Waiting was torture. Macey laughed at the thought. Could she really say that ever again, given what she'd been hearing during her stay here? It'd been a couple of days at the most, probably not even that, and yet she was sure she'd be affected by this for the rest of her life.

When her Wardens had kidnapped her, she'd been annoyed at first. But ultimately, they'd treated her with nothing but respect and kindness. More than that when they were...

No. Those thoughts weren't for here. She wasn't going to sully the memories by thinking about them in this godforsaken place.

"Put off, put off, and row with speed,

For now's the time, and the hour of need!"

Macey sang to herself softly, her voice shaking with the strain. Remembering one of the old songs her mother used to sing to her was helping to drown out the screams and the pleas. She was suddenly very glad of her mother's love of folk songs.

"One of the men was singing that," a familiar voice said, and she looked up to find Luch perched on the windowsill. She shouldn't be surprised, he only really disappeared when she tried to press him further on things.

"Sorry?" She wasn't quite sure what he meant.

"The song you were singing, Queen Mary's Escape from Loch Leven, if I'm not mistaken." He sounded very sure of himself, especially for a mouse.

"What about it?" she asked, nodding her head.

"One of the male prisoners. He was singing it. Well, humming more accurately. According to the other man, he shouldn't even try the singing."

Macey perked up. That sounded a lot like how Bruce and Jerry would act. Bruce loved to sing under his breath but couldn't to save his life. And if the song he'd been humming had been Queen Mary, then it seemed likely that the men in question were her brothers. And if they were...

"What do they look like?" she asked eagerly, hope welling up within her for the first time. She wasn't sure why. There was probably just as little she could do with her brothers down the hall, as she could by herself, but it was something to strive for. And hopefully, if it was them, she could get to the bottom of how they were involved in it all too.

She really shouldn't get her hopes up.

"Men," the mouse said, running its paw over its ear and scratching.

"Not what I meant. Do they look like me?" she asked, heart pounding in her chest as she waited for the answer.

"They're the same shape without the..." The mouse made a gesture around its chest, clearly intending to mean boobs. Despite herself, Macey laughed before firmly clamping her hand over her mouth. She didn't want the guards to hear her, or they'd likely come to investigate. Something that wasn't likely to end all that well for her and would certainly mean that Luch disappeared off to wherever he hid when he wasn't with her.

"No, I mean hair, eyes, voice..." she trailed off, now worrying she'd completely got the wrong end of the stick. It'd wouldn't be good for her mentally if she thought she could save her brothers only for them to turn out to be complete strangers.

That was uncharitable. Saving strangers wouldn't be a bad thing. Quite the contrary. But it also wouldn't be the same as saving her brothers.

"I suppose so, yes. But they're a little bit...bigger than you."

"Taller?" she asked eagerly. "Wider? Stronger? Are they kelpies too?" Why hadn't she thought to ask that sooner? Luch had known what she was, so it was to be expected that he knew what others were imprisoned here too. Her mind strayed to Amber again. She wondered what she was. It seemed unlikely she was just another mage, not from the way Izban was talking about her. But Macey couldn't think of any creature connected to lightning. Maybe her education was lacking in that respect. It wasn't like it affected her people at the bottom of their Loch.

"Yes, yes, not anymore, and I think so. But their aura is a bit funny." Luch scrunched up his nose in a rather comical gesture.

"Funny how?"

Seconds seemed to drag as Macey waited for him to answer. But just when he was about to answer, the loud sound of boots thudding against a hard floor filled the room, and she froze in position. Luch did the same on the windowsill, while exchanging worried looks with her.

"Go," Macey mouthed to him, and he nodded, waving goodbye with one paw and turning to disappear into the wall. Macey cocked her head to the side. Her life really had taken a turn towards the weird recently.

She waited with baited breath as the boots approached, and something deep within her gut told her that this time she wasn't escaping. This time, it was her turn.

Macey's blood turned to ice, and panic began to build within her. Even if there wasn't anything she could do, her fight or flight instinct kicked in. She wasn't naive enough to believe she was stronger than the guards. The Voice really wouldn't leave security in his prison to off chance. They'd outnumber her, and they'd probably be more powerful than her. Their magic likely wouldn't be blocked either.

That just pissed her off. How dare the Voice kidnap her. Her men would be worried sick. And hopefully on their way. It'd save her so much time if they were already here and she didn't have to find them when she escaped.

Plus, she'd need Flint and Cam to get her brothers back to the Loch. No matter how to blame they were or weren't, she wanted them out of the way.

A scratching sound in the door confirmed Macey's fear. It really was her turn. Despite every instinct telling her to turn around, she refused. If this was going to be her last day, then she was going to give at least one last act of defiance.

She wouldn't scream either. No matter what they did to her. Okay, that one was a lie. There'd no doubt come a point where she'd have to scream, but until then, not even a whimper would cross her lips.

"Time to go, Princess," a male voice sneered. It was the same guard she'd heard before, and dread joined the panic.

Instead of letting him drag her, she turned around and looked him in the eye. "Okay, lead the way."

"Oh no, that's not how we do things here. Stretch out your hands."

She only hesitated for a moment, but it was enough for the guard to backhand her. Her cheek was burning and she instinctively covered it with one hand - which the guard used to grab her by the wrist and put a bronze cuff around it.

A shiver went through Macey. Bronze. Oh no. People thought iron was painful to supernaturals, but that was a rumour the fae had spread to protect themselves. In fact, it was bronze they were allergic to. The fae more than most other supernatural species, but for kelpies, it was almost as bad. It didn't hurt physically, but it blocked their magic and their ability to shift. The Voice really had to know a lot about kelpies to use bronze cuffs on her.

Momentarily distracted by the empty feeling spreading through her chest, the guard took her other hand and clipped on the other cuff. He attached a thick rope to the shackles and without another word, started to walk out of the cell, dragging Macey behind him.

She was weak from days without food and struggled to catch up. The fear of being dragged across the dirty ground was all that kept her going.

They passed rows of cells. It was too dark to see if there were any prisoners in there, but if there were, they stayed quiet.

Just when Macey thought that she wouldn't be able to walk for much longer without collapsing, they reached a staircase. Without warning, the guard grabbed her around the waist and threw her over his shoulder as if she was a sack of potatoes.

"Oi!" Macey shouted but it came out as a whimper. She'd not had water since yesterday and her voice was suffering.

In response, the man hit her hard on her bum. She whimpered again both in pain and humiliation. So far, none of the guards had touched her, but it looked like this particular one might be different. And right now, she was completely at his mercy. With her hands shackled, her magic blocked and not able to shift, there wasn't much she could do to defend herself should he start to grope her.

He didn't put her back on the ground when they reached the end of the staircase, but instead continued to carry her on his shoulder. His bones were pressing into her abdomen and it was getting harder for her to breathe. She was almost hoping that they'd reach their destination soon, even though she knew it would probably be worse than what she was going through right now.

They - well, the guard - walked along a bleak corridor before turning right into a courtyard. Macey was expecting to see daylight, but instead, white mist surrounded them. It seemed even thicker than what she was used to from the Staran and it smelled strange... like something was rotting close by. Decay. She started breathing through her mouth, but even so she could taste the wrongness of the mist.

The guard dropped her unceremoniously in the centre of the courtyard and bound the rope connected to her shackles to a pole next to them. She felt as if she was a dog being left behind while its owner did their shopping, and tears of humiliation burned in her eyes.

How the waves did she end up here? And how could she escape?

THERE IS NO ESCAPE, LITTLE KELPIE.

The Voice was booming in her head, louder than ever. She instinctively wanted to cover her ears, but her hands were cuffed.

"What do you want?" she asked feebly, realising how pathetic that sounded.

OH, NOTHING IMPORTANT. ALL I NEED IS YOUR SOUL.

He laughed and Macey thought her head would explode. It hurt so much. Stars were dancing in front of her eyes and her ears were pounding. She was almost hoping that she'd faint from the pain. At least then she wouldn't have to be conscious during whatever he was going to do with her.

NO, YOU WILL STAY AWAKE. YOU WILL FEEL PAIN, YOU WILL FEEL FEAR. I NEED YOU TO SUFFER OR YOU WON'T BE ANY USE TO ME.

"Why? How is that going to help you hurt the Staran?"

She was feeling a bit like she was in a film by now. Keep the bad guy talking in the hope that he'll reveal his evil plans. Even if that meant taking those secrets to the grave.

IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK? THAT I WANT TO DESTROY THE STARAN? OH LITTLE KELPIE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW WRONG YOU ARE.

"Then why else are you doing this? Why do you need the Wardens?"

I DON'T NEED YOU. I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE. SO NOW THAT I HAVE YOU HERE, YOU'RE LIKE ANY OTHER OF MY PRISONERS. I'M GOING TO ENJOY PLAYING WITH YOU THOUGH, YOU HAVE SPIRIT. AND IF YOU'RE STILL AS BRAVE IN THE END, I WILL EAT YOUR SOUL WITH DELIGHT.

"Eat my soul? How is that even possible?"

YOU WILL SEE. SOON. NOW, LET'S HAVE SOME FUN.

There were sounds in the distance. A woman shouting something. Through the thick mist, two people approached. One was the same guard who had brought Macey here, and the other... a young woman around Macey's age, maybe a bit younger. She looked almost too thin to stand and her eyes had a crazed look, even from a distance. She had a bronze collar around her neck, but she wasn't being dragged by the guard. No, she was walking passively by his side.

Macey had a sinking feeling about who the girl might be. And she didn't like that thought one bit.

TWO WARDENS UNDER MY CONTROL. YOU STAND NO CHANCE NOW, LITTLE KELPIE.

The other girl’s head whipped up, and her eyes widened, panic filling them.

“You,” she blurted, half seeming afraid, half relieved. It was almost like she knew who Macey was. Which was impossible, surely?

“Me?”

One of the guards kicked her in the shin, and she hissed, but didn’t cry out. She had bigger things to worry about. Like what would happen if the Voice decided to make Amber attack her. For she had no doubt this was the woman she needed to find.

Lightning and water didn’t really mix. It almost sounded kind of deadly, and Macey wasn’t completely keen on finding out how so.

“You’ve finally come to kill me then?” Amber met Macey’s eyes with a strange mix of resignation and determination in her gaze. As broken as she looked on the inside, this girl was still standing, and still fighting. Just not in the most obvious of ways.

“Why would I want to kill you?” Macey frowned, genuinely confused about what she could mean. She’d never really wanted to kill anyone. Not until the Voice anyway. She’d quite happily carve his heart out with a rusty spoon if she got the chance. If he had one. A heart that was. She was sure finding a rusty spoon would be reasonably straightforward.

“My dre-”

ENOUGH!

Amber flinched alongside Macey. Interesting. The Voice was talking to them both then. That was particularly interesting given their stays here.

The echo of his words faded away, but Amber continued to flinch. He must still be talking to her then. Poor girl.

“No… don’t make me… no… please… no.” She started clawing at her face, as if to get the Voice out. Macey wondered if that was what she looked like when the Voice was in her head. If so, it made sense why her men were always so worried after she’d come around.

A pang of loss shot through her heart. She wanted them with her so badly. Not because she’d need them to escape, but just because they made her feel more complete.

ENJOY, LITTLE KELPIE, the Voice taunted.

Macey braced herself as best she could, wishing her wrists weren’t still shackled. She wasn’t quite sure what the Voice had in mind, but given everything she’d heard and witnessed so far, likelihood was that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

She wouldn’t scream though. She had to keep that promise. Giving him the satisfaction would be the worst possible torture.

“No, no, no, no, no.” Amber glanced down at her hands with an expression of horror on her face.

Macey looked down too and gulped. The girl’s hands were covered in sparks of electricity. She guessed she really was about to find out what happened when electricity and water mixed. She was scared. Actually, no. That was an understatement. She was petrified. But still determined not to let the Voice see that. He’d be far too satisfied, and she’d love to wipe the smug expression out of his tone.

“I’m sorry,” Amber whispered, meeting Macey’s eyes again.

“I know,” Macey replied, trying to tell her it was alright. And failing badly. They were just two young women in the courtyard of an unknown place, and in the grasp of a sadistic… something. How did she still not know what the Voice was? How was she going to defeat a mystery?

The electricity began to build, and storm clouds rolled overhead. What the hell was Amber? Or was it even her causing this?

“Please forgive me,” the redhead begged.

“Always,” Macey responded, before lightning crashed down from the sky, landing just feet away from where she stood. Despite herself, Macey flinched away.

“No,” Amber tried again, tears beginning to stream down her face, and her mouth set into a determined line.

If Macey had to guess, she’d have said that the Voice had the other woman in her grip, and the fact the lightning had missed her at all, was simply testament to Amber’s sense of control. Most likely due to being locked up for so long.

Macey had to admire that. If they both got out of here alive, then she was going to have to ask. Maybe. Or maybe not. She was already looking forward to forgetting her own time here after all.

In front of her, Amber dropped to her knees, screaming in anguish. This was it then, the moment she lost control. Macey closed her eyes, thinking that not seeing it coming would make the pain easier to bear.

It didn’t. The waiting was almost worse than the pain.

The crackle of lightning coming had her on edge, and she could almost feel it approaching. Thinking of Flint, Jared and Cam as hard as she could, Macey managed to distract herself.

But only for a moment.

The electricity hit her skin, and a singed hair smell surrounded her. But oddly, not as much pain as she expected. Hardly any at all in fact. It was as if the lightning was one with her, though she couldn’t quite wield it.

She opened her eyes, meeting Amber’s surprised face, before smiling slightly. The other girl picked up on what was happening quickly, or she had if the echoing smile was anything to go by. Even so, she stayed on her knees. Hopefully the Voice either couldn’t tell what was happening or couldn’t do anything about it.

Macey felt another surge of electricity as the lightning strike grew stronger. She was even more impressed with Amber now. Even though the Voice had managed to make her use her powers, she’d still managed to hold some back. That must take a lot of mental fortitude.

Twin prickles around her wrists, followed by two loud cracks, had Macey smiling maniacally. The copper restraints were gone, fallen to the floor in pieces, and allowing a surge of her own magic to join Amber’s.

NO!

The Voice seemed to have figured out what was happening. Too bad it was too little, too late. Macey directed their combined powers around them, knocking the Voice’s men to the ground with the combined lethality of water and electricity.

They probably didn’t survive, but she also didn’t really care. She’d heard and seen enough, both in person, and from what Luch had said.

It wasn’t until the surge of magic began to fade, that she noticed the slight stinging sensation on her lower back. This time, she didn’t wonder what it was about. It was more painful than the marks she’d received from sex, but she was hardly complaining. Izban hadn’t seemed like the sharing type anyway.

Her clothes were wet and the courtyard ground had turned into one giant puddle. She hadn't even noticed she'd summoned that much water.

Now what? Her shackles had gone and she was free to run, but where to? There were two doors leading away from the courtyard: one was the door her jailor had brought her, the other straight opposite. It looked more inviting. Wherever it led, at least it wasn't to the dungeons.

Macey began to run towards the door, expecting Amber to follow - but when she reached it, there was no sign of the redhead behind her. She looked back and saw Amber standing still in the same spot, tiny bolts of lightning flashing around her wrists. She was wavering, reaching for something in front of her that wasn't there.

Then she collapsed.

Macey ran back, cursing herself for not checking on Amber first. The girl had been in captivity for far longer than herself; of course she wasn't well. The exhaustion of using so much magic at once must have been too much for her frail body.

Luckily, Amber hadn't passed out completely. She was lying on her side, her eyes open, but obviously too weak to stand.

"I'm sorry," she whispered faintly, but Macey shushed her.

"Do you know the way out of here?"

"I think so." Amber groaned. "But it's hard to know what was real and what wasn't."

"It's better than randomly running around this place. Imagine running as fast as you can, how long would it take?"

"The main gate isn't far from here. Maybe two minutes? But I can't walk, let alone run."

Macey ignored that last statement. "Do you think you'll be able to hold onto me?"

Amber frowned in confusion. "You don't look strong enough to carry me. Better leave me here and get out while you still can. I'm sure the Voice will be back soon."

Macey chuckled. "Believe me, I'm strong enough. But don't tell anyone. And be quick, I can only hold my breath for so long."

Amber looked even more confused now, but Macey didn't have time to explain. Instead, she showed her. She shifted.

Shifting outside of the loch was hard, but there was enough water on her clothes and the ground for her to manage. It was painful, though, but she couldn't think of any other way of getting Amber out of here.

When she had fully shifted into her kelpie form, she knelt down beside Amber, nudging the girl to climb onto her back. This was the first time anyone who wasn't a kelpie was going to ride on her. It was a shameful thing to do; kelpies were incredibly proud creatures. But this was an emergency and if she was lucky, nobody in her family would ever find out.

That's when she remembered her brothers. If the two men in the dungeons even were her brothers, but it was too much of a coincidence.

She huffed. Get Amber out first, that was the priority. Then go back and get her brothers. Somehow. A problem for a later time. Right now, her problem was that she was having to hold her breath and already felt a slight sting in her lungs. Kelpies weren't made to be out of water for long. That's why the legends of kelpies pulling humans underwater to eat them were bollocks. Kelpies couldn't keep their heads out of water for long enough to first find and then attack a human. Besides that, they were vegetarians.

Amber climbed onto Macey's broad back and clung to her mane. As gentle as she could, the kelpie got to her feet and began to move towards the door. When she was sure Amber had a good grip on her, she broke into a run, following the girl's whispered directions.

From the courtyard they entered a long, dim corridor that led into another, even dimmer one. On and on they ran, around corners, through doors. There were no people to be seen anywhere. Macey found that very strange, but she didn't have time to ponder on that, nor on the fact that the Voice wasn't talking to them anymore or trying to keep them in his grasp.

No, she was focused on not breathing.

Her kelpie lungs were better than her human ones, but by now she was quickly running out of oxygen. Finally, they exited the building they were in and entered another drawn out courtyard. At the end was a gate.

It was closed.

Nonetheless, Macey continued to gallop towards it. Freedom was so close.

Suddenly, two guards stepped out of a small door beside the gate. They held out their hands, intent on stopping the girls escape.

Mages.

Oh waves, what was she going to do?

"I can break down the gate, but I'll pass out after that," Amber whispered.

That meant the guards were Macey's responsibility. She whinnied in response to show her rider she agreed with her plan.

Her lungs were burning, she knew she had less than a minute left before she'd have to shift back. Summoning her water magic, she threw two balls of water at the guards without warning. One of them deflected his, but the other was hit hard and slammed against the wall behind him. He sank to the ground, unconscious.

Only one to go. Macey readied another water ball, but the guard was now on the offensive. He threw a fire lance at her and she just about managed to jump to the side to evade it. However, it gave her the opening to thrust her own watery missile and hit the mage before he could create another lance. Just like his fellow guard, he slumped to the ground.

Lightning tore from the sky and into the metal gate. Electricity fizzled through the air and the gate's doors sprung open.

Using the last of her energy, Macey ran through the open gate and along the drawbridge that was leading away from the castle.