And a fox sitting in the open doorway that led to the rooms behind Zara.
I gasped.
“Um, Z,” I whispered, and Z stiffened, hearing the warning in my voice.
“What’s wrong?” Z hissed, not moving.
“There’s a fox sitting in your hallway.”
“Oh.” My sister visibly relaxed. “That’s fine, then. That’s Gloam.”
“Hello, Liora.”
I froze, staring as the fox prowled closer to me. Had I really just heard his voice? Glancing from my sister to the fox, and back again, I swallowed. Had I imagined his voice in my head? Were the threads of reality unraveling for me?
“Zara, is someone here? I didn’t think we had any more appointments this morning.” A pretty woman with dark hair and a confident air, dressed in green scrubs, poked her head out of the doorway behind the fox. “Oh, hello.” An unreadable look crossed her face when she looked down at the fox and then back up at where I stood, frozen, in the waiting room. “Oh, the fox? He’s harmless. Just a patient we’re treating. You don’t have to be scared.”
“I’m not. It was just a surprise is all.” Who had a pet fox? Was that even legal? Tilting my head, I tried to figure out howto attempt to communicate with it without the other two women questioning what I was doing. “He’s very handsome. Aren’t you? I wonder if you know how handsome you are?”
Gloam’s eyes slitted, and his mouth fell open like he was laughing.“Aye, I well know how handsome I am.”
My eyes widened. He’d really spoken. I’d heard his voice, clear as a bell, in my mind. Unsure of what to do, and not wanting to freak out in front of Zara’s boss, I planted a bland smile on my face.
“Liora, this is Dr. Faelan Fletcher. Faelan, this is my sister, Liora.”
“Oh, Liora! Of course, it’s lovely to meet you.” Faelan stepped forward, her hand out, when Gloam intercepted her. He wove himself between her legs, almost like a cat, and Faelan faltered, glancing down from him to me. “What do you mean…”
“She’s one of us.”
“Um.” I looked desperately between the fox and Faelan, unsure of what to do. My sister’s head bobbed between the two of us, a faint line forming on her forehead as she tried to figure out what was happening that she couldn’t see.
“Welcome, Liora.” Faelan stepped forward and reached out a hand. “I think you’re just the person we’ve been waiting for.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Liora
An hour later, I was walking up the hill to MacAlpine Castle, nerves pinging around my stomach like a bucket of bouncy balls tossed into the street.
It had been an enlightening hour, to say the least.
After I’d stared at Faelan in shock, she’d thrown the lock on the door and pulled Zara and me into her office. Faelan was a member in the Order of Caledonia, much like Zara had thought, and was tasked with helping protect the magickal Truth Stone that lay buried out on the island in the middle of Loch Mirren.
The Clach na Fìrinn.
It was why the Kelpies had been terrorizing Loren Brae, apparently. The Order of Caledonia, when complete, was meant to consist of nine members, all of whom were gifted magickal powers of sorts for protecting the Truth Stone. To be worthy of those powers, each member needed to pass three challenges, unknown to them, to complete their acceptance into the Order.
It was all very fairy tale and mythological to me, but when Faelan and Zara spoke of the Kelpies, the fear on their faces was very, very real. Even though it sounded fantastical, Zara was one of the most pragmatic people I knew. If she agreed with Faelan about what was happening in Loren Brae, I’d believe her. If anything, I’d always been the more naïve one of the two of us, always wanting to believe the best in people.
Lost in my thoughts as we followed a long line of carefully trimmed hedges that lined a road that led up to the castle, I barely heard what my sister said.
“What was that?” I tuned back in to the conversation from where I’d been daydreaming about a knight rescuing a princess from a room in the castle.
“A ghost coo is about to jump out of the bushes and scare you,” Zara said and I scrunched my face in confusion at her.
“A what—ahhhhhhh!” I shrieked as a massive slightly transparent ghost coo leaped out of the hedges and ran at me. I ducked as it trampled through me, a wash of frigid air making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I gulped for air. Bringing my hand to my hammering heart, I whirled to find the ghost coo racing back up the lane, tossing its head back and forth.
“Is he… is he laughing?” I asked, incredulous, as I took in the almost delighted expression on the coo’s face.