Beneath the Earth (Seven Wardens Book 3) Read online

  She swam to him as fast as she could, but before she could reach him, her senses alerted her to another presence. Something big was approaching her from behind.

  The Orca.

  She turned and stared right into its open maw, rows of sharp teeth waiting to rip her apart. It was massive, far bigger than even a blue whale, and its eyes were glinting red with cruelty and hunger.

  This was not a being that could be bargained with.

  She hissed and turned, swimming away from it as fast as she could, hoping she could draw it away from her men. She hissed sharply while swimming, the kelpie version of a war cry.

  The Orca was much faster than her though, no matter how quickly she swam. She pushed some magic into the water around her, propelling her through the water. Now she was able to match the Orca’s speed, but she knew that she was using up a lot of power this way. She needed to confront him soon, before her energy ran out. But how was she supposed to fight this monster on her own?

  The image of the whirlpool flashed through her mind again. There had to be a reason why she’d been shown that vision. Maybe she should just try to create something like it. But once she did, she wouldn’t have the energy to fight it. She needed her guys.

  Macey changed direction again, swimming back to where the boat had been destroyed. She pushed herself to swim even faster, to get some distance between herself and the Orca.

  When she got closer, her antenna sense told her that there were other people swimming with her men. Each of them was held by at least two selkies who were helping them stay afloat. She’d never thought that she’d ever be indebted to a selkie, but right now, she was prepared to hug and kiss them all and promise them half her loch kingdom. Not that it was hers to give away, but it was the thought that counted.

  If only she could communicate with them to tell them what she was planning. She’d told Jared of her vision though, so hopefully he’d be able to figure it out.

  Once she’d reached a safe distance, she stopped. In the vision, she’d had been human, not kelpie, but there was no time to shift, and her water magic was a little stronger in her kelpie form anyway.

  She took a deep breath, her gills filtering the oxygen out of the cold ocean water.

  The Orca was almost upon her again. Time to weave some magic.

  She whinnied and expelled her magic, letting it form a small tornado that gripped the water and carried it with it, condensing it, then lifting it into the air as if she was trying to empty out the sea. Slowly, a funnel began to form like a spear of air penetrating the water.

  Her body shook with effort, but she kept pouring her magic into the whirlpool that was roaring before her. The Orca was fighting against the current, struggling not to be pushed into the hole in the ocean that Macey had created.

  It wasn’t strong enough. One moment, only its head was poking into the air, then the whole body was in the centre of the column of water, held there by… by what, exactly? Was it Air or perhaps Cam’s wind magic? She didn’t have the strength to look and see, but all that mattered was that the Orca was out of the water and in reach.

  A ball of fire shot through the air and landed on the Orca’s black skin, but it dissipated as soon as it touched the skin. There was no mark on the Orca, no trace of a wound. Flint threw more fire at the whale; balls, lances, rains of sparks. None of it seemed to injure the Orca.

  Sweat was forming on Macey’s scales, carried away by the water. She wasn’t going to be able to keep this up much longer.

  Then, a spear flew from the water, landing on the Orca’s flank. It fell into the depths of the whirlpool, not leaving a scratch on the whale’s skin, but more spears followed, thrown by selkies suddenly surrounding Macey.

  While they didn’t harm the whale, they certainly enraged it, and it flung its tail up and down, struggling against the hold the air had on it. More fire rained down on it, setting some of the spears alight. The first fiery spear embedded itself in the Orca’s back. It wasn’t deep, but it was more than they’d managed before.

  The selkies and Flint seemed to coordinate their attacks, with the wraith setting the spears on fire just before they hit the whale.

  Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot through the air, blinding Macey momentarily. Amber!

  She looked up through the murky sea, just about to make out the beithir flying above the wide opening of the whirlpool. Someone was sitting on her back, presumably Izban.

  Icicles rained from the sky; the mage’s doing. And just when Macey thought that everybody was fighting the Orca, a spear-shaped lance of pressed together sand rose from the depths, embedding itself in the Orca’s soft belly.

  It roared in pain, writhing in fury.

  Black dots were dancing before Macey’s eyes. Her magic was about to run out, but it wasn’t enough yet. She needed to keep up the whirlpool. The Orca wasn’t defeated yet; they needed more time.

  Breathing became difficult, but she didn’t stop pouring every single drop of magic into the column.

  Her vision faded, the spots turning into a dark screen. Her mind became foggy and with a final breath, she expelled her last bit of magic, before letting herself drift off into the blackness.

  Something pushed her back just before she lost consciousness; a shockwave of sort. She smiled. Hopefully, the Orca had been defeated.

  Thirteen

  “Macey,” Jared called, shaking her gently as she roused from sleep. Or exhaustion. Realistically, that option did seem more likely.

  “Mmm?” Maybe if she didn’t move much, he’d get into bed with her. Or one of the others would. If they wrapped her up in their arms, then rest would be all the sweeter. There was something about the comfort only her men could bring.

  “We need you to wake up,” he said. “We need to move, but can’t until you’re awake.”

  “Mm-what?” she murmured, but opened her eyes all the same. Not that it helped. They were still sticky from sleep and refusing to focus properly.

  “We’re by the side of the ocean and we need you to wake up so you can finish shifting,” Cam said, his words surprisingly calm given the situation she’d found them in.

  “Oh,” she muttered, glancing down at herself and discovering she was still partially shifted. Luckily for her, the lower half of her body was still submerged in water, so she hadn’t dried out.

  With a single thought, she shifted completely back to human, leaving her naked and shivering with exertion.

  “What happened?” she asked, looking up at the men surrounding her. Each of them wore a concerned expression. Except for Rónán, who wasn’t even looking at her, but over her shoulder with a disgusted grimace tugging at his lips.

  “We defeated it,” he said, lifting his hand and pointing in the direction he was staring.

  Macey shuffled in her spot on the floor to try and work out what he was getting at, before gagging slightly.

  The Orca was dead alright. But it didn’t look anything like she expected a dead orca to. Instead, it’s inky black skin was leaking off it’s body and pooling into the sea. It reminded Macey a little of the oil slicks she’d seen on TV during her stay on earth. Even just the images left her feeling sticky and slimy in a way she hadn’t expected. It was like she felt the oil itself throughout her whole body. And this time wasn’t any different. She could sense the sea crying out to her, even as it took away the odd substance.

  “Why is it doing that?” she whispered.

  “I’m not sure,” Rónán answered. “I suspect its evil is being reabsorbed by the sea.”

  “But that’s not a good thing, is it?” She hated just how unsure she sounded, but had to admit the whole conversation was a little bit weird. Then again, most of the conversations she had with her men could be deemed a little weird. Unless it was about waffles. That wasn’t weird in the slightest. Everyone in the world should have regular conversations about waffles. It just made sense.

  “Yes and no,” Rónán replied. “For the immediate area, probably not. But in
the grand scheme of things…this evil is just like the food chain. Orcas are at the top, plankton are at the bottom.” He shrugged as if that were all there was to it.

  “But if orcas are at the top anyway, then why did we bother defeating this one?” It all made no sense to her.

  “This one wasn’t a real orca,” Flint pointed out. “Any real animal would have at least been injured by my flames the first time.”

  “Oh.” It took a moment to process in Macey’s head. “But how did we defeat it?” She frowned, trying to recall the events, but it was all a mess of rushing water and panic in her mind.

  “You held it steady in a whirlpool and I managed to flame it. With the help of the selkies. Amber and Izban, of course.” Flint nodded his head to Rónán, a sign of respect if ever she saw one.

  Macey nodded. Anything which had her men playing nicely was good in her book.

  “So, what do we do now?” she asked.

  “Rónán is going to take us back to the selkie settlement,” Cam said. “We can rest safely there and work out what our best move is.”

  “Is that a good idea?” Macey looked at Rónán, the worry she was feeling coming through in her eyes and begging him to answer her unspoken questions.

  “You just helped them defeat the biggest threat they’ve ever faced. I doubt it matters to most of them that you’re a kelpie.” He gave her an easy smile in reassurance. It almost worked. There was only a small part of her doubting whether or not this was a good idea. Probably not, but what choice did she have? It wasn’t like they were close to a hotel or anything. The isles around St. Kilda weren’t exactly known for their habitability.

  “Hmm.”

  “You’ll be fine.” Rónán took a step forward and slipped an arm around Macey’s waist, crushing her to him. He kissed her softly on the cheek and gave her another reassuring grin. “It’ll be fine, Macey,” he repeated.

  “I hope you’re right,” she responded.

  “Shall we?” Jared interrupted. “I’m hungry.”

  “We didn’t have dinner that long ago,” Macey chided.

  “We didn’t get any waffles though, did we?”

  “You went all the way to Belgium and didn’t get any waffles?” Flint demanded, his eyes widening with shock.

  “We were rudely interrupted by an earthquake,” Macey mumbled. The world really had it out for her. Every time she got close to eating some delicious waffley goodness, fate cruelly snatched that chance away.

  “An acceptable excuse,” Cam acknowledged.

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Amber and Izban?” Macey asked, trying to distract herself from the waffle loss and failing miserable.

  Rónán shook his head. “No need, Cara has shown them the way.”

  Despite the slightly distasteful way he said the other woman’s name, a spike of jealousy flared into life within her. She didn’t like the idea of another woman talking to her man. Not when it was clear they shared some kind of history.

  “Cara?”

  “The selkie I talked with earlier,” he supplied.

  Macey scowled. She really didn’t like the sound of the other woman. He’d said she was a bully, but that wasn’t necessarily the whole truth. There was always something more when the male kelpies said things about that to the female ones.

  “Right.”

  “Shall we?” Rónán asked, apparently oblivious to the way Macey was feeling. She nodded despite herself. It was better to get this over with than to draw it out any longer than necessary. Plus, all she was going to do was torture herself with thoughts of Cara anyway. Until she saw her in human form at least.

  Selkie

  Fourteen

  A large bonfire crackled in the space between several mud huts, the heat reaching Macey’s face and warming her entire body. She didn’t really feel the cold, but it’s presence was somewhat soothing and filled her with a comforting feeling she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  Flint stared into the flames but didn’t step any further. He was probably worrying about abusing the selkies’ hospitality or something along those lines. It was hard to tell with the fire wraith.

  “Make yourselves at home,” Rónán announced, waving a hand around the settlement.

  “Macey!” Amber called, waving frantically from a place across the fire. She was draped in what appeared to be some kind of animal hide, definitely not her usual kind of outfit. She must have flown here without stopping to pack first.

  The redhead started rushing over to the other Wardens, her blue-haired mage trailing behind her and looking as miserable as ever. Macey was determined to get a smile off him one day. It seemed impossible, but she’d just have to keep trying.

  “Hey,” she said, embracing the other woman once she’d reached them. “How did you get here?”

  “I flew,” Amber pointed out.

  “Oh, sorry. I meant, how did you know to get here,” Macey corrected herself. The flying thing should have been obvious given Amber’s unusual dress and the fact she’d seen her in beithir form anyway.

  “Malan sent word you’d need us,” the redhead replied, shrugging. “I swear, if these prophets know so much, why don’t they just tell us it straight in the first place?”

  Macey scoffed. Amber did have a point. Though the answer was probably something like it not working if they knew all the answers. If Macey never had to deal with another prophet in her life, she’d be one happy kelpie.

  “They probably think we don’t have anything better to do than chase around vague hints,” she said.

  This time, it was Amber who laughed. “Or maybe they’re just trying to make sure you don’t spend all your time in bed with your men. Not that anyone would blame you.” She winked at the same time Izban scowled, clearly not impressed by his girlfriend’s reaction.

  Macey said nothing, but that didn’t stop her ears heating in embarrassment. She really wished they’d stop doing that. It was somewhat cliched.

  “Have you met Cara yet?” Amber asked, changing tack.

  “No,” Macey replied, trying to push down the jealousy she was feeling once more. Maybe she was more like Izban that she thought. If so, maybe they could bond over the annoying feelings inside them.

  “Come with me.” Amber grabbed her hand and pulled her off in the direction she’d come from. “I’ll be right back,” she called over her shoulder to Izban, who was left looking a little lost until Flint walked up to him and started chatting.

  Macey stumbled over a loose stone in the ground. That’s what she got for watching her men and not where she was putting her feet.

  They reached the other side of the fire in a matter of moments and Macey gulped loudly. There was only one woman who wasn’t busy in conversation and she was intimidating to say the least. She had long blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes Macey had ever seen. They sparkled in the fire light, whether from the flicker of the flames themselves, or from the magic within the selkies, Macey didn’t know, but the effect was dazzling and beautiful beyond words.

  “This is Cara,” Amber introduced. “My friend, Macey. I was telling you about her.”

  Macey smiled at the stunning woman, hoping she wasn’t coming across as insecure as she felt.

  “Hi.” She held out her hand and waited for the selkie to take it.

  “So you’re the kelpie that has Rónán all tied up in knots,” Cara sneered instead of responding to the introduction.

  Concern flickered over Amber’s face as she realised the introduction wasn’t going to plan. Macey reached out and gave the beithir’s hand a reassuring squeeze. None of this was her fault after all. She’d just been trying to do the polite thing.

  “I wouldn’t say tied up in knots,” Macey replied sweetly. “I think he’s perfectly in control of his emotions.”

  “Unlikely when he’s been bewitched.”

  The way Cara said the final word had Macey recalling what Rónán had said earlier. If not all selkies had magic, then she suspected Cara was one of those. And tha
t would mean her problem with Macey was that she could do magic and not anything else. She sighed with relief. If that was the problem, she could deal with it. What she didn’t want to deal with was a jealous selkie out to get her.

  “My magic is tied to the water.” Well, and air. “Not anything like emotions, love or that kind of thing.” Macey kept her voice light, not wanting to give anything away. She was definitely getting better at keeping her feelings in check. She had the Voice’s imprisonment to thank for that one.

  “Love?” Cara raised a disdaining eyebrow. “You dare use that word?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Macey asked. “If that’s how we feel.” She knew she was treading on thin ice, but felt a little too much joy at the selkies discomfort to stop. This was far too much fun.

  “You can’t possibly know what love is you vi…Rónán!” Cara’s voice and disposition changed in an instant, causing jealousy to surge again within Macey.

  A warm hand landed on the small of her back and she relaxed into Rónán’s touch, pleased he was here reaffirming what she already knew about their relationship.

  “Hello, Cara.” His voice was cool and collected. It wasn’t likely that these two were friends then. That was always a good sign.

  “How have you been?” she purred, pushing past Macey and stepping between her and Rónán.

  Oh, that wasn’t good. Not at all.

  “Tired, but it’s been a long day. I thought I’d come and ask if Macey’s ready for bed.” Rónán’s corresponding smile was faker than any Macey had given the other selkie, which gave her a great sense of contentment. He wasn’t into this in the slightest.

  “Great idea,” she said, but didn’t try to move the selkie draped all over him out of the way.

  “Good night, Cara,” Rónán said, dipping his shoulder and letting her touch fall from him.

  “Good night,” Macey added sweetly before slipping her arm around Rónán’s waist.