Strange Fates (Nyx Fortuna) (28 page)

I tapped Brad on the shoulder and hit him the second he turned around. My knuckle snagged on some of his man jewelry, but he went down like a brick. I picked him up by the collar and smacked him again.

“Stop it!” Elizabeth said.

I kept pounding on him until Talbot grabbed my arm. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s time we went home. Before someone calls the cops.”

I shrugged him off and stalked outside, fuming. My hands clenched with the effort it took for me not to go back into the bar and beat Brad into a pulp.

“Nyx, wait up,” Elizabeth called out, but I kept walking.

“Leave me alone,” I said.

“I wanted to tell you,” she said.

I whirled around. “Don’t ever lie to me again,” I said.

“I won’t, I promise,” she said. A glimmer of hope lit her face, and I felt like a heel for what I was about to say.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do the job for you,” I said.

She gave me a relieved smile. “That’s great, Nyx. You won’t regret it.”

I would, more than she would ever know. “And then I never want to see you again.”

The light went out of her eyes. “Whatever you want,” she said in a monotone.

I crossed my arms over my chest to stop myself from taking her into my arms. “That’s what I want.”

Without another word, she walked away.

Lucky in cards, unlucky in love, that was me. I sat down hard on the curb. I noticed the cut on my hand and put my knuckles to my lips, tasting the sharp tang of my own blood. Even while I was beating the shit out of him, Brad had managed to make me bleed.

Worse, Jasper had taken advantage of my distraction and disappeared.

There was probably a lesson in there somewhere, but I was too tired to look for it. I put my head in my hands, ignoring the fact that I’d sat in a portion of suspiciously slimy sidewalk.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Talbot passed out at around three in the morning, but not even the massive amount of alcohol I’d consumed could stop the humming in my brain.

I called a taxi, which dropped me off in Elizabeth’s neighborhood. I staggered down to the lake. “Willow, come out, come out, wherever you are.”

I plopped down at the shore’s edge. A minute later, she was next to me. She smelled sandy, but warm, like a day spent at the lake. Not like winter at all.

She stared at me for a moment, and clapped her hands. “She’s broken your heart, just as I said she would.”

“You don’t have to sound so happy about it.”

“But I am,” she admitted. “Very happy. There is something about you that is pleasing to my eyes.”

“You smell good,” I said.

“Spring,” she whispered.

I leaned in to kiss her, but she pushed me away. “Not like this.”

I almost tipped over. Drunk, I realized. “Like what?” I asked, but my words slurred, so it sounded more like, “Lick wah?”

“You are broken,” she said. “Weak. Not the son of Fortuna.”

That was the last thing I remembered before I passed out.

*  *  *

I woke up, dehydrated and unsure where I was. It was dark, except for a single wavering candle near me. I was lying in a cave, on a pile of fur, naked. There was a warm female body next to me, also naked. Willow. Alcohol-blurred images flashed in my mind. My head throbbed in time, as if someone was using my skull as a drum. I had an even bigger headache than the one pounding my temples. Willow. Naiads were legendary for their sexual appetites, but they were also legendary for their vengeance if scorned.

I’d slept with someone I didn’t love before, but never while I was in love with someone else. I’d never been in love before, so I didn’t know the proper etiquette. Even though Elizabeth had taken a sledgehammer to my heart, I loved her.

I wanted to reach for my pants and sneak out of there, but instead I put a hand on Willow’s bare shoulder. “Willow, I’m sorry, but I have to leave.” I hoped my hand wouldn’t come away a blood stump.

She sat up and gave me a sleepy smile. “Good-bye, son of Fortuna.”

“Last night, it was…” I began awkwardly.

“Two friends giving each other comfort,” she said. “That is all.”

I tried to mask the relief I felt, but I wasn’t entirely successful. She tossed me my pants with a little more force than necessary. I shrugged into my clothes, but swayed on my feet.

She didn’t stir from her fur and left me to find my own way out of the cave.

I had to stop once to throw up, but I finally found my way home. The next time I woke up, I was in my own bed and Talbot stood over me. “There’s a bucket over there,” he said. Right before I heaved. Repeatedly.

My throbbing head only emphasized how stupid I’d been. Images of my night with Willow kept resurfacing, no matter how hard I tried to block them out, which made other parts of me throb.

What kind of man loves one woman and sleeps with another? Elizabeth had betrayed me, but that didn’t erase how I felt about her, no matter how much I wanted it to. I hadn’t been able to drink, fight, or fuck her out of my system. Instead, I’d made things worse.

My stomach lurched and I rolled over to heave again. Maybe having the marrow sucked out of me by an irate naiad was what I deserved. Once my stomach was empty, I closed my eyes and slept.

*  *  *

When I woke up again, my mouth felt like I’d been sucking on felt. I staggered into the living room. Talbot was sleeping on the couch. I threw a blanket over him.

I nursed my hangover with some aspirin and a Sprite. I’d slept most of the morning away. I made a pot of strong coffee as quietly as I could, but Talbot stirred and stretched.

“What time is it?” he said with a yawn.

“Almost noon,” I told him.

“What happened to you last night?” he asked.

“I spent the night at Willow’s.”

There was a long silence.

“What were you doing? Trying death by naiad?” Talbot commented.

“There are worst ways to die.” I said.

“I thought you’d grown out of your death wish,” he said.

“Things change,” I said.

He walked to the coffeepot and poured a cup. “What about Willow? How does she feel about the whole thing?”

“She was fine with it.”

“A naiad who was seduced and abandoned is fine with it? Yeah, that sounds right.” His voice was overflowing with sarcasm.

“Willow’s my friend,” I said defensively.

“Elizabeth’s not worth throwing your life away,” he said.

“Don’t blame Elizabeth for my desire to end my life,” I said. “I made those plans long before I met her.”

“It seemed like you were making new plans,” he said.

“Don’t say it,” I said. “Don’t tell me that I’ll meet someone new. I won’t.”

“You never know what will happen,” he said.

“But I do,” I replied. “It’s my life. Someone I love always dies, eventually, and I’m alone again.”

“It happens to everyone, mortal or not,” Talbot said. “You can’t stop it.”

“It’s not going to happen to me, not again,” I said. I’d been fooling myself, living in a dream world. It was time to finish it. Before that, I needed to apologize to Willow. “I’ll go talk to Willow,” I said, which seemed to satisfy Talbot because he finally shut up. I drove the Caddy, but left it about half a mile away from the house. I hiked to the lake.

I was over my head and I knew it, but that didn’t stop me.. When I entered the woods, the wind rustled through the trees, sounding like a shuddering sigh.

I ignored the warning and forged ahead. As I got closer, cold gray fog rose up out of nowhere and I remembered an old proverb that my mother always liked: “If it does not get cloudy, it will not get clear.”

The fog formed into hands, which is when I realized that it wasn’t ordinary fog. Gaston had become extraordinarily good at controlling the weather. And trying to kill me. The foggy hands wrapped around my throat and pressed down on my windpipe, effectively cutting off my breath and my ability to cast a spell.

I’d walked into this battle fully loaded, though. I didn’t have to speak to make magic work for me. I’d fastened the lodestone to the silver chain around my neck. If I could only reach it. I stretched out my hand and my fingertips made contact.

I was losing consciousness, but I summoned enough strength to evaporate the fog, and my breathing returned to normal. The magical attack was over, at least for the moment, and I finally relaxed.

I made a right and another right and the temperature dropped. It felt as though I was breathing in icicles, but I’d made it to the lake.

There was a large dark blot in the water a few feet from the shore, but I couldn’t make out what it was in the dark.

“Willow, is that you?”

No answer.

The object bobbed in the water and drifted closer until it was almost within arm’s reach.

“Nyx.” My name was a harsh croak, and it came from the dark blob in front of me.

“
Flamma
,” I said. The magic illuminated the shallows. I swore when I saw it wasn’t a blob at all. It was what was left of Jasper.

I waded out and pulled him to shore. I laid him gently on the ground. His arm hung at an impossible angle and something, possibly a water hag, had gnawed on his chin until she’d reached bone.

I took off my jacket to cover him, but he lifted his good hand weakly. “Too late for me,” he rasped.

His voice was fading so I bent to hear him.

“Need…to tell…you,” he said. “Alex…the water…Don’t…” But whatever he wanted to tell me was lost as Jasper died.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Jasper was gone. I closed his eyes and moved him under a copse of trees. There was nothing else I could do for him. But he’d said something about the water. A warning, but there was more.

“I know where they’re stashing Alex,” I said to myself. The sound of my own voice made my head throb, and I nearly lost the idea in the pounding of my brain.

I kicked off my Docs, socks, and jeans. Anything that would weigh me down was gone. My teeth clattered, and I shook with the effort to make it stop.

I’d reached the water’s edge, but I couldn’t bring myself to go in.

Willow appeared, almost as if she’d been expecting me.

“I am glad to see you,” I said. It was a ridiculous statement, considering I was naked, shriveled, and blue with cold.

She didn’t look enthusiastic. “I warned you before, Nyx Fortuna. It is not safe for you in my domain.”

“Just take me down there,” I said. “I know he’s there. What are you afraid of?”

She met my gaze and I realized her eyes were a lovely greenish blue. “Not everyone is indestructible.”

“Please,” I said. “It’s important.” I could go it alone, but the other naiads would be on me within seconds.

Her face went pale and I felt like a jerk. “Never mind,” I said. “I’ll go down there on my own.”

“You’d never make it,” she said. She gestured to me. “Come to me. Quickly!”

I waded into the water and was clasped in her strong slender arms. I had asked, but suddenly I wasn’t sure I’d made the right decision. Now I owed her not one, but two favors. As if reading my thoughts, she said, “In return, I ask that you tell no one that I’ve helped you.”

I started to say something but got a mouthful of water as she plummeted to the icy depths of the lake. I opened my eyes underwater. At first I couldn’t see anything, but as my sight adjusted, I spotted a murky glow. I soon lost track of how long I’d been in the water, and which way I’d turned the last few times.

At last, just as I thought my head would explode, our heads broke through the surface of the water. I gasped great lungfuls of air as I looked around.

“Where are we?”

“In the Driftless,” Willow said simply.

A subterranean river ran through the cave. The sound of water dripping down the walls of the cave was the only sound I heard. In the middle of the river, a stone structure rose out of the water.

The walls of the cave were decorated with bits of glass, painted figures, and other items embedded in the limestone, which I realized were fossils. I ran my hand along the wall.

The water was clear and I could see dark shapes, sleek and dangerous as sharks, swimming below. There was no way to get to the island in the middle unless I swam for it.

“I must leave you here,” Willow said. She trembled against me and I knew she was afraid of what was ahead.

I squeezed her hand. “Thank you.”

She swam away without looking back. I wondered how I would make it out without a bunch of naiads trying to eat me, but I’d worry about that later. I needed to find Elizabeth’s brother and then get both of them out of my life for good.

My feet touched the bottom and a thick mud squished between my toes. The water suddenly grew deeper and I began to swim.

When I came to the entrance of the labyrinth, I examined the carved letters above the archway more closely. It was definitely a magic spell, but not one I was familiar with. I put out a finger and traced the letters and a jolt went through my hand, up my arm, and to my heart.

I entered and found that the interior of the labyrinth was free of any water. The air seemed safe enough, although it was so cold I could see my breath.

I summoned a small flame for warmth and continued through the maze. There was a faint chuckle and then a voice whispered something, repeating the same word over and over. I strained to make out the word, but was unable to hear what the voice was saying. The cold became an icy tiger that sank its fangs into me and I waved my hands, trying to remember how to command the flame to grow, but I couldn’t.

I stared at the carved words above the archway. It either read
ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE
or
BABY, I’M A FOOL FOR LOVE
. Which might actually be the same thing.

I tried again, but couldn’t figure it out. My Latin sucked. A memory of my mother rushed into my head. We were sitting in a meadow somewhere. I must have been around seven or eight. I held a slate and a piece of chalk and was laboriously copying out letters as Mom watched. When I finished, she’d swept me into her arms and danced me around. She’d been so beautiful that even the butterflies had stopped to watch her. I missed her, missed being part of a family.