Kelpie (Come Love a Fey) (23 page)

I
frowned and tried my best to look stupid.  “What guy?”

He
turned those bright eyes on me.  “Surely you’ve heard.  Things circulate fast
in a small town like this.  The man who escaped from the mental hospital?  The
murderer?”

I
shook my head.  “Oh, that.  Scary, isn’t it?  To think someone like that might
be running around our little town.”

He
raised an eyebrow.  “Quite.”  He leaned back, bracing an arm on the seat behind
me, subtly shifting closer.  The way he spoke was formal.  He hadn’t been
around humans enough to pick up on our speech patterns.  Underhill then?

“Sorry,
I don’t know anything about that.  I haven’t seen anyone like that around,”   I
kept my voice even, trying not to sound defensive.

He
leaned closer to me, his voice almost a whisper.  “I can smell him on you.”

I
leaned away and looked at him as if he was crazy.  “Excuse me?”

He
laughed.  It was an awful sound, rippling and beautiful, but sinister- like a
chord that suddenly slid into a minor key.  It was not human laughter. When he
looked at me again, his expression had hardened.  That look of utter hatred
didn’t belong on such a pretty face.  “You know he isn’t like you.  He is a
monster.  Give him to me.” 

I
couldn’t draw a full breath.  My eyes widened.  “I don’t know what you’re
talking about,” I whispered.  I unzipped my jacket, revealing the baggy men’s
t-shirt I was wearing.  “This is my ex-boyfriend’s.  It probably still smells
like him.”  I did my best to sound ditzy and shallow.  Like I was too stupid to
know that his questions were strange. 

The
t-shirt was one I had brought back from Noah’s house.  It had been sitting with
the rest of my things until I grabbed it out of the basket today.  Hopefully,
it still smelled like Noah’s house.  “But he wasn’t the man on the news.  And I
haven’t seen him in over a week.”  I shrugged apologetically.

The
police officer grasped my chin.  There was a bite to the air, but the fingers
that caressed my jaw were warm.  “You look like her, a bit.”  He turned my head
from side to side, examining my profile.  “Strange that our tastes could be so
similar, and yet so completely different.”

It
was getting even harder to breathe.  I felt very tired- like just existing was
too much work.  I knew I should react- scream or run away- but I couldn’t move. 
I didn’t want to.  I just wanted to look into this man’s eyes until I fell
asleep.

“Shh…”
he whispered, his pretty voice taking on a lilting tone.  “Just let it be. 
Relax and give yourself over to me.”  I inhaled, panic screaming inside me, but
it died out, the desire to scream flowing away like water.  My breathing was
too slow.  I could feel every heartbeat.  Those beautiful eyes drew me in, and
I wanted nothing more than to please him.  He wanted me to stop breathing, so I
would.  I would sleep, just as he asked.

A
noise broke through my foggy consciousness, and those pretty eyes burned with
hatred.  A dog was barking itself insane.  “Pepper,” said a stern voice. 
“Pepper you shut your trap.”  I heard Mrs. Larsen’s voice, but I couldn’t turn
my head to look at her.  “Ada,” she said in a loud voice.  “Is there some kind
of trouble dear?” 

My
breathing sped up and tears sprang to my eyes.  The old woman was making her
way over, drawing attention to us.  There weren’t many people out and about,
but there were enough.  They were all looking our way, wondering what was going
on. 

The
officer sat up and withdrew his arm from behind my back, and I swear I felt my
heart speed up, lurch to sudden life in my chest.  “If I see you again, I will
kill you,” he said softly.  Then he stood and strolled down the sidewalk,
glancing around as if he were casually doing his rounds.

The
lethargy left me, and I took a deep, gasping breath.  Mrs. Larsen had reached
me and I shook my head at her deluge of questions.  I thought she was more
curious for gossip, than concerned for my welfare, but I didn’t care.  I
thanked God for her nosey tendencies.

“I’m
fine.  We were just chatting.  Nothing major.”  I stood and hurried away in the
opposite direction of my house, ignoring her confused look.  Once I was out of
sight, I leaned against a rough brick wall and let out a long, shaky breath. 
Jesus
Christ
.  Were they smelling Leith out?

I
took a very winding route back to my apartment, just in case anyone was
watching.  When I returned home, I told Leith what had happened.  He made me
describe the police officer in detail several times.

“Adhene,”
he said softly.  “They are close.  He can probably sense me nearby, but can’t
get close enough to know exactly where I am.”  I looked at him questioningly
and he waved a dismissive hand.  “I’ve been maintaining a small barrier.”

I
let out a shaky breath and he looked at me in concern.  “Are you feeling
well?”  He ran his big hands through my hair and over my body.  “Did he do something
to you?”

I
shook my head.  “I just…  I couldn’t breathe, and I felt really sleepy.”

A
muscle flexed in Leith’s lean cheek as he clenched his teeth.  “He tried to
make you sleep.”

I
frowned.  “He was just playing with my mind; it’s not that big of a deal.  I’m
fine now.”

He
grasped my shoulders and pulled me close, hugging me tightly to his broad
chest.  “Eternal sleep, Ada.”  He said into my hair.  “He was killing you. 
Elves can lull humans into a slumber so deep the soul departs the body.”

“What?”
 I started shivering in reaction.  I had almost died- just like that.  It had
been so easy.

Leith
pulled back and gave me a weak smile.  “But he decided to let you live.  I
wonder why that is…what did he say?”

I
shrugged.  It was all kind of hazy now, probably because I had been freaking
dying
. 
“He said I looked like someone.”

He
stroked the hair back from my eyes.  “Ada,” he looked deeply touched.  “I
thought you would go to the police after you saw that news story a few days ago. 
I didn’t think anyone would come looking for
you.
”

I
stared at him.  “You thought I was going to turn you in?”  Anger welled up and
I shoved him away.  “How could you think that?”  But then, one of his closest
friends had apparently poisoned him, and his cousin wanted him dead.

He
pulled me close.  “Thank you Ada,” he whispered into my hair as he held me
tight. 

I
t was the same
bar, and yet it wasn’t.  I was sure we had arrived here by the same means as
last time, driven down the same roads, and entered the same creaky old door
with the Good Neighbor Tavern sign- but it was a different world that greeted
us.  My eyes weren’t clouded by glamour and fey tricks. 

The
door swung open and we entered the dim interior of the bar.  The layout was the
same- pool tables in the center, bar on one side of the room, booths and tables
on the other.  That was the only thing that hadn’t changed.  I stepped closer
to Leith, as some primal instinct told me that I was the only human in the
room.  The feeling of not belonging beat upon my skin like a physical force. 
Leith didn’t say anything, but he took my hand and gave it a squeeze.  Everywhere
I looked, I saw creatures I thought only existed in Hollywood.  A tall man with
wispy hair and long arms brushed into me in passing.  When I looked up, he winked
and smiled at me with a mouthful of long, pointed teeth.  I kept my gaze glued
to the floor and didn’t look around again for quite a while.

Leith
led the way to the bar, pulling me through the crowded room in his wake.  The
bartender turned to him with a weary expression.  She was about my height, and
could have easily passed for human if it weren’t for the stubby, feathered
wings that protruded from her back. 

“I
would like to speak with Mair.  Will you tell her The Kelpie is here?”  His
voice was friendly, but I don’t think it was his manners that caused her to
suddenly flush a pretty purple color and break into a flirty smile.

She
nodded her head toward a table at the back of the bar and Leith towed me in
that direction.  A stooped, wrinkled old woman sat there alone, quietly
watching the patrons as she munched on a basket of fries and sipped a bottle of
Killian’s.  The image was so incongruous to the rest of the atmosphere that I
tittered nervously to myself.  Leith shot me an impatient look over his
shoulder and I schooled myself into seriousness.  He slipped into the battered
wooden chair next to the old woman and I sat on his other side. 

“Mair,”
he said in greeting.  I stared at the old woman in surprise and she cackled at
me, the folds of her face creasing into deep valleys.  This was Mair, the
voluptuous young beauty from before?  I nodded a greeting and she winked at
me.  Leith gave me a half smile and returned his attention to his friend.  “May
we speak more freely this time?”

She
nodded.  “I apologize for the cold greeting last time.  Adhene’s cronies were
near.”  She shrugged.  “I sense no Unseelie here tonight.”

Leith
nodded.  “Mair,” he took her wizened hand familiarly, and I raised an eyebrow. 
“Darling mother, can you tell me more about what was done to me?  What secret
have you been keeping?”

I
was surprised at the formal address.  Leith held this woman in high esteem. 
She closed her deep blue eyes, as if bracing for something unpleasant.  Perhaps
she was merely gathering her thoughts.  When she opened them again, she seemed
more centered.  “You know of the plot to kill the Overhill lords, of course.”

He
nodded and she continued.  “You were cursed, child, just as I told you when I visited
the human’s home.  It was a powerful curse to make one such as you sleep for so
long.”  She glanced at me and away again.  “And you are right to suspect there
was more to the curse than your sleep.”

Leith
clenched and unclenched his fist where it rested on the table.  “Can you tell
me who set this curse into motion?”

She
sighed and all the strength seemed to flow out of her.  “It was I.”

I
leaned forward, putting my elbows on the table.  “What?  Why would you do
something like that?  I thought you were his closest friend!”

The
old woman glared at me with her blueberry eyes.  “To save his life, of
course!”  She turned to Leith, her expression pleading.  His face had taken on
that blank mask that always fell when he felt strong emotions.

“Adhene’s
father ordered him to kill you.  It was to be his initiation, a test of his
devotion and power.”  She shook her head sadly.  “He wanted to eliminate all
the Overhill lords slowly and silently, so as not to cause conflict among the fey.”

I
watched Leith’s face closely.  His cheeks flexed as he clenched his teeth.  Mair
shrugged.  “Adhene approached me.  He sought to bring me over to his side.  I
would still be serving your family, he said.  He would protect me after you
were gone, in honor of you.”  She shook her head.  “He still had some light and
some honor in him then.  He didn’t want to harm you, but it was you or his
father.  That was before…”

I
was astounded by what passed for honor among the fey, but I kept my mouth
clamped shut.  Mair clasped her hands together in front of her on the table. 
It looked like she was trying to keep them from shaking.  I narrowed my eyes. 
No way.  This was just part of her act.  This woman- this creature- was strong
as steel.

“I
agreed.”  She said softly.  “I could hardly do otherwise.  If I had refused,
Adhene would just kill me and move on to the next person close to you.  I knew
what he was planning.  I couldn’t waste that knowledge.”

Leith
nodded and she went on.  “I worked the curse delicately.  It was one of the
hardest things I have ever done- creating a poison that wouldn’t quite kill,
and a spell that would bring you to the thing you needed.  It took nearly all
the magic I had.”

Leith
closed his eyes.  “The gathering in the wood…”

She
nodded.  “I slipped the poison into the goblets of all your followers.  I gave
you a double dose.  I spirited your body away where they wouldn’t look for you-
to this unpopulated place, surrounded by water.  Then…”  She sighed heavily. 
“Then I waited and prayed that I hadn’t killed you all.”  I could almost feel
her remembered fear.  I couldn’t imagine going to such desperate lengths to
save someone.

She
spoke in a whisper.  “I hid them all, one by one.  I buried you in the lake,
oceans away from Adhene, in the center of the New World- but first I took your
blood and a lock of your mane.  I needed proof that I had killed you.  The
blood-soaked mane of the water demon was a powerful tool.”

“And
he believed you.”  Leith was calmer now, more under control.

Mair
nodded.  “I’ve been both following his orders and sabotaging his efforts for
two hundred years, hoping you would wake in a world where the threat had
disappeared.”

She
let out a short, bitter laugh.  “I have succeeded to some extent.”  She
narrowed her eyes in gleeful spite.  “Your traitor uncle is dead and gone.  He
meant to leave Hiroshima before the bomb was released, but he didn’t quite make
it.  It was a fitting end, since it was his followers who developed the
technology, his people who perpetuated the war.  I made sure the bomb was released
early.  Several of Anyon’s most powerful followers just happened to be with him
at the time,” she said innocently.  “It’s only the rest of Underhill you have
to contend with now.  And that lot won’t stand on its own without Adhene.”