Needed By The Highlander - Rebecca Preston Page 0,151

as she saw wounds appearing faster than she’d thought possible in the man’s clothing. It tore a piece out of his shoulder, drawing a guttural shriek of pain from him — and, sick to her stomach, she watched it toss its head back to swallow the piece of flesh whole, its eyes sliding shut with seeming pleasure at the taste of the raw flesh. And when its eyes opened again, they were glowing a deep, crimson red.

Niall wasn’t at her side any longer. She’d been so distracted by the fight that she hadn’t seen or heard him slip away — but there he was, creeping past Perry stealthily, giving the battlefield a wide berth as he slowly but surely crept up behind the Kelpie. Sure enough, he had the iron bridle in one hand, and she realized with a shock that he was going to try to get it onto the Kelpie. She thought of the effort it took her to get a horse to put on a regular bridle, and a shiver ran down her spine. Was he going to be able to pull it off? It was a good plan — distract the horse with Perry, then try to get the bridle onto it while it was focused on its prey… but what if it went wrong? He had his iron sword at his belt but watching Perry struggle to keep the Kelpie at bay with an iron weapon, she worried whether that would be enough to keep him safe. What if Eamon, only just rescued, watched his father die at the teeth of the creature that he’d been saved from?

But there was nothing she could do. All she could do was watch and wait — and pray that Niall managed to pull off what he was attempting. She watched his face, the intensity of his movements, the careful way he was creeping up behind the Kelpie and realized with a shock that what he was doing would potentially save Perry’s life. She knew that wasn’t his main goal here — but as she watched him, she saw the worried way he was looking at his former friend. There was some part of him there that was wanting to protect his friend — she could see by the look in his eye. He may well have wanted to kill Perry earlier, but now, when it counted… well, he was doing what he could to save his life.

But he may have been too late. The Kelpie screamed in triumph as one of its hooves flung Perry’s broken iron spear away, the man swearing and clutching his hand as the hoof struck it hard enough to send the spear flying. Unarmed, he stared up at it, fear and anger warring for dominance on his face as he weighed up his options. His eyes flicked back toward the road, in the direction of the village, the Keep… was he thinking about what he had to live for? What kind of a life he would return to if he was able to defeat the Kelpie? Then he turned back to the monster before him… and lunged.

Niall seized the same opportunity, and as Perry lunged, so did he. Helen gasped as she watched her lover leap up onto the back of the Kelpie, his strong hands seizing it by the mane as he straddled its back. Completely shocked by this contact from an unexpected quarter — it seemed that the Kelpie’s full attention had been fixed on Perry — it reared up instinctively, lashing out with its forelegs. There was a sickening crack that rang out across the quiet waters of the Loch… and Perry fell to his knees, then slumped over sideways on the rocky shore of the Loch, out cold… or worse. Helen took a few steps forward, horrified to see the crumpled, lifeless shape of Perry MacCullen bleeding freely onto the shore of Loch Ness.

Chapter 59

But the conflict wasn’t over yet. Eamon had had his face hidden in her shoulder, but as he heard his father shouting and the Kelpie screaming in rage, he twisted around to watch. To her surprise, he didn’t seem afraid — his eyes filled with surprise and an odd, clear light.

“Get him, Da!” he shouted, and she saw Niall’s head whip up, surprised and encouraged by his son’s cry. He was straddling the horse, hanging on for dear life as it lashed its head back and forth, its legs skittering under it as it tried