Chapter 23 #3
The Kelpies had gathered around the island now, their dark shapes forming a protective circle in the water.
They weren’t screaming anymore. Instead they waited, their red eyes flickering as they surveyed our exchange.
I still didn’t know what to think of them, or about how they’d protected me when the need arose.
Murdoch landed on my shoulder, his feathers ruffled from battle, and let out a soft croak.
“Brave birds,” the Beithir said, something almost like amusement in its voice. “Foolish. But brave.”
“They’re Sophie’s,” I said. “She trained them well.”
“The Knight.” The Beithir’s gaze darted toward the shore, where I could see my friends panicking. Someone had brought a kayak around, and I realized they were still trying to reach me.
“Murdoch, go tell them,” I said, looking up to the bird. “They need to know we’re safe.”
The crow took off without further instruction and drifted across the loch.
“What happens now?” I asked. I still didn’t want to make any sudden movements around the Beithir. It was an ancient and powerful beast, and I wanted to make sure we were well and truly safe.
“Now I grieve properly. For my father. For the truth I should have known.” The Beithir’s voice was quiet, almost gentle. “And now you live, wee Bookkeeper. You live, and you love, and you keep the promise your ancestor, Isobel, made.”
“The promise to tell the truth?”
“The promise to restore what was broken. It’s on you to help reunite The Three Queens.” Its eyes flickered with something that might have been amusement. “You did not think this was the end of your story, did you?”
I looked down at Graham, still cradled in my arms, his breathing slowly steadying.
Then I looked at the ring on my hand, still faintly glowing.
Then out across the loch, toward the shore, where I could see figures gathered—the Order, our friends, our family, all of them watching, waiting, probably terrified out of their minds.
“No,” I said. “I suppose this is just the beginning.”
The Beithir dipped its massive head in something that might have been a nod.
“Then go, Bookkeeper. Go back to your people. Tell them what happened here tonight.” Its voice dropped to something almost warm. “And tell them that the guardian of Loch Mirren is no longer their enemy. Tell them that the Kelpies will protect these waters, not terrorize them.”
I struggled to my feet, helping Graham up beside me. He was weak, leaning heavily on my shoulder, but he was standing. He was alive.
“How do we get back to shore?”
The Beithir’s tail swept through the water, and a Kelpie approached—a large one that had joined Murdoch’s attack first.
“They will carry you,” the Beithir said.
I looked at the Kelpie, at its brilliant red eyes and shifting form.
Minutes ago, it had been fighting beside me.
Before that, it had tried to kill me. They had killed others, in Loren Brae, and violently attacked my friends.
Now it waited patiently, its head bowed, offering its back for us to ride.
“Trust,” the Beithir said. “It must begin somewhere.”
I took a deep breath.
“Go on, Agnes. Give it laldy,” Graham said, nudging me with his shoulder.
So I did.
I helped Graham onto the Kelpie’s back and climbed up behind him, shocked that something so malleable as water could solidify in such a state. It shifted beneath me, and I gasped, squeezing my arms around Graham’s waist and pressing my cheek to his back.
I’d almost lost him.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over this moment, but I couldn’t process any of that. Not while we were riding on the back of a freaking Kelpie.
The creature moved smoothly through the water, carrying us toward the shore where our friends waited. Behind us, the Beithir sank slowly beneath the loch’s surface, its massive form disappearing into the depths it had called home for centuries.
Murdoch circled overhead, our avian guard, as the Kelpie headed directly toward Sophie.
She stood at the water’s edge with the rest of them, Lachlan beside her, sword still drawn.
Willow clutched Ramsay’s arm, Orla and Finlay hugged, Lia and Munroe, Shona and Owen, Kaia and Thane, Liora and Torin, and Faelan and Luch all stood by valiantly.
The Order, and their partners, all in a row.
Behind them, Hilda, Archie, Matthew, and Lottie stood, the dogs winged out in a circle around them like a wee battalion.
Clyde hung in the background, while Gnorman and Gnora ordered Eugene and their hedgies into formation.
These were our people. Our family.
Waiting for us to come home.
The Kelpie carried us to the shallows, and hands reached out to help us down, Lachlan grabbing Graham, Ramsay catching me before my legs could give out entirely.
“Is it,” Sophie said, her voice barely a whisper. “Is it—”
“Aye, it’s done.” I sagged against her, exhaustion engulfing me. “It’s over.”
Above us, the rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared.
And in the east, the first light of dawn began to break across the sky.