I steeled myself, and glanced over at Delilah. She had followed my lead. I could see the tufts of tissue poking out of her ears. Good. The last thing we needed was one of our party being held hostage by the kelpies.
As we neared the clearing, I could see the glimmer of water rippling under the sunlight. The scent of flowers—I couldn’t place which type—floated by on the light breeze. Intoxicating, they made me want to run toward the ponds, to lose myself in their heady aroma, but I forced myself to stand still.
From where I was standing I could see the ponds—they ranged from hot-tub size to big enough to swim in, and seemed to form a chain against a terraced hillside, the smallest at the top pouring into the one below and so forth, like a naturally tiered fountain.
The bottom one was as large as six Olympic-sized swimming pools, and on the other side of it, lounging against rocks, were the loveliest men I had ever seen. Kelpies could take the form of any fantasy you might have. Sometimes they even mimicked horses, leading weary travelers who thought to catch a free mount into the bogs.
I tried to clear my sight, to see them as they were, but it was difficult. Their charm was a powerful aphrodisiac. But then, something inside clicked—it was as though my own glamour rebelled against theirs—and I caught a glimpse of one of them in his true form. I decided it was a he, because as he stood he resembled the Swamp Thing, with a penis that rivaled the biggest I’d ever seen. The kelpie was covered with a layer of bog mulch, with branches and sticks poking out from the slather of stinking mud.
He leaned his head back and let out a single, crystal clear note, which seemed so out of character with his form that it was hard for me to put the two together. His teeth were neon white, glowing under the sun, sharp, ragged needles filling his mouth. A breeze gusted by and I barely restrained an impulse to gag. The scent of flowers had turned to decay.
“I can see them.” Apparently, once I managed to break the charm, it broke the charm for all of them because I was staring at a group of at least six of the creatures. A pod—nest—whatever they called their groupings. There were three males and three females, by the looks of them, and they were all lounging at the edge of the pond.
“What do you want to do next?” Bran said. “I can see them as they are.”
“I can’t,” Roz said, “but it doesn’t matter. I can feel their energy from here and it’s dangerous and deadly.”
“I guess we engage. If you see someone toss down their weapon and head toward the kelpies, intervene. We all run the risk of being charmed, though I doubt Smoky will have much trouble keeping away from them.”
I glanced at the kelpies, trying to decide if I had any magic that would stand up to them. Turning to Roz, I held out my hand. “Give me ice bombs. Or firebombs. That pond isn’t very large. If we bombard them with ice or fire, it’s going to become mighty uncomfortable and force them out. Once on land, they won’t have as much power because their magic comes from the water.”
He fumbled in his duster, pulling out a bag of the firebombs. “Just don’t fall into the pond while it’s boiling. That’s a small-enough space that even just five or six of these will bring the water almost to boiling and anything in there’s going to fry.” He paused. “You’re sure? This will kill off the fish, too.”
“The fish are already dead,” Bran said. “The kelpies will eat them all, if they haven’t already. Either way, they’re dinner for somebody.”
“I’ll take them.” I held out my hand for the bag. “I don’t think my magic will be much use here, and with these, at least I can chase the kelpies out of the pond and you guys can be ready to take them on. I don’t know that my bruised ribs are going to allow me to help with the fighting unless you’re desperate. I’m more of a hindrance that way.”
“Then you need to get over to the pond’s side without being seen, because they’ll come out of that water in a heartbeat the moment you set foot into the clearing.” Roz handed me the bag of bombs. “And as much as I like you, I am not going to wax enthusiastic about your ability to lob the firebombs from here. I’ve seen you throw.”
“Yeah, yeah. Technicalities.” I stuck my tongue out at him, but he was right and I wasn’t about to argue the point. I’d never sign up to be a pitcher in a game of softball. I glanced around. The trees encircled the clearing, so if I worked my way through them, keeping quiet and out of sight, I should be able to make it over behind the pools. But that still left enough distance for the kelpies to move.
Smoky tapped me on the shoulder. “Simple. Ionyc Sea. It’s easy enough for me to pop you in, then out. I can see exactly where we’re aiming for even though I haven’t been there before. We step out, you throw the bombs, we vanish again.”
“That would work,” Bran said. “How long till those things heat up the water?”
“Drop the entire bag in there and within five seconds, it’s going to be one hell of a hot tub. That many bombs? Will take it from cool shaded bathing pond to boiling lobster pot within less than a minute. They won’t have time to get out before they’re burned. Now, it may not kill them, I honestly don’t know, but at least they won’t be able to retreat into the water to recharge for a while. That hot? Will take at least ten minutes to calm down to unpleasantly warm.” Roz motioned to Smoky. “Go, while they still haven’t noticed us. We’ll engage the moment you vanish away from the pond.”
Smoky held out his arm and I snuggled into it. “This will be quick. Try to keep alert.”
“All right. The drift doesn’t take hold of me that fast if we aren’t traveling a great distance.” When traveling through the Ionyc Sea, if we were journeying farther than a few miles or between worlds, the massive churning of energies lulled me to sleep. Delilah encountered the same effect, though it was less now that she was getting used to journeying through the alternate realms as a Death Maiden.
I held tight to the bag of firebombs as we faded, focusing all my thoughts on what I had to do. The currents had barely taken hold of us, the mist swirling like nebulous ghosts, when we stepped off the Sea again, right next to the pond. The kelpies were gathered on the other side, near the cascading water from the upper tiers. I didn’t stop to think, just tossed the bag of firebombs into the water, and Smoky swept me into the Sea again. The next thing I knew, we appeared at the treeline.
The others had already charged out, and I hurried to look at what our handiwork had wrought. The kelpies were screaming, high-pitched whistles of pain that hurt my ears. They were struggling to reach the eastern edge of the pond where they could climb out, but the waters around them were churning. I wished at that moment that we had long-distance weapons with us. A good bow and quiver of arrows would solve a lot of our problems right now.
As it was, the others were on the shore, ready to meet the kelpies. The females shifted direction, heading instead for the western side. Bran and Delilah raced around to meet them. One of the males broke off from the others, swimming toward the south point, but Roz and Venus were there. Smoky and I took the eastern edge. I pulled out my dagger. One of the males still heading in our direction vanished from sight, sinking in the boiling water. He then bobbed up again, floating, his skin blistered through the layers of mud. I grimaced. Not the prettiest way to die.
Smoky pushed me
behind him as the other kelpie approached the edge of the pond. I moved back, glancing over to see the one heading to the south—toward Roz and Venus—also vanish below the water. They raced around to bolster Delilah and Bran’s presence. One of the females had reached the water’s edge. She was trying to dodge Bran’s attacks, but he was deadly with his sword. Delilah moved around back of her, lunging with Lysanthra.
The other two females pulled themselves ashore, one managing to evade Roz’s stun gun. But the other met Venus head-on. He was swifter with his dagger than she was with her claws, and he plunged it into her heart with dead-center accuracy. She convulsed as blood pulsed out around the blade. Venus pulled, hard, and the barbs on his dagger ripped the surrounding flesh as he yanked the blade out of her. An explosion of blood saturated her chest, splattering the old werepuma as well, and she stumbled back, falling to her knees. He brought the blade across her throat, and that put an end to any life she might have left in her.
The one who had evaded Delilah’s attack staggered as Bran sliced through her arm, cutting it cleanly off. She managed to dodge them, heading back to the pond, but stopped as she eyed the still-boiling water. As Bran jogged toward her, she made her choice and threw herself in the pond, sinking beneath the surface.
The third female was headed in our direction. Smoky charged forward, his nails lengthening into claws, and in a blur of movement, he slashed across her chest, neatly opening her up. My husband was good at eviscerating his enemies, I had to give him that. She looked down, a confused expression in her eyes as she watched her organs tumble out. Another moment and he sliced her throat, and she went down, quivering for a few seconds until her body stilled.
I gave one glance back at the pond, counting the floating bodies. Yes, we had managed to kill them all. “I guess…we’re done.”
“Not quite,” Bran said. “There were three pairs in there. I’m guessing there might be eggs.”
“Kelpies lay eggs?” Delilah looked confused. “I had no idea.”
“A number of the water-based Fae do. But there’s no way they could survive the boiling water. If there are any in there, they’ve been hard boiled.” Roz shrugged.
I wasn’t so sure. Something about the upper tiers of ponds caught my attention. “Up there. Chances are they kept their eggs in a protected spot. Want to make a bet if they do have a nursery it’s in one of the upper ponds?”
Bran flashed me a look that was almost approving. “Good thinking.” He hoisted himself up the rocks that led to the upper tiers, followed by Smoky.
Sure enough, a few moments later, they held up half a dozen large eggs that were each about the size of a small eggplant. I wasn’t sure what they did to them—and I really didn’t want to know—but when they returned, it was sans eggs.
“They won’t hatch now,” was all Smoky would say.
Delilah gave me a quick look, shuddering, and I grimaced in reply. It wasn’t exactly like unfertilized chicken eggs. There had been baby kelpies in there. But we weren’t dealing with a nature versus nurture argument. Kelpies grew up to feed on others, regardless of who brought them up. In fact, chances were foster mama and papa would be their first feast.
Delilah was washing the blood off of her hands in the pond, well away from the floating bodies. “Hey, it’s still nice and warm.”
Roz, Venus, and Bran joined her. Smoky, as always, was clean as a whistle. I hadn’t been close enough to get any blood spray or debris on me. We were about to head back to our mounts when Bran stopped us again. “They’ve been making a meal off of travelers for some time. My guess is that, in the water there, probably in a hollowed-out chamber in the rocks, there’s a tidy stash of money and valuables.”
“We don’t need the money,” I started to say, but Bran let out a snort.
“You may not, but I’m not quite set up with three sugar mamas to support me. One of which happens to be a dragon. I might be an Elemental Lord—”
“Minor Elemental Lord. Your mama’s the biggie,” Delilah broke in.
Bran narrowed his eyes. “I remember slights.” But then he seemed to think the better of it and shrugged. “Given your alliance with the Autumn Lord, however, I’ll let it go. However, as I said, my mother chooses not to gift me with her baubles, and she does love shiny trinkets. So I must make my own way as I can.”
“Then go ahead, take a quick look.” Smoky waved him toward the water.
“I get first pick.” Bran stripped off his clothes right there, and I had to admit, he cut a handsome figure. I tried to avoid staring at his cock, especially when Smoky gave me a smoldering look. Delilah grabbed me by the shoulders and led me away.
“Better we take a rest over here.” She guided me toward a fallen log. Whispering, she added, “We don’t want Smoky to turn Bran into chunk chicken, do we?”
I stifled a laugh. “I can’t help it—I may not have any interest in touching, but looking is second nature.”
“Trust me, he doesn’t have anything you want.” But she broke out in giggles then, and we sat snickering and making bad jokes until Bran surfaced.
“Hey, you cackling hens,” he shouted. “I’m decent again.”
“You’re never decent,” I called out. I glanced at Delilah. “You look. Is he dressed?”
“Yeah, come on.”
We returned to the men where Bran, soaking wet but back in his clothes, was kneeling by a chest the size of a small ottoman. He eagerly pried it open, refusing Roz’s offer of checking the chest for traps. The rest of us backed away, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of any explosions or magical spells. But there was only a soft click. Bran cautiously opened the lid.
The chest was filled with gold and silver coins looking to be from all over Y’Eírialiastar—the proper name for Otherworld. There were pendants and rings inside, a sparkling chalice, a dagger that was probably enchanted to some degree. There were other knickknacks and doodads as well. Not a king’s ransom by any means, but a good chunk of change.
Bran paused, staring up at us. “How will we divide this?”
Smoky shrugged. “I’m a dragon. I have my own treasure and have no need for a handful of coins. Keep it.”
Roz glanced over at us, and I gave him a shrug. It was up to him what he wanted to do. As for me, I didn’t want to be beholden to Bran in any way.
“I’m out. Camille, too,” Delilah said.
Venus shook his head. “I have no need.”
Roz gathered up a handful of coins. “This will serve me well to replenish the firebombs and whatever else we might use of mine on this trip.”
Bran slowly stood, then walked over to me. He held up a necklace that looked to be of obsidian beads, pearls, and a sapphire pendant. “I would gift you with this.” He held it out. “Consider it my repayment for my churlish nature.”
I wasn’t going to take it, but that would probably make him irritating and difficult to work with. “Thank you,” I finally said, accepting the necklace. “It’s beautiful.” I tucked it away in my pocket until I could put it in my pack.
He held out the dagger to Delilah. “You like blades, I can tell. This, I have no need of.”
She started to say no—I could see it on her face—but then she must have reached the same conclusion I had, thanked him, and gracefully accepted.
Bran made gifts to Smoky—the chalice, to Venus—a ring, and to Roz, another bag of coins before filling his saddlebags with the rest of the treasure. I wasn’t sure what to think, but maybe we were rubbing off on him. One could only hope.
Bran tossed the chest back in the pond, where it sank within seconds, and then we mounted the horses. Having disposed of the kelpies, we set off again, back to Shade, Chase, and Trillian.
As we rode through the forest, the enchantment that the kelpies had woven around the area was broken, and now the trees loomed dark and chaotic around us. We were in an area of Thistlewyd Deep where it would be unwise to stray from the group. The energy was res
tless, and I could hardly wait until we were through to the mountains.
Chapter 12
WE HAD SPENT more time than I wanted to on the kelpies, but Bran hastened the pace and we began to make up the miles. He assured me this would only put us an hour or two behind and that we would still reach our destination before night.
“That’s a good thing,” Trillian muttered. “We’re going to need to find food for dinner, because there isn’t much left in the way of cookies or protein bars.”
I didn’t say anything but I was in full agreement. Our midmorning snack was a single granola bar and frankly, that wasn’t enough to sustain my good mood. I had no intention on going to bed without dinner. If nothing else, we should be able to find some handover roots, and some of the early berries were in season. It would take some foraging but we could have some sort of meal for dinner, but we couldn’t see to forage in the dark.
We wound further into the Deep, taking a secondary path shortly after our fight with the kelpies. “It will save us time,” Bran said, “even though the trail is a rougher ride.”
“Rougher ride” was correct. We bounced along, our horses steering around the roots and stones that littered the narrower path. The trail felt closed in, the trees looming closer on either side. While I loved being in the woods, I was starting to feel like we’d never find our way through. The mood was oppressive, weighing heavily like a stone around the neck. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw that Delilah looked just about as overjoyed as I felt, her mouth set in a grim line.
I nudged my horse to the side, swinging in again beside her. “This part of the Deep feels dangerous.”
“Oh, we’re being watched, all right. Panther is right at the surface, very close to making an appearance, which wouldn’t be a good surprise, given I’m astride a horse. I’m doing my best to rein her in, but I won’t guarantee that when we stop, she won’t appear and run off to find out who’s following us. Because we are being followed.”