The wolf was gone.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Faelan
The ringing of my phone brought me out of a dead sleep at six in the morning, and Gloam yipped at my ear as I fumbled to answer. The fox had stayed with me last night, seeing how much the Kelpie had rattled me, and he’d been an excellent companion. In fact, it had been easier than I’d imagined to drift off into sleep, my hands threaded through the soft fur at Gloam’s neck, my thoughts on the lone wolf standing on the hill, keeping guard over Loren Brae.
“Hi? Hello?” I mumbled into the phone, swiping my hair from my eyes.
“Dr. Fletcher? The vet?” a hysterically crying woman shouted into the phone.
“Aye, that’s me.” I straightened, already swinging my legs from underneath the comforter.
“It’s my horse. Malarky. He’s broken his leg. I’m sure of it,” the woman sobbed into the phone, and my heart sank. A broken limb was often a death sentence for a horse.
“Right, we can’t be sure of anything until I have a look at it.” Flipping the bathroom light on, I peered in the mirror and winced at the scratches on my face from racing through the bushes the night before. I’d need to heal those, but there was no time at the moment. “Where are you located then? I’ll be right out.”
The woman rattled off an address so fast, I had to rush out into the main room of my flat and grab a pen and paper. “Slow down, love. I’m new to the area and will need a little help.”
“Right, right. I’m sorry. I’m just… he’s my best friend.” She hiccupped out a sob.
“I understand. I’ll do my best, but I can’t help if I can’t find you.”
This time, the woman repeated the address slowly and told me it was only a short ways outside of Loren Brae. Promising her I’d be on my way shortly, I disconnected the call and took a deep breath before going into autopilot mode. I took the world’s fastest shower, dressed, threw my hair on top of my head, and brewed a to-go cup of tea. Gloam had elected to go out so he could wander, and I’d cracked the balcony door in case he’d want to return while I was gone. Opening the door, I skidded to a stop.
A small bunch of flowers wrapped in twine had been placed against my doorstep.
A smile tugged at my face, even though I wondered when Luch would have had time to drop them off if he was on nights at the hospital. Turning, I raced tofill my newly purchased vase with some water, dumped them in, and then pounded down the stairs of my flat. I prayed that this woman could keep her horse calm and lying down, otherwise, it might only do more damage to its injured leg. Hopping in my car, I switched my phone to directions, and then I allowed the automated voice to direct me down the road that hugged the rocky shores of Loch Mirren.
I couldn’t help myself and glanced out to where the placid water lapped against the island in the middle of the loch, a gull swooping lazily as the sun crested the hills in the distance. Any other morning, and I’d be smiling at the pretty picture before me, but today, trepidation filled me. Had the wolf not been there to help, I wasn’t certain how I would have fared against last night’s Kelpie attack.
What triggered the Kelpies? From what I knew about horses, they weren’t typically malicious and would usually only attack out of fear or pain. That being said, they could assert dominance if they were protecting their territory or resources. Which certainly tracked with everything Sophie had said about the Stone of Truth. But had it just been that I was walking along the loch? Was that considered too close to the stone? Or did they consider me an actual threat?
Was that why the Order existed? Those of us with power were more of a danger to the Stone than those without? It was better to have us on the side of the Stone? Mulling it over, I returned my focus to my driving.
The road wound along the loch and over the hill, directly past the turnoff for Luch’s cottage, and my thoughts drifted to him. When would I see him next? Our time together this past weekend felt magickal—like a fairy tale really—and now it had been a few days of silence fromhim. Was he still interested in me? Had I imagined the entire thing? It had gone from so very hot to very cold so fast. Or was I just simply not used to the normal patterns of dating? I hated feeling like I didn’t know what was going on, or was the fool in any situation, so navigating the ins and outs of dating was proving to be a bit unnerving for me.
He told you he wouldn’t be able to text on shift.
I reminded myself of his words, that he’d be completely unavailable, and yet, still I wondered. Was that actually true? Did doctors just not text their families during night shifts? What about when they got off work and went home to rest? Was that reasonable to expect no communication?
My thoughts halted the minute I saw a man standing in the street, waving his hands in the air, and I pulled my car onto a little gravel lane. I rolled my window down, just an inch, and peered out.
“Dr. Fletcher? I’m Amy’s husband. Malarky, um, our horse, is back here.”
“Got it. Let me just get my bag.”
Relieved that I was in the right place, I switched into doctor mode and grabbed my large first aid backpack from the back seat. Slinging it over my shoulder, I took in the man’s pained expression, dirty overalls, and clenched fists.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“She jumped a low wall with him, like so many times before, but he landed wrong.”
It would be a break then, and potentially a life-altering one. Already I was thinking about how to help fix it, what I had with me in my bag for an emergency splint,as well as how I could get the couple to step away from the horse so I could, literally, work my magick.
As the man explained the accident, we followed a path with trodden down grass until we reached a woman, kneeling next to a chestnut horse lying on the ground. She had her arms around its neck and whispered furiously into its ear as she sobbed against its head.
Right, this would not do.
