Kelpies Don't Fly: A Paranormal Suspense Novel with a Touch of Romance (Valkyrie Bestiary Book 5) by Kim McDougall

Author:Kim McDougall [McDougall, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: WrongTree Press
Published: 2022-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

21

The hidebehind was, well…hiding behind the bit of wall between the patio door and window. I hadn’t keened him there. And from Grim’s irate hiss, I suspected he hadn’t sensed anyone lurking either.

The creature was taller than me, lean and twiggy. Dark, opaque eyes watched us from a thin face of mottled gray skin and a darker slash for a mouth. His arms were thin with knotty joints. Legs too, but these bent behind him like a grasshopper’s. Long gossamer wings folded along his back. He flexed one wing and ran his leg across its edge like a bow on a violin string. Haunting music filled the night.

“It was you!” I said.

The hidebehind smiled and played on.

“The lady likes my song?”

“Yes.” I breathed out a sigh. The music tugged at some elemental part of my soul.

“I give it as a gesture of goodwill. We trade? I help you. You help me.” He cocked his head to one side, still sawing out the potent music.

Mason also seemed affected by the sound. He stood by the couch, one hand clinging to the armrest as if his knees were about to give out. On the table, Grim wasn’t so impressed. His back arched and fur stuck up like bristles on a brush.

Oscar stepped forward. “Who are you? Are you fae?” He turned to me. “Kyra, don’t bargain with the fae.”

“Not fae.” The hidebehind stopped his song, and I felt the loss like the death of a dear friend. “My name is…” He shook his head. “You could not pronounce it. You may call me Cricket.”

I took a step toward the patio. Cricket didn’t retreat, but his back leg planted itself as if he were ready to bolt.

I stopped. “You’re a hidebehind.”

“Your people gave my people that name many, many lives ago. When the first human men came to these woods with their axes and their fires.”

Interesting. You could tell a lot about a creature by how they described their first encounters with humans. They came with arrows and spears? That meant the two races had been overlapping for millennia. Humans brought guns and magic? That probably meant the first encounter happened in the last century. Axes and fires meant humans first encountered hidebehinds in the eighteenth century when lumberjacks and trappers roamed the lands west of the big cities. The fact that he didn’t mention traps and knives, meant that this was a tree dwelling creature. I’d have to search the old almanac database to see when they were first mentioned.

Mason recovered from the effects of the music and strode forward to stand at my side.

“What makes you think you can help us,” he said.

“And why should we help you?” Oscar added.

The hidebehind glanced at one, then the other. His gaze settled on me.

“I watch for many nights now. I see you don’t chase away the goblins. I see them welcomed here. Tonight I hear you make plans. I see you search for the lost children.”

“You were eavesdropping?” I asked.

Cricket looked up at the roof line.

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