“It’s an emergency,” she told him. “The vicar’s cat is sick and in pain.”
“Aye, he doesn’t sound happy, does he? Come on in then.”
Now that he was here, Scrounge...er...Prince objected to being removed from his cat carrier. His hair stood on end and his back arched as Ross tried to coax him onto the examining table. Kate opened the top of the carrier and tried to soothe him while the Reverend stood there looking helpless. “It’s okay, he can stay in there if he’s more comfortable. Let me listen to his heart.”
With his stethoscope in his ears, Ross approached the seething, spitting cat. Prince appeared to be much larger than usual because of the way his hair was standing on end. Kate recalled that Ross had said he wasn’t as good with cats, so she did her best to help. “Prince,” she crooned softly. “Try to relax. He’s not going to hurt you.” The cat was dubious about this, but as she continued to talk to him, he grew calmer. Kate assured Prince that he was safe and that the doctor was trying to help him.
“Did he have any sort of accident?” Ross asked the vicar. Between them, he and Kate had managed to get Prince out of his carrier and onto the table.
“No.”
“Did he eat anything unusual?” Ross was now able to run gentle hands over the cat’s body, searching for injuries or tender spots.
“No. He was acting strange all day. Restless, grooming himself in an odd, jerky manner, refusing his food. A little while ago, while he was sitting in his usual spot on the front windowsill, he began yowling. I tried to pet him, but he just cried all the harder. I decided I’d better bring him to you before you closed for the day.”
Ross asked a few more questions, and then said, “I’m not finding any wounds, and his belly is not swollen. Kate, there’s a thermometer on the counter—can you hand it to me? I’m going to take his temperature.”
Prince was not pleased to have a thermometer in his butt, but he endured it. He seemed a good deal more relaxed now and was tolerating both Ross’s handling and her own gentle touch.
Kate thought: I could do this every day. Handle pets with him.
Yes, you could.
She started, unsure where the thought had come from. She narrowed her eyes at Ross, but he seemed absorbed in listening to Prince’s heartbeat.
You not go. The cat was looking up at her now, his yellow eyes shining. You stay.
“Prince?” she said sharply.
“His name is Scrounge,” the clueless reverend said.
“He prefers to be called Prince.” To the cat she thought: “You’re faking, aren’t you?”
The sea creature likes you. So does the man. The cat began licking his paw, as if nothing was wrong.
“He has no fever,” Ross said. “His heartbeat was elevated when you first brought him in here, but it’s fine now. I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ll draw some blood and order some other tests.”
Prince lay down on the examination table and stretched. He began to purr loudly.
“I think he’s feeling better,” Kate said, amused. She rubbed Prince behind his ears and sent him another thought: “You’re one helluva manipulator, aren’t you, boy?”
“Perhaps he had a cramp?” the vicar suggested.
Perhaps he saw me leave the keep with my backpack, Kate thought. “How did you get to be friendly with the sea dragon?” she asked the cat in their silent way.
He does nice pats. With his snake-things. Good rubbing.
Good grief—Prince liked the Zrakon’s tentacles, too?
Will you stay?
“We’ll see. But fake an illness again, my friend, and I’m calling you Scrounge.”
A loud purr was the only reply.
After Rev. Lambeth and Prince had left, minus a little of the cat’s blood for testing, Kate said, “I don’t think you’ll find anything wrong with that cat.”
“I don’t expect to. The wretch did the same thing last fall when the old vicar retired and left the parish. The cat was upset that the people he trusted were abandoning him. Lambeth adopted him. I’m not sure that the good reverend is the best person to care for him, but they seem to have grown accustomed to one another. I suspect Lambeth wasn’t devoting as much time to him as the cat expected, so he had a tantrum.”
“So you have to be the local animal psychologist as well as the vet?”
Instead of answering, Ross said, “You were communicating with that cat, weren’t you? I couldn’t overhear it, but I could sense it.”
“Well, you did say you weren’t very good with cats.”
“That’s right. And there’s a mess of them in the village.” He paused. “I could sure use your help around here.”
Stay.
“I’ll think about it.”
There wasn’t a lot of time left for thinking, though. The monster had been very clear: she must surrender to him on the night of the full moon.
Ross knew this as well as she did. He was the monster, after all. But he wasn’t pressuring her. Much.
Now that she knew she could leave the island, she didn’t feel any particular desire to do so. She was no longer under a compulsion. She could forge her own destiny. She could stay or she could go. What she could not do was have Ross the man without also taking Ross the Zrakon. She thought of the way his gentle hands had soothed the screeching cat. And the tiny mouse he’d coaxed from its hiding place in the hedgerow. She had never met a man with that kind of gift for animals. A gift that exceeded her own. Yet he had a monster inside him.
Maybe that’s true of us all, she thought.
The truth was, she was not appalled and disgusted by the Zrakon. He was a fierce and passionate fellow, but he had never hurt her. If all he had wanted was to caress her in various intimate places with his tentacles, she might have happily allowed it. Although she doubted she would have ever confessed it to her friends. No, the problem was anatomical. Despite the myths and legends of this place, human women and male sea dragons were never intended to mate. And yet, it had supposedly happened.
“Ross?”
“Aye, lassie?”
“The Midsummer’s Eve festival that happens every year? The one that didn’t follow its usual pattern this time? What actually happens between the Zrakon and the chosen woman? I didn’t realize this before last night, but you must know. You were there.”
“Um, yeah. I’ve been there ever since my father got himself killed in a skiing accident when I was nineteen.”
“So? Does the Zrakon actually stick that Mt. Everest of a penis into a woman’s vagina every year?”
He grinned. “You’re asking me to kiss and tell?”
“I’m asking for reassurance.”
“Okay, well, the truth is, it’s always a little vague exactly what happens on Midsummer’s Eve. It’s a sort of Dionysian orgy. But here’s what I think happens—the Zrakon’s not stupid. He knows he has an ancient legend to maintain, and he rather enjoys playing his part. Tearing up some unfortunate villager with his hooked dick would not look good on his record. Fortunately, he can achieve a great deal of gratification from the use of his tentacles, which are almost as erogenous as his dick. And the girls seem to like them, too.”
“But how does he, you know—”
“How does he come? Well, it seems that if he rubs himself with his own tentacles, it feels pretty damn great. Imagine you had more than one dick and they all were sexually active, and you sorta rubbed them together...”
She began to laugh. “I get it.”
He was actually blushing, which made her laugh even harder.
“I told you he’s like a big horny teenager. Trust me, he’s quite creative about getting himself off.”
“So I’m supposed to have sex with a big horny teenager?”
“Don’t worry about robbing the cradle. He’s centuries older than you.”
“That’s the least of my worries!” She had a random thought about how much bigger Prince had looked with his fur all fluffed up and standing on end. And that rem
inded her of something. “Ross? On Midsummer’s Eve when you were striding around on the beach, posturing to the crowd, were you shape-shifting yourself to look bigger and scarier?”
“Aye, I suppose I was. I didn’t expect quite so many onlookers. When I saw them, I figured I’d give them a tale to pass down to their grandchildren.”
“If you can shape-shift the Zrakon body to be bigger than it is, can you also make it smaller than it is?”
He considered for a moment, and then started to grin. “You’re asking me to downsize the Zrakon’s dick?”
“Can you?”
“Admittedly, I’ve never tried.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like any male would ever try to make his penis smaller.”
He laughed. “It makes sense that if I can make him bigger, I ought to be able to shrink him. I suppose that if I shift his entire body to about human male size.... Hmm. What do I get in return?”
“How about my eternal gratitude?”
He laughed. “It’s a deal.”
“In that case, I’ll do it. I’ll be your sacrificial victim. Just try not to kill me, okay?”
Ross pulled her to him and kissed her. He started glowing, more brightly than ever, and she backed away.
“Damn. Let’s get this over with,” he growled.
Chapter Fourteen
The descending path snaked and twisted, but with Ross to guide their way, Kate was not worried about getting lost. She could smell the briny tang of the sea, and the air was fresh, suggesting an outlet to the outside world. As they squeezed through a narrow opening, he held his electric lantern high. Light flashed all around them, bouncing and shimmering from one reflective surface to the next. It was beautiful—like a magnification of the sparks that shimmered on Ross’s body every time she got too close to him.
But what she was seeing was natural. They had entered a roughly circular cavern. The sea was rushing in from somewhere below, and all around them were jagged rock faces embedded with chunks of crystal. The light from the lantern was sparkling from thousands of crystal facets, shimmering in new patterns as the lantern moved.
The effect was breathtakingly beautiful. But she was so intent on gazing at the gleaming crystals that she tripped over some stones on the ground.
He caught her, and his arm grabbing her around the waist felt hot as a brand. He quickly let her go. “You see why I didn’t want you to come here alone.”
“I remember it. I was here before. It’s where he brought me.”
She continued to walk ahead of him down the narrow path that circled the pool. “It’s a lovely spot for a sea dragon’s den. I take it the water is coming in through an opening somewhere?”
“Yes. It’s tidal. The tide is out now. It’s beginning to turn, actually, but high tide is still several hours away.” He joined her on the lip of the pool. “The pool is quite deep, even at low tide, and it’s tidal, too. It will fill and overflow. At high tide, this cave will be full of water.”
She looked up. The crystal ceiling was maybe two feet above their heads. “Entirely full?”
“Just about. You wouldn’t want to be in here when the tide is high.”
“What’s that?” she asked, squinting at a rock platform on the far side of the cavern. It was the only place in the cave wall where the crystal chunks were sparse, and there was something strange there, something dark and jarring. She didn’t remember seeing it on the night the Zrakon had brought her here.
“That,” he said, “is where we’re going. Come, I’ll show you.” Slipping carefully past her, he led the way down the still descending path towards the massive rock.
For a moment, she hesitated. As they got closer, she could see that there were two thick, sturdy-looking chains hammered into the rock wall. Each was several feet long, ending in a cruel iron manacle.
“Damn,” she said.
“Indeed.” He jumped down to the sandy bottom, which was about a couple of feet lower than the path she was standing on. There were several inches of water there now; he splashed through it to stand with his back against the rock. “You put the victim here and chain her to the rock.” He was between the two chains. “When the tide is out, it’s just a bit uncomfortable. But when the tide is full and the cavern floods...” he let his voice trail off.
“But the sea dragon comes before that happens, right? I mean, he’s not going to let me drown.”
“Of course not.”
She ran her fingers over one of the chains. She would have expected it to be old and rusted, but it was shiny and new. She shivered. Had it been installed especially for her?
When she turned to look at Ross, he was glowing with a sparkling nimbus all around him. “Is that energy hurting you?”
“No. It’s just very hard for me to maintain control.” His voice shook, and she believed him. “We may have waited too long.”
“Let’s be quick about it then,” she said practically.
She stripped off her clothing and jumped down to join him. She tried not to look too hard at the depth of the water in the cavern, which was rising rapidly. It was as if the waves were responding to the tumult inside Ross.
When she reached the rock, she turned so her back was against it. “You don’t need to chain me. I won’t run away.”
He was staring at her naked body. He seemed transfixed by the sight of her. “I’d better follow the ritual exactly. I don’t want to make him any angrier than he already is. Are you frightened?”
She began to say no, but in all honesty, she was frightened. She was trying not to think about what was going to happen. Not thinking about it made it easier to cope. “I am, of course. But I’ve met your Zrakon. He was gentle with me.”
“You met me wearing his shape. I was in control. The beast wasn’t dominant. Tonight he will be. He is hungry. Angry at being denied. Frustrated at being forced to wait. I’m not sure what he is going to do. All I know is that he’s bursting out of me and I can no longer rein him in.”
“Okay then. Let’s not make him wait any longer.”
Ross took one of the chains and stretched it out. The heavy clank of iron rang an unpleasant note in the cavern. He hesitated. “You must be willing. I have to ask. It’s part of the ritual.”
“I am willing.” She held out her wrists. “You see? I am giving myself to you.”
He touched her carefully. The glow retreated away from his hands, so they did not burn her. He took the first chain and crossed her body with it, from shoulder to hip. He put the iron manacles about her right wrist where it lay against her hip, then did the same on the other side. The manacles were loose on her, but as soon as they were closed, they seem to tighten of their own accord until she could feel the metal biting into her wrists. She shivered. There was real magic here. She could feel it. It seemed to pulse all around them, and it had a dark and ominous feel. This was no sweet, benign magic. This was ruthless, powerful, and fierce.
Ross stood back, looking at her chained to the rock. The water was now over her knees, which was scary because no tide could come in so fast. Ross didn’t seem to notice. He was breathing hard. The glow around him intensified and became fiery. Maybe the sea dragons of Mallochbirn maintained some vestige of their dragon fire, after all.
“What now?”
He didn’t speak. His eyes had gone wild. He began pulling at his clothing, shedding it rapidly, tearing it off. He seemed to waver before her eyes. His body emerged, strong and muscular. Even more muscular than usual, perhaps. He was beautiful. Between his thighs, his cock rose hard and thick and long. At least it doesn’t have spikes on it, she thought, a little wildly.
The Hunger. She could feel the lust rolling off him. He stepped back toward her, the fiery glow hot and searing.
“No,” she cried. “You can’t touch me as a man. You must let yourself change.”
He wavered, as if no longer sure what he was doing. “Ross,” she thought it to him this time, trying to open the golden tunnel into his mind. “Can you hear
me? You have to let the change happen.”
The mental bond didn’t form. It felt as though he was blocked off from her.
He turned from her and dived naked into the pool, which was already overflowing. The water was now splashing up over her hips, rising higher every second. The dark waves closed over his form and he disappeared.
Chapter Fifteen
“Ross...Zrakon...can you hear me?”
The water kept getting deeper. He had said that the cavern could flood, but only at high tide. Maybe a gale had swept in from the sea and sent more water crashing into the cave? It had been a calm, clear evening when they had begun to make their way down here.
But that was in another world. Here, in this world tinged and vibrating with magic, a storm was brewing. The waves were rolling, cresting. A harsh wind was blowing thru the cavern, sweeping her hair in ribbons around her. Oddly, it didn’t feel cold. The rising water, which surely must derive from the cold Scottish seas outside, was cool but not icy.
Nothing about this made sense.
Where was Ross? He hadn’t surfaced since he’d dived into the water. Had he transformed into the Zrakon? What if he’d drowned? No man could hold his breath for such a long time. Just as she wouldn’t be able to hold hers if the damn water didn’t stop coming in. Maybe they were both going to drown. Maybe that was what their doomed union was meant to be—a union in death. Maybe someone would find both their bodies washed up on the rocky shores of Mallochbirn Isle.
Then she heard the hissing. She had heard it before, a few nights ago in the surf near the village. The Zrakon. He was coming. He was coming for her.
Okay, where was her vaunted courage? This was all too freaky, with the wind and the waters, which were up to her waist already. “Ross?” She was sending out the golden thread, trying to reach his mind, but the thread was just flailing around. She couldn’t find him; couldn’t form the mental bond. She felt abandoned and alone.
The Zrakon was here, though. He hadn’t surfaced, but he was racing round and round the cavern in a frenzy, occasionally flipping his mighty tail. Even though she could not communicate directly with the creature, she could sense his feelings. Lust. Triumph. Exultation. My god, what a male—he was delirious with the thrill of finally capturing his prey. Her.
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