Fairy Prey (7 page)

A horse.

It walked toward
Morrigan with wary steps. What would a horse be doing out here? Alone, without
a companion. The horse whinnied, the wind shifted, and Whisper inhaled deeply.
He knew that scent. “Kelpie,” Whisper said on a gasp. “Run!” he yelled, but the
sudden downpour of rain took the sound. Whisper took to the sky, his wings
sticking and heavy from the rain. He only made it a few feet before he crashed
to the ground. His heart began to pound in his chest, and his feet slammed
against the ground as he took off again. “Run!”

Morrigan cried out. Not
a scream. Not a curse. She yelled his name.

Whisper ran faster,
helpless as he watched the horse’s mane turn into appendages and grab Morrigan.
He had to get to her. His mate needed him. That kelpie would haul her to the
sea and heave her under into its lair. Whisper ran faster, trying to fly, but
the rain was too heavy.

Whisper turned, running
for the beach, hoping to reach it before the creature. He just needed to grab
hold of Morrigan. A single touch and he would hold on for eternity. The kelpie
ran faster, pushing into a powerful gallop. Whisper watched in horror as it
sped and passed his spot for intersection. The kelpie’s horse form crashed into
the oncoming waves. “Morrigan!”

Their eyes locked. Hers
were wide with terror as the water began to lap over them. Whisper took a leap,
his wings only lifting him slightly.

The storm raged around
him as she began to sink beneath the water. Morrigan managed to grab his hand,
and Whisper gasped for his last breath before he joined her. The weight of the
water pressed against his wings and made his lungs burn. Still he held on.
Nothing would loosen his grip. They were dragged deeper, the darkness growing
as well as the cold. Whisper kept his eyes open, locked on Morrigan as they
sank toward the bottom of the ocean. Together.

Chapter Six

Morrigan wanted to
scream. Her fears were suddenly overwhelming. Her lungs were burning as she
stared into Whisper’s eyes. Together they sank, pulled by this wicked creature
posing as a horse. Struggling was useless, and her limbs were suddenly tired.
She couldn’t breathe, and it was getting harder to keep the water out.

Then suddenly the horse
pulled them through a cave. She couldn’t stop shivering as she fought against
the restraints, and her tears mixed with water. Morrigan didn’t want to see
Whisper die. She refused to be a witness to such an act, so she squeezed his
hand as hard as she could and closed her eyes. She was prepared to open her
mouth, breathe in the water, and drown before him.

There was a whoosh, her
head slid against something and then broke the surface. Morrigan opened her
eyes, only seeing darkness, and gasped wildly. The horse creature beneath her
hauled her from the water and with her, Whisper. His eyes popped open, and
water shot from his mouth. He began coughing, and Morrigan struggled anew. He
was alive! The creature’s mane unwrapped, and she fell to the hard rock floor
like a sack of potatoes. She was wet, exhausted, and still trying to catch her
breath. Whisper pulled himself to her side, his hands wrapping around her as he
coughed up water.

The creature shivered,
shaking back and forth. It began to shift, transform, and suddenly the horse
was a woman. Morrigan watched in horror and fascination. The horse was now a
beautiful female with long brown hair down her back and large bare breasts with
dark nipples. Morrigan was shocked as the woman stood there, a wicked smile on
her face, and placed hands on her bare hips. Morrigan’s vision moved to the
apex of her thighs. There were no pussy lips. Instead, there was a thick, hard
cock between this thing’s legs. It was the biggest thing she’d ever seen. It
was almost deformed in length and width. The tip was a strange blue that bulged
out like an overgrown mushroom. The thing had to be at least twelve inches
long. It rose out and then the balls descended from the creature’s body like
some sort of alien attachment. The creature smiled and dove back into the
water.

“Well, that was just
fucked up.” Morrigan looked around, panic replaced with her will to survive.
They were in an underwater cave. There was seaweed along the rock floor, and
the walls curved upward in a dome shape. There was a light source up there,
though she didn’t know what. It was similar to candlelight that gave everything
an eerie glow. Not that there was anything in here to look at. “Whisper, you
still with me?” she asked.

His black wings
fluttered, and he struggled to sit up. “I am.” He coughed once more.

“What the fuck was
that?” Morrigan got to her knees, wobbly and holding the wall to stay upright.
It wasn’t pretty, but she was standing.

“Kelpie.”

“So, what? A shape
shifting transvestite?”

Whisper cleared his
throat, his voice stronger. “They can change sexes at will. It depends on what
their next meal is.”

Morrigan spun toward
him. “Meal?”

“If it’s a man, they
will appear a beautiful woman. If it’s a woman they intend to eat, they will
form into a well-endowed man.”

“And eat us...”

Whisper nodded. He
frowned and fell back against the wall. His wings were hanging down his back
like wet hair.

Morrigan was so torn.
The reason she was in this mess was because he could be the traitor. The reason
she was alive and not yet eaten by a fucking sea creature was because he risked
death to join her. So was he the enemy or the man she should let into her
heart? Morrigan looked away from him. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “For not
leaving me down here alone.”

“I will never leave your
side.” He reached out and caressed her cheek.

Damn
it!
When he did things like that, she couldn’t believe he was the traitor. At the
moment, they had no time to discuss all the shit going on with the kingdom.
“How do we get out of here? I’m assuming we can’t dive back in and swim to the
surface.”

“It’ll wait out there.”
Whisper sat a little straighter. “It stays until the victim dies then it
returns, drawn to the smell of death.” He hesitated for a moment before
continuing. “It will form the opposite sex of its prey. Violate them and then
feast on the remains.”

Morrigan stopped her
slow and steady walk around the small rocky area they had. “Wait. They wait for
us to die, rape us, and then eat us.”

Whisper nodded.

“What the hell kind of
fucked up creature is that?” Morrigan tried to keep the panic to a minimum, but
damn it, she really did not need to know that kind of information. It took two
long deep breaths before she was in control enough not to scream. “So, let’s
get the hell out of here before it comes back. Can we fly up there?” She
pointed to the hole above them were the light filtered through.

“No.” He shifted, his wings
still dragging uselessly behind his back. “When they dry I will be able to, but
that will take a few hours.”

There was a ripple in
the water. The brown hair was plastered to the creature’s head, and its eyes
broke the surface of the water. It watched them. The pupils dilated, and
Morrigan nearly pissed her pants. She spoke slowly, quietly. “We’re not dead
yet.”

“Apparently it’s
hungry,” Whisper said as he pulled his sword free.

The creature blinked
rapidly, remaining where it was. “So what is it doing?” She ground her teeth
together, ready to spring into action. She still had two knives strapped to her
ankles.

“I do not know.”

She wasn’t sure if that
was good or bad. It stayed there, human eyes just above the water watching
them. Just as suddenly, it dipped back beneath the surface, and they were
alone. “We need a plan. Now.” She needed her gun or a fucking rocket launcher.
Oh, a flamethrower, that would fry this thing’s ass.

“We should attempt to
get into that tunnel. If we get high enough, it will not be able to reach us.”

“It can’t fly or shift
into a bird or something?”

Whisper looked at her as
if she was the crazy one. “No. It’s a kelpie.”

“Well, sorry! This
fucking thing went from horse to woman to man in seconds.”

Whisper walked toward
her and positioned himself beneath the hole. He held out his hand, and Morrigan
eagerly took it. Friend or foe, right now they were in the same crazy boat in
danger of being dinner for this messed-up thing. “Up.”

Morrigan nodded and
lifted her foot to the cradle of his hands. She held onto his head as he
elevated her. It was shaky but she managed to shift and stand on his shoulders.
Despite the boost, she was nowhere near that hole that could save them. “I’m
too short.”

There was a plop of
water, a ripple in the pool beside them, and Morrigan was quickly dropped.
Whisper caught her, shoved her to the wall, and spun to face the water. His
sword was out but so was that creature. Once again, its eyes were above the
surface, watching, stalking, and hunting. It remained there for a moment or two
and then dipped back down.

“My wings need to dry
and then we will be able to get up there.”

That might not even be a
way out but it sure as hell was better than standing here. Morrigan pulled both
her knives free. The hilts felt solid and warm against her palms. They waited
there, watching the surface of the water for any movement. Her heart was
beating faster with every second that passed. The muscles in her legs stiffened
and she fought cramps by shifting her position ever so slightly. Whisper looked
like a statue. Patient, unmoving as time ticked by. She had no idea how long
they waited there for this thing to strike.

But it did.

A woman, gorgeous with
sharp-pointed teeth, shot from the water like an arrow aimed right for Whisper,
stopping short of his blade and hissing at them. Whisper lunged, keeping close
to Morrigan’s side. She added to the attack, shoving both blades toward the
thing. It screeched, slashing human-like hands at them before jumping back into
the water.

This was going to be a
long damn night. Whisper looked back at her. “Do you believe you could climb
that wall?” He jerked his head toward the right.

She hadn’t thought about
that. Morrigan walked toward it slowly, watching the pool for any sign of their
freaky kelpie. The wall wasn’t smooth but jagged. It might work, possibly.
For the love of God, please let this work
.
She put one knife away and put the hilt between her teeth. Morrigan placed her
hands on the wall, found small crevices and juts. She worked her way off the
ground, damning herself for not learning to rock climb. She slipped, skimmed
down the wall, and landed on her ass back on the floor. Whisper pulled her to
her feet, protecting her back as she worked her way again up the wall. It was
several feet before she found a good rhythm. The wall was less slippery higher
up, and after a large pull upward, she was at the hole. Her cramped hand
reached the edge and she struggled to pull herself higher.

Yes.
There!

Morrigan grunted like a
man as she wiggled and used every ounce of strength to pull herself up. There
was space up here, a ledge where they could sit almost completely hidden. She
pulled her legs up, gasping for breath as she peered over the edge. Whisper was
still there, standing guard and looking sexy as hell. How could he be the
traitor? She spit the knife out. “There’s space, a cavern, up here.” She
reached down. There was no way she could reach him and pull him up. He’d have
to climb as she did, but this time there was no one watching his back.

Whisper nodded and took
a few steps back before facing the wall. He returned the sword to its sheath
around his waist and began to climb. Hand after hand, foot after foot. Morrigan
kept watch, her knife ready. She would jump down if she had to and spear that
thing right in its black heart.

The water rippled.

Morrigan’s eyes went
wide and she grabbed Whisper’s outstretched hand. Their palms touched, fingers
clasped, and she pulled as hard as she could. His torso was over the ledge.
Whisper’s legs hung down, and the kelpie grabbed hold of his ankle. He kicked
out but missed.

Morrigan threw her
knife, sliced the thing’s cheek, and jammed her hands around Whisper’s leg.
“He’s mine!” She tugged. The creature let go, fell to the rocky cave floor, and
began screeching.

Whisper pulled himself
to the edge of the dimly lit cavern.

Morrigan jerked back as
the creature lunged upward. It couldn’t reach them and the sexy woman shifted
into a man, muscles, six-pack and big cock all on display for her eyes. It
waved to her and grabbed the thick cock that jutted between its legs. “Fuck
you! I am not that hard up!” she yelled. The thing tried one more lunge before
jumping back into the water.

Whisper grabbed her arm,
pulling her toward him, and planting a kiss on her forehead. “I am yours.”

She hadn’t meant it like
that or had she? Her mind and heart were still torn on that one. Morrigan gazed
up at the ceiling, praying for some sort of hole or tunnel that they could
crawl out of. Her lips parted, and her eyes went wide. It was, literally, a
ceiling of rock and a small crack between the rocks that let in the smallest
filtering of light. It led to the surface. She could see a piece of the sky and
a few stars. How did they come this close to the surface when they dove so deep
to begin with? Maybe that thing was trying to drown them first.