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“Malan?” she repeated, looking at him with disbelieving eyes, trying to marry up what he was saying now, with what they’d told her before. “But you said that Malan lived centuries ago?” She ended on a short squeak and berated herself inwardly for it. They didn’t seem like the type that would be running away now, but she didn’t want to take that chance.
“We also told you we’d lived for centuries too,” Cam said with a slight laugh. “Is it too far-fetched to think that a prophet’s still around too?” She frowned and cocked her head to the side slightly. He had a point, and she wasn’t sure she liked that. She really needed to make sure they knew they could be wrong sometimes, it wasn’t good to let them know they could be right so often, otherwise she’d end up on the back foot for the rest of her life. Huh, the rest of her life? She glanced at the three men before nodding to herself. The rest of her life didn’t seem too bad really. Damn it, Macey, pull yourself together, she berated herself. She hadn’t known them long enough to be thinking or acting in this way, no matter how right it felt.
“Well, no...”
“And Malan’s not exactly around like we are either,” Jared added thoughtful, receiving a whack on the arm from Flint.
“Don’t spoil the surprise!”
Jared chuckled deeply. “You just want to see her reaction.”
“Your point?” Flint smirked and Macey glared at him.
“My reaction to what exactly?” She crossed her arms across her chest, no mean feat considering her position, pushing up her boobs and drawing three sets of eyes. Not her intention admittedly, but she’d take it.
Cam cleared his throat. “To Malan.” His voice was husky and he licked his lips, probably subconsciously, but she enjoyed the reaction she got from him. If only now was the time to do something about it.
“What are you hiding?” She narrowed her eyes at Cam, already figuring that he was the one likely to crack first. He looked a little uncomfortable, and couldn’t quite meet her gaze, only proving her point more. “Tell me,” she hissed. The three men exchanged glances, only worrying her further.
“Malan is...”
“Different?” Jared suggested.
“Dead,” Cam supplied.
“How can we talk to him if he’s dead?” Macey asked, pulling a confused expression that seemed to have even Flint’s expression softening.
“His body is dead, his spirit, not so much. We can still talk to him.”
“Cause that makes any sense,” Macey muttered, already confused out of her mind.
“So a house in the mists and the Voice in your head are both perfectly acceptable, but talking to someone dead, isn’t? Good to know where the boundaries are.” Flint’s eyes danced with amusement as she looked up into them, and she found she liked this side of him, he seemed a little more angry and serious the rest of the time.
“Talking to the dead does seem a little more extreme,” she said, pushing herself up so that she was more upright, and grasping her head as the dull thudding intensified.
“It’s really not. We’ll visit where his spirit lives, ask him what we want to know, and that’s that.”
“That’s that?!” she half-shouted despite the pain that brought. “Oh hi Macey, what did you do today? Well, I talked to the fucking dead. By the waves, you’re all insane.” She stood up, swaying slightly with the effort.
“Any more insane than being able to turn into a water horse?” Jared asked, also rising to his feet, with Cam doing the same. The three of them were stood in a circle, with her in the middle. Until she stepped towards Jared that was. She was sure her hair had already begun to turn green, and if the men were to be believed, then her eyes would be glowing too. Miraculously, the headache seemed to have vanished along with her partial shift.
“Call me a water horse again,” she challenged Jared, almost feeling her eyes flare and a weird burning sensation on her upper back, but she pushed it all away, not caring what it meant.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. You’re a kelpie,” Jared said, holding up his hands, but still smiling slightly.
“Don’t forget it.” Her eyes bored into him, and then she fixed an equally stern glare on the other two.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Cam said, shaking his head.
“Not worth it at all,” Flint added. “But you need to calm down, Macey. Getting angry isn’t going to solve anything.”
“Says you!” The laugh she gave sounded a little manic, even to her ears, but that wasn’t going to stop her. “You’ve been nothing but angry since I got here.”
“That’s not true,” Flint said, stepping forward.
“Okay, fine, you’ve been sixty percent angry since I got here.”
Flint laughed, moving closer still so that their bodies were almost touching. “Who counts angry in percentages?” he asked, his voice low and rumbly and tempting. It soothed out some of her anger, and despite herself, she began to calm down, the magic bubbling through her blood almost vanishing completely.
