The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (49 page)

“If you are going to be with me, you are just going to have to get used to someone who cares about you, who loves you and wants you to be safe.”

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love you too.” He put his foot down onto the top rung of the ladder. Dane let go of her as he disappeared into the darkness.

Her hands shook as she followed him into the shadows. She would have to trust his gut and what he thought was best. Her foot struck the dirt floor and she let go of the ladder. It took her a second to let her eyes adjust to the enveloping darkness of the cellar-like basement.

“Zeb?” Dane called out. “Are you in here?”

They were answered with the footsteps of the people walking in the barn above them.

He pulled his gun from his holster and stepped in front of her. Her heart thundered in her ears. If Zeb was down here, was he alive? Was he with Natalie? If she was down here why wasn’t she answering? A sickening knot clenched tight in her stomach and a wave of chills made goose bumps rise on her arms. Something was wrong.

“Natalie?” she called out, her voice wavering with emotion.

Again there was no answer.

Dane pulled the work-issued metal flashlight from its holster at his side and shined the light into the murky black. At the far end of the square room was a wall and at its center was a barn wood door that sat half off its hinges.

She looked over at him. “How long has this place been down here?”

Dane shook his head. “This wasn’t here before the barn burned … It’s only been a few years — at least that I know about.”

Was it possible that his family had more secrets under their barn than most did in their closet? Were there things his mother hadn’t told him?

She moved meticulously toward the door, step by step with Dane.

He stepped ahead and the door’s hinges cried in rusty anger at their intrusion. A low watt yellow-tinted light hung from an electrical wire strung from the ceiling. Something else moved in the darkness just beyond the thin light.

“What’s that?” Aura felt the energy of her shift begin to course through her body, but she tried to control it, put it back in the little box where it had, for so long before today, been trapped.

Dane pointed his flashlight in the direction of the movement. Squinting she moved closer.

“No … ” She gasped.

The light reflected off a pair of clean camel-colored boots at the level of her waist.

“Zeb … What did you do?” The metal flashlight fell to the floor as Dane rushed to his dangling brother.

She picked up the light and pointed it toward the rafter which the green and yellow rope was tied. Her mind flipped to the crime lab’s report on Angela’s body — they had found yellow and green fibers — rope fibers. Zeb had been behind it all. She moved the light down, illuminating the purple flesh of Zeb’s lifeless face. She gasped. Dane didn’t deserve this, to find his brother like this. Not here. Not in this place. He already had so many terrible memories tied to this barn.

A whimper escaped from the darkness. Aura flashed the light around the room. In the far corner, stuck against the wall, was a wooden chair. At first all she could see were the duct-taped legs, but as she moved closer, her sister’s face met her. Her eyes were closed from the sudden intensity of the flashlight’s beam.

“Natalie!” She ran to her.

Her sister’s normally beautiful dark chestnut-colored hair was matted with dirt and sweat and hung limply to her face, making Aura’s heart ache in her chest. She’d been through so much.

“It’s okay, honey. I’m here.” The duct tape was stuck firmly over her lips, but Aura was careful as she pulled it from Natalie’s lips. “Are you okay?”

“Aura!” Tears slipped down Natalie’s dirt-smudged cheeks. “I didn’t think you were ever going to find me. I’m … I’m so sorry.”

“No … I’m sorry.” Aura took Natalie in her arms, comforting her still trapped body.

She couldn’t stop the tears that welled in her eyes and spilled down her face. Every emotion she had been feeling — terror, dread, love, excitement, and elation — every emotion filled her tears and poured from her. She’d never felt such relief. Natalie was safe. She was alive. There would be scars for many years to come, but she was still here on this earth — Aura could ask nothing more.

“I should have never let you come here alone. If I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own life … this would have never happened.” Tears choked her voice.

Natalie moved as if she wanted to hug her, but her arms were still taped behind her back. “Aura, this wasn’t your fault. I’m just so glad you’re here.”

“Natalie?” Dane asked, stepping to Aura’s side. “I’m so glad you’re okay. We were worried about you.” There was a strangled edge to his voice, as if his emotions threatened to spill over.

Aura pulled at the thick wrap of tape around Natalie’s ankles. “Dane, do you have a knife?” He reached to his waist and pulled out a well-worn knife. Bending down, he made quick work of the tape then moved behind the chair and repeated the action with Natalie’s wrists.

He gently moved Natalie’s hands around to her lap. “Are you okay?”

“I think so — at least I think I’ll be okay.” Natalie nodded as she rubbed the skin of her wrists. “Who are you?”

“I’m Deputy Burke.”

“But you can call him Dane.” Aura smiled as she thought of the first moment she’d met him as he stood by her window, trying his damnedest to be the hard-edged cop, but she knew the real him — the man who could love without boundaries, without care of his safety, and with the full strength of his being.

“That’s right … You can call me Dane.” Dane glanced up at her and smiled, as if he too was thinking of that fateful moment.

Natalie wiped the tears from her face. “Thank you, Dane … Aura … Thank you for finding and saving me.”

Natalie peered out the window of Aura’s truck as they made their way from the hospital to Dane’s house. Some of the pink hues of life had returned to her cheeks and her body had taken on a new life, as if she knew how lucky she was to be alive.

Her beautiful copper-tinted brown locks flowed perfectly over her shoulders, framing her petite face. For everything that she had gone through, it was incredible to see how much better she had looked from the pale-faced, dirt-covered woman they’d pulled from the cellar only a week before.

“Are you sure you were ready to be discharged? You could have stayed a little while longer,” Aura offered as she tried almost in vain to focus on the road.

“No, it was time. I want to get out and Ryan’s waiting. Plus, I could really use a run.”

“You mean shift?”

Natalie passed her a guilty grin, but Aura couldn’t blame her. It came as no surprise that her sister would want to return to her horse form as soon as possible. She seemed so much more at home as the beautiful chestnut-colored mare.

“What are you going to do, Aura?” Natalie pushed her hair away from her face. “Are you going to head back to Arizona?”

The whir of the tires on the highway filled the cab. She hadn’t made a plan. For so long, all she had worried about was finding Natalie, but for the last week she had been considering their options for the future. They would head back to Arizona — go back to work training horses and saving more wild Mustangs from slaughter, but her heart sank in her chest every time she considered leaving Dane.

She loved him with every fiber of her being, and leaving him would be the hardest thing she would ever have to do; yet their money was running dry. They needed work, but more importantly she still needed to keep Dane safe. He had heard the warning and he’d lived through Shawn and fate’s attempts to kill him — but the blows wouldn’t stop coming as long as she was in his life. If she loved him she had to walk away — and even the thought threatened to kill her.

Aura tried to ignore the aching throb in her chest. “I bet you want to get out of Montana?”

“What do you mean?” Natalie answered in an overly chipper voice.

Aura gave her a forced sardonic grin. “You don’t have to fake anything with me. I know how hard this has all been on you, how hard it would be to stay here and be confronted with the memories of your horrific ordeal.”

Natalie fidgeted in her seat for a second. “Actually, it might surprise you, but it hasn’t all been bad here. I found a little bit of a silver lining.”

Sometimes her sister still surprised her. Few people — or nymphs for that matter — could come through a kidnapping and witnessing multiple murders and still be focused on the bright side of life. Perhaps there was something to be said for her softhearted, Bohemian-styled sister.

“I found something for you and Dane … A bit of a thank you present.”

“Natalie, you didn’t have to get us anything. I’m just glad that you’re back. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Her sister smiled. “From what I can see you’ve done pretty well on your own. Dane’s a great man. You did good.”

“I think so … ” She tried to sound happy, but the fears that lingered in her heart filled her voice with ghostly reservation.

She pulled the truck to a stop in front of Dane’s house. A fresh layer of perfectly white snow blanketed the ground, freshening the world around them. Ryan had crutches under his arms as he stood next to Dane beside the door as they both waited for the women to arrive. A sexy, wanting smile played on Dane’s lips. She hated herself for what she was going to have to do.

Natalie jumped out and sprinted to Ryan, throwing her arms around him. “Ryan! Did you tell Dane yet?”

Ryan gave her a wide smile. “Not yet. I was waiting for you.”

Natalie pulled from Ryan’s arms and turned to Dane and gave him a hearty hug. “Hey, little Danish! Long time no see.”

He looked taken aback, but his normally stoic face broke into a wide smile as Aura slogged to the front door. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He gave Natalie a quick squeeze before she fluttered out of his arms and helped Ryan walk into the house.

Ryan hobbled into the house as the lively Natalie moved through the living room. “This is a really great place you’ve got.”

“Thanks,” Dane called after Natalie. He waited for Aura to step beside him. “She seems a lot better.”

“So does Ryan. I’m glad it was only a broken leg.” She forced herself to give him a weak smile. “Natalie always has been the one to keep moving forward. She’s always looking around the bend for the next adventure. It’s one of the best parts of being a wild mare.”

“She’s amazing, but so are you.” He wrapped his fingers in hers and walked with her into the house, shutting the door behind them. Natalie was down the hall, already making herself at home as she looked over his collection of pictures.

“I think you need some new pictures, Danish.” Natalie picked up the picture of him and Zeb and made a sour face. “Ryan, did you see this? I mean, I’m as sorry as I can be about your brother’s death and all, but I don’t think he needs to see these anymore. Don’t you agree, Ryan?” She sat the picture face down on the shelf.

Ryan gave Dane an apologetic smile, as if he knew Natalie was overextending her welcome.

“Natalie … ” Aura’s cheeks flamed with her sister’s brashness.

The funeral had been a county-wide event; not for Zeb’s memory, but more as a show of support for Dane and all that he’d gone through with his family.

“No, Natalie’s right.” Dane squeezed her hand as he smiled. “I think I’m going to move out.”

“What?” Aura couldn’t believe it. What was he thinking? “Are you going to just buy another place?”

She could understand his desire to find a new home, somewhere that didn’t have Angela’s phantom touch.

“Actually … I have some great news.” His smile grew. “The woman who owns the property next to the Diamond, Mrs. Mullen, has agreed to buy the ranch and this property. She’s paying more than it’s worth — enough for me to retire very comfortably. In fact, there’s enough for us all to never have to worry again.”

“Dane … ” Aura’s hands flew up and covered her mouth. “No … We can’t. You can’t sell the ranch.”

“It’s already done.” He walked to the kitchen and picked up a paper-filled yellow file. “It’s all taken care of. And every horse in the place has found a new fabulous home, under the care of Mrs. Mullen and her family. All except one.” His smile grew even wider. “She said she couldn’t handle Dancer … He’s too much horse for her. She required that he find a great trainer who was willing to take him in.”

Aura rushed to him and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much.” If nothing else, she would have a wonderful horse to remember all the great times that she had spent with Dane — and their night in the snow.

He dropped the file on the counter and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you, sweetheart.”

Ryan moved to the sofa and, setting down his crutches, dropped down on the couch.

Dane looked over to him. “And Ryan, you are welcome to come along too. We can start up a new place, wherever we end up.”

“Thanks, Dane … That’s mighty gracious of you.” Ryan smiled. “I mean … especially after my Dad and all. I’m real sorry about him … and what he did.”

Dane looked down at Aura as if he was waiting for her to answer Ryan, but it was unnecessary — she held no ill-feelings toward the man who loved her sister.

“If Natalie loves you and you love her, then that is the most important thing.”
Or the most dangerous.
But to love him was her sister’s decision to make.

Dane leaned back in her arms. “I do have one condition to all of this.”

Her heart lurched in her chest. “What?”

“You have to marry me. We can go anywhere you want. Back to Arizona … anywhere.”

“What about your job? You love your job.”

“I can be a cop anywhere. Plus, I’m looking forward to getting away from Grant. There’s nothing here for me anymore — only some burned out memories.” He dropped down to his knees and pulled a small black velvet box from his pocket.

Her breath caught in her throat and the world spun around her.

“I never thought I would do this again, but I can’t live without you, Aura Montgarten. You are everything that I’ve ever wanted. Please, will you marry me?”