And then I was suddenly free. I kicked out and swam for the surface with all my might. I needed air, and then I would do my damnedest to help Marcus. I couldn’t leave him behind when he was only in this situation because he tried to save me.
But I had to breathe first. I broke the surface just as I thought my lungs were going to burst and managed one gulp of air before I was being pulled down again. I heard someone shout right before I went under and then the world was muffled and gauzy again and something was wrong because I was being dragged under by a hand, and that was something a kelpie didn’t have.
I looked down, horror dawning as I realized I’d made a mistake. This wasn’t a kelpie who would mindlessly eat me if he had the chance. The creature beneath me had the body of a horse but his legs had morphed into manly arms and as I watched, he shifted his body from equine to male. The horsehead shifted to a humanlike face, the magnificent mane becoming flowing white hair that floated around him like a halo, though this was no heavenly creature. He gripped my ankle and dragged me down to him.
He was each-uisge, an Unseelie creature who was easy to mistake for a kelpie but was infinitely more dangerous because he often shifted forms. If his normal horse form didn’t work, he could give himself hands and feet, as he had now. He pulled me down to face him and I realized we weren’t alone. The Gwragedd Annwn had joined him and they surrounded me, forming a circle I couldn’t break through even if I did manage to get away from the each-uisge.
He shifted his grip to my arms. My hair floated around, swaying at the edge of my vision. I couldn’t breathe. I’d managed to hold my breath this time, but I couldn’t for much longer. My lungs were tight, desperate to take a long gulp of air that did not exist here. My strength was waning, and I wondered what had happened to the vampire. I hadn’t liked the possessive way he’d looked at me, but I had to admit something about him pulled me in.
He’d been so beautiful, a bit like the dark lover who haunted my dreams from time to time. I’d never seen his face, only knew how it felt to be held by him, how safe I’d been in his arms. I wanted to see him again. Especially if this was the end of me.
It was odd. There were times when I’d longed for this, believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that I deserved this. But I couldn’t stop fighting. I couldn’t let go even when I knew in the back of my mind that it might be better for everyone.
Except my parents were out there according to the people I’d just met. According to Marcus they were out there and they wanted me. I was a child in that moment despite everything I’d done. I was a child who wanted so badly to see her mother and father, to have people who were truly mine, to not be alone in all the worlds.
So I fought with everything I had. I fought with my human strength, but it was waning quickly. Every second that passed, my lungs ached and the instinct was right there to take a breath, one that would fill my lungs with water. My brain had started to go fuzzy.
The each-uisge, pulled me in, one hand tangling in my hair, and I couldn’t fight back as he pressed his lips to mine. He sealed his mouth over mine, his thumbs pressing on my jaw so I couldn’t keep him out. Our bodies brushed against each other and I wished he was Marcus. If this was my last moment, I wanted to feel that vampire again.
Air. He gave me air. It flowed from his lungs into mine and I could suddenly think again.
And move. I pushed away, but arms pressed me from behind, the females holding me still for the male. I fought but I couldn’t win against those arms, couldn’t gain purchase with my feet because I was in a place so foreign I might as well have been taken to the stars.
He reached a hand out for my throat and I thought he would tear it open and feed from my blood. I waited for the stroke that would end my life, but he merely touched the charm, studying it before trying to tug it off. He pulled at the charm connected to the chain. It was made from purest silver and had been forged by a magician, used to keep and hold the magic that made up my soul. He tugged at it and I felt it pull at my neck. If I hadn’t been under water, I would have told the male that it was useless. I’d known when I’d placed the charm around my neck that I would never take it off. The only way it could be removed was my death, and then the risk I posed would be ended and the charm would have no power.
I shook my head because I couldn’t give him the words. If he thought he could steal my magic, he was wrong.
I’d made sure no one could take that magic. I’d done enough evil with it. I didn’t need to see what someone else could do if they took the magic from me. I intended to take it with me when I went.
That might be sooner than I’d expected because the air he’d given me was gone and I was struggling again.
He frowned and his fingers seemed to search for a clasp, for anything that would get the collar off my throat and into his hands. If I hadn’t been drowning, I could have explained to him that the collar had been magically closed and there was no clasp. It would be around my throat until my mortal body rotted, and even then it would mean nothing. It would be a simple piece of jewelry, the magic that animated me having long since passed back into the universe.
He pulled again and I felt that tug against the back of my neck. He frowned and suddenly the sprites closed in, trying to help him break the collar free. I could feel their desperation. They wanted the collar, needed it. Their cold hands slid along my skin and I felt their nails at my throat.
And then they were gone, the sprites pulling back as though they’d been touching something on fire. Only the each-uisge continued to pull. His eyes were on the metal around my neck and they were lit with something I couldn’t understand. He looked to me as if I should help him.
I couldn’t help anyone. I couldn’t breathe.
He seemed to understand that I wasn’t going to last long, and his hands moved to my face. He started to bring me close, to give me another breath of life, buy himself more time to steal my magic.
Before his mouth closed over mine, his eyes flared and I was suddenly free. That was when I realized the each-uisge was the one caught now. A dark head was at his throat and strong arms wrapped around his body. His arms and legs kicked, shifting from human to equine and back before my eyes. He was trying to fight but there was nothing he could do.
Marcus Vorenus’s head came up as he ripped the male’s throat out. Right before the world went foggy with blood, I saw those fangs of his, saw his will as he began to move toward me. He let his foe go and the each-uisge started to sink down into the depths. The vampire turned his attention to me.
But I couldn’t fight anymore either. I felt him reach for me as I dragged water into my lungs and I drowned.
Chapter Eleven
Kelsey
I ran in the direction I knew Marcus had gone. I wasn’t worried about Dev. He could keep up, but if Summer was in trouble, then it was likely Marcus was, too. That meant I had a job to do.
I ran, ground pounding under my boots, and I tried to let my senses open. I cursed inwardly because I should have already done this. I should have taken the opportunity to memorize Summer’s scent, but I’d been busy fighting the first group of assholes I’d seen and then freaking out about the fact that I was probably pregnant.
Definitely pregnant.
When a Green Man tells you you’re knocked up, you should believe him. It’s not something they tend to joke about, or at least not the one I knew.