Mythe: A Fairy Tale (57 page)

“So, I’m not... I can’t...” Manda trailed off, surprised by the deep disappointment she felt, as if she’d lost something she’d never actually had.

“No, you’re still just a regular, normal person,” he said with unexpected gentleness.

Manda collapsed back onto the pillows, overwhelmed and frustrated. “Still, I can’t just let everyone think I’m dead. That’s horrible! Richard, my family, my friends...how could I do that to them? It’s unthinkable. Now that I know about the danger I can be more careful. Until you can catch them we can just have someone on guard all the time. I can be the bait.”

“No,” Kastl disagreed. “We’ve been trying to track her down for decades with no luck. And we can’t risk your life again. My little trick only works once, so next time I wouldn’t be able to save you. And they’d be much more clever next time—on the lookout for a trap. No, the best way to catch these two is to make them think they’ve succeeded—that you’re dead. We think it will make them overconfident and we’ll finally be able to catch them. Remember, this isn’t just about you, Manda. This is about giving Richard back his freedom and his security. He’s had to live with this nightmare for too long. Do this for Richard. In the long run, it’s what’s best for both of you.”

Manda recognized that Kastl was using her love for Richard to manipulate her, but she also knew that this didn’t necessarily make his words untrue. The thought of putting Richard and her family through such heartache was unbearable though. She didn’t know what to do or how far to trust this man.

“How long would I have to hide? How long will they have to think I’m dead?” she asked dubiously.

“Until we catch the ones who tried to kill you. And afterwards, you can go back to Richard and he won’t have to spend every day and night worrying about you, wondering when the attack is going to come. And you won’t have me following your every footstep either.” His mouth twisted in a tight smile and he looked away.

“And how long will that take?” Manda pressed, staring at Kastl intently. “What if you never do catch them? You said you’ve been trying for decades. What happens then? I won’t just disappear forever. That wouldn’t help me or Richard.”

Kastl’s jaw tightened and he met Manda’s eyes with an unblinking stare. “Give me two years then. If we haven’t caught them within two years I’ll give you back your life regardless.”

“Two years! That’s crazy! I can’t do that!” Manda closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She would not let this man see her cry.

She heard the creak of the rocking chair and opened her eyes again. Kastl walked to the bedroom door and opened it before pausing and turning back toward her. 

“There are some clothes for you in the dresser. You can have a shower if you’d like. The bathroom is right there.” He gestured to a door beside the bed. “If there’s anything you need, let me know. We’ll discuss this more later. All I’m asking right now is for you to think about it. I’m sure you’ll have more questions, but I’ll let you get cleaned up.” He walked out and closed the door behind himself.

As soon as he was gone, Manda buried her face in the pillow and cried.

Chapter 40

A
fter briefly indulging her fit of tears, Manda went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. The reflection that greeted her in the mirror was appalling. Her body was unmarked, it was true, but the evidence of the attack was still there. Her hair was matted and stiff with dried blood, and dried blood streaked her neck. No wonder Kastl had suggested the shower. She went back into the bedroom and rummaged through the dresser, examining the clothes that Kastl had supplied. They were all her size, in colors and styles she might have chosen for herself. Well, that made sense if he’d been following her for months. The thought irritated her. She collected a set of clothing and went back to the bathroom to clean up.

Kastl had referred to this as a cabin, but the bedroom and bathroom were luxurious and roomy. An enormous claw-footed tub sat beneath a large window that looked out on the dense wall of trees, while a glass-enclosed shower was tucked into one corner. Manda thought about the time that Richard had washed the blood out of her hair, when she’d first found out that he was a shapeshifter, and tears stung her eyes again. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on showering. She had more questions for Kastl and couldn’t stand here whimpering all day.

What should she do? She couldn’t agree to this. She wished Richard were there. She wondered what he was doing right then. He must be worried about her. He always worried about her terribly. Then, with a jolt, she realized that he wouldn’t worry anymore. He thought she was dead, and you didn’t worry about the dead—you grieved for them. The thought of how she would feel if she thought
he
were dead was a knife in Manda’s heart. Nothing could justify causing him that kind of pain. Images from the bad dreams she’d had after learning about Richard’s brother William flashed through her mind and she shuddered. She couldn’t do this.

After she was clean and dressed, Manda ventured out of the bedroom. Beyond her door was a loft that overlooked an expansive great room, one wall of which was dominated by a stone fireplace. The adjacent wall featured a series of huge windows that stretched two stories and framed a view of the nearby mountain range. Kastl’s ‘cabin’ was a palatial log home perched on the side of a mountain, overlooking a forested valley. If this was where he wanted her to hide, at least her prison would have been a comfortable one.

Manda wandered down the curving stairs at one side of the loft and explored until she found Kastl in the large kitchen. He was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Did you have a nice shower?” he asked politely.

“Yes, it was fine.” Manda sat down on a stool at the kitchen island.

“You have more questions,” he surmised, sipping his coffee.

“No. I’ve already made my decision. I won’t let everyone think I’m dead just to keep myself safe. That’s cruel.” Manda’s hands were clenched tightly in her lap.

“I see,” Kastl replied calmly. “And you think it will be much easier on them all when you really are dead. Yes. That’ll be much better, because at least then you won’t have to feel guilty about it. Better for you to be dead with a clear conscience than to suffer through a couple of years of emotional discomfort and then have a nice ‘happily ever after’ for everyone involved.” He took another sip of coffee and met her eyes accusingly over the rim of the cup.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. I could...”

“It
will
be like that!” he interrupted, slamming his cup down so hard that coffee splashed across his hand. “At that baseball game you had
three
shapeshifters and
seven
agents watching over you, and you were still almost killed. You were alone for less than five minutes before Anna found you—and in one more minute it would have been too late. We can’t protect you forever, Manda, and it would be a living hell for everyone involved while we tried. I already told you, this isn’t just about you. This woman has been tormenting Richard for fifty years.
Fifty years!
Now, with your help, we finally have a chance to catch her and put a stop to it. A chance like this won’t come again. They’ve made a mistake. We know that there are two of them now, but they don’t know that we know it. Don’t throw our one chance away, Manda. Not if you love Richard and want him to be happy.”

Kastl’s angry tirade caught Manda off-guard and she sat stunned for a moment. Very quickly, however, the storm of anger and resentment she felt overcame her shock. Her eyes narrowed and a caustic response hovered on her lips. She wanted very much to lash out at this arrogant and insufferable man who thought he could dictate her actions to her, but his words had planted a seed of uncertainty in her mind so she resolutely reigned in her temper and donned a façade of icy calm.

“I take it you, Josh, and Richard were the three shapeshifters watching over me?”

“At the game, yes. Daniel and Sarah have helped as well at times, when Richard and Josh couldn’t. One of us was always watching over you.”

“Daniel and Sarah too. I see.” Manda added this to the list of things she needed to consider. “Seven agents at the game. Was that normal?”

“No. Usually there were two or three guarding you at any given time, but at the game we brought in more. Whenever you’ve been in a crowd situation like that we’ve ramped up security.” He was calmer now. He dried his hand with a napkin, then crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash can. “You have no idea what lengths we’ve gone to trying to keep you safe. The ambulance for example; the paramedics were agents, of course. We’ve had three teams
taking shifts for months now. That ambulance hasn’t been more than a mile or two away from you during that whole time. We’ve also had two agents placed inside the Aronson office, three on the building’s security team, two living a few doors down from you, and a dozen others taking turns following you all the time, not to mention Mikey and Mark. I lead a fairly good-sized team—every agent who’s aware of therianthropy, as a matter of fact—and every one of them has been dedicated to protecting you for the last nine months. Yet even with all of that, Richard was crazy with worry whenever you were out of his sight. After what happened in that bathroom, can you see how much worse it will be for him in the future? He’ll never have a moment of peace or security until we catch those two women.”

“This woman has been haunting Richard for fifty years?” Manda asked quietly—a focused quiet that would have worried anyone who knew her well.

“Yes.”

“And she’s threatened to kill every woman he’s ever loved?”

“Every woman to whom he’s ever been even overly friendly,” Kastl clarified.

“And no one thought that maybe
I
should know about this?” she hissed angrily. Her hold on her temper was definitely slipping.

Kastl exhaled heavily and considered his coffee cup. Manda had the impression he’d been waiting for this question.

“We were trying to protect you, and not just physically. Richard couldn’t stand the idea of you living in fear every day. We thought we could protect you without you ever having to know. Josh wanted to tell you all along, but Richard and I overruled him. I apologize for that. Richard wanted you to be safe, but he also wanted you to be happy.” He stepped across and refilled his cup, replacing the coffee that had splashed out.

“Josh wanted to tell me because he thought I’d be safer if I knew, and Richard didn’t want to tell me because he’s fairly overprotective and always thinks he has to carry burdens alone. I understand that. I get it. What I don’t get is you. What’s your motive in all of this?”

Kastl sat down on the stool across from Manda. “It’s my job to keep you safe,” he answered warily.

Manda fixed him with a sharp eye and shook her head slightly. “I would think that telling me about the danger would have made that job a whole lot easier. So why would you agree to keep it from me? You work for the government, right? Not Richard.”

Kastl’s thumb idly stroked the curved handle of his cup as he stared into the dark liquid it contained. “I swore to him that I’d protect you, and I don’t think causing you to live in constant fear qualifies as protecting you. More importantly, I don’t think Richard would consider it protecting you. And...I owe Richard.” He admitted the last part grudgingly. It was obvious he wouldn’t be more forthcoming on the subject.

“In case you have any doubts,” he went on, “I fully intend to keep my promise. So, whether you stay here where I know I can keep you safe, or whether you go home, where you put yourself in danger and jeopardize our chances of putting an end to this nightmare, I’ll be your constant shadow until we catch those two women...even if that takes the rest of your life. So, you might want to factor that into the equation when you’re trying to decide what to do.”

The vision of her life stretching out in front of her with Kastl constantly lurking in the shadows was unnerving, but Manda carefully maintained her mask of calm. She refused to give this man the upper hand.

“Where can I get a glass?” she asked, to give herself a moment to think. She
was
very thirsty.

“I’m sorry. I should have offered you something. You lost a great deal of blood and with so little of the factor in your system, and so little blood to work with, it wasn’t a perfect transformation. You’ll be a bit anemic and dehydrated and you’ll need to take in a lot of fluids over the next few days.” He crossed the kitchen and took a glass from a cabinet. “What would you like? We have milk, orange juice, or lemonade. We’ve got soft drinks, too, but you should probably avoid those right now.”

“I’ll just have water, thanks. I can get it,” Manda answered politely, reaching for the glass. Kastl ignored her extended hand, filling the glass with ice water from the dispenser on the front of the refrigerator before handing it to her.

“Thank you,” Manda said, still very politely, and sipped the water.

Kastl settled back onto his stool and leaned his arms on the counter. “I’m not going to lie to you, Manda. This won’t be easy on you. It won’t be easy on anyone, but it will be worth it in the long run. I won’t presume to speak for your family and friends, because I don’t know them, but I do know Richard and Josh very well, and, for what it’s worth, I promise you that if you could ask Richard, he’d tell you to do this. He’d rather be miserable for a few years to keep you safe and have you back afterward, than lose you forever. He wouldn’t even have to think twice. I would imagine it’s the same with your family and friends.”