This was my first time here. The nearest Pack was located in Aberdeen, and even that was some distance away from here, so I’d never had cause to visit this part of the country. I had to admit that it was very pretty. The last of the day’s light cascaded down from the clouds, dancing over the water so that you might think you were somewhere in the Mediterranean instead of chilly Scotland. The rolling hills surrounding the loch were a vivid green and the numerous trees fringing the area gave the impression of a place where you could truly be at one with nature. Not for the first time, I regretted living in an urban jungle. Here, even with the threat of Endor looming over all of us, it was possible to imagine a life filled with every freedom that a shifter could crave.
Naturally, because of the superstitions regarding the Loch Ness monster, it was a popular tourist spot and we had to be careful with keeping the humans out of our path as much as possible. There were more than enough mages to alter the memories of anyone who saw anything Otherworldly. We couldn’t bring people back from the dead, however, and I doubted that the necromancer would care who he killed. Our job was to keep the world safe from people like him and we were damned well going to do it, regardless of the consequences.
I walked out to the water’s edge, closing my eyes and listening to the water lapping against the shore. Unfortunately, my peace didn’t last long. The crunch of footsteps on the gravel behind me signified the Arch-Mage’s approach.
‘Do you know,’ he said conversationally, ‘that there has never been a monster in this place?’
‘There are some who would consider kelpies to be monstrous,’ I replied, vaguely irritated that my moment of quiet had been broken.
‘Oh, they are, dear boy, there are. You know what I mean though.’
I gave him a terse nod. I wasn’t about to get into a discussion about the merits or otherwise about human superstitions. I knew what the kelpies were capable of, even if we had persuaded them to stick by this end of the loch for the time being. I watched several sleek heads bob up and down in the water, as if they were checking on us. There was a knowing light in many of the creatures’ dark eyes that set me on edge.
‘They should be careful,’ I growled. ‘Anyone could see them from here.’
‘We’ve set up a basic glamour around this area discouraging any humans from venturing too close. The humans won’t see a thing. I rather think the kelpies are just taking advantage of having all these visitors by showing off in their little pond.’
I almost snorted. Little pond? Considering the vast expanse of water that stretched out ahead of us that was hardly a fitting comment.
‘I went to Canada once,’ he continued, ‘and saw the Great Lakes. Now there’s a place to live.’ There was a wistful note in his voice.
Slightly surprised, I turned to him. ‘You’d rather be there, living out some kind of nomadic lifestyle?’
The Arch-Mage’s eyes gleamed. ‘Only in my weaker moments, dear boy. I wouldn’t miss moments like this for the world.’
I reflected that sometimes we were poles apart. I’d quite happily stay at home if it meant that things like this didn’t happen. It was curious. I was the shapeshifter and the one supposed to be relishing this situation, while the Arch-Mage stuck to his crumbling castles and never-ending bureaucracy.
‘Unfortunately,’ he added, ‘I’m going to have to attend to some other business. I won’t be gone for long though and my mages have everything under control.’
Ha. So he wasn’t quite as gungho as he liked to pretend. ‘I don’t think it’s your mages who are in control,’ I murmured.
‘No. Ms. Smith is rather something to watch when she gets going, isn’t she? I can see why you like her.’ He paused. ‘I am sorry, you know. That we made her give you up.’
I stiffened, my eyes scanning his face. Was that true? Then I let my shoulders drop. It didn’t really matter. ‘Mack doesn’t let anyone make her do anything she doesn’t want to.’
‘She’s not as irresponsible as she used to be. And she feels the weight of her position rather heavily.’
Didn’t we all. I sighed.
‘Anyway,’ he said, patting my arm. ‘Toodle pip. I’ll be back later.’
I wondered how likely it was that he’d wait until all this was over before he showed his face again. Wisely, I kept my mouth shut on the matter and turned back to the kelpies. I counted seven. I frowned. I was sure there had been more than that a moment ago.
The kelpie in the centre, which was larger and with a darker coat than the others, made a strange gurgling noise. I squinted against the sun. One by one, the others around it began to follow suit, until the air was filled with a cacophony of grunts. I didn’t know a vast amount about the water creatures but I knew enough to appreciate that this wasn’t normal.
This was Mack’s gig. She was over on the other side of the loch but I needed to keep her up-to-date with everything. Without taking my eyes off the kelpies, I opened up a Voice link to her.
Something’s happening.
She instantly responded, her answering Voice tense. What? Is he there?
No, it’s the kelpies. More and more were popping up until it seemed as if there were dozens of them. They’re all coming up to the surface. They’re…
The large one in centre began to thrash, a panicked look on its sleek, aquiline face. Its head disappeared for a moment, then pushed back up again. Water began spraying everywhere. As if all the kelpies were being dragged underneath by some mysterious force, they began doing the same thing. It didn’t make sense. How could you drown a creature that lived in water?
I darted forward, ready to do whatever I could. This had to be related to Endor. The very second my toes touched the water, however, the thrashing became more violent and there were several high-pitched screams.
Corrigan! Mack yelled in my head. You have to get the faeries to stay where they are. If you don’t have eyeballs on Endor, then they need to be there in case he shows up somewhere else.
Damn it. Between the kelpies’ sudden frantic movements and Mack’s suggestion that something was amiss with the Fae, I knew that this was about to be it. Endor was here and he was ready for us.
I flung out a Voice command to the Brethren assembled around the loch, instructing them to make sure the faeries stayed put. The shifters and mages around me ran down to see what was wrong with the kelpies. Every time one of them attempted to venture into the water, the kelpies began shrieking as if in pain.
‘We need a spell,’ I ground out.
The mage next to me wrung his hands. ‘I don’t know what kind of spell to use! I don’t know what’s wrong with them!’
I cursed. ‘Can you sense any magic? Or anything underneath them pulling them under?’
He shook his head. ‘Nothing. But I don’t know enough about necromancy. Endor is crazy powerful. We have no way of knowing what he’s done.’
I bunched up my fists. Endor had harnessed the power of the Earth by trying to kill the dryads. It now appeared he was going after water by killing the kelpies. This time we were prepared and supposedly ready and he was still winning. I considered the idea that he’d created some kind of ward again to prevent us from going to the kelpies’ aid.
I internally damned the Arch-Mage for disappearing when he had. ‘Throw out some bolts,’ I snapped out. ‘Don’t hit the kelpies but aim for the water instead. If there’s something there, whether it’s magical or otherwise, you might manage to stop it in its tracks.’
Fortunately, the mages were only too happy to follow my lead. They nodded and began doing what I asked. They knew their stuff at least. Despite the frantic, almost violent movements of the kelpies, they avoided hitting any of them with their streaks of blue magic. If there was a ward in place, their magic had no trouble in penetrating through it. That was something at least.
There was a screech of brakes and the sound of metal landing on concrete, followed by running feet. I knew without looking that it was Mack.
‘What’
s happening?’ she yelled.
‘The kelpies!’ a mage behind me gasped. ‘It’s as if they’re drowning.’
Mack paused for half a second and then bolted out to pass me. I grabbed her arm and held her back. She flung her head towards me. It took almost everything I had not to step away from her in shock. Her eyes were glowing. I’d seen them do that before. She was on the verge of shifting into her dragon form. Right now I had no idea whether that would be the best thing that could happen, or the worst.
‘Don’t,’ I growled, warning her to keep away from the water. ‘Any time we try that, it just seems to make them worse. It’s as if there’s some kind of barrier around them.’
Her face twisted and she pulled away from me, yanking out one of her silver daggers. Forced to draw back, I could only watch as she drew the sharp blade against her palm, bright red blood almost instantly appearing. If it hurt, she didn’t let on.
She sprang forward, her hand outstretched in front of her. She was going to use her blood to break whatever barrier Endor had set up. The very second she hit the water, the kelpies began screeching louder – a terrible noise that reminded me of some awful abattoir. Their screams pierced through the stillness of the loch and caused my spine to tighten.
Mack flicked her hand, causing an arc of blood to spray forward. When nothing seemed to happen, other than the larger kelpie in the middle seemingly being pulled underneath by an even greater force, she paused and stared out across the loch. With the sun just sinking off the horizon, a cruise ship in the distance flicked on multi-coloured lights. There was nothing else to be seen though; I had no idea what she was thinking. Her head twisted one way, then another before she snapped back towards me.
‘It’s a diversion,’ she shouted.
‘What?’
‘It’s a fucking diversion!’ she yelled again. ‘He’s on the boat. He’s not after the kelpies – they’re probably working with him. He’s going after the tourists!’
My stomach dropped. I looked at the boat. She was right. There were too many of us guarding the kelpies for this to happen. I met the eyes of the largest one. That wasn’t the look of a dying creature. ‘We need to get there,’ I ground out, tearing my attention away.
Mack bit her lip and nodded once. I knew in that instant exactly what she was going to do. Watching her with tense worry in the pit of my belly, she closed her eyes and inhaled, her nostrils flaring delicately.
It happened almost instantly. Her body shuddered and then, as if in an explosion, she grew, becoming not the Mack I knew but the dragon she was born to be. Iridescent red scales shimmered across her body as her neck stretched upwards and her tail flicked out. She was massive, perhaps even bigger than when she’d transformed to kill the wraith. There was nothing inelegant or clumsy about her though. In fact, she was probably the most graceful – and the most terrifying – creature I’d ever seen.
I looked upwards. Her eyes were now wholly yellow, glowing with a rage that caused even me to take a step back. The mages and shifters around us scattered as Mack – if there was any semblance of Mack still in there – pulled back her head and roared. The sound was so deafening that even the kelpies in the water paused, giving credence to the fact that their ‘drowning’ was all faked. I ignored them. I’d deal with them later when all this was done. Right now my attention was on my killing machine kitten.
‘Mack,’ I said calmly, with no idea whether she could even hear me. ‘I need you to focus. You’re still Mack. You’re not a monster. Remember who you are.’
Her huge head snapped towards me and her eyes met mine. At least I’d caught her attention.
‘My Lord!’ a shifter shrieked. ‘She’s going to kill you! Get out of there!’
I didn’t move a muscle. It was Mack. Even dressed as a dragon, she wouldn’t hurt me. I didn’t know how I knew this; somehow I just did.
‘Mackenzie,’ I tried again. ‘Your name is Mackenzie. You know me.’ I took a breath. ‘I love you.’
She opened her mouth once more, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Before she could bellow again, however, I took a step towards her and forced her to look at me.
Something glimmered in the depths of her eyes. She lifted up one huge clawed foot as if to crush me, then she blinked. There was a softening in her gaze. She lowered her leg and, for a moment, her head. I breathed out. Mack was back.
She turned out towards the loch once more. The kelpies, sensing what she was about to do, scattered, their sleek heads disappearing under the water’s surface as they got out of her way. Hell, she was a dragon. She’d make the damn Loch Ness Monster itself turn and dive for cover.
I took another step towards her. I wasn’t going to let her do this alone. Mack nodded, her tail flicking in understanding. For the first time, I felt myself relax. Then, as she bent her long neck down, I leapt towards her, curving my arms round her and holding on for all I was worth.
Her scales didn’t feel as sharp or cold as I expected. Instead there was a smoothness to them, almost as if they were made of glass. There was no denying the heat that emanated from her entire body though. I felt her lungs expand as she breathed in. Then she lunged upwards.
If I’d been expecting Mack to launch herself up into the air, I was sorely mistaken. Her body thumped forward, smashing down into the water in an immense belly flop. I dimly heard shouts and shrieks from behind us as water sprayed everywhere. My arms jolted painfully and it was all I could to hang on. Bloody hell, kitten.
Mack pulled herself up, obviously about to try again. I squeezed my eyes shut. She possessed huge wings, which were rooted on either side of her body. In theory, flight should be easy. She hadn’t tried up until now though. I had the feeling this wasn’t the time to experiment. Before I could suggest an alternative, however, she stretched forward and jumped up once again. My teeth rattled in my jaw as once more we slammed back down into the water. I received a mouthful, and ended up coughing and spluttering. Meanwhile, the boat was pulling away and we were running out of time.
Fortunately, Mack had the same realisation that I did. Rather than attempt another painful launch upwards, she shot forward, running through the shallow depths then diving into the deeper water a few metres out. The shock of the cold juddered through to my bones and I fervently hoped that she would be able to swim, even if she couldn’t fly. I shouldn’t have worried though. With one swooping underwater flick of her tail, we were cutting through the waters of Loch Ness as if they were butter. As I held my breath and clung on for all I was worth, I couldn’t help admiring Mack’s speed and agility. We could still catch Endor.
Chapter Eleven
The water was dark and murky and I couldn’t see a damned thing. I hoped that Mack didn’t forget that I was clinging onto her but, just as my lungs were starting to burn, she raised her head and neck out of the water for long enough to allow me to catch a gulp of air – and a glimpse of the tourist cruise ship. We were gaining on it far faster than I’d have thought possible. She plunged underneath once more and I could feel her power underneath me as she pulled forward. Maybe, I thought to myself with a single moment of levity, she was a water dragon instead of a fire dragon and all that temper and red hair were designed to put people off her scent. As soon as she rose back up above the surface again, however, I sobered up. The screams from the boat’s deck were instantly audible. Mack had been right – this could only be Endor.
I swung out, grabbing hold of a ladder dangling off the side of the boat and began to climb. I knew Mack was on my tail but I wasted no time in hauling myself dripping wet onto the deck and running towards the prow. There was a cluster of terrified tourists. Sliding out the palladium blade from the back sheath which Balud had fashioned for me, I growled. From in front of the quaking humans, Endor turned.
‘Lord Alpha. I had rather hoped the kelpies would have kept you busy.’ He shrugged. ‘Still, at least this means I can take care of you once for all too.’ He smiled. It wasn’t pleasant. Then he glanced over my shoulder.
‘Miss Smith is joining us as well. What a joy!’
Mack, wearing nothing more than a lifejacket to cover her modesty – such as it was – moved up to my shoulder.
‘It’s the end of the line, Endor,’ she called out.
He laughed. ‘Is it? How terribly distressing for you.’ I watched his hands, taking note of the flickers of magic licking at his skin. I knew exactly what he was planning and it turned my blood to ice.
He’s going to sink the fucking boat, I bit out to Mack.
She nodded, coming to the exact same conclusion. Endor didn’t require Otherworlders to gain control of the water element. He just needed the watery deaths of several living beings and he’d get all the power he required. The damn kelpies had played us after all. I couldn’t believe they’d struck a deal with this pitiable excuse for a person.
The boat swung to one side, tipping one edge down towards the loch’s surface. Aware of the danger, the humans cried out, several of them grabbing onto each other. They had no idea what was really going on but they knew their lives were at stake.
‘Everyone needs to come over here,’ Mack commanded. I couldn’t help but admire her calmness under fire as many of the tourists instinctively followed her instructions, running and sliding past us then cowering towards the back of the boat for safety. Unfortunately we all knew they wouldn’t really be safe there.