The Kelpie's Curse (book #1 in the Kelpie's Entrapment trilogy)

Day 15 pt. 1

As Renestrae slowly began to stir from slumber she was surprised to realize that she had not dreamed the night before. From falling asleep to waking she had enjoyed nothing except blissful darkness. It was something that had not occurred since Adrius had pushed her from that bridge when she was ten.

Suddenly she could hear birds chirping as a soft breeze caressed her back. Wait, chirping birds and a breeze? Why was she outside - Oh! Her brown eyes snapped open as flashes of memory played like a movie in her mind. Evelyn shooting her in the shoulder, going to the hospital, getting Evelyn out of jail, Dageus blind folding her and taking her to a waterfall, trying to end the relationship but having sex instead, getting dressed and looking up at the stars-

Her eyes trailed up his naked chest as she sat up and her cheeks burned. Oh god, she'd had sex, not good! She took in a couple deep breaths to calm her nerves. Okay, so she had finally experienced something that most people were well versed in by the time they reached twenty-two no biggie. In fact it hadn't even hurt overly much, which was surprising considering all of the horror stories her aunts had told her over the years.

She shook her head slightly to dispel the feelings of negativity that were beginning to creep up. She was a mature consenting adult, there was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. In fact the only thing this did was give her something to look back on when she made it home.

Renestrae smiled as her eyes landed on Dageus' face for he seemed almost peaceful in his sleep. It was just a shame that his hair was soaking wet for surely he'd catch a-

No! The thought echoed through her mind as her blood went cold and drained from her face. Her heart seemed to stutter before it began pounding so loudly it felt as if her heart was trying to beat itself out of her chest. She thought back to every one of their encounters, surely there had to be one time she'd seen his hair dry. Her cheeks grew warm with the slow burn of anger and betrayal. No matter the time of day, no matter how much time had gone by his hair was always wet. She felt her own hair to be sure and sure enough it was slightly damp from the morning dew but no where close to being soaked.

Oh my Goddess. He was the Kelpie and she'd-

She cut the thought off before it could form, she couldn't think about that right now. It would only make her sick. The best course of action would be to play along until he, hopefully, took her back to the house then pack up all of their things and get on the first plane home. They could always get the money by robbing a bank. Even if they were caught they were sure to be safe in jail, right? Oh, she should have just let Constable Jackass arr-

His face suddenly twitched as if he was beginning to wake up. Her eyes widened in fear and her previous plan was forgotten as she panicked. Acting on instinct she jumped to her feet and after running a few paces dove for her weapon, which she had left in the grass a couple yards away. As she rose to her feet she quickly slung her quiver over her shoulder and readied an arrow as she turned back around to face him. As she drew the string back she hissed in pain but was eternally grateful that Evelyn hadn't shot the arm she drew back with. She was already risking permanent damage as it was, not that it mattered if she didn't win this fight.

She turned her gaze towards him and felt all of the breath leave her. He was sitting up on the tartan he had placed their picnic on before things had gotten out of hand the day before. However it wasn't the position that had her visibly shaking with a sense of fear she had not felt before coming to Scotland, it was the hellish red eyes that stared back at her.

He or rather it threw it's head back and laughed. However it wasn't the warm laugh that she had become accustomed to. No, this laugh was cold and cruel and if she wasn't already looking at the proof it would have given her a sick feeling about his passion for Fearchar's legendary curse.