Page 30 of Riding A Cock-Horse
The sound of Belle’s scream nearly makes me drop out of the air. I shifted the instant that she ran, but my cockchafer is not nearly as fast as her chimera—and that's saying something.I know she's heading towards Loch Ness and hearing her lion roar really unsettles me, but her human shriek stops my heart.
I fly as fast as I have ever flown, beating my wings rapidly in the hope that I can get there in time to save her from whatever has frightened her. If it’s as she's feared and her snake has bitten Belle, there will be nothing that any of us can do—we won't be able to get the antivenom in time.She'll die.
I push myself past the point of exhaustion and finally—finally—I spot her, but not as I dreaded. She’s not withering to death because of fatal black mamba venom. Instead, what greets me is an equally horrifying sight.
A naked man lying between her very naked thighs—and the git is licking her.
I see red, which is an interesting concept because my cockchafer can only see in black and white. I shift midair, falling to the ground in a crouch that I instantly spring out of. Sprinting towards Belle and the strange man, I prepare to tackle him back into the black waters of Loch Ness, but the wanker lifts his head before I strike. Something feral crosses over his face. He pushes off Belle before jumping into the shadowy waters of the lake. Without thinking, I prepare to dive in after the bastard, but Belle grabs my arm to halt as I pass.
“Jude, stop! It's not what you think.”
Before she can say another word, a huge, lumbering mass rises from the inky liquid in front of me, making me gape in shock.
“I-i-is that… no, it can't be!” I mumble incoherently, but Belle nods.
“Yes, it's the Loch Ness Monster.”
The creature has two flippers perched up on the bank in front of us. They're larger than a double decker bus, and the thing's neck is nearly five meters high. Its head is large and the mouth is edged with sharp teeth lethally spiking out of it.
I start to hyperventilate in the presence of such a rare Tertiary, but bravely tuck Belle behind me with the intent of protecting her from it. The monstrous thing growls at me as a large tail comes out to wrap around Belle and pick her up. She shrieks into the night.
“Nestor! Put. Me. Down!”
I realize she doesn't sound scared, really. In fact, she just sounds downright peeved.
“Nestor?” I blurt out.
“It's his name,” she needlessly explains before continuing, “but I'm going to call him ‘Nessy’ if he doesn't put me down! Hear that, Nessy, you big brute? Put me down!”
In response, the Loch Ness Monster just shakes her.
“That's it!” Belle roars. “I'm puking on you!”
Instantly the aquatic beast drops her back onto the bank. Belle coughs from having the wind knocked out of her by the motion.
“Are you all right?” I ask solicitously, helping her up off the ground.
The Loch Ness Monster has transformed once more into his human form, and before Belle even answers me, she swivels around to punch Nestor right in the bollocks. The man howls in agony, and I step back, cupping a hand over my own manhood. I wince in sympathy, even though the bloke doesn't deserve any. It's around this time that all the others finally catch up with the Laird leading the pack. Everyone came in their human form. Alastair blinks in shock at the sight before him.
“Nestor, is that you, my boy?”
The man groans painfully in answer.
“You know him?!” I question furiously.
“Aye,” Alastair confesses. “He's one of the only two remaining niseag.”
Harry stares at the naked stranger in fascination.
“The creature is real?!”
“As real as any shifter,” Alastair answers gruffly. “But unless you're an elder, we don't say anything. They prefer their privacy—not to mention there's only two of them left.”
“And we're going extinct!” Nestor moans. “If I don't claim the lass here as my mate, my kind will die.”
“Well, you just can't go around claiming chicks as your mate!” Belle snaps at him. “I understand the plight you’re in… sort of… not really.But still, you can't just be like, ‘hey, wanna bone?’ I mean, I guess I do that all the time…”
She claps her own hand over her mouth to shut herself up, and I stifle a laugh.
