AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They were now within shouting distance, so Macey put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Her brothers had taught her to do that when she’d first come onto land.
The guys turned and even from the distance, Macey could see their jaws drop. They had to look ridiculous, floating down from the heavens like angels. Or demons, in Jared’s case.
“Macey?” Cam shouted and Macey waved innocently.
“Hey guys! We didn’t want to miss the party.”
Inside, she wasn’t feeling as calm as she pretended to be, but she didn’t want to worry the men just yet. Maybe the battle was already over and everyone was safe. Maybe the vision of her standing inside that column of water wasn’t going to happen, or some time in the future, not now.
Air pushed them forward one last time until they were hovering a few feet above the boat. Then she let them drop, and Macey landed in Flint’s arms, his mouth pressing against hers before she could even react.
Jared hadn’t landed as softly, judging from his shouts, but Macey didn’t care. Flint’s lips were teasing her, welcoming her, and all she could think about was how comfortable she felt in his arms. They’d not been separated for long, but a lot had happened since they’d split up at Malan’s place.
“My turn,” Cam grumbled and a moment later, Macey was ripped from Flint’s arms. She opened her mouth to complain, but Cam used that opportunity to kiss her, his tongue meeting hers in a breathless kiss. He ran his hands over her back and she melted into his touch. Now that she was with all her men again, she could feel the pieces in her come together; pieces she hadn’t even noticed breaking apart. Only now she felt how she’d not been whole.
But now she was.
When Cam ended the kiss, she stepped back and turned to Rónán. He was standing there, watching her, apparently not quite sure whether he could welcome her the same way as the other two.
She smiled at him and opened her arms. Faster than she could see, he’d moved to her and hugged her tight, his lips seeking hers.
“Sorry to interrupt your little boat trip, but have you fought the Orca yet?” Jared asked, reminding Macey that they had more important things to do than kiss her men.
“Yes and no,” Cam said, his demeanour turning serious. Macey broke the kiss and turned, leaning against Rónán who wrapped his hands around her waist.
“We found it, threw some magic at it, but it dived and disappeared without us being able to follow. So now we’ve been waiting here for it to resurface,” Flint explained. “It’s strong and seems quite resistant to magic. Even my fire didn’t leave a trace on its skin. No idea why it fled and didn’t fight.”
“My fellow selkies are searching for it just now,” Rónán said from behind her, his chest vibrating softly as he spoke. “They don’t have a chance fighting it, but they’ll try and drive it to the surface so we can attack it. They’re giving me updates every few minutes.” He sighed. “It’s attacked two of their settlements already and several selkies have died. We need to kill it as soon as possible before it can slay any more of my people.”
“Why can’t the selkies fight it?” Macey asked in confusion. “Don’t you have magic?”
“Most of us don’t,” Rónán explained sadly. “I’m a bit of an anomaly. I know most kelpies have magic; maybe that’s why my people are jealous of you. The intrinsic selkie magic allows us to shift, but having offensive magic like me is rare.”
Macey almost felt sorry for the selkies. It was natural to her to have magic; and she couldn’t imagine having shifting as her only power. Sure, it was great to be able to be both a kelpie and human, but she loved her water magic and the thrill it gave her whenever she used it.
“So all we can do is wait?” she asked at the same time as a seal head broke the surface. She stared at it in wonder. It was larger than a normal seal, and the skin seemed to glitter in a slightly blue hue. She’d never seen a shifted selkie before; especially since Rónán wasn’t able to shift for some reason.
The selkie made a strange noise and Rónán moved to the edge of the boat to talk to it with the same whining sounds. It was a very different language to the clicks the kelpies used to communicate.
“It’s about a mile away,” Rónán translated and pointed to their left. “That way. It’s getting closer to the surface, so we might have a chance this time.”
The boat began to move and it took Macey a second to realise that it was Cam propelling it with his wind.
The selkie dived and disappeared in the dark waters.
“Was that a friend of yours?” she asked Rónán and he grimaced.
“I wouldn’t call her a friend exactly. More like a bully who I’d usually avoid. But right now, we’re all working together to fight the Orca.”
The boat was racing over the waves, sea foam flying through the air and hitting Macey’s face. She wiped it away, tasting the salt as it touched her lips. She preferred freshwater, but swimming in the wild sea was almost as good. They didn’t have many waves in the loch she’d grown up in, only during the winter storms.
“Almost there,” Cam warned them. “Better prepare for a fight.”
They spread out so that they were able to watch the water around them in all directions. There was no sign of the Orca, nor of any selkies.
“Did you manage to injure it at all?” she asked.
“I don’t think so,” Flint replied, frustration lacing his voice. “But it dived too quickly so we didn’t get to check. Let’s hope we can engage it longer this time.”
