Page 95 of Rise of the Melody
I sang louder, firmer.
As the kelpie slowly moved closer, its whole body revealing itself more with each step, I watched its pinned-back ears relax. Gone was the viscousness I’d seen last night. It was entranced.Iwas doing that. I was besting this creature who had killed five people…that poor woman it had dragged.
A sense of pride rose up in me as the magic swirled strongly through my blood like a potion. In that moment as I mentally lured this massive, terrifying monster toward me, I felt a kinship with the women of my bloodline. How many of them had stood just like this and fended away those who would hurt their towns and families? In that moment I knew we had been mislabeled as dangerous, treated as weapons, when really we were shields. Protectors.
The kelpie was fifteen feet away now. I was doing this. In another few minutes the kelpie would be in this cage. Why had we waited so long? I should have spent every night at every body of water on the island until this thing was captured! That poor woman should have never lost her life. Never again would I fear what I was or what I could do.
To my left I heard a rustle and a groan. My volume lowered a few notches, but I continued singing as I turned my head to look. Nothing could have prepared me for what I would see on the ground. I stared in shock as the figure became clear to my eyes.
A human, crawling toward me near the water’s edge, dangerously close, his eyes glossed over.
He reached up a hand to me…Teague. My melody stuttered into a gasp.
Fear punched me, taking the wind from my chest, pausing my singing just long enough for the kelpie’s ears to pin back in irritation. It shook its mane, and I went deathly still, begging the universe to pause and let me figure this out. I grappled in my mind for the song, knowing I needed to keep the kelpie entranced, but fearing for Teague. I lost the lyrics. My whole brain seemed to stop working. I reached for some other song, any other song, and just as I grabbed hold ofTwinkle, Twinkle, Little Freaking Star, the kelpie rose up on its hind legs, slicing at the air, and let out a cruelwhinnie.
I opened my mouth, sensing I would not have enough time to entrance it again before it was on us, but a different sound rang out over my voice. The sound was so loud that my ear drums rang and I grabbed my head as the ground trembled. Then it came again, like sharp, quick thunder. By the third sound I realized vaguely what it was.
A bark. Three barks.
CooShee came barreling out of the trees and jumped unnaturally high, crashing onto the kelpie and grabbing its neck the way Chrystamos had attempted to do yesterday. But Coosh was much bigger and stronger, actually giving the wicked horse a battle.
Three barks. Death was coming.
Oh, gods. Not Teague! I couldn’t let anything happen to him!
I sprinted to Teague, who was moaning and trying to sit up now. What in the world was he even doing here? Had he followed us with his lights off or something? I wanted to scream in frustration as I fell to his side and took his face in my trembling hands.
“Teague.” I patted his cheeks. “Teague, listen to me. You need to go! Get as far away as you can!” Sounds of snarling and growling, yelping and ripping flesh filled the air as Teague blinked at me.
“Teague!” I smacked his cheek harder and his eyes went wide. “Get out of here! Now! Run!”
He stumbled up to his feet as if drunk, giving me and the scene a confused look. There was no time to spare or waste on lies.
“I’m a siren,” I told him. “You were entranced, and I need to sing again to trap the kelpie.Get out of here!”
He took one more second of surveying the scene before looking at me in a way that filled my soul with disappointment. It was a look of disgust laced with fear. He turned and ran. When I felt like he was far enough into the trees, I sprinted back toward the cage.
What the…? The eagle was dive-bombing the kelpie as it fought with CooShee! The bird swooped and pecked, disorienting the kelpie so that the harbinger hound could attack in short spurts, avoiding that mouthful of sharp teeth.
Both the fae horse and Coosh were covered in blood, and I saw flaps of skin hanging loose along the kelpie’s neck. I opened my mouth as the kelpie kicked out, landing its hoof in CooShee’s side and sending him flying.No!
Twinkle, Twinklespilled from my lips, and though my voice shook, it was still powerful enough to make the kelpie falter in his attack. The eagle let out a series ofchip-chip-chips,almost like bird barks, and flew away. Slowly, the kelpie’s snorting and heavy breathing got under control and its ears relaxed as it turned to me.
That’s right. This way.
I let it get close. Close enough that I actually was able to move him toward the open gate and usher him in. He seemed to understand what I wanted and couldn’t help but comply. I began shutting the door before his hind legs were in, shoving him the rest of the way and throwing the bolt lock down into place. I grabbed the door and pulled, making sure it was in place before I stopped singing and a sob rose up in place of the notes.
I ran to CooShee, falling to his side. He was breathing raggedly.
“It’s okay, boy,” I promised. I reached into my hoodie and yanked out the flare, pointing it skyward and pulling the trigger until my arm shook with the pop. A second later the area lit up dimly with the flare above. “I’ll be right back, Coosh.”
The kelpie was thrashing in the cage, shaking it as it neighed in agitation, throwing back its head in distress. I ran past and yelled, “Teague!” No sign of him.
Seconds later, lights were coming from a distance. Athwapsounded from the cage and I saw the kelpie fall on its side. When I got closer, I could make out the top of his neck and realized CooShee had done more damage than mere flesh wounds. He had ripped away enough tissue to be lethal, exposing its throat. And as the monster lay there breathing hard, weakened by the iron of the cage, I felt a flicker of pity for the fae creature whose only instinct was to kill.
Voices rang out as I moved back to CooShee’s side, and the four men sprinted to us. Ron came straight to me and the hound while the other three flanked the kelpie, looking back and forth between it and me in confusion.
“The Cù Sìth showed up and attacked it,” I explained. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them Teague was also here somewhere, but I held back for some reason. If Teague wanted to tell his uncle, so be it. But a wave of exhaustion came over me and I didn’t have the energy to deal with it.
