Bound (A Faery Story 1)

threatened her.

A kelpie, he realized, horrified at the sight. She was on the

kelpie’s back, and it was already taking off. Her scream echoed

through the forest. Beck knew it would haunt him. He let the arrow

fly, hoping to hit the heart before the horse got away with his wife.

Beck heard the thud of the arrow striking flesh, but it didn’t slow the

damn thing down. The horse plunged into the icy river and his wife

disappeared.

Beck felt her panic. He did the only thing he could do. He

forcefully cut the connection between them. He couldn’t do what he

needed to do if he was overwhelmed with her fear. Beck rushed out

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into the river, cursing the cold. He took three deep, long breaths to fill his lungs, pulled out a cold iron knife and dove after them.

The river was clear, and the early morning light illuminated the

scene. The kelpie had gone deep. She was sitting patiently at the

bottom of the river among the thick reeds that swayed with the

current. It would be a peaceful scene except for the woman struggling

to survive. She couldn’t. The horse would hold her in place until the

river took her life. When she was dead, the kelpie would release her

and devour her. If Beck hadn’t found her, all he would have been left

with was her heart. The kelpies never ate the hearts.

Meg was still struggling, but he could tell she was losing. Her

eyes flared as she saw him swimming toward her. She tried so hard to

push her body towards his, as though in her last moments, she needed

to get as close to him as possible. He swam straight to her and took

her head in his hands. He kissed her, forcing the air he’d held in his

mouth down to her lungs. It wasn’t much, but he needed every minute

if he was going to save her.

Why the hell had she climbed on a kelpie’s back, he wondered as