Chapter 12 #4
“What the—” I stammer. Watching in horror and awe as my skin heals before my eyes. “Is this healing me?” I look from the apple to the two small eyes.
Two blinks and then they’re gone.
“Wait!” I shout. But they don’t return. “Thank you...” My voice fades into the darkness.
A little while later, splashing reaches my ears as Lachlan wades through the water, pulling his horse behind him. When he reaches the light of the fire, I see the many weapons now strapped to his waist and back.
“Did you tell Dragut about the kelpie?” I eye him from my seat by the fire.
“Aye. He was not thrilled that I left ye here alone.”
I smile to myself and bite my lip. Oh, he’s in for a big surprise. What was that he saying to Boudicca? Brownies, fair folk, and wulvers?
Lachlan studies me with keen eyes and tilts his head.
“What?” he asks when I don’t make a retort. He leads his horse up to the trees beside mine.
“Nothing?” I reply, shrugging my shoulders.
Lachlan turns back to me as he finishes tying up his horse. “Nae. I said I left ye here alone, and ye made a face. Why the face?”
I look at the forest’s edge beside him before meeting his eyes again.
“I don’t think we’re alone here.”
Lachlan stiffens, tightening the reins in his grip. “What do ye mean?”
I toss the apple core to him and he catches it in his free hand. “Boudicca didn’t pack this.”
“I had a hard time making it to the shore. The kelpie might’ve injured me a bit more than I told you.
” Lachlan’s jaw flexes with my words, but I continue.
“While I struggled to stand and change my clothes, I heard noises coming from the forest.” I nod towards the trees where the eyes appeared.
“When I got the fire started and sat down, an apple rolled from the tree line and two tiny eyes appeared.”
“So ye ate the mysterious apple that came from the forest?” Lachlan asks bewildered, staring down at the apple core still gripped in his hand.
I shrugged. “I know it sounds stupid, but they seemed like they were trying to help, and after I ate the apple, my leg healed.”
“It what?”
I stand and pull up my pant leg again so he can see what I’m talking about. Lachlan squats down to stare at where the injury was, now a mere pink line running the length of my calf.
“Key,” he whispers, reaching out gently to trace the line. “It’s a miracle ye could even stand. Why dinna ye tell me?” He looks up from where he’s crouched, his face contorted somewhere between anger and worry.
“We didn’t have the time for another injury,” I whine. “We’ve got to take care of the stone and the one in Ishtar and get back. Tane could need us. The bridge could open. Or worse, our enemies could be attacking the humans at this very moment.”
In one fluid motion, Lachlan stands, towering over me. “Aye—but none of that matters if ye are nae here.” His brows lowers and I feel like a child being scolded.
I stare down at my healed leg. Lachlan grabs my chin and tilts it up so my eyes meet his.
“This realm needs ye—I need ye. We canna win this war without ye, Key. Ye ha’ to take better care of yourself.
If you’re injured, say something. You’re worried?
Say something. Need a minute to breathe and work through everything that’s being thrown at ye every second of every day?
I think we can allow ye that. But ye ha’ got to stop being so reckless in the name of time.
” He presses my hand against his chest, holding me to him.
I feel the strong, steady beat of his heart.
“I am here with ye. Right here beside ye, and ye dinna ha’ to do any of this alone. ”
He’s right. And there’s nothing in what he said that I can argue about.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He shakes his head before pressing his forehead against mine. “Don’t be sorry. Just let me in. I am here for ye. Nothing in this world matters more to me than ye.”
I tilt my face up, pressing my lips against his. Warmth pools low in my belly and I pull away. “I know you said we hadn’t established things between us, but you should know—you are what I’m fighting for. You are my future.”
He places a lingering kiss on my forehead. “Ye are my past, present, and future, Key.”
His admission settles within me, calming my mind, and soothing the longing I feel. A smile parts my lips as I gaze at him.
“A guard dropped this off while I was on the ship.” He holds out a piece of folded parchment. Taking the letter from him, I read Mathilda’s scrawled note:
Tane is awake and has already asked about his duties.
The rune is still flickering.
Luna is being annoying about the books and something about a table.
No word from Mina.
And I miss you.
All my love, Mathilda
I look up and smile, clutching the note to my chest. They’re just words scrawled on paper, but I desperately needed to read them, to feel some sense of normalcy.
“I told them ye would respond when we make it back to the ship. Do ye need a minute, or do ye want to figure out how to move that stone to the mountains?” Lachlan asks, after I tuck the note into my leathers.