Page 57 of Loched in Love

But standing here beside two very mythical creatures I can almost sense the hum of magic coursing through the organic shell covered walls.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Maren says softly, her dulcet voice echoing lightly through the seashell lined chamber. She runs a smooth hand over a pattern of flowers. “Humans come from all over the world to try and guess who built this place. Templars, the Romans, the Phoenicians, and even archaeologists haven’t the faintest idea.”

She turns back to face us and her stormy gaze locks onto mine with a heavy weight. “This grotto once housed Excalibur, the mythical sword of Camelot, if you can believe it. Long before the legend of how it was tossed into the lake, the sword was kept here, and it was guarded by the deep water currents that once flowed.”

She looks back at Lachlan, a flicker of sorrow crossing her expression. “And Lachlan is the one who helped create it. Well, added to it anyway. We’ve more cavern walls than we knew what to do with now. But long after the sword left us, when Vivian first cursed him and left him stranded, he came to us for aid. I used my own ancestral magic to teleport him to an old and powerful witch, the only one we knew who could help him break the curse Vivian left on him. Lachlan used his power over the waterways and directed the underground channels to push millions of seashells through the tunnels in payment to my coven for the magic.”

“Aye, but it was nothing pushing the wee discarded things together. I didn’t harm any creatures and they’re easy to find once you know where to look,” Lachlan says, matter-of-factly.

My heart aches as I look up at him, my professional fascination melting into a deep emotion. I squeeze Lachlan’s hand, realizing just how much he sacrificed by bartering what he could at the time and creating an oceanic ecosystem palace, only to reach the witch and the moat to become his prison.

Lachlan takes a step forward, his voice like gravel. “That’s why we’re here, Maren. After Elena broke the curse, everything happened so very fast you ken. We need your help to magically reach into her lair and grab our luggage.”

Maren nods slowly, a fierce and confident smirk on her lips as she looks from him to me. “Left it right in the harpy’s nest then. We teleported you to Odette so she could free you, and she got you imprisoned in that tiny pond instead. I’ve never forgiven myself. I’ll use my magic to pull your things from Vivian’s nose free of charge.”

“That’s mighty kind of you.”

“Wait,” she says, turning to look up at him. “What about your trident? Did you manage to get it fixed.”

Lachlan’s expression suddenly shifts, a flash of boyish pride cutting through his demeanor. He steps back slightly, and his hand begins to glow suddenly as the shiny trident appears. “Aye, I managed to convince Vivian to repair the thing before we made our escape.”

Maren gapes at the weapon, her stormy gaze reflecting its glow, and a sharp and wicked grin pulls across her lips. She looks from the trident to me and is clearly impressed with us both.

She takes a step closer, her gaze locked on the weapon. “Listen to me, Lachlan. If Vivian’s handiwork is fresh, her magical signature should be all over it. If you’ll let me borrow it for the ritual, I can use its connection to her lair and bypass all her securities. I’ll snatch it right from under the bitch’s nose and consider it a debt long overdue.”

Lachlan looks down at the gleaming trident for a fraction of a second before handing it over with a decisive nod.

“Take it,” he says, his voice filled with absolute trust. “Whatever you need, but she did mention the weld is fresh and may need some time.”

The moment Maren’s smooth fingers wrap around the trident, a bright blue light flares along its prongs. The brilliant sheen reflects off the millions of seashells coating the cavern walls, casting a long and shimmering oceanic glow across the entire grotto. I’m utterly spellbound watching the raw and elemental energy hum through the air.

Maren grips the thing, her gaze full of appreciation. “Oh, her magic is most definitely fresh, and I can see where she repaired it too.”

“Aye, she said it’d take days before I can use it properly again. But Vivian always did have a heavy hand with magic.”

Maren holds it out and away from her before nodding. “I think with as little magic as this’ll take, it shouldn’t be a problem. I can practically smell Vivian’s spite clinging to its edges, which makes getting your things back a walk in the park.”

She turns toward the center of the chamber, holding the trident out in front of her as she approaches a small dark opening in the floor, where the faint sound of rushing subterranean water echoes. “Stand back, you two. Give a girl some room to work her sea magic.”

Lachlan immediately steps back, his massive arms sliding around my waist to pull my frame securely against his side. I can feel the excited thumping of his heart against my shoulder. The long exhausting road trip in Arthur’s car, the panic of the crowds, along with the centuries of isolation have had to have taken their toll, but I feel only happiness from him.

“Watch closely, my flower,” Lachlan whispers, tickling the lobe of my ear with his breath and sending shivers down my spine. His tone is full of warmth and his deep voice vibrates only with pride. “You’re about to see one of the greatest wielders of selkie magic go to work. I left them outside in the courtyard, if that helps at all.”

“Shouldn’t matter where they are in that lair of hers. The magic knows my intent.” Maren lowers the tip of the trident into the hidden water channel and closes her eyes as she begins to hum. The sound echoes and reverberates off the seashell-lined walls, the signal to the start of her magical heist.

Her low hum deepens and transforms into a low and melodic chant that seems to come from everywhere, so much so I can feel it in the soles of my boots.

I watch in complete and rapt awe as the trident lights up with an aquamarine light that bleeds into the dark water pooling at her feet and turns the seashells littering the walls different colors.

The small channel begins to swirl and bubble rapidly like a tiny whirlpool right there in the stone floor of the grotto.

“Aha, I’ve got it. Just a moment more now.”

Lachlan’s hold on me tightens imperceptibly, tugging me in so close I can feel his tense eagerness. My inner biologist is in a riot, trying and failing to logically comprehend how physical matter can be displayed through an underground water vein, but the breathtaking spectacle and knowing its happening blows my mind.

With a sudden and sharp movement, Maren yanks the trident skyward.

The water in the floor surges like a miniature geyser but instead of a splash, a heavy bubble of displaced water begins to bubble and break over the stone floor. As the liquid drains back into the chalk cracks, two large and completely dry suitcases clatter onto the ground.