Water forces its way down my throat and nose before I can stop it. My eyes burn as I struggle to hold them open to fight off whatever is attacking me.
Spinning around, I see nothing in the shadowy depths, but my time is running out.
My movements are slowing as the arctic temperature numbs my ability to fight.
Whatever it was—it’s gone now.
Burning constricts my chest and I struggle towards the surface for air.
Bursting from the water, the air is now warm against my frozen skin as I get my head above water. I’m being toyed with, and my rage heats my muscles, turning my fear into a sharp weapon.
I manage a hacking cough to clear my lungs and then a lungful of sweet, blessed air before I’m tugged below again.
Motherfucker.
This time, I was prepared and held my breath. Thumbing my dagger out of the sheath on my thigh, I twirl in a circle, lookingfor the creature. My hair floats up around me, ripped from its braid. And I allow myself to sink further into the depths, looking hopeless. Dying.
A flash of white has me whipping to the right to see it better.
A kelpie.
Its translucent skin appears gray in the dark water. Talons tip its webbed fingers and toes. But it’s the long black hair swirling around it like a cape that makes it seem human. I raise the dagger, gripping it between myself and the creature. The murky light from above grazes the sapphires in my grip, causing them to shimmer.
I’m not going down alone.
Its slitted black eyes narrow on the dagger in my hand before realization strikes, and they widen into orbs of onyx.
I blink, trying to focus on the blurry attacker in front of me. But the kelpie disappears. Swimming swiftly back into the darkness of the depths, not a bubble left in its wake. Strange…
I wait a beat to see if it was a ploy, and if it’s going to circle back, but my lungs burn from holding my breath for so long. I dolphin kick back to the surface much easier this time. My body has adapted to the cold.
“KEY!” Lachlan roars, ripping off his boots as he prepares to jump in.
I take a large, gasping breath. “I’m alright! Pull me up!” I yell, swimming back to the boat that has drifted even further away.
A rope splashes as it lands within my reach and I grab onto it so that Lachlan can pull me through the water and up over the side.
My feet don’t even touch the deck before he’s wrapping me up in his arms.
“I thought I’d lost ye.” His voice cracks as he squeezes me to him.
Wrapping my arms around his waist, I nestle my head against his chest. “I’m alright.”
A shiver wracks my body. He pulls away, still holding me up with one arm as he reaches into the pack and pulls out his silver pelt to drape over my body.
“What happened? Did your boot get stuck on something?”
“No.” My teeth clack together as my body convulses. “It was a kelpie.”
“WHAT?” He reels back. His eyes are bloodshot from screaming and widened with fear.
“It was a kelpie. With translucent skin and long black hair, it had webbed fingers and talons. He grabbed a hold of me and pulled me back under every time I broke the surface.” I shudder. “It was like he was toying with me.”
“Did ye kill him?” He asks, looking down at the dagger still gripped in my white-knuckled fist.
“No—I pulled this from my boot and he…fled.”
Lachlan stares at me, shock and confusion twisting his face, before he squeezes me to him again. “Change of plans. I’ll get ye to shore, get a fire started, and ye into some warm clothes. We can unload the other horse in the morning and move the stone, then.”
