Then—
With a final, frustrated roar that shook the air, the creature slipped backward into the depths.
The Kelpies followed, sucked into the swirl of receding currents. Their shrieks faded into the loch, swallowed whole.
The water stilled.
The loch became dark and quiet again.
The entire shoreline fell silent except for the ragged sound of our collective breathing.
Sophie lowered her dirk.
“It’s done,” she said softly. “For now.”
“For now,” Lachlan echoed grimly.
Mitch pressed against my leg, as if grounding me.
Torin turned to me, Zara still cradled in his arms as Faelan worked, horror in his expression.
“You all right?” he murmured.
I nodded but couldn’t speak.
Because something deep in the loch stirred.
Something old.
And the glimmering thread above Agnes still hummed, stretched taut toward the island.
We had won tonight.
But the real reckoning had only just begun.
Something was seriously wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
TORIN
If anyone ever asked me what terror smelled like, I’d say wet earth and loch water and the sharp tang of magick burning the air.
We didn’t celebrate on the shore.
There was no cheering, no relieved laughter. Just a stunned, shivery silence as the loch went still and the last ripples from that…thing faded into the dark.
Then Sophie dragged in a breath and clapped the flat of her dirk against her thigh.
“Right,” she said, voice steady. “Retreat. Now. We regroup at the castle. Faelan, how’s Zara?”
Faelan swayed on her feet but lifted her chin. “Bone’s knitted enough she can be moved. I’ll need more time to finish it.” Her voice was hoarse, like every word scraped her throat.
“I’ll take her.” I tightened my grip around Zara’s shoulders. She felt light in my arms, too light. My heart was still hammering so hard my hands shook.
Zara grimaced. “I can probably walk now.”
“You absolutely can’t,” Faelan snapped. “Unless you want it to heal crooked and I have to re-break it. Don’t test me, woman.”