Chapter 13
I lean back against the tree among the broken chains. I’m hurting too badly to interfere with the sisters’ conflict. Besides, what could I, a simple potions witch, do against a pair of feral kelpies? Nothing, that’s what. They gotta work this out between themselves.
I want to tell Marlowe that it’s okay—that she doesn’t have to kill her sister just because the bitch grabbed my junk.
But I know it’s not solely about that. It’s also about the murdered horses.
It’s about Marlowe being able to feel safe in her own home, not just now, but in the future.
It’s about sending a message to her family that anyone who tries to force her back into the herd will suffer.
In the near distance, the lighthouse stands on a high bluff.
Its beam stretches out far across the water, but not much of the glow reaches this part of the coastline.
The moon is bright, though, and by its light I watch the two horses battle, a twisted knot of thrashing legs and snapping teeth.
They teeter on the edge of the inlet, then crash into the water, kicking up spray.
I’m dizzy from blood loss and sun exposure. All I want to do is lie down, but I keep watching. A cold dread solidifies in the pit of my stomach as I witness every brutal blow, every slash of teeth. They’re cutting each other up pretty bad.
Marlowe is older, but is she stronger? Can she win this thing?
Even if she does, I’m going to lose her.
Her sister’s death won’t break the vow, so Marlowe will still have to leave Crescent Cove by midnight and return to her family.
She’ll have to be some kelpie stallion’s broodmare for the rest of her life.
I don’t even know where her herd lives. I’ll never see her again.
She’s not the only one who made a vow. I told her that I’d be making her coffee for a very long time. I want the chance to keep that promise.
Surely there’s something that can be done, some way to release her from the vow without her becoming an animal permanently.
I know horses think and communicate, but no matter how majestic they are, they don’t have the kind of complex higher thought that humans do.
If Marlowe breaks this vow, she might still have vestiges of herself, but it won’t be the same.
And goddammit, I’ll miss that insanely hot body of hers.
I’m thinking about this all wrong, focusing on what it means for me when I should be concentrating on what it means for her. She gave up so much to save my life. She sacrificed her happiness, her very self, for someone she barely knows. That’s the kind of person she is.
That’s the kind of woman I've fallen in love with.
Marlowe is struggling, thrashing in the water. Her sister is trying to pin her against a boulder, bared jaws angling for her throat.
I crawl to the edge of the water, frantic and helpless, bursting with the words I need to say before this is over.
“Marlowe!” I roar. “I love you!”
My shout distracts both of them, but Marlowe recovers faster. She pushes her sister back, chest to chest, striking out with her hooves. Her exposed gums and sharp fangs gleam in the moonlight, and I hold my breath, captivated by the hideous beauty of her.
Valeria loses her footing, and as she wavers, Marlowe kicks her sharply, shoves with one shoulder, and manages to knock her down.
Valeria crashes to her side in the shallowest part of the inlet, thrashing in the foam, her body mostly submerged.
Her neck straightens as she snaps at Marlowe, but Marlowe evades the clashing jaws and plants a triumphant hoof on her sister’s side.
It’s over. How the ending plays out will be up to Marlowe.
Marlowe changes her stance, one hoof pinning her sister’s throat. Valeria’s muzzle barely stays above the churning water.
Instantly Valeria transforms, turning into vulnerable soft flesh beneath her sister’s hooves.
It’s as if she thinks turning human will make Marlowe relent.
And she’s right, because my darling woman is nothing if not merciful.
She transforms, too, but her skin still ripples with more muscle than usual, her teeth remain sharp, and her hair is much longer, draped over her body like a magnificent black cloak streaked with glimmering aqua.
It’s like the shift back to humanity is partly complete, but not quite.
Marlowe rams her sister against the rocks, one arm across Valeria’s neck.
“Go ahead,” Valeria rasps. “Kill me. It won’t change anything. You have to go home either way.”
“I still have a choice,” Marlowe responds.
“And so do you. Speak the glashtyn vow. Swear to me that you will never try to contact me again, that you will never threaten me or mine, and that you’ll do everything in your power to keep the other members of the herd away from me as well. If you do that, I’ll spare your life.”
Valeria chokes out a harsh laugh.
Marlowe crushes her harder against the rock and snarls, skimming the tips of her fangs along the side of Valeria’s throat.
“I abdicate,” Marlowe spits out. “Tell the herd that I’m no longer a member of the bloodline.
I don’t care if it’s not the way things used to be done—it's the way things are now. Swear the vow. Go home. Take the role of the first daughter. Dispatch our mother to her ancestors and mate with the first stallion yourself. Or you can die here. Either way, I’m done. ”
“You know what happens if you break the vow you made to me,” gasps Valeria.
“Let me worry about that. Make your choice now.”
I think I might be an asshole, because looking at Marlowe, naked and glistening and fierce as fuck, I’m harder than I’ve ever been in my life.
I need to calm down. I have to physically turn away and think about something else. When this concludes, however it ends, I can’t be pitching a damn tent in my boxers, right in front of these two dysfunctional sisters.
I start reciting potion recipes in my head, but I’m still half-listening to the women, so I know when Valeria begins reciting the vow. It’s a relief that she bent to Marlowe’s will. Who wouldn’t, really? The woman I love is a force of nature. A force of myth.
I don’t turn around, not until I hear Valeria shift back into her kelpie form and gallop away, faster than any normal horse ever could. There’s no farewell between the sisters, and Valeria doesn’t acknowledge me at all. She simply leaves, her triumph transformed into defeat.
Only then do I turn around, slowly, and face Marlowe. I’ve managed to subdue my arousal for the most part, and I keep my mind focused on what she must be feeling, what she might need from me. How I can support her.
This state of mind, this fixation on one person, this need to care for her and protect her—it isn’t natural for me. I’ve dated before, but it was never like this. I preferred being single until I met Marlowe. Now I think my state of peak happiness will be forever defined by how close she is to me.
She climbs out of the water wearily, her hair dragging on the moonlit stone, leaving wet marks. Her eyes and the aqua strands of her hair are glowing, turning her blue and luminous.
“It’s done,” she says weakly. “She won’t come back. Oh Rick, it hurts.”
The last few words are a soft mew, and she goes limp. I catch her in my arms.
“Oh god, I forgot you’re wounded, too.” She tries to push me back, but I hold her close.
“I’m okay, Marlowe.”
For a few minutes we stand there in silence, propping each other up. Then she says, “I might turn into a regular horse tonight.”
“I know.”
“Unless this counteracted the vow.” She lifts her wrist and shows me the woven bracelet from Jareth. It changed shape when she did, and it looks perfectly dry.
I stare at the accessory, taking a minute to process what she means—that my gift might save her from the consequences of the vow she took.
Talk about a worthwhile investment.
“Are you sure you want to bet everything on an enchanted bracelet?” I ask.
“I’ve made my decision. I’ll live as a horse, or I’ll live as myself, but I’ll do it here, where I’m happy. I won’t be enslaved to my family’s toxic legacy. Whatever it costs me, I’m finally free. No contact, no ties.”
“Good.” I rub her back. “I’m guessing you don’t want to spend your last hours as a human standing in the cold and the dark beside the inlet where you almost killed your sister.”
“I don’t want to remain in the place where I almost lost you.” She tilts her head back and looks up at me, her eyes warm and affectionate. “I love you too, by the way.”
“People will think we’ve lost our minds, saying it so soon.” I kiss her forehead.
“They can suck my hooves. Life is too short not to speak our truth.”
“Agreed.” I kiss her again, this time on the mouth. “Alright then, sweetheart—how are we passing the hours until midnight?”