“Camille, are you all right? Smoky told us you’re fine, but I don’t think you are.”
“I’ll be all right once the damned leg cramps settle down. I’m okay, really.” I eased out of the stretch and slowly stood. My legs were still aching but the cramps had eased off. “Damn, though. When we go home, we’re taking riding lessons and keeping it up, just in case.”
She laughed. “I think I’d like that, actually.” Sobering, she turned toward the wood. “Smoky says you made it blur.”
“I made it blur, all right. Spell misfired, but at least it quieted the kelpies down so we can’t hear them now.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.” Delilah contemplated the forest ahead. “If we can’t hear them, they could sneak around and ambush us.”
I pressed my lips together. I hadn’t thought about that. I had meant just to quiet their songs, but what if I had managed to give them a blanket silence spell? That would be just about the way things worked, given my history.
“Maybe you’re right. I guess I should negate the energy.” I wasn’t sure if I could manage that—spell reversals were harder than actually casting the spell in the first place—but I closed my eyes and searched through the repertoire in my head. Finally, I remembered the Reversing spell that I had been taught as a child. I cast it, wording it as cautiously as I could, and stood back, watching as the entire area began to shimmer. The energy cleared, and we were staring at the forest as it should be. But I could hear the kelpies singing again.
I tried to ignore them, stuffing the tissue back in my ears. One look at Chase and I knew he would be in big trouble. “Trillian, you and Shade take Chase back to the path. Get him away and don’t let him answer the call.”
As they led Chase away, I detached my staff from Annabelle’s side and walked over to Smoky. “Let’s go. But be careful. How do kelpies affect dragons?”
“We’re mostly immune to them. But…” He stopped to listen, then shook his head. “There’s something different about these particular Fae. I can’t explain it but they sound stronger than their Earthside kin.”
“That’s because they come from the Deep,” Bran said, crossing to our side. “They were probably born in Thistlewyd Deep, and that strengthens their abilities.” His angular jaw was set, his eyes dark and flashing. “If you are serious about taking care of them, then we go on foot, because they can lure our horses in and make a bloody meal off of them. I won’t chance my steed to a painful fate. So, decide, and one way or another, we move. The longer we stand here, the better their chance to lure us into their snare.”
Delilah looked about as overjoyed as I was, but she merely drew her long dagger after she dismounted. Lysanthra, her weapon, was sentient and had occasionally sparked with an unexpected power or two. We all knew there were other abilities locked within the blade, but they would come out in their own time. Rozurial withdrew his magical stun gun, smiling grimly. Venus surprised me by drawing a wicked-looking dagger. It was curved and the curves were sharp, barbed with what looked almost like stingers. Plunge that into anybody’s flesh and it would rip them to hell when you yanked it back.
We were all on our feet, and we tied the horses to trees to prevent them from bolting or running off. I motioned to Bran as he drew his sword. “I guess we’re ready.”
He gave me a nod, and we headed into the thicket that separated us from the ponds.
THE FOREST SUDDENLY seemed to mute except for the piercing notes of a very vocal bird and the steady drone of bumblebees. The undergrowth began to thin as we approached the ponds, and the trees here were tall birch, white bark gleaming under the flickering sun. The temperatures had climbed into the low seventies, and I began to feel slightly off-center. I shook my head as we silently proceeded, trying to snap out of the beckoning daze. It wasn’t the kelpies’ song—the tissue provided a fairly good buffer. But the warmth and the lack of sound and the anticipation created its own form of trance, and I was sliding fast.
Smoky’s hand on my shoulder startled me out of my reverie. I glanced up at him. He flashed me a grim smile and once again, I realized how much I loved him. My dragon lord. My prince of the skies. He had forced himself into my life and captured me with his passion and his devotion.
I caught my breath, realizing that there was no place I’d rather be than with my three men, whether it was in the bedroom or on the battlefield. We played together, and we fought together, and together we would navigate the storms that befell us.