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Macey sighed and got out of the bed. Halfway across the room, her head exploded in pain. She vaguely felt how her body crumpled to the floor, but she was fixed on the source of the pain, a thick, black hand gripping her mind as if it was a physical object. She struggled against its hold, but it only resulted in more pain.
“DON’T STRUGGLE, LITTLE KELPIE,” a loud voice boomed, making her shiver at its cruel, cold tone. “YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME.”
“Who are you?” she shouted in her mind, her voice wavering from pain. “Let me go!”
A laugh reverberated all around her.
“THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. YOU ARE MINE NOW. YOUR MIND IS MINE, AND YOUR BODY WILL SOON FOLLOW. REJOICE, FOR YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR MASTER.”
Despite her fear, she laughed. “Are you for real? People don’t speak like that.” It was taking all she had to pretend that she was unaffected by his words. The pain was making it hard to focus, but she pushed it away as hard as she could.
“I ALREADY HAVE ONE OF THE SEVEN. YOU ARE THE SECOND. THE OTHERS WILL SOON FOLLOW.”
“Give him back,” she growled, unsure why she knew it was Flint he was talking about, nor why she was so accepting of that. But Flint didn’t belong to the Voice. Flint belonged to her. Instead of responding properly, the Voice just laughed hollowly through her mind, causing shooting pains through her head on top of the duller one that’d appeared when the Voice had.
“Macey!” Jared’s voice cut through the pain as the laughter faded, along with some of the pain. “Macey, say something, please.” She was surprised by how worried he sounded. After all, he wasn’t aware of that she’d decided he was hers, surely he shouldn’t feel anything more than a very mild concern over someone who he claimed to be protecting. If that’s what she was going to refer to kidnapping as now.
“Here.” It was Cam this time, and something damp pressed against her head.
“Maybe we should take her back to the pool?” Jared asked. As her mind regained control a little, she noticed that she was lying on the floor, and her head was on someone’s lap. Jared’s she imagined. His hand was stroking back her hair soothingly. She was sure it was him, but didn’t want to open her eyes to find out.
“No, not pool,” she murmured. Shifting would probably get rid of the pain in her head, but only because the pain in her body would distract her. Which made it stranger still that the Voice had managed to cause so much pain. Her threshold was pretty high. It had to be when she went through shifts like those, and yet the voice had her almost collapsing. Or completely so, if her other two fainting spells were anything to go by.
“Will the shift not help?” Cam asked softly, sounding closer this time, though she wasn’t sure if that was because he’d sat down next to her, or that her head was just clearing more.
“Chemicals,” she got out, sounding fragile even to herself and hating that they’d be able to hear that in her voice. Weakness wasn’t something she liked showing. It never had been, not growing up with her brothers. Which reminded her...no. She refused to accept any of that. Bruce and Jerry wouldn’t betray her, she refused to accept that. Though she also suspected that it wasn’t quite as cut and dry as she thought. Things never were.
“Oh shit,” Jared muttered. “Why didn’t we think of that?”
“Because we didn’t expect to have a kelpie come to stay?” Cam replied. He rested a hand on her arm, and she appreciated the contact. She appreciated the contact with both of them actually. It was soothing in a way she would never have suspected before.
“Kidnapped,” she muttered, still unable to form proper sentences. Damn, the Voice and the pain had taken a lot out of her. More than she’d admit to if any of them actually asked. To her surprise, Cam laughed, actually sounding amused.
“Yes, okay. I didn’t expect to kidnap a kelpie.” He waited a moment, and though she couldn’t see him, she knew he was hesitating. “But aren’t you glad I did?” he whispered softly, as if he didn’t really want to say the words. Probably because it’d been less than twenty-four hours. She should say no. She shouldn’t feel so comfortable with them. It shouldn’t feel so right. And she certainly shouldn’t let them know that their mere presence was doing more to make her feel better than anything else in her life.
“Yes,” the word slipped out without her meaning it to.
“Good, now let me go drain the pool.” A shuffling noise came as he made to get to his feet. With surprising deftness, Macey flung her arm out and closed one of her hands around his wrist.
“No. Don’t go.” Damn, when had she got so needy? She really shouldn’t let them see this side of her, she had no idea what it’d actually do. Inwardly, she sighed with relief as he sunk down next to her again.
“What happened, Macey?” Jared asked, still stroking her hair gently. She attempted to shake her head, but that only made the dull ache intensify.
“Not sure.” Slowly, she opened her eyes, cringing at what felt like a bright light.
“Try and explain?” he prompted.
“Where did Flint really go?” Because she was as sure that simply to find her brothers was as much baloney as the sailors who thought manatees were mermaids. If they thought the peaceful manatees were anything like actual mermaids, then they’d be in for a shock when they met the real thing. The mer were a rather...aggressive...race to say the least. Or they were if Aunt Nessie’s stories were to be believed. She claimed to have met some mer while on her own quest out of the loch.
“To Earth,” Jared said.
“Specific,” she replied, turning her gaze on Cam. She reckoned he’d be the one who cracked easier.
“He went to see if your brothers were safe,” he replied softly, though she still thought he was hiding something. She didn’t say a word, her eyes locked with Cam’s and she could see him about to give in to her. “He went to see if he could find more about the fàth-fiata.”
“Wait, you don’t know about them?” she blurted out, sitting up quickly before clutching her head in her hand, the ache becoming more intense in some places. Whoever the Voice was, they’d done a real number on her.
“Just the legends.” Cam shrugged.
