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She swam to the closest one and put one of her webbed hooves on top of it, stopping the water flow. But there were three more. She could feel the water disappearing, and with it, all the energy that sustained her.
It was happening fast. She needed to think. There had to be a solution. She needed more water, but she couldn’t do that kind of magic in her kelpie form. She needed to shift, and then she could summon more water, and fill the pool again.
She took in another deep breath, making oxygen run
through her gills, then started to shift.
It hadn’t been this painful in a long time. Agony tore through her as her hooves formed into fingers and toes, her spine straightened and her scales turned back into smooth skin.
Macey screamed, water threatening to fill her lungs.
Suddenly, cool air surrounded her. Was she out of the water? No, even through her tear-filled eyes she could see that she was still at the bottom of the pool… but a large air bubble was forming around her. She spat out the water clogging up her throat and breathed in the fresh air.
What the waves was happening?
The air bubble began to move, taking her with it. She was drifting up, as if she was flying, leaving the half-empty pool behind.
She was set down on the edge of the pool and immediately, four large men surrounded her, blocking her view of the water.
“Explain,” Jared demanded, his incubus sultriness begging her to tell him everything. Except, she didn’t know what to say. “I…” she trailed off, not knowing where to even start.
Flint crouched down next to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as she shivered.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You can tell us.”
“I don’t know,” Macey muttered, sniffing as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“I think I do,” Rónán broke the silence which was already forming around them. Probably caused by none of the men quite knowing what to do with a broken kelpie.
“Tell me?” Macey whimpered.
Rónán sighed, before sitting down on the side of the pool, dangling his legs over the side and swinging them back and forth.
“She was doing what she was meant to,” he said after a few more moments of quiet.
“I’m not meant to hurt anyone,” Macey protested.
“No, maybe not you specifically. But kelpies. Your kind’s reputation had to come from somewhere,” he pointed out. “This is where. At least, I think so.”
“That doesn’t explain anything,” Jared growled.
“It does,” Rónán responded. “How long did she spend out of the water before St. Kilda?”
The men exchanged uneasy looks.
“We’re not sure,” Cam offered. “We lost track of time while she was trapped in the Voice’s keep.”
“It was two months, three weeks and four days.” Amber’s voice came from the doorway and Macey looked up to find the redhead leaning against there wood, with Izban just a couple of steps behind.
“You were counting?” Macey asked.
“Yes. I’m a beithir, we’re connected to the weather. We have an odd way of being able to tell how much time has passed. I was in there for a month and two days before you arrived. It’s not difficult to work out how long you’d been in there.” Amber shrugged.
“You’re amazing,” Izban whispered, only to be ignored by the rest of them.
“But I did shift after that,” Macey protested, though it sounded weak even to her own ears. “I was in the cseag’s pool and then again on St. Kilda…”
“Yes, but not for any substantial amount of time,” Rónán countered. “You need to regularly spend time in the water, if you don’t, then this will happen. And the longer you go without, the longer you need to be underneath to recharge.”
