“A kelpie?” I ask, thinking of my big brother’s Dungeons and Dragons sessions in the attic. “That’s, like, a faerie horse that eats people, isn’t it?”
“That’s exactly what it is,” Toto says, shoving me back violently. I pinwheel and land on my ass in the field of rainbow tulips as he swings the metal bucket as hard as he can, smashing it into the ghostly white face of a horse that I swear to god wasn’t there two seconds ago.
My eyes widen as the horse rears back, snarling with rage, its razor-sharp teeth glistening in a stray shaft of sunlight. The colorful birds scatter, screaming out their warning calls as Toto tosses the bucket aside and steps back.
“Ozora, your magic!” he calls out, turning to look at me over his shoulder. “Bless me with it.”
“Bless … you …” I start, and then the memory of that douchebag Bain kissing me comes to mind. Well … I’ve always wanted to be the heroine in my own story, right? I most definitely wasn’t, when my family was drowning in an ice-cold lake. Shoving up to my feet, I lunge toward Toto, grabbing onto either side of his face. One of his strong arms wraps my waist as I press my palms against his cheeks and kiss him hard.
I’m not expecting the wild surge of power that rises between us, making my skin burn with heat, my tongue sliding between his full lips. Toto is the first to pull away, pushing me back at the same time that he swings around to face the kelpie.
It’s dancing across the top of the water. No joke. The horse with the shark teeth is prancing over the surface of the creek, leaving ripples in its wake. It tosses its mane of slimy green kelp and snorts in frustration, pawing at the water with a sharp hoof.
There’s this energy crackling around us, like the air’s infused with electricity, a cool breeze picking up where there was none before, stirring the tops of the trees. I look up as the sky darkens, gray clouds sliding across the sun to block out its light.
Glancing back down, I catch a glimpse of Toto’s forehead—and a shimmering green star mark in the center of it.
He gives me one last look before he turns back to the kelpie, and then rips his jeans off. Like a fucking stripper. It’s both sexy, cool, and totally insane all at the same time.
The muscles in Toto’s body contract, shifting beneath his skin like living things. Ebon black fur sprouts along his spine as he drops forward to all fours with a howl that makes me think of cold graves and rainy cemetery days. My hands clamp over my ears as he shakes himself out, lifting his head up, dark eyes focused on the kelpie. The edge of his lip lifts in a snarl, a long feathered tail trailing out behind him, a pair of horns on his head. In the center of his forehead, a single emerald eye opens up with a snap, and a small sound escapes me as I stumble away from him.
How the hell did he get so big?! I wonder, studying the pony-sized dog in front of me, hooked claws digging into the earth.
With a growl that shakes the canopy and sends yet more birds flying, he launches himself at the shimmery white flank of the kelpie, claws raking its flesh. Lines of red blood follow his swipe, just before the pair of them disappear beneath the water with a splash.
“Toto!” I stumble across the grass and fall at the water’s edge on my knees, desperate to help but totally bereft of ideas. My fingers dig into the muddy ground as my eyes scan the dark surface of the water, searching for my last and only friend in the world—this world or any other.
I do not want to be left alone here.
Even if it is just a coma-induced delusion.
“Toto!”
Water explodes in front of me, like a bomb’s just gone off underneath the surface, soaking me from head to toe. Toto appears with the kelpie’s neck clamped between his jaws, and then, like a lion carrying a gazelle, drags the corpse up the side of the bank and tosses it aside.
The kelpie flies through the air, smashing into one of the trees with a spray of bark, and then collapses to the ground in a pool of blood. It lifts its head up once, whinnies, and then collapses with a finality that makes my heart thunder in my chest.
It’s dead.
I turn around, only to find Toto’s giant head right in front of my face, his dark brown eyes as familiar as my own, the green one in the center of his forehead unblinking as it looks into my soul.
“I’m … glad you’re okay …” I whisper, scooting back to put some space between us. Toto pads forward on paws the size of a lion’s, following me. I don’t like the way he’s studying me, like he’s not sure if I’m a friend … or breakfast. “Hey, uh, are you feeling alright?”
