Page 89 of Loched in Love

“Actually, yeah, my brothers are sleeping right up there,” Elena whispers, a helpless laugh slipping through the thick panic in her voice, that I can also feel thrumming through the bond. Her brow furrows. “Hey, did you just seriously bring up back rent? For centuries?”

The old vampire lets out a sharp, dramatic hiss, but to his credit he actually listens to his mate and drops his pitch to a hoarse and venomous whisper, though he continues to fume as his crimson gaze glares up at me with pure unadulterated anger. “Gods forbid we disturb the precious, delicate slumber of your completely mundane human siblings, and let’s all speak in soft and soothing tones while my nanny suffocates in an impenetrable prison of poison and sorcery. Is this quiet enough for you, or shall I fetch some tea and crumpets while we wait for the giant sea monster to remember how to use his legs?” Vlad asks.

“Will you knock it off and calm down? How is that any way to ask for a favor?” Aubrey scolds, shooting Elena an apologetic and thoroughly exhausted look.

“I’m merely pointing out the staggering lack of urgency here,” Vlad snaps back in the same fierce whisper, turning his venom back on me. He crosses his arms and leans back on his heels like a petulant child. “And I’m not asking. You will help me, Lachlan, you owe me. We need you and that big trident of yours to open the seal on Hilda.”

“How did you even find out my trident was repaired?” I ask, knowing I’ve not spoken to any of them since I left the castle.

“The selkies aren’t exactly quiet with their supernatural doings, especially when wielding a trident. And word gets around fast when the Lady of the Lake does favors,” Frank intones, explaining at least how they discovered I have it back and whole.

“Hello? You guys do remember the internet exists? Like it’s hard to find anything,” Bernadette mutters, sounding perturbed.

“You owe me for centuries of rent from when you lounged your scale-covered arse in my moat without paying a single coin in tribute, and I’m calling in the debt for Hilda, now. Right now,” Vlad snaps, stealing my attention.

I stare down at the vampire, completely unbothered and unphased by his dramatic posturing, and reach into my back pocket to pull out my new debit card, holding it between his red gaze to see.

“If you want to talk about your rent, I’ll gladly transfer the funds directly into your account right now,” I tell him quietly, a smile breaking across my face. “I’ve fully funded myself and am completely off of Frank’s payroll, but if you actually want to help save Hilda tonight, I suggest you stop acting like a dramatic little bat and start climbing back into the helicopter.”

“I’m so sorry Lachlan, they’re completely hopeless,” Aubrey mutters, grabbing Vlad by his suit collar. Her gaze blazes to red as she marches him back toward the open side door of the chopper. “Move it Count Drama, you’re quickly losing your audience here. And why do you always have to be so mean?”

“Lachlan, glad to see you’re doing well,” Frank says, though his tone remains entirely clinical and devoid of any real emotion. “Unfortunately, Jekyll stopped responding to my messages days ago. There’s a hefty dose of magic blocking us from getting inside the mansion, and the only thing I can think of is to destabilize the field’s magical barrier. If you can do it, we need you on board now.”

“Elena, how do you fancy coming with me to help save Vlad’s nanny?” I ask, smiling down at her, and hoping she’s not too upset at the interruption.

Elena glances up at Frank beside me and slips her hand into mine, as a short but helpless laugh breaks through her shock. “Sure, sounds like an adventure to me. But let’s go save them before my brothers can wake up and notice the world’s most famous billionaire is parked on the lawn.”

I flash a wicked and fanged grin at the fuming vampire through the chopper window. “Alright, let us see if Frank and the antique blood sucker can handle a real Highland rescue.”

As I take her hand in mine and loop my fingers through hers, we walk hand in hand toward the waiting helicopter as the wind from the slowing rotors whip around us, creating a sudden storm that cuts through the quiet and still night.

I look down at Elena, at her round face illuminated by the harsh artificial light of the aircraft and yet her gaze holds all the quiet and ancient peace of the deepest loch.

The centuries of cold isolation and the stubborn pride that nearly kept me trapped in the dark along with the fear of the modern world that I never thought that I could belong to, everything seems to melt away as I gaze at her.

At the simple touch of her hand, I’m free.

I’ve spent my entire life protecting a horde of gold hiding in my secret underground sanctuary, and the rest locked down into a moat, but now I feel that true freedom is where I choose to let my heart anchor itself.

And I’ll always choose her.

I pull her close against my side, shielding her from the strong wind as we reach the helicopter doors.

For the first time in my existence, the depths of the sea hold no appeal, and as the great infinite expanse of the sky stretches out before us, I sense that I am no longer adrift.

I lock her gaze with mine. “I’ve spent a thousand years locking myself away from the world, my flower,” I shout, pressing a firm and solid kiss to her forehead. “But wherever the current takes us, I’m already home because I’m now irrevocably loched in love with you.”

Epilogue

LACHLAN MACBETH

Three Weeks Later…

“Are you sure this is what you need, my flower?” I send the thought to Elena, the bond between us alight with the affection I feel every time I look at her. “It’s definitely big enough, but I’m no expert on modern technology.”

The many textures of the ocean floor are illuminated, made to glow by the deep sea creatures’ bioluminescence around us. I shift my coiled body, trying to keep my movements slow so my big tail doesn't stir up the silt and hover easily over the rusted, barnacle encrusted iron anchor.

Elena cuts through the water with effortless grace, her powerful iridescent mermaid tail swishing in sync with the current as we swim. “It’s perfect. The anchor is pure early 19th century forged iron. Not stainless steel like most used today. The stove works in a pinch, but this is going to make the internet in the cave flawless, which means no more buffering.”