The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (8 page)

Bunny sat in a seat in the back, far removed from the man who Ariadne had seen standing between the woman’s thighs. Stavros tilted his head in greeting, but she pretended to ignore the gesture and instead took a seat next to a handsome young reporter, right behind Kat.

“Thank you all for coming,” Stavros started. “As you all know, Crete is the greatest place on earth. We are blessed with agricultural richness, bountiful marine life, and the most beautiful women.” The crowd laughed.

His charm was magnetic and his charisma undeniable. Watching him in action as he worked the crowd reminded her why she had dated the man for so many years. He had many public qualities that made him a fine catch, but she could never forgive him for all the wrongs he had inflicted. He was no different from any of the men of her past.

A warm hand touched her shoulder and she jerked.

“Is he always like this when he speaks?” Beau whispered into her ear.

She smiled when she looked up and saw her rescuer. “Yes. He’s a politician.”

“Well, he’s good.” Beau growled. “Did he tell you what he’s planning?”

Her guilt gnawed at her when she looked at Beau’s handsome face. He didn’t deserve what they were doing to him … no, what
she
was doing to him. If only he’d chosen a different location … she would not have been forced to stop him.

“I’m so sorry — ”

“It sounds like he wants to bring in tourists who will pay to take part in the dig,” he interrupted. “He’s gonna try to get a bunch of slobbering yuppies to shovel in my site.”

“What?” Ariadne whispered, her gaze flashed toward the blabbering politician.

“I was afraid they’d shut down the site for repatriation and burial of the body, but it sounds like he wants to just keep going. He said he found a private group of citizens who want to bury the remains.”

He looked relieved, but Ariadne’s heart sank. What was Kat going to say?

“This’s going to save me thousands, but cost me my reputation, and probably destroy the site.” He dropped his hand as he stood up. Where Beau’s moist breath had warmed her ear, suddenly turned cold.

Ariadne stared at the man, as she tried to keep the fears that fluttered in her chest from leaking out onto her face. Stavros wouldn’t compromise everything to make money, would he?

Stavros’ voice broke through the fog in her mind. “ … after much deliberation we, Beau Morris and I, have decided to open this dig up for the public to participate … ”

Her heart fell to the ground. There would be no stopping it now.

Kat turned around. “I thought you said you had this handled,” she hissed.

“I … he … promised me … ” Ariadne stammered.

Kat glared at her. “You’ll never change. I knew I couldn’t depend on you.”

An explosive roar tore through the tent.

At the sound of the gunshot, Ariadne threw her body to the ground. People screamed, chairs banged against each other, and the microphone popped and emitted an ear-piercing squeal. Beau reached out and took her hand. Grabbing her other arm, he pulled her toward him and took her in his embrace.

“Are you okay?” he yelled above the jumble of noise.

People frantically scurried around them. She looked into his brown eyes. There was strength in them she had never noticed before. For a moment, she could say nothing. She could only look at the man whose arms were wrapped around her.

“Where’s Kaden?” Ariadne looked behind him, but she couldn’t see the young man anywhere.

Beau’s heavy breath poured onto her face. “He’s with Trina.”

Relief filled her. Beau and Kaden were okay.

A woman screamed. “The governor! He’s been shot!”

Stavros stood up on a chair at the front of the tent. He held his neck as blood ran through his fingers and down the front of his suit jacket. “Don’t worry. I’m fine. Just a little flesh wound.”

“Get down!” Beau yelled at Stavros.

Stavros clamored down from the chair. At least he had the sense to listen for once in his life.

Beau looked at her. “Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded.

Without warning, he leaned in and took her mouth with his. She closed her eyes and let the warmth of his lips spread into her soul. His strong hand rubbed the space between her shoulders; the simple motion comforted her like nothing she had ever felt.

As quickly as he had taken her, he pulled back. “I … I’m sorry … ,” he stuttered. “I just … You’re — ”

She pressed her finger to his lip and silenced him. “Don’t worry, Beau. I understand this — you needed to know you’re alive.”

“No — ” he began, but again she stopped him.

“Don’t apologize.” She pressed her hands against his chest. His eyes were wide and his mouth agape as she moved out of his arms.

A part of her wanted to stay there and be surrounded by his wanting touch, but it wasn’t right. Her loyalty was with her sisterhood, and she couldn’t be seen with their enemy.

A thought struck her, he was their enemy, but could he be a lover? If they never went public. If they kept their affair in the shadows, maybe …

No …
When his lips had pressed against hers, the feelings that ran between them were not that of simple lust. And more than lust was an emotional risk she wasn’t willing to take. She could have sex with anyone, but not a man with whom there was a possibility of something more than a physical connection.

She tried to push the thoughts of more from her mind. There were too many reasons they couldn’t be together.

Beau stood up and looked around. The people that were still left in the tent were sprawled on the ground at his feet. He looked god-like the way he scanned the horizon for danger. Reaching down, he pulled a phone from his back pocket and flipped it open. “We’re going to need an ambulance.”

• • •

The pungent scent of antiseptic mixed with the stale scent of the sick as Ariadne walked down the hospital’s long white corridor. Some of the people’s doors were open as if they awaited people who would hopefully come. Other doors were shut, but the sounds of moaning escaped beneath the thin cracks and invaded the still hall.

Stavros’ room was easy to find by the crowd who stood outside the door. The group talked in hushed voices as she approached. Bunny stood at the group’s center, her face pale and mascara ran down her cheeks. The woman looked up at her and smiled weakly. “Ariadne, I’m glad you’re here … ”

If Bunny had said she married the prime minister of Britain, Ariadne couldn’t have been more shocked. The woman, who she had only seen days before naked beneath Stavros, now wanted to be kind and welcoming to her?

Ariadne looked around the crowd of faces surrounding the governor’s mistress. A dark-haired man with stubble and pockmarked face stood at Bunny’s left, and Ariadne recognized him as Christos, the head of Crete’s Hellenic Police from the dinners she had spent with the governor. Behind him, stood a man with a camera slung around his neck. Bunny’s gaze flickered to the man with the camera. Bunny must have noticed and she stepped toward Ariadne and opened her arms and motioned for a hug.

The photographer picked up his camera, but Ariadne couldn’t bring herself to play the game. The thought of playing the former lover was too much. She couldn’t choke down the thought of people outwardly pitying her while inwardly they likely wondered if she had something to do with the assassination attempt.

She should’ve never come here. Then again, if she hadn’t, the rumors would’ve been even more virulent. Crete was a small island filled with big mouths and even stronger opinions.

Ariadne smiled at Christos and offered her hand, ignoring Bunny’s outstretched arms. “Nice to see you, Christos. Any leads yet?”

Bunny’s arms dropped.

Christos shook her hand. “I can’t believe what has happened. There’s been talk about some conflicting feelings from underground groups about Stavros’ politics, but none of the rebels or protestors has the funds to pull off this type of thing.”

Rebels … it was possible that civil unrest could have been the reasoning behind the shooting, but it didn’t seem to fit. Why would rebels wait until he was at the archeological dig to shoot him? Stavros made many public appearances with much larger crowds. If they wanted to send a message, one of his larger addresses would have seemed like the more logical location. But then again, rebels could’ve seen this as an opportunity to get closer to him; he didn’t have as large of an entourage, or as many security officers.

Christos stared at her, as if he was looking for clues. “I heard you and Stavros recently ended your affair. Yes?”

Looking over at Bunny’s smeared mascara, Ariadne nodded. “It was time.”

“Neither of you had hard feelings?” Christos pressed.

Ariadne looked at his broad nose. As he breathed, a hair from his nose vibrated and squirmed as it tried to escape. “Christos, if I didn’t care for Stavros, do you think I would be here?”

Christos glanced at the blonde and shrugged. “You make a point.”

“Yes. Now, if you will excuse me.” Without waiting for an answer, she pushed past the throng of people and opened the door.

Stavros was sitting up in bed with his eyes closed. His neck was wrapped in white gauze, spotted with brown-red blotches where the blood had oozed and then dried. His face was pale and though she had known him for thousands of years, this was the first time he had ever looked
old
.

Her heart clenched in her chest. She had never loved this man, but seeing him hurt and surrounded by people who would never know who he really was, she couldn’t help the pity that rose within her. She was one of only a few that knew what a powerful and caring man Stavros could be. He had many faults, but he had cared for her for more years than she could remember. Maybe she was wrong to have ended things between them.

The door clicked shut behind her and he opened his eyes. Seeing her, he smiled tiredly. “Aria, you came.”

“Hi, Stav. Flesh wound, eh?” she said, trying to lighten the thick air between them.

He patted the bandage on his neck. “I just needed a vacation, but they forced me to wear the bandage to keep people from calling me ‘lazy.’”

“Ah, good idea. You want to make voters feel sorry for you.” She looked over to the window, where floral arrangements were packed so tightly it looked as if a flower shop had exploded in the room. “Well, it looks like your little act is working.”

His lips quivered with a smile.

She looked back over her shoulder at the closed door. “Stavros, I’m sorry.”

He stared quizzically at her. “Why?”

“If I wouldn’t have planted the bones, you wouldn’t have been there. This wouldn’t have happened.”

“Aria, I’ve had a bounty on my head for a long time. This was bound to happen eventually.” He sat up in bed and stretched out his back.

“And who knows,” he continued with a strong, energetic voice. “Maybe this will bring an edge of intrigue to the island. There has to be some way to spin this to pick up the economy.”

He will never change.

Stavros looked out the window. “Maybe I can start hiring more police. That would make more jobs. It would definitely be a great way to gain public opinion.”

“Stavros, you know as well as I do that this site needs to be shut down.”

A thin nurse walked into the room with a knock. Stavros dropped back into bed. “Hello?” he said in a weak voice, ignoring Ariadne’s reminder.

The big fake.

“Oh, governor, how are you feeling?”

“Well, my back … ”

“Let me get that for you.” The busty nurse walked to the head of the bed and bent over to fluff the pillow behind Stavros’ head.

His eyes wandered downward and Ariadne smiled.
Same old Stavros.

Ariadne walked out the door without saying goodbye.

Bunny stood outside the room with fresh tears on her cheeks. “Is he doing any better? He’s so weak.”

Ariadne smiled. “He’s weak all right.”

“The police have shut down the site,” Beau grumbled. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the window frame.

Kaden flopped down on the bed with a squeak. “For how long?”

Beau shrugged. “Who the hell knows between the bones and the shooting? Could be a day, could be a coupla weeks.”

Beau pushed off from the wall and went over to his computer on the tiny desk. He opened up the lid and clicked a few buttons, no emails, no messages, nothing. Slamming the lid shut, he walked back to the window. He had only been in the apartment for a few hours, yet the walls had already begun to move in on him.

He looked over at Kaden who had his hands under his head and his eyes closed. Beau couldn’t help but feel angry with the boy. The kid just didn’t understand what this meant. He had already lost days when he’d shown up on his doorstep and now he was losing an indefinite amount of time. Time was money and Kaden didn’t even seem to understand or care.

Kaden pushed his ear buds into his ears and clicked on his MP3 player. Beau clenched his jaw. He needed to get out of the apartment.

“Kae, I want you to stay here. I’m going for a walk.”

Kaden pulled out his ear buds. “What?”

“You stay. I’m going out,” Beau growled.

“Trina and I were planning on meeting up later. Cool?”

“Yeah. Whatever. When are you planning on being home?” As soon as the words escaped his lips, he knew he had screwed up. This place wasn’t his son’s home. This place was about as far as the kid had ever been away from home. And there he went bringing it up, bringing up that his mother had left him with a father he had barely known
.

Son of a bitch.
He was never going to get this “father” thing down.

Kaden coughed, then pushed the ear buds back into his ears. “Later, Beau.”

Beau grabbed his wallet. Stepping out the door, he looked back and watched his pale, black-haired son sitting alone on the worn rented bed. “You wanna come with me?”

Kaden gave him a dull, tired look. Beau stood there and waited for his son to answer, but Kaden only waved him off.

Stepping out the front door of the apartment building, a brown snake slithered off the doorstep and disappeared into a small green bush. The boy in him wanted to go after the snake and take it back to his son to see, but the man in him made him stop. His son didn’t want him around. Kaden wanted to be left alone, and maybe things were easier that way.