“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 coldand the dark beside the inlet where you almost killed your sister.”
“I don’t want to remain in the place where I almost lostyou.” 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?”
14
I don’t give my sister another thought or the gift of any emotion on my part. She had plenty of time to act like a real family member to me, but she was only ever a source of threat and guilt, a reminder of the violence that used to plague my existence.
Rick is my present, and hopefully my future, too. I don’t want to waste a single second of the time that he and I have left together.
In kelpie form, I carry him to Spyglass Stables. He’s not a very good rider, especially not bareback, but we manage to get home without any severe mishaps. Most of my wounds heal on the way back, except for the cuts from my sister’s teeth. Those will take much longer.
Rick is in some pain, but he refuses to discuss it. He insists on behaving as if he’s perfectly fine, although he agrees to swallow a couple painkillers.
As he’s drinking them down with a glass of water, I announce, “If you feel up to it, you're going to fuck me on the kitchen island.”
