Kelpie (Come Love a Fey) (14 page)

I
tried again.  “You did this so I would see your world?”  I was met with silence. 
He didn’t even seem to be breathing.

“Fine,”
I said, starting to get pissed.  “I get it, I’ll leave.”  I turned to go back
inside, then stopped in surprise, staring into my living room as a large hand
appeared on each side of me, pinning me to the glass without touching me.

I
turned slowly.  His head was bowed, hidden in shadows, and his hair had fallen
forward, masking his eyes.  I remembered how those eyes had turned red.  I
shivered, not able to see the thoughts crossing his face.  I squeezed my eyes
closed, afraid of what he would do.

There
was a whisper of movement in the air and his lips covered mine.  His soft, full
mouth moved against mine, ever so gently.  No other part of him touched me.  It
wasn’t an attack, but a question.  I slowly lifted my hands and slipped them
through his silky hair, pulling him closer in answer.

He
deepened the kiss and I leaned in, wanting more.  I slid my hands down to his
waist, urging him closer.  He lifted his head and the light fell on his face. 
His features kept changing- one moment they were normal, the next they were
cold and alien.  His eyes flashed red, and I froze.  It was as if someone had
thrown a bucket of cold water over me.  What the hell was I doing?  I pressed
one hand to his broad chest, and the other to my mouth, where I could still
feel his touch. 

He
looked down at me and that flat, emotionless mask dropped over his face again. 
He straightened, and very carefully took his hands away, putting distance
between us.  “I’m sorry,” he said calmly.  “I’ve frightened you.  That wasn’t
my intention.”

I
realized that I was still touching him, and dropped my hand.  I curled my
fingers, pressing my fist to my lips.  I didn’t trust myself to say anything.

Leith
reached a hand toward me, but dropped it when I flinched.  “I’m sorry I’ve
broken my promise to you.  I won’t hurt you.”  He gestured at the door.  “Please,
just go to sleep.  I’ll….stay out here for a while.”

I
wanted to say something, to make him understand that I wasn’t afraid of him.  That
I was afraid of me.  I wanted him to touch me again, and I didn’t.  Nothing
would come out.  I turned and went inside.  I didn’t feed the fish or put away
the food.  I went straight to my bedroom and shut the door before I could do
something I would regret.  I didn’t come out until the next morning.

*****

The
next day, I emerged from my room, hesitant and uncertain.  Part of me hoped the
previous day had been a dream... but only part of me.  Leith was sitting at the
kitchen table eating sushi.  His features were still strange, with just that
little hint of otherness.  Cat was curled up by his feet, looking at him with
adoring eyes.  I nudged the furball away and went to get him some cat food. 

“You
have to stop spoiling him, or you’ll never be able to eat in peace,” I admonished. 
Leith fed the fat glutton shamelessly.

He
looked up from the magazine he was reading and grinned.  It was the same grin
he always gave me when he was up to mischief.  “We beasts have to stick
together.”

I
rolled my eyes.  “So, are you still planning on going out this morning?”

He
nodded and went to take care of his plate.  “We’ll leave as soon as you’re
ready.  I don’t want to waste the morning.”

I
got myself a bowl of cereal and stood at the counter, stuffing my face.  It
seemed as if nothing had changed.  But then, I guess nothing really
had
. 
Leith had always been as he was; it was just my perception of him that was
different.  Nothing was new; I could just see some of it now.  I remembered his
soft, full mouth covering mine and felt my cheeks growing hot.  Okay, maybe
some things had changed.  But, he had apologized, so obviously he considered
that a mistake.  I would just forget about that little detail.  I looked up to
find him sitting at the table, watching me.  He raised an eyebrow and I turned
to the sink to wash out my bowl and spoon.

“Are
you feeling unwell this morning?”  His deep voice sounded concerned, but when I
glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, he was silently laughing. 

“I’m
fine,” I said grabbing the dishtowel.  “Just a little bit of indigestion. 
It’ll pass.”

I
dried my hands and tidied the kitchen.  “So, why is your cousin trying to kill
you?”  I kept my voice casual. 

He
sighed.  “It’s a long story, but you heard most of it at your parents’ house. 
Basically, there are a couple of factions of fey that do not get along.  Some
of them wanted to destroy the humans.  And part of that plan included
destroying all the fey that might stand in their way- those of us who live Overhill,
that live alongside humans.”

Well,
that was unnerving, if I chose to believe it.  I bent to put my shoes on.  “Let’s
go.”

*****

The
morning sun touched the glittering surface of the river.  It was a narrow thing
this far north, more of a large creek than one of those mile-wide rivers you
see in other states.  It was beautiful nonetheless.  A small group of wood ducks
paddled around near the bank, but they took flight as we approached.

“So,
is Adhene a Kelpie, like you?”  I stepped over a fallen log and Leith grabbed
my arm to steady me.  I felt so clumsy next to him.  His nearness didn’t help. 
It turned me into even more of a bumbling klutz.

“Adhene
is an elf.  My father and his were brothers.  His mother was an elf, like our
fathers.”  He shrugged.  “But my mother was a half-human shifter.”

I
raised my eyebrows and he shrugged.  “Having human blood didn’t endear me to my
uncle, but Adhene and I were close when we were young.”

I
didn’t comment, and we walked on in silence.  Finally, Leith called a halt.  I
sat on a large boulder by the stream while he crouched down and did his
hands-in-the-water trick.  This time I watched him closely.  The riverbank
looked like a riverbank.  The river looked like a river- just a muddy bank and
calm water.

He
closed his eyes and began murmuring.  His deep voice lapped over my skin like
the tiny waves at the muddy bank.  He had been at it for a minute or so when a
fish jumped out of the water.  It arched its back in a wild, graceful movement
and splashed back into the water.  Another followed it.  The fish were huge. 
Much larger than anything I would expect to see in this shallow part of the
river.

As
I watched the fish dancing, I caught a movement further out in the middle of
the river.  A sleek brown head broke the surface and a large muskrat paddled
toward Leith.  It didn’t come too close to the bank, but swam in lazy circles
directly in front of him.  My roommate looked perfectly at home perched there. 
His sleek black head was bowed and his arms submerged in the water.  He was
poised motionless, as if he were about to dive into the water at any moment.

A
shot rang out, close at hand.  I jumped at the loud boom, then froze in fear. 
Leith stood and leapt into motion faster than my eyes could follow.  He vaulted
gracefully over my head and dashed off downstream.  I shook myself.  Hunters,
of course.  It was hunting season.  The woods would be crawling with them.  It
was stupid of us to have come here now, but it seemed that Leith could talk me
into just about anything, no matter how absurd.

I
took off after him, afraid he would get himself killed running around the
woods.  Of course, now I would probably get myself killed too.  “
Fairies
!” 
I muttered under my breath as I puffed along, tripping over rocks and swiping
at the twigs that yanked at my hair and clothes.

I
found Leith not far upstream.  He stood silent, staring at the deer that lay
bleeding at his feet.  The poor thing, a doe, took her last gurgling breath as
I reached his side.  She had been shot in the chest.  I pressed a hand to the
back of my mouth.  I had never seen this up close.  It was awful.  There was
bright blood spattered all over.  She had kicked and scrabbled in the dirt with
her last bit of energy and the soil was turned, mixed with the thick layer of
dead leaves that covered the forest floor.  Hunters would claim it was a clean
kill and she had felt nothing.  That would be a lie.  There was nothing clean
about this.

I
glanced around.  “Do you see the hunters?”  I was afraid we might be mistaken
for the deer if they were to come tracking her.

“She
was drinking from the river when she was murdered.”

I
glanced up at Leith’s face for the first time, startled.  His expression was
black and he was vibrating with suppressed rage.  He didn’t bother to look
human.  I swallowed hard and fought the urge to back away. 

“I
could feel it because I was touching the water.  She was startled.  She thought
she had lost them.”  He went to kneel by the deer, his big hand stroking her
thick pelt.  I followed slowly, afraid to make him even angrier.  “We should
probably leave it alone.  The hunters will be looking for it.”

He
glanced up at me.  His blue eyes were dark pools, and his expression was spiteful. 
“They won’t find this place.”  His eyes grew lighter as he spoke, reaching that
pale blue color again.  His hair rippled as if stirred by a breeze that wasn’t
there.  “I’ve made sure of it.”  A shiver passed over my skin. 

I
stepped forward hesitantly, and reached out to tug at his sleeve.  “We should
go…”

He
jerked his arm away from me and gave me an angry look.  “This is why my kind
struggles for survival.  Humans are murderous, ignorant, heartless creatures.” 

I
crossed my arms.  “Look, Leith," I said calmly.  “I know this is horrible,
but it’s how we survive.  You eat fish,”   I cajoled.  “Killing a deer isn’t
much different.”

He
rose in a smooth movement and grabbed my upper arms with bruising force.  “A
deer?  You see a deer!”  I had thought he was pretty pissed before.  That was
nothing.  He gave me a shake, turning me to look at the dead deer.

“After
the gift I have given you, are you still blind?”  He dragged me to the
carcass.  “What do you see?”  His voice was deadly calm, but he may as well
have been shouting.  “What do you see?”

I
shook my head.  “It’s a deer Leith….  It’s just a deer.”  He was really
starting to scare me.

He
crouched, jerking me down so that I knelt by the deer.  My knees rested on the
blood-soaked ground, and I could smell the metallic scent of it.  Grasping my
hand in his, he forced me to touch the deer, planting the palm of my hand in
the soft fur of its shoulder.  I struggled ineffectually as my fingers sank
into its thick red pelt.

I
gasped, and Leith tightened his hold on me.  “What do you see?” he whispered.

Hot
tears pooled in my eyes, and spilled over to drip down my cheeks.  The image
before me was watery as I stared through my tears.  “What do you see?”

My
voice was a broken sob.  “I see her.”  Before me, crumpled on the ground, with a
huge bloody hole in her chest, was one of the most beautiful women I had ever
seen.  Her reddish brown hair glinted in the morning sun, and her pale skin was
spotted like a fawn’s pelt.  Her long red lashes rested against her high
cheekbones as if she were sleeping.  Her slender legs were covered in soft fur
and ended in dainty cloven hooves.

Leith
let go of my hand and pushed me away.  “This is what humans are.  You are all
so blind you cannot see what is in front of your eyes, even when you are
shown.  You kill and trample and defile everything around you.”

He
gently smoothed the dead woman’s hair and murmured something in a language I
couldn’t understand.  “Adhene and the rest of Underhill are right about your
kind.  It’s pointless to try to co-exist.”

I
stood and nervously shifted my weight from foot to foot.  “What will you do
with her, Leith?” 

He
didn’t look at me.  “I’ll take care of her.  She is one of my kin.”  He lifted
her in his arms as if she weighed nothing, oblivious to the dirt and blood.  I
stepped forward to help but he turned away, tossing a cold look over his
shoulder.

“Leave.”

I
reached out for him again, but he kept walking.  “I won’t let dirty human hands
touch her again.”

I
wrapped my arms around myself.  “I’ll go get the car.”

He
turned and walked out into the middle of the river, still holding his burden. 
“Don’t bother.  Go home.”

“Leith…” 
I started to object, but he cut me off.

“Leave,
human
!”  He spat it, as if it was a dirty word.

I
turned on a heel and headed for the car.  I didn’t bother to shield myself from
the branches and thorns that tore at me, oblivious to the pain.  I reached the
car, gasping for breath.  I slipped in and started the engine automatically.  My
mind was whirling, but it couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought.  Before I
knew it, I was sitting in the parking lot of my apartment, shaking.

A
sort of heavy calm began to settle over me as I locked the car and made my way
to the apartment.  I think my mind finally gave up trying to make sense of what
had happened and just… shorted out.  None of this could possibly be real.