Mythe: A Fairy Tale (59 page)

The computer was Manda’s lifeline to the outside world, even if Kastl took great care to ensure it was a one-way link. After completing the composite, she ran an online search for Richard Raines. The story of her murder had been everywhere, as well as an ocean of rumor and speculation on the subject. The only new information about
Richard, however, had been that the two Raines brothers had been in seclusion and unavailable for comment. It wasn’t until almost two weeks later that another tiny bit of new information surfaced.

Manda was reading reports of her funeral when she found a mention of Richard. It was short, but heartbreaking to Manda.

While Joshua Raines attended Miss Jensen’s funeral service today, there was no sign of his brother, Richard Raines, who had been romantically involved with the Denver woman since January. A spokesman for the brothers stated that “Richard was devastated by events and has chosen to grieve privately.”

Manda was very afraid that the reason Richard hadn’t gone to her funeral was because he couldn’t forgive her for rejecting him and calling him a monster. The next day she’d been sitting on the deck that overlooked the stream, haunted by visions of her loved ones enduring
her
funeral, when Kastl joined her. They sat in silence for a long time before Manda finally gave bitter voice to the thoughts that plagued her.

“You know, in movies they have these scenes where everyone thinks someone is dead, and that person sneaks in and watches their own funeral. It’s always this touching, beautiful, “It’s a Wonderful Life” moment when they realize how much people loved them—but it’s
not
beautiful and touching. It’s horrible and awful because the truth is that you’re hurting everyone you love. They never put that part in the movies.”

Knowing she was going to cry then, she’d gotten up and walked away, taking the path upstream with no destination in mind. She just hadn’t wanted Kastl to see her tears. That was when she’d discovered the hammock. Now, when the weather was nice and she wasn’t on the computer searching for news about Richard, she was usually there.

That’s where she’d been most of the day today…ever since her fit of pique with Kastl. It was now late in the afternoon and she’d been there since midmorning. She hadn’t even returned to the cabin for lunch. Anna had brought her a sandwich shortly after one o’clock. Manda had accepted it dutifully and thanked her, but as soon as the motherly agent had disappeared back down the dirt path, Manda had torn it into small pieces and tossed it into the rushing stream. She just wasn’t hungry. Luckily, no one expected her to take a turn in the kitchen. If they had, they would have found themselves hungry more often than not. She didn’t have much of an appetite these days and tended to forget meal times. When Anna had moved in, the motherly agent had happily taken over most of the kitchen duties—a lucky stroke, since Kastl’s cooking hadn’t been good. The three agents from the ambulance—the two paramedics and the driver—acted as the go-betweens with the outside world, bringing in groceries and supplies and providing security support. Although they had sleeping quarters in the cabin, they were away most of the time, often coming and going without Manda ever seeing them.

Though those three men were phantoms, Kastl insisted that he, Anna, and Manda eat dinner together every evening. (Manda would have to head back to the house soon if she didn’t want to be late again.) She’d argued with him about this back when it had just been the two of them sharing the meal, but he had insisted that it was a security matter, not a pleasantry. Dinner together insured that he (and now Anna) had a chance to eat in peace without having to worry about Manda’s safety. It also served as a daily briefing of sorts, where any concerns or new developments could be discussed. A great many concerns had been raised and debated. There were seldom any new developments though.

Manda walked back down the path to the cabin slowly, carefully tucking her daydream, her disappointment, and her irrational anger away behind a calm face. It was a familiar reflex. She’d perfected it in college when she’d moved into the dorm. After her parents’ death she’d been forced to share a room with a series of older roommates who had never been more than polite strangers, sharing little beyond proximity.

Dusk was falling as Manda climbed the steps onto the deck that ran the width of the cabin. Anna would have dinner ready soon. Manda could at least set the table. After a few steps across the deck, however, Manda froze. Between her and the door a small black and brown sparrow stood looking at her with its head cocked to one side. Birds often frequented the area around the cabin since Anna had made a habit of filling the birdfeeders scattered
throughout the nearby trees. This bird, however, hadn’t flown away as the other birds did when she approached. Flashbacks of the attack in the bathroom overwhelmed Manda and panic tried to claw its way through her chest.

It’s just a bird,
she told herself, fighting to stay rational.
Just a regular bird.

She said a silent prayer and then stomped her foot in the bird’s direction. “Shoo!”

The bird ruffled its wings but didn’t fly away. Instead it tilted its head to the other side and fixed its black eye on her. Manda felt as if she were paralyzed. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t scream. She could only stand and watch the tiny bird.

It’s just a bird
, reason told her again.
It can’t hurt you. Just a little bird.
The words repeated themselves over and over in her head. The rational part of her clung to them, but emotionally she wasn’t reassured. A small, frightened sound began deep in her throat, involuntarily growing louder. With every ounce of will she could gather, Manda slowly moved one foot and then the other, inching away from the sparrow. When she’d backed up a couple of feet, the bird advanced on her. At the same time, she heard the quick flurry of wings behind her. Unnerved, Manda screamed for the only person she could think of to help her right there and then.

“Kastl! Kas…” The name turned into a wordless shriek when a hand closed on her shoulder. She struggled to pull away but it held her tightly.

“Manda! It’s me,” Kastl said quickly. “Calm down. You’re safe. It’s just a bird. Relax. It’s okay.”

Anna burst through the backdoor a heartbeat later. She had a revolver in her right hand.

“What happened?” she demanded, scanning alertly for signs of danger.

“False alarm. Everything’s fine,” Kastl said calmly. “Would you please take Manda inside and stay with her. I’ll change and be right there.”

Manda realized then that Kastl was unclothed behind her and she studiously kept her eyes turned away as she walked toward Anna. The older woman escorted her into the house and settled her onto the sofa.

“Are you okay?” Anna asked. “What happened?”

“I’m fine,” Manda replied with more equanimity than she felt. Inside, her heart was trying to beat through her ribcage, but on the outside she had reconstructed her calm façade. “It was just a bird—a sparrow. It startled me. It was stupid.”

“Oh,” Anna said sympathetically. She knew about the sparrow in the bathroom and understood. “Well, you’re safe. We won’t let anything happen to you here.” She patted Manda’s shoulder reassuringly and then glanced toward the kitchen. “I have something on the stove. I’ll just go turn that off. Can I get you a glass of water or something?”

“Water would be nice. Thank you.”

Anna hurried off and while she was away Manda took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It
had
just been a bird. Was she going to lose her mind every time she saw a sparrow now? She wondered what the name for that particular phobia was.

Anna returned with the glass of water a step ahead of Kastl. She handed it to Manda and sat down on the sofa beside her. Kastl seated himself on the edge of the coffee table across from them.

“Calm down, Manda,” he instructed kindly, “before you hyperventilate or something.”

Of course
, Manda realized.
He can hear my heart racing, just like Richard always could.
She took a few more deep breaths and nodded.

Kastl smiled his approval. “Anna, no more hand-feeding the birds on the deck. They’re getting a little too bold.”

Anna nodded. “I’m sorry, Manda.”

“It’s okay, really. I was just being silly. If you want to feed the birds, don’t stop because of me.” Manda’s heartbeat was beginning to slow and embarrassment was taking the place of fear. She felt like a complete fool. She took a long drink of water and then examined the glass. She wished she were anywhere but there. Maybe Richard
had been right not to tell her about the danger. She may well have developed a phobia of every animal she saw. She wished she were with Richard, far away from the cabin.

Chapter 42

A
s the weeks marched by and summer surrendered to fall without a fight, colder weather kept Manda indoors more and more often. Her escapes to daydream in the hammock became less and less frequent until she finally told Kastl he could take it down for the winter. It was a very nice hammock and she wouldn’t want the winter weather to ruin it. After all, if she were still there in the spring she might need it again. It was a depressing thought.

Manda found almost everything depressing now. Trapped indoors most of the time, she prowled restlessly. Her bedroom was the only place she could be alone, since she wasn’t the only one the bad weather had driven inside. The three roaming agents were also confined to the cabin a majority of the time now. Larry, Mo, and Curly (that was how Manda secretly thought of them, though their names were really Terry, Joe, and Leon) were nice enough, as was Anna, and Manda was grateful to all of them for the part that each had played in saving her life. The problem was that Manda was unhappy and hadn’t been sleeping well. She was still having nightmares and hadn’t slept through the night in weeks. The combination left her irritable and distracted.  She tried not to take this out on the others, but they were
always
there. Manda spent a great deal of time and effort making polite excuses and fleeing from room to room, trying to avoid the others without seeming rude. She suspected that she was coming across as a snob but that was better than seeming like a bad tempered harpy. It would have to do anyway.

Surprisingly, it was Kastl who rescued her once more. In his company she found unexpected refuge from the forced cheerfulness and small talk of the other agents. Kastl’s stern authority and taciturn nature meant that those who worked for him tended to avoid his presence. Manda found that if she sat in whatever room he occupied, no one else would disturb her…and Kastl himself didn’t feel the need to chat. She was able to let her mind wander and spin her daydreams far from the confining walls of the cabin without fear of interruption.

Kastl seemed to encourage her company, often leaving the most comfortable seat in the room for her or building a fire in the great room fireplace to please her. So, while Manda surfed the Internet or read or just let her imagination carry her elsewhere, Kastl would read or work on his own computer in silence. Manda supposed it was the perfect arrangement for him—he was able to keep an eye on Manda from the comfort of his chair. No wonder he did what he could to keep her close.

As Manda and Kastl spent more and more time together, and Manda grew more comfortable with his company, she would sometimes ask him questions about shapeshifting. Unlike Richard, who had been eager to educate Manda on the subject, Kastl didn’t volunteer information. Secretiveness was a deeply ingrained habit for him, she supposed. He didn’t hesitate to answer any direct questions she asked on the subject though. In this way Manda was able to fill in some of the blanks in the information that Richard had given her. For example, she learned that a shapeshifter could only collect forms that were of their own gender. (She had been especially silly to be afraid of the sparrow on the deck, as it had been male and couldn’t possibly have been one of the women who wanted her dead.)

In addition, he explained to her that it was much more difficult to shift into the form you were already in, which was why a shapeshifter usually shifted to another form and back again in order to heal an injury. It was simply easier. This difficulty was also why his trick with altered blood—the one that had saved her life—was challenging. That explained the relief Manda had seen on his face when she’d finally shifted. He’d been afraid that she would fail, rendering all of his efforts to protect her useless and alienating Richard forever.

As fall progressed and the snows began, news about Richard and Josh trickled in. In mid-October, Rain’s new album was released to rave reviews and critical acclaim. Manda was surprised by the title though. From the moment Richard and Josh had started working on the project in earnest, the working title had been “Fairy Tales,” but the final release was titled “Reality Check.” Manda had heard all of the songs in one form or another before, but Kastl purchased and downloaded the completed album for her on the day it was released. Manda immediately loaded it onto her iPod (another gift from Kastl, intended no doubt to placate her lest she rebel against her confinement) and lived the next three days with headphones in her ears.

In November, Rain launched their tour. It was a short one, only four months long, but that had been Richard’s plan from the start and had nothing to do with Manda’s “death.” Josh had teased Richard about not being able to pry himself away from Manda any longer than that, but privately he confided to her how glad he was that his brother had found her.