For me, while I didn’t enjoy the flavor of the air, it didn’t do any harm.I moved one of the roadblocks to the side and then got back in the car to continue the drive.
The closer we go to the loch, the more the putrid mist thickened, rendering visibility almost nil.Of more concern, I didn’t spot any emergency vehicle or personnel.I’d expected to be stopped by now and forced to use my mental tricks—like a Jedi—to get past.
Surprised a dragon watchedStar Wars?I’d also binged all of the Marvel movies, too.I had to say modern cinematic universes were one of my favorite things to lose myself in.
The parking area I chose had a few cars and trucks parked, the latter containing official logos on the sides.I also noticed the first body.It lay splayed on the ground, gas mask askew, but it wasn’t the air that killed them, but rather the fact the male’s torso had been separated from his lower extremities.
Davina noticed and gasped.“Someone murdered him.”
“Nessie must have sent out her minions to make sure no one got in our way.”
“Wait, you think she killed everyone?”Her wide eyes showed surprise, and yet, I didn’t feel the same shock.The Nessie of the past decade had shown herself ruthless when in pursuit of something.
“There’s still time to leave.”
Her brow wrinkled.“And what atrocious thing will she do next if I don’t present myself?”
For that, I had no reply.
“We can’t turn back now,” Davina added, her eyes big above the mask covering half of her face.
And so we walked to the loch, the landscape wreathed in mist, which also dulled all sound.I listened hard while also visually straining for any sign of movement in the swirling fog.
When we reached the pebbled beach, my muscles tensed.Blame the eeriness of the thick gas and the lack of life.Not a bird sang.No insects buzzed.The water lay flat and still, the mist wreathing the area somehow avoiding the massive expanse of the loch.
“Now what?”Davina whispered.
“We announce our presence.Nessie!”I bellowed her name, nothing else, the sound of it sharp and carrying over the open water.
“Do you think she heard?”
“She’s aware we’re here,” was my flat reply.
A ripple began in the center of the loch, the undulating surface rolling toward the shore.Waves began sloshing on the beach, growing in intensity as Nessie approached.
A gasp escaped Davina when Nessie’s head emerged, sleek and hornless, perched atop a neck longer than most dragons, a result of her body adapting to its aquatic home.I noticed she still wore the same pendant I’d seen her with the last time we met.Unusual, as my kind didn’t usually wear any adornment.
Nessie ceased her approach several yards from the pebbled shore and towered over us.When she spoke, the tone lacked the dulcet notes she used to have and emerged low and terse.
“About time you showed.My patience isn’t finite.”
“You’re lucky Davina is here at all, given your actions.Really, Nessie, sending a Red Cap?If not for my intervention, the professor would be dead.”
“She’s just a human.Why would you even care?”
“I don’t want or need trouble with the authorities.”Not the entire truth, but admitting Davina was special would reveal a weakness.Speaking of whom, it surprised she remained quiet.A glance showed Davina with her lips parted, staring, frozen.Nessie’s doing, but perturbing because Davina had easily countered my mental suggestion the first time we met, and I thought my mental powers of persuasion stronger than Nessie’s.
“Is trouble from the humans the only reason you don’t want to see her dead?”A taunting purr.
Rather than reply, I posed my own question.“What do you want with Davina?”
“Nothing.”Nessie tossed her head.“She was simply a means to an end.A lure, if you please, to bring you here.”
At her admission, I growled, “You put Davina in danger because you wanted me to visit?You could have simply sent me an invite.”
“Would you have come?”
Instead of lying, I shrugged.“Probably not.There is nothing for us to say to each other.”
