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“I believed you to have been captured,” he replies, inhaling deeply, cheek pressed to the top of my hair. Then, he pulls away. “Where did you find those?”
“One of your old acquaintances, I presume.” Turning away, I retrieve the backpack and offer it to him. “But maybe we should go before that thing comes back.”
“It won’t be returning.”
“Why not?”
“’Twas a Kelpie, and they do not enjoy the fight. They prefer their prey to be easy.”
“A Kelpie?”
“Evil creature that takes the form of a horse. It preys on the lone travelers, convincing them to climb onto its back so it can drown them in the water and feed on your life energy as it leaves your body.”
I swallow hard. Holy shit. I was literally moments from death.
“Then we should go.”
“It’s not coming back,” he says, opening the pack and peering inside. “They do not attack more than one person, and we’re together now.” Completely unconcerned with the fact that an evil horse just dove headfirst into the water, he kneels and sets the pack down. “You said an old acquaintance of mine?”
“His name was Griffin. His wife—I mean mate—”
“Laoise.”
“Yes.” I breathe a sigh of relief because, even as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew there was a possibility they were only playing me.
“You saw them?”
I nod. “They just had a baby. Even let me hold it.” I hold my arms out in demonstration.
“Their baby was born?”
“A little boy named Seamus.”
He smiles. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Anyway, Griffin saw me wandering. They gave me all kinds of shit about being naked—”
His eyes all but bulge out of his head. “Why in the bloody hell were you naked?”
“I wasn’t. I was in my chemise, but they said I might as well have been naked.”
The way he relaxes, it’s almost charming. “They gave you those clothes?”
“And the ones in there are for you. They also gave us some other supplies—bread and stuff.”
“They are good people. Laoise would bring our camp fresh food whenever they came to visit.” He withdraws the clothes and eyes the water with a yearning glance.
“If you want to risk the Kelpie, by all means.”
Rafferty chuckles. “Very well. Let us go find a stream where I’m not at risk of drowning.” After stuffing the clothes back into the pack, he slings it over his shoulder and stands. We walk together, him carrying a blade in his hand, back into the trees.
“What happened to you?” I finally ask, not really sure I want to know the answer. He’s obviously alive, but as I’ve learned, there are things worse than that in this world.
“The Oillipheist is dead,” he says, softly. “Though there will likely be more before this journey is over.”
“What is an Oillipheist? And there was only one? I thought I heard at least three.”
“One. They use that ability to confuse their victims. And as to what it is, it’s a dark creature capable of taking on the form of a wyvern.”
