Chapter Twenty-Three
Neith
To be honest, even if he did have a name, I have no idea how he would tell me because he can’t speak, and although he has some level of understanding, I doubt he could mime it for me or some shit. I try not to laugh at the image that thought invokes in my mind. The last thing I want to do right now is offend him because he thinks I’m laughing at him when actually I’m just laughing at my overactive imagination.
I’m pondering how I am going to figure out his name when we can’t effectively communicate when a name blazes to life in my mind’s eye. I haven’t stopped stroking him, and he’s not looking at me like he has said something, in fact his eyes are shut as his chest rumbles in what I’m hoping is a scary ass purr, and not an ‘I’m about to eat you’ noise. It’s come from nowhere, and I frown. I suppose I don’t have anything to lose by using it, unless of course it’s a slur of some kind in his language or a command to kill.
Sometimes, my imagination really needs to shut up.
I decided to risk it, and still stroking his nose I ask, “I know this is pretty crazy,” he opens one eye and looks at me like he’s saying no shit, I smirk but continue, “I don’t suppose your name is, Mael?”
He jolts slightly, and then neighs in a happy way, and stomps his massive front feet, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing it in an aggressive way, he actually looks more like an excitable puppy. A giant, deadly, bitey puppy.
Just to clarify though, I ask, “Is that a yes?”
He stops hopping around and nods, chuffing happily as he comes back for more pets. I have just reached up to stroke his neck, and when his head snaps up, he looks toward the woods behind me. He lets out a terrifying roar that has the hair on the back of my neck, hell my whole body stand up on end. Using his head, he lifts me and sends me flying through the air until I land with a thump on his back. I grip his mane so that I don’t fall off, and realize that it’s not slimy like I thought it would be, it’s actually really soft and I get distracted running my hands through it before Mael growls again, and I remember that there is something going on.
“If it’s one of those damn imps you can pretend that you’re going to eat them until they answer some questions I have,” I say, and Mael chuffs in what I’m assuming is agreement.
I am so fucking high up, it’s a damn good thing that I’m not afraid of heights, although I have no idea how I’m going to get down again. That’s not really the issue that I should be focusing on right now.
I tense as I start to hear the noise that obviously alerted Mael to the approaching whatever it is. The guys suddenly burst from the forest, and all of them freeze as their eyes land on the kelpie, their expressions fierce and looking hot as hell. Damn, they all look like warriors, swords raised, magic at the ready, and there is just something that is extremely attractive about it.
“Is that a fucking kelpie?” Ransom asks.
“Yep,” I reply, grinning happily. I watch as all of their eyes snap up to meet mine, their mouths dropping open in shock.
“Neith?” River questions.
“Get the fuck down from there. Do you realize what that is?” Griff asks as he takes a step forward as if he’s going to come and get me.
Mael growls again, and they tense. Griff stops his forward movement. Smart man.
I lean forward slightly so I can stroke his neck, “It’s okay, they are friends, not foe, I promise. You can stand down.”
The effect my words have on him is immediate and switches from deadly killing creature to cute deadly creature who just wants pets.
“What the fuck is happening?” Evander asks.
“Erm Neith?” Doc questions but pauses before he says anything else because Mael snorts the second I stop petting him.
“Yes, Doc?” I reply with a grin, thoroughly enjoying how shocked they all are.
Doc clears his throat, “Do you maybe want to explain what is going on right now?”
I chuckle, “Sure. So, after I spoke to Wallace, I heard what sounded like something crying, so I checked it out. The kelpies lured me here and tried to drown and eat me, like they do. My sword appeared, while I was under the water fighting them off, which was fucking awesome by the way. The sword appearing, not me fighting them off. It let off this blast of magic, I guess it was, and they all went away, but I noticed one trapped, and he sounded like he was in pain, and I couldn’t just leave him, so I helped him. Then I swam to the shore, the kelpies followed, and I got up onto the beach and they surrounded me, then just as I was running out of steam, Mael came to save me, and now we are friends. He likes cuddles.”
I smile and continue to stroke Mael’s neck as we both watch the guy’s expressions cycle through a range of different emotions, before all of them settle on disbelief apart from River who just looks really excited.
“Can I stroke him? I have never seen a kelpie this close,” River asks.
Reed crosses his arms over his chest, “No one has. The only way you see a kelpie this close is if it’s about to eat you.”
“I am not even sure how the fuck you have managed to tame a fucking kelpie,” Ransom mutters incredulously.
“I have never read or heard about a kelpie allowing anyone near it, let alone stroke it or sit on its back,” Raiden adds, the wheels in his head turning and I know that as soon as we get back to the house he’s going to be doing some research to see if this is an isolated event or not.
“Why did you get on its back anyway?” Doc asks.
I shrug, “I didn’t. He heard you guys approaching and, I think, decided that I was safer up here than I was down there because he sort of used his nose and actually, now that I’m thinking about it, must have used some sort of magic as well because he flipped me, so I landed on his back.”
River slowly approaches Mael, having gotten fed up with waiting for me to tell him that he could stroke the kelpie or not.
“So, he’s protective of you as well?” Griff asks. He adds, “I know that he growled at us, but moving you out of harm’s way is actively protecting you.”
“It’s definitely unusual,” Raiden adds. “River, be careful. Just because he is letting Neith interact with him doesn’t mean that he will be willing to let you do the same.”
River nods, and then does something that makes me like him even more, he asks Mael’s permission.
“Can I please stroke you?” he asks, holding his hand up but making no move to get any closer to him.
Mael moves closer and nuzzles his hand.
“He likes cuddles,” I say.
“I can’t believe what is happening right now,” Evander says. “Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, you always did have a way with supernatural creatures. Nothing quite as deadly as this though.”
“This is awesome,” River mutters. He steps back and inclines his head, “Thank you.”
“Wait, you said Mael?” Reed asks, “He told you his name?”
I shake my head, “I don’t know how to answer that question. I mean, he didn’t use words, and I don’t think he intended to tell me. I asked him, and he is intelligent enough to answer yes or no questions to an extent, but after I asked him his name, it sort of blazed through my mind. I asked him and he got really excited, so I don’t think he shared it with me. I don’t know how I knew it.”
“It must have something to do with your magic,” Evander suggests.
“It’s an odd way for magic to manifest itself,” Doc comments.
I raise my eyebrow and smirk, “Thanks for that. A woman always likes to be referred to as odd.”
“I didn’t mean that you were odd,” Doc replies with a smirk.
“Wait, what did you say his name was again?” Raiden asks.
“Mael,” I reply.
The adrenaline from this whole situation, the fight or flight, the making friends with a very deadly creature, all of that adrenaline is starting to wear off, and I am beginning to feel the fact that I am still soaking wet, and it’s still winter. I’m fucking cold, and my arm hurts like a bitch. The voices have been a lot easier to ignore recently since there haven’t been that many instances where I have been left alone with my thoughts. They are muttering now though, and I frown. It sounds like the same echo of a word, over and over again. I can’t make it out though, I never fucking can.
I focus harder.
I don’t think I have ever heard them behave like this, usually it sounds like so many voices all talking over the top of each other, and leaving me no way to hear a single word, but right now, they are all almost chanting the same word, over and over again. I can’t help but think that it’s because it is important.
I feel my eyebrows draw together; it’s right fucking there. I can almost hear it.
“I fucking knew I recognized it,” Raiden exclaims.
The voices slip away, becoming indistinct once again. I sigh but let it go. It has always been the same my whole life, I think I’m getting close to hearing them and then they slip away. The only exception has been when I heard Griff say run and then when I heard something when the guy touched me inappropriately in the bar.
“What?” Doc asks Raiden, “We’re going to need a little bit more information if we are going to understand what you are talking about.”
“Mael,” Raiden says, and I grin as Mael tilts his head to the side as he looks at Raiden, “his name means chief, right?”
Mael snorts, standing proudly and inclining his head.
“I’m going to assume that’s a yes,” Reed mutters.
River chuckles, and we all look at him questioningly.
“I just think it’s funny that out of all the kelpies that Neith could have decided to help, it just happened to be their leader, who she has clearly gained the trust and loyalty of already, which most likely means that the rest of the herd will follow his lead,” River explains.
I shake my head, “I don’t think so, he had to force the others back into the water so that they would stop trying to eat me and they definitely wanted to eat me.”
“That doesn’t mean that they won’t give you their loyalty,” Raiden says and then adds, “kelpies get into a kind of feeding frenzy that is difficult to come out of even if they want to. There is a really good chance that when they have calmed down, and you next meet them that, they are as friendly as Mael is, or at least tolerant of you.”
“Oh, well, that would be kind of cool,” I reply.
I shiver, the wind cutting through my wet clothes, as the tiredness of the last hours events settle in fully and I slump slightly on Mael’s back, he must sense the change in me somehow because he turns his head and glances back at me looking worried.
“Alright, Neith, I think we need to get you back to the house and warmed up. I’m worried about how much you are shivering,” Doc says.
His words have them all looking at me more closely and frowning.
“Warm sounds really good right now,” I admit. I look at the distance to the floor from where I’m sitting and add, “I’m not sure if I’m capable of launching myself off of Mael right now and landing on my feet and not my ass.”
As soon as I have finished the sentence, Mael ducks his front legs lowering himself so that I can slide off his back easily.
“Wow,” Ransom mutters.
Patting Mael on the neck, I say, “Thank you, friend. I need to head back to the house and get warm. I will come back and see you again soon though if that’s okay?”
Mael nods and then butts his head against my shoulder, asking for pets again. I happily give them and then watch in awe as he gallops back to the water, arching high in the air as he jumps and shifts back to his full kelpie form before he disappears underneath the water of the lake.
“So fucking cool,” I mutter. As I’m watching him, I realize that my sword has completely disappeared and I’m guessing that it has gone back to my room. I have no idea how it works, but I am incredibly glad that it turned up when it did. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it saved my life. Finally, turning around, I look at the guys and shrug, “So, that happened.”
Evander shakes his head as he takes off his jacket and walks toward me, draping it over my shoulders and wrapping an arm around me to keep me warm.
“Let’s get you home, Nene,” he says.
I don’t argue as we start to walk away from the lake and back through the woods.
“Hey Griff,” I start, and he turns to look at me, raising his eyebrow curiously, “I need a new phone.”
There is a moment of silence before everyone bursts out laughing, and Griff’s lips twitch into a smirk.
“I take it back. You are worse than River. At least he manages to keep his phone for longer than an afternoon,” Griff teases.
I grin, “Yeah, to be honest, that’s a new record for me. They usually last a lot longer, but then again, kelpies haven’t attempted to drown me before. Which by the way, it would have been nice to know that you had them on the property. There is a chance that I may not have tried to follow the noise if I had known that there was a possibility that it was kelpies.”
“We would have told you if we knew,” Doc says.
My eyebrows raise, “What? How could you not know that there were kelpies in the lake? It’s not like they keep to themselves and don’t get hungry. How are they feeding themselves, by the way? There can’t be a lot of foot traffic out here and lost hikers since this whole place is yours.”
The guys share a look.
“Neith, none of us knew that lake existed. In fact, we all know for a fact that it wasn’t there,” River says.
“We know this property like the back of our hands, and we would have known if there was a lake here, especially one this close to the property. There is one a few miles out,” Ransom explains.
“I didn’t even know this was here, and water is kind of my thing,” Van adds, looking down at me.
I frown, “That’s really weird.”
“Yeah, it is,” Reed agrees.
“I will put some more wards up, and scan the property for any anomalies, it seems that Neith’s arrival has triggered some changes. First, the imps acting up, and now we have an extra lake and kelpies,” Ransom adds.
“Surely they can’t just appear out of nowhere though?” I ask.
Raiden shrugs as he answers my question, “Magic is involved. It doesn’t really play by any of the normal rules.”
“Fair point,” I reply, moving my arm to wrap the jacket tighter around myself. The movement reminds me of the wound on my arm, and I add, “Oh, I’m bleeding too.”
“That was probably something that you should have mentioned sooner,” River mutters. “I thought I smelt something, but it’s all mixed up with the scent of the kelpie and the river water, and then Van’s scent too.”
“Sorry, I had forgotten about it until I moved my arm just then,” I reply.
“As you don’t seem to be in a massive amount of pain, I think the priority should be getting you warm, I don’t like how much that you are shivering,” Doc says.
“I am good with that,” I reply as the house finally comes into view. I had no idea that I walked that far. It certainly didn’t feel like the lake was that far away from the house, but if magic is involved, then that pretty much means that anything I consider normal doesn’t apply.
As soon as we get to the front I rush inside and head up the stairs needing a hot shower and some of my new warm pjs.
“We’ll meet you in the front room,” Ransom yells up the stairs behind me.
“Okay,” I call back.
I’m grateful that although I am tired, and hurt, I’m okay. I’m standing and I’m not dead or nearly dead, that makes a change from the incidents that have happened recently. It’s bad that this is my benchmark for a successful encounter these days.
I speed through the shower as quickly as I can while still making sure that I wash off all the gross lake water and the dried blood from the bite. The second that the water hits the bite, I have to clench my teeth against the pain. In retrospect, it might have been better if I had Doc heal me before the shower.
I’m here now though, so I push through the pain and soon enough I’m in my comfy new Pjs with fluffy socks and everything. I didn’t even get blood on them when I put them on, which is in part due to the fact that the bite wound has already mostly stopped bleeding. Just in case though, I grab a small hand towel from the bathroom and wrap it around my arm. After all the effort that it took not to get blood on my pyjamas, I will be really fucking pissed if I have to change them because I have got blood on them walking down the stairs.
Shivers are still making my body shake, and I reluctantly leave my room and my nice, warm bed behind as I head back down the stairs to the guys. When I get down there, I head for the first person I see and plop myself down on their lap.