Chapter 16 #2
“I was. I was walking the street home.” I bounded up the stairs, needing to be inside my flat, convinced if I just made it inside I would be safe.
Unlocking the door, I rushed inside, slamming it quickly behind Gloam, and sagged against the wall in relief.
Safe. Like a child ducking under the covers, convinced that was all she needed to shield herself from the monsters.
Logic might not be my strong suit at the moment, but I truly did feel better now that I was back in my flat, the warm glow from a lamp I’d picked up at a charity shop earlier that week casting a cheery welcome across my space.
It had been a fruitful shopping trip, as I’d also bought a colorful rug with brilliant reds, pinks, and turquoises in it, an actual vase for flowers, and a colorful print of Scotland’s hills dusted with lovely purple heather.
It was just the beginning of making my place feel more like my own, but even so, I was pleased with the progress I was making.
“Why are you bringing a dead plant home?”
“Oh no.” I looked down at my arms to realize I’d crushed Betty too tightly to my side and the beleaguered plant was barely standing up anymore. Guiltily, I placed it on the counter and stared at it. “Shona’s going to kill me.”
“Maybe it will be fine. Plants are surprisingly resilient.” Gloam trotted across the flat and jumped onto the couch, turning himself in a circle for a while before he wrapped in a little ball, tucking his tail under his chin as he watched me. “How close were you to the Kelpies?”
“Kelpie,” I amended. “Just the one. At least that’s all I saw.”
“How did you get it to go away?”
“I didn’t.” A fine trembling worked its way through my body and I realized that I was feeling shaky from the aftereffects of adrenaline. “You know what? I think I need a glass of wine.”
I definitely needed a glass of wine.
Popping open the fridge, I pulled out a Sauvignon Blanc I’d opened two nights ago and poured a glass, needing something normal to do to help calm my nerves.
Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t be sure if the dog would really have chased me.
Had that just been my overactive imagination?
Or was it just straight panic because the situation was so out of any frame of reference I had experienced in the past?
“The Kelpie just left?”
“Oh, so, no. That’s not entirely what happened.” I recounted the events of the evening for him and when I finished, Gloam had come alert, sitting up straight on the couch.
“A dog chased the Kelpie away?” His tone held a note of suspicion.
“It did. A husky.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Really? Because it worked. Or at least it seemed to work. It was really quite the thing. For a second, I thought I’d need to stop and help it, but it fended off the Kelpie. Really quite amazing.”
“Tell me what the dog looked like.”
“Oh, it was a husky. I mean, it was kind of hard to see as the only light came from the moon, and you know, that whole panicking for my life thing.”
Gloam made that soft yelping noise he made when he laughed at me.
“I don’t know the different brands of dogs.” Gloam sniffed in disdain. “Just describe it.”
“Oh right, I guess a fox wouldn’t know all the types, would they?
” I smirked at Gloam calling them “dog brands.” I guess I’d never really thought of it that way, because Gloam had thus far been fairly well versed on many different subjects, but it made sense he wouldn’t know dog breeds by name.
He likely just knew them as dogs. “Um, grayish white shaggy long-haired coat. Darker fur near the shoulders and hind quarters. Pointy ears. Longer snout, like yours.”
“Wolf,” Gloam said, settling back into his ball.
I blinked at him in surprise and then took a long sip of my wine. The cool liquid soothed my dry throat, and I took another deep breath.
“Wolves have not been endemic to Scotland since the seventeenth century.”
“That you know of,” Gloam corrected, shifting his body about. He was so damn cute, I couldn’t help but reach out and scratch his ears.
“I mean, I think that anyone knows of. They have a pretty strong record of when they were last around.”
“Then they’re wrong.” Gloam slitted his eyes. “Who are they? How do you know they are right?”
“Um, the authorities? The wildlife services who do the species count?”
“I’ve never been counted. How would they know if I do or don’t exist?”
The fox had a point. Could it be possible that wolves had returned to Scotland and somehow nobody had reported it? Possibly. Anything was possible, really, particularly in a town where gnomes came to life and water horses threatened the locals.
“That’s a fair point, lad.” I raised my glass at him, a silent cheer. “Still, this wolf was massive. Surely someone would be aware of him at this point. Unless …”
“Unless what?”
“Maybe he’s a familiar. Like you are. Maybe he belongs to a magickal person I haven’t met yet. It would explain the desire and ability to chase away the Kelpies, wouldn’t it?”
“Perhaps.” Gloam shifted, leaning his head forward as I reached out to scratch behind his ears once again. “But then again, maybe not. I don’t know all the magickals in the area.”
“Would you be able to scent it? If you knew it was a wolf?”
“I might be able to. Shall I track it tonight?” Gloam straightened, lifting his chin as though he was a soldier ready to take orders. My stomach twisted. I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if Gloam was out in those hills tonight, not with a restless Kelpie and a terrifying wolf on the loose.
A wolf.
It made sense, really, but my mind had convinced me that what I saw was a lesser threat.
A wolf … in Scotland. It was like telling someone to watch out for polar bears in the desert.
Therefore, I hadn’t wanted to believe what I was really seeing.
But now, when I closed my eyes and thought back to it, I realized that Gloam was absolutely right.
It had been a wolf. Too large for a husky, with golden eyes instead of blue, and well-developed canines.
And those shoulders. On his haunches, he’d been so broad. Strong. Terrifying.
A wolf had come to my rescue. Was he a protector of Loren Brae? But why had he looked at me with such anger? As if I’d been in the wrong? It was why I had run … in fear.
I’d have to ask Sophie what was happening there. Maybe someone would be able to shed some light on this.
My phone rang in my pocket, almost startling me into dropping my glass of wine, and I pulled it out to see Shona’s name on the screen. Glancing guiltily at the bedraggled plant on my counter, I swiped the screen.
“Hey, I heard the Kelpies and was worried about you on the walk home.”
“Was that you who called before?”
“It was. I’m assuming you got home okay?”
I stood and walked over to the plant, knowing I’d have to triage it.
“Not exactly, but I’m home and I’m fine.” I paused. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her about the wolf, particularly with hedgies and gnomes running around her garden, but I stopped. For some reason, I didn’t feel ready to share about it. Maybe I needed a bit more time to process.
Maybe it was something else entirely.
“Say, Shona … I did kind of squish Betty on the jog home. Help me out?” I laughed at her exaggerated sigh and then listened as she gave me instructions on how to resurrect Betty.
By the time she’d finished, I’d downed my glass of wine and a bone-deep exhaustion was forcing me toward my bedroom.
“Thanks for the help, I promise to keep you updated.”
Walking across the living room, I flipped the lamp off and stood for a moment in the window, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Outside, the loch shimmered under the full moon, barely a ripple marring its smooth surface.
And up on the hill, silhouetted by the moon, the wolf stood watch.
Holding my hand out, I pressed it to the pane.
“Thank you,” I whispered, relief and gratitude filling me. “I’m sorry I ran. I won’t. Next time. If you show yourself to me.”
“Who are you talking to?”
Gloam popped up and put his nose to the windowsill and I looked back to where the moon hung heavy over the top of the hill.
The wolf was gone.