“Wait,” I burst out. “Just… wait a second.”
“You have until the count of ten.”
I scan the darkness of the surrounding landscape, desperately hoping for rescue. Now would be the perfect time for Jareth or Ashala or some of the townspeople to show up.We thought you might need some help. We’re here for you.
But there’s no one. It’s a silly hope, a foolish dream. I’m alone. Weaponless, helpless, and naked—except for—
The woven bracelet is still on my wrist.
The bracelet that protects me against curses, wards, and spells.
Could it protect me against the glashtyn vow?
It’s a huge risk to take. But it’s my only chance. Even if the bracelet doesn’t entirely dispel the effects of the broken vow, maybe it will lessen them.
“I swear by the Glashtyn that I will leave Crescent Cove by midnight tonight and head back to Herd Aerouant to assist Mother until her lykewake, at which time I will take my place as first mare and become mate to the lead stallion, Sterling. So I vow, upon the bones of the Each-uisge before me, upon the will of the Glashtyn, and upon the Water of Life.”
My sister gives me a triumphant grin. “I knew you’d come around. And in return, I vow to the Glashtyn that I will spare the life of this man-morsel. Water of Life, Eerh-Ooshkah, and all that.”
She shifts into kelpie form and strikes the chains with her hooves, smashing them against the tree trunk. The chains break after a couple blows, and Rick collapses to his knees. I run to him, cupping his face and sweeping back his hair so I can look into his eyes. One of them is swollen and bruised.
“What have you done?” he mumbles. “You can’t go.”
My sister switches smoothly to human form, crouching beside us, peering at both our faces like a leering ghoul who feeds off our pain. “Marlowemustgo. If she breaks that special vow, she’ll become a regular little horsie. No more kelpie, no more human. Just a plain, dumb little mare defecating in a stall and munching carrots.”
Dread pools in Rick’s eyes. “Is that true, Marlowe?”
“Yes. I have to leave before midnight.”
“How tragic,” Valeria drawls. “Well, I’m starving, so I’m gonna go hunting before we leave. I’ll give you two privacy so you can fuck one last time. Unless you want company. No? See you later then, Lowe. I’ll meet you just before midnight at Fuller’s Pond.”
She struts away, her hips swishing, humming an Irish sea shanty that Father used to sing when we were tiny and he was in a good mood. It had a calming effect on us.
When we were older, I realized it was the same song he’d use to quiet horses and bend them to his will.
Rage frames a red-hot memory in my mind—the image of my two rescued mares lying still and lifeless in the pasture.
My hands drop from Rick’s face and I rise slowly. “I promised to return to the herd and take Mother’s place. I never promised to do it withyou.”
Valeria turns around. Realization sparks in her eyes, along with fear. She can see my intent in the dark gaze I’ve leveled at her.
If I don’t meet her at Fuller’s Pond tonight, and if, by some miracle, I survive the breaking of the glashtyn vow with my mind and my identity intact, she’ll come after me again. She’ll put the people and animals I love in dangeragain.
I can’t allow that.
“You killed my friends,” I say quietly.
“Those beasties in your stable?” She laughs, but it’s a hollow sound, frayed at the edges.
“They werehorses. We don’t kill horses.”
“I was making a point.”
“You broke the law of our kind, and you silenced your victims with Father’s song. That’s something I can’t forgive. And that’s not all.” I let my fangs extend and my joints loosen, ready for the shift. “You touched Rick. He’s mine.”
The last two words come out as a guttural snarl as my body transforms smoothly into the shape of the water horse. I rear up on my hind legs, kicking the air with sharp hooves and screaming the way only monsters of our kind can scream.
My sister hesitates. She knows this won’t be a fight like the one we had near Fuller’s Pond, or like the vicious tussles we engaged in as young members of a cruel herd.
