The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (44 page)

“What? She’s a
what
?”

She reached down and rolled the woman slightly. The wet sweater gripped to the woman’s flesh, but Aura forced the cloth down , exposing a patch of black ink at the base of her neck. “Look.” She pointed at the black swan that was tattooed on her flesh. “It’s their mark.”

“Whose mark?”

“The swan-shifters. There are many groups of nymphs. Nat and I are part of the Mustang group.”

He shook his head like he was trying to rattle the thought of what she was telling him around in his brain. “When you say
shifter
what exactly do you mean?”

She had forgotten. She hadn’t told him about their other abilities. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to freak you out.”

“I’m way past freaked out. Just tell me what I need to know, okay?”

Should she tell him that she could never love? That if she gave her heart to a man that he was fated to die?

“I can’t … ” She couldn’t say it. He was in no danger of loving her — not after she told him the entire truth. He hadn’t seemed to want to take things that far, he cared and he was helpful, but it was all part of his job — except for the sex, but that had been her doing. She’d initiated their lovemaking. She’d seduced him.

Besides, once she told him the complete truth of who and what they are, he’d want no part of them. There were things that were forgivable, understandable, and acceptable to a man like Dane — but being a drifting, law-breaking, demi-god wasn’t amongst those things. Love was an impossibility on all fronts.

Her fingers trembled on the edge of the bag. “I don’t shift anymore.”

“What does that mean? Why not?”

“A long time ago, Natalie and I use to be in our horse form most of the time. We were safe and could run free. When the settlers started moving into the Southwest, all of a sudden there were so many things to worry about. So many dangers.”

“What happened to you?” There was an edge of sympathy in his gaze.

“To understand, you need to know that there are only a few ways that women of our kind can be killed.”

“Wait. Now you’re saying you can’t be killed?”

“No, Dane. We can. That’s the thing. It’s simple if we are trapped. If someone pulls just a fistful of our hair, we die.” She took a deep breath letting her thrashing heart slow.

“A long time ago, Natalie and I were running with the remnants of a once great herd when we were corralled. We were surrounded on all sides by the herd.” For a moment all she could hear was the thundering of hooves and the fear-filled screams as the memory of the moment filled her thoughts. “I’ve never been more scared in my life. We had to shift back to our human form in order to escape before they culled the herd. We tried to save them, but before we could, it was too late. We saw every one of our friends, the wild horses, die.”

She tried to hold back the tears, but chills rippled over her body. “They all died so some cows could have better grazing … It’s all so wrong.”

He stared at her in stunned silence for a moment and then dropped his gaze to the dead woman. “Do you think that Angela was killed by someone pulling her hair?”

Aura nodded.

“What about her hand?”

“I’m not sure how she lost it, but I think it was the reason she died. Everyone’s body is covered with fine hairs. When we shift those fine hairs shift and become our fur. If she was in her horse form when she lost her hand, the loss would have been fatal. Too much hair was lost for her to survive.”

Dane leaned his body against the gurney as if it could carry some of the burden of the shock from her revelation. “And your sister still shifts? I don’t understand it.”

“Natalie loves to shift. She’s a beautiful brown bay. She’s the most beautiful horse you’ve ever seen, strong in the shoulders, glistening mane, and perfect white socks on her feet — she was the horse in the video.”

He blinked as he must have tried to make sense of her admission. Dane reached down and pushed her fingers from the bag. He reverently moved the sweater back over Jenna’s arm, then zipped the bag closed. “So your sister is a horse. This lady is a swan. And you’re a … ”

“Mustang as well. It’s been a long time since my last shift, but when I do, I’m a palomino. Natalie always used to say she was jealous of my canter, but I never believed her.”

“Canter … ” he mumbled, shaking his head. “Okay.” He sighed as he must have resigned himself to the fact she had told the truth. “So you can seduce and shift. Can you do anything else? Can you do magic?”

“If you mean like a sorcerer or a witch — no. Sometimes we have a gift. Not every nymph has one, but I do.”

“And what is this gift?”

She wanted to escape from the cage of his questions, but she couldn’t. Somewhere along the way she had come to respect him and part of that respect was the ability to be honest — whether or not he would believe her or understand was another matter entirely. But she cared for him enough to be honest — to submit.

“I can talk to animals. In our world we call it empathic.”

He stood silently, staring at her over the dead body of the swan-shifter. The corners of his lips quivered and then pulled into an awkward smile as laughter filled the mobile tin casket. “You’re a seducing Doctor Doolittle!” His laughter echoed off the inside of the van and bounced out into the night like a child’s lost ball. “That’s amazing!”

It confused her that he would have a problem with her right up until the point that she could talk to animals, and then he thought it was amazing. Being an empathic was amazing, but it surprised her that this would be the ability that he would accept. Perhaps it was the animal psychics on late night television infomercials or the whack-jobs on the animal shows that proclaimed they could communicate with animals, but something about this ability must have been something he could finally understand. Something he could put inside the box. This was something he could grasp and cling to like a fumbling rock climber on the ledge of understanding when the reality around him had dramatically given way.

She smiled and took his hand and led him out of the van. His laughter and the lapping of the water upon the shore was the only noise. Everyone stared at him.

Aura turned to him. “If you want to stay on this investigation you better stop laughing.” She pointed over at the sergeant’s confused expression. “I think they’re starting to wonder if you’re losing it.”

Dane clamped his lips shut, but his body still shook with unspent laughter. Trying to cover his laughter, he turned to the van and slammed the doors shut. He held his hands on the metal for a second until the shaking of his shoulders stopped.

The sergeant, who had been talking to the fisherman, sauntered over. “Dane, what’s going on here?”

Dane turned and faced the firing squad. “We identified the victim. It’s not Natalie Montgarten. The woman’s name is Jenna Cygnini. She’s a woman out of Idaho.”

The sergeant frowned. “And how do you know this?”

Aura stepped up for her turn. “I know her. She’s a friend of a friend.”

The only reaction the sergeant gave her was a terse raise of his eyebrow. He turned to Dane. “Find out who did this.” He reached in his jacket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s the credit card number. I’m running a check on it. You will find the paperwork in your file when you get to work in the morning.”

Dane took the slip of paper and slid it into his pocket. “Got it.”

“Now I want you and Aura to go home. Get some rest. And think about how you’re going to solve this case.” The sergeant turned back to the fisherman. He looked back at them over his shoulder. “Remember. Two days.” He put up two fingers, like a pair of scissors that waited to snip away Dane’s reputation.

“You’re still staying here?” Dane looked at the campground sign.

“It’s fine, really. I like staying in my trailer.” Aura looked up at him with her tired eyes and he felt instantly guilty.

He didn’t know her financial situation, maybe she couldn’t afford to stay at a hotel. Or maybe she’d just planned on passing through, didn’t want to set down roots, or was it a nymph thing?

Dane slowed down the car, and looked down the dirt road that led to the main camping area. “It’s too cold to be staying outside. The news is saying it’s supposed to get close to zero tonight.”

“I’m sleeping in the horse trailer’s tack room. I’m used to it. Besides, we spent last night out in the same weather and we were fine, weren’t we?”

Faint warmth moved through his cheeks as he thought about her lying in his arms, out in the moonlight with only the stars and the mountains watching. It was a night he would never forget. Suddenly he realized he’d made love to a nymph — a goddess. He couldn’t hold back his smile. “Are you going to tell me you don’t freeze because you’re a nymph?”

She laughed tiredly. “I never really thought about it, but I guess we can’t.”

He started to turn the car into the drive, but instead merely pulled to the side of the road. “How about you come over to my place and you can take a shower and rest. That way I don’t have to worry about you being alone.”

She looked at him wryly. “What do you think you’re going to do with me when you take me to your house?”

His smile widened. “I swear I only have the most honorable of intentions in mind.” He instantly visualized her lying naked on his bed. “Just thought you could use a soft bed and a hot shower.” His thoughts twisted to envisioning her standing in the glass walls of his shower, steam rising around her, fogging up the windows. He tried to ignore the way his pants grew tighter.

“Honorable, right.” She laughed.

“I swear. I will not touch you … ” He put his hand over his heart. “Even if you beg. You need your rest.”

Her happy laughter rippled through the tension that had filled the car since they’d left the crime scene. The sound made relief swell inside his chest. It felt good to hear her really laugh again.

Checking over his shoulder, he eased the car back onto the highway and drove toward his house. An odd sense of excitement mixed with his sense of relief. He could protect her from anyone and maybe get a chance to really understand her. There were so many questions he had about her and her kind.

While he drove, she told him a short history of her kind from Epione to modern day. His mind felt as if it was floating with the new wealth of knowledge. The new reality that she was presenting was like a dream that he couldn’t fully grasp. He couldn’t help feeling like he’d finally broken into sitting at the cool kids table — that he was part of some elite class of beings that knew the truth.

“Jenna had some problems with who and what she was,” Aura continued as she reached over and took his hand. “Sometimes it happens. They can’t handle the nature of the beast.”

“What do you mean
the nature of the beast
?” He looked over at Aura.

She caught his eyes, but guiltily glanced away.

“I’d like to think we are past you lying to me. Don’t you know you can tell me the truth about anything? You don’t see me running away, do you?” He threaded his fingers between hers and pulled her hand over his heart. “I want to help you the best that I can. I care about you.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said half under her breath.

He pulled the car into the driveway and parked. “What do you mean by that? Don’t you want me to care about you? I know it took a lot to tell me the truth. I don’t really get it yet, but I will with time.”

She hesitated for a moment, as if she were weighing her options. “I care about you too.” He heard the words, but the tone was that of a break-up. “But you and I, we can’t be together. We’re too different.”

He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that they could make a relationship work, that all they needed was a little time and they could work out their problems. But all he could think of was Angela. They had been different as well, she had been similar to Aura in the fact that she’d been a drifter, and look at where they had ended up.

Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to avoid having a relationship. What they had
worked
. At least that’s what he forced himself to think. In his heart, he could feel the sharp edge of the lie cutting away at his resolve.

“I get it.” He got out of the door and went around and helped her out of the car, giving himself a moment to think.

She kept looking at him, like she was waiting for him to argue with her or for him to get upset, but he just walked silently to the front door and opened up the lock. If she didn’t want a relationship, he didn’t either. She was the one running this thing between them, he couldn’t force anything.

“Do you want to take a shower first?” he asked, pointing down the narrow hallway to the guest bath. “I think I have a set of clothes around here that might fit you.”

She wrapped her arms around her body and stared down the hall. “Yeah, that would be great.”

He tried to ignore the awkward silence between them and he tried to think of something to say, but there was nothing. If he brought up Natalie she’d go off and they’d probably end up running around the woods all night tracking down leads, but they both needed their rest. His head hurt and the muscles were still stiff and sore from the horseback ride the day before.

Dane made his way to his room as Aura followed. She kept her arms around her as if she was afraid to touch anything in his life and leave her mark. What was she so afraid of?

As Aura took her shower Dane changed the sheets on his bed and set up the couch for himself. She could have the bed. She needed a little bit of comfort — and who knew, maybe she’d wake up and decide that there was something that they needed to explore between them. Maybe she would come to understand how much he cared about her, how much he wanted her in his life.

But for her to know … he had to say something.

She came out of the bathroom still toweling her hair dry. At the end of the hall there was a bookcase filled with dust-covered pictures and stacks of well-read books. Not noticing him standing there and watching, Aura walked to the end of the hallway and looked over the contents. He walked to her, letting her have a moment to peer into his life and memories.