by Abigail Owen
“I see. I’m sorry,” Tala murmured.
An off tone to Tala’s voice caught Leia’s attention and she cocked her head as Tala and Marrok exchanged an odd glance. “Have you met a nymph before?”
“No. But your gifts having me thinking.” Tala turned in her seat, eyeing Leia as though sizing her up. “I wonder if you might be able to help us.”
Leia was hard-pressed to think of what a nymph could do for a wolf. “I’d be happy to, if I can. What do you need?”
Tala and Marrok exchanged another glance. “In order to explain that, let me fill you in on the reasons behind our mating first,” Tala said.
“Okay.”
“Marrok and I are the alphas of our packs.”
“Castor told me. I know female alphas are rare. I’ve never heard of two alphas mating. Is it common?”
“Our union is…highly unusual,” Marrok said.
Tala’s lips thinned in a grim line. “Our packs have been ripping out each other’s jugulars for centuries. Marrok and I see this mating as an opportunity to end that fighting.”
Leia could appreciate the goal, but these two had a tough road ahead. “Who will be alpha of the combined pack? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“We will lead together,” Marrok said.
Tala’s lips tightened though. “As you can guess, there are factions within both packs against our mating.”
Made sense. A feud lasting that long didn’t die a quick death. “I fail to see how a nymph could help.”
Marrok parked the car in a crowded lot downtown where they were going for lunch, but instead of getting out, he turned in his seat. “I believe my intended is thinking that a sign of blessing from the gods might help.”
Leia glanced back and forth between them, still not following.
“A sign along the lines of a display of nature,” Tala added.
Oh… Oh, shit. Nature.
Of all supernatural creatures, nymphs were perhaps the most tied to nature, to the point that she could manipulate water with ease. Or she’d been able to once upon a time. These days she didn’t get close enough to larger bodies of it to try.
“You want me to help put on a show?” she asked slowly while cringing inside.
“Maybe you could recruit other nymphs in the area?” Marrok suggested. “The chapel is set in the mountains all by itself, surrounded by nature.”
Castor said nothing. She wasn’t entirely sure what Delilah had told him, but why did he suddenly feel closer, his heat nearer? As if he was ready to jump between her and pain if he could. But he couldn’t.
She dropped her gaze to her hands clenched in her lap. Working for Castor had been a big risk. She’d thought that, after all this time, she’d be okay poking her head up, but that was already in doubt if what she’d been sensing was correct. Showing her face to members of her extended family would make it harder to disappear. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” Tala asked.
After ages of practice, she was able to keep the pain that still ripped through her out of her voice, even if her hands shook. “I lost my spring and was shunned. Treated as a disease among them to be quarantined and cut out as quickly as possible.” Until she’d faked her own death and walked away from everything she knew.
Castor must have caught a trace of how shattered she still was, though, because he reached over to cover her hands with his. “I didn’t know that.”
She cast him a quick glance. “Why do you think I needed a job as your EA instead of guarding a spring?”
The warmth of Castor’s hand on hers and his silent support seeped into her, his strength warming her soul from the inside out. Thawing places she’d long thought frozen inside her.
She pulled her shoulders back and raised her gaze from her lap to the couple seated before her. A couple putting aside their personal needs to bring peace to their people. Their cause was worth her pride; she’d focus on that, rather than her pathetic little story. She was a stronger woman because of her past, dammit. Time to start acting like it.
“This is important?” she asked.
Tala grimaced. “It could be a huge help. Put to rest some of the doubts long enough for us to unite and settle the packs…” She trailed off.
“We wouldn’t ask, but…” Marrok also trailed off.
“I will try. That’s all I can promise.”
Tala reached over the seat and patted Leia’s knee. “Thank you.”
Leia tried to smile, though it felt stiff. There was no way this would go well.
Chapter Six
After a quick lunch in a busy bistro downtown, a little too close to the river for Leia’s comfort, Tala and Marrok brought them to the location for the mating ceremony. The idea was to give Leia a chance to try to approach the nymphs nearby in privacy, rather than waiting until the night of the mating.
Wow. They hadn’t been kidding about being in the middle of nature.
The idyllic chapel Tala and Marrok had selected for the marriage ceremony was positioned on top of a large rock base, built of the same granite, almost as though it had been placed there since the beginning of time, forged by the gods themselves. Below, a creek-fed lake reflected the blues of the sky and the spire of the chapel.
Such a gorgeous setting was perfect for this event. After a human-style wedding ceremony, Marrok’s and Tala’s family and friends would follow them into the wooded mountainside for the mating ceremony and celebrations illuminated by the full moon, followed by a more formal reception held at the Stanley Hotel, where they were staying.
Her skin crackled with energy just being here. Part of hiding had been staying in cities and avoiding open country. Leia could sense the nymphs nearby, even from the car in the parking lot.
An oread nymph of mountains and grottos guarded the nearest peak. A melissae nymph protected her precious honeybees in the field of flowers, along with the anthousai flower nymph, beyond the pond. A dryades wood nymph watched over the deeper woods. While a potameides river nymph controlled the rapids, a naiad water nymph, like her, kept the pond pristine. She would approach that sister and hope for a favorable response. Hope was all she had. She’d stopped praying to the gods long ago.
Castor reached over and threaded his fingers with hers, calling her attention to how she’d been wringing her hands. It was the second time he’d touched her like this, and she was starting to like it. Too much. “Do you want me to come with you?”
Not really. “Remind me to contact Mike when we get back. I forgot to get him started on the Brockway account.”
“Lyleia?” Castor prompted, voice going quiet. “That was a yes or no question.”
She heaved an inward sigh. The nymphs might be more likely to listen to a demigod than to her. While they had the ability to resist a god, most nymphs didn’t bother. They were attracted to the power the same as many other creatures. Him being a son of Zeus would only amplify their interest.
“Yes.” Decision made, she hopped out of the car. Time to get this over with.
One thing Castor was good at was shutting up when he needed to. In silence, he followed her down around the chapel to where the creek met the lake. At the edge of the water, not quite touching, she paused and closed her eyes, absorbing the energy swirling around her this close to fresh water.
She breathed in the pure scent of it, her skin tingling with vitality. The gods knew she missed this. Crouching down, she waved her hand over the surface of the river, not touching. That would be rude.
“Sister.” She whispered the word.
No response.
“Sister. Will you speak with me?”
She braced herself for silent rejection, or worse, some form of denouncement. What she wasn’t ready for was a dripping wet woman, clothed in a diaphanous white gown, to launch herself out of the river and wrap her arms around
Leia’s neck, soaking her from head to toe.
“Leia!” the nymph squealed.
Leia held up a hand to hold off Castor, who’d stepped forward, hands fisting, obviously confused by the scene. “Hello, Calliadne.” Leia pulled back to smile at her sister.
Only to blink at the sight of tears. Calli shook her head, her eyes wide with shock. “By the gods, how are you alive? I thought you died centuries ago. Without your spring…”
Without her spring and shunned by her people. It hadn’t been easy. “I didn’t know you’d relocated,” she said.
The adorable redhead—now dry as a bone and perfectly coifed and made up, a trick Leia continued to use every time she got out of the shower and employed now to her bedraggled form—waved a dismissive hand. “The Nile was getting too crowded with all my father’s offspring.” Nilus was a minor god of that river, and prolific with children. “I much prefer this lovely place. So peaceful.” Her blue eyes turned grayer and she flicked little nervous glances around. “But, Lyleia, as much as my heart sings to see you again, you need to leave. Quickly.” She shivered as wind whipped through the nearby aspen grove, shaking the leaves like rattlesnake rattles.
Not good.
“I love you,” Calli continued, “but nothing has changed. We were told never to associate with you or there would be consequences.”
Leia’s lips flattened as she breathed her anger through her nose. “A long time ago, and that person is surely dead by now.”
Calli bit her lip. “Maybe…”
“I said no to a god, and he buried my spring under a river of lava.” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Castor’s twitchy movement in reaction to her words. She ignored him. “And no one did anything to help me.”
Calli grimaced. “I know.” She flicked a glance toward Castor. “I’m surprised you’re here with a demigod.”
“I’m his executive assistant.”
“Lucky you.” Calli shot a sassy wink at Castor who, in turn, sent Leia a confounded look.
Leia tried not to grind her teeth and talked quickly. “We’re here for a wolf-shifter mating ceremony and I could use your help. All the nymphs’ help.”
The water in the river started to gurgle and ripple as it flowed faster. Calli shifted nervously. “I don’t think—”
A breeze swept through the trees in a shoosh of pine needles. The nymphs in the area certainly were stirred up by Leia’s presence among them, a fact that, even after all this time, wrapped around her heart and threatened to crush it. “Will you meet me later?”
Calli stepped back, face stiff. “You have to go. They’re holding back because it’s you.”
The gurgling changed to a rush, and the water was pouring in and pooling. Leia stepped back as well, careful to keep her feet dry. “In town at the Stanley Hotel. Please, Calli?”
Another gust of wind and burble of the water, and Calli stiffened visibly. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Leia reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand, even as her own heart broke all over again. “I understand.”
She backed up to find Castor glaring at the water and the woods with a dark scowl. She tugged on his elbow. “Let’s go.” He didn’t move. Another tug. “Castor.”
Those intense blue eyes—offended on her behalf, which only made her like him more—shifted to her face. “Yes.”
He placed his hand at the small of her back, that one gesture lending her the strength she needed to walk back to the car with her head held high. She wasn’t afraid, just sad. After all this time, she’d hoped…
She got in the back. Tala and Marrok, who wouldn’t have had a full view of what had gone on but couldn’t have failed to notice the strange water and wind activity, stared at her, a hundred questions in their eyes.
“They won’t help.”
Tala and Marrok visibly drooped. Then Tala offered her a small smile. “It was worth a try. Before you showed up, we didn’t have a plan at all beyond mating, so now we’re back to that.”
“Maybe. I think I have a plan.” Of sorts. Leia hadn’t expected to win the other nymphs to her side, but their fear was irrational and wrong. What if what happened to her happened to another of her kind, someone not strong enough to survive it? Maybe it was beyond time for her to make a statement of her own to her so-called family…and help Tala and Marrok in the process.
The drive back to the hotel was a quiet one, and they said their goodbyes in the foyer. As soon as they got to their room, Leia snagged a chilled water from the fridge and collapsed on the couch. A long gulp had her feeling marginally improved. A bath would be even better. Not as good as a fresh spring, but that would never be an option.
She closed her eyes, struggling with the weight of her failure and her loneliness. Usually she could put it to the back of her mind. Focus on work.
“Are you going to explain what happened back there?”
Damn. She’d almost forgotten the glowering demigod in the room who had been dead silent all the way back. She didn’t bother to open her eyes. “I’m not particularly in the mood for a postmortem right now.”
Her eyes popped open when he scooped her up in his arms, then proceeded to sit back down, cradling her in his lap. Where she shouldn’t be, except he felt so good against her. Comforting even as that damn chemical reaction kicked in and heat swamped her senses.
“Why would the other nymphs be mad at you?” he asked, quietly now, though she could tell he was holding back for her sake. His arms were rigid around her.
She sighed, tempted to lay her head and all her problems on his shoulders. Instead she traced the fine material of his shirt collar, careful not to touch skin, no matter how tempting. “Did you know the term nymphomaniac—”
“Lyleia.” The soft word had a growly edge to it, cutting off her attempt at distraction.
She sighed. “Not mad. Afraid.”
“Why?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I used to think that they simply feared what happened to me. Gods aren’t always good news for us. We’re also a superstitious lot and fear another’s misfortune will be visited on us. But the way Calli worded it…” As though someone had directly threatened the nymphs. She shook her head. It had been bothering her all the way back to the hotel.
“That’s family for you,” he muttered.
“Yeah.” She huffed a laugh, surprised she could.
“Which god?”
“Poseidon.”
Though he’d been tricked into it by a werewolf. More ancient than wolf shifters who descended from them, werewolves were not only older but larger and more powerful. And this one had been a full-on asshole megalomaniac.
Granted, publicly humiliating him had been a damn idiotic idea on her part. But he hadn’t given her much choice.
She’d believed he was dead until those two break-ins at her apartment. If he wasn’t, did she dare risk his wrath again with what she was planning to do?
Castor’s arms relaxed against her. Realizing she still clutched the water bottle in one hand, she took another swig, feeling infinitely better, though whether the water or Castor was the cause she couldn’t say for sure.
“At least it wasn’t Zeus,” he said finally.
What would he do if she pressed a kiss to the column of his throat? Probably dump her on her ass. “I would’ve refused to work for you had it been Zeus.”
“I’m actually surprised Poseidon would punish you by demolishing your spring. He loves water nymphs.”
“He loves oceanids, not naiads.” She lifted one shoulder. “A god scorned, and all that. He had Hephaestus do the dirty work.”
His thumb moved against her hip, tracing lazy circles that were beyond distracting, especially when she found herself relaxing into the touch. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.
She could get addicted to his touch. Time to run. The second she pus
hed against his hold, Castor released her, and she hopped up.
“I need a bath.” She’d made it to the door when his voice stopped her.
“What did Calli mean when she said, they’re holding back because of you?”
She glanced over her shoulder, taking in his serious expression, and managed a smile. “I was pretty powerful, once upon a time. Maybe they were scared to test me.”
He studied her for a long moment. “I’m not buying it.”
She crossed her arms. “That I was powerful?”
“That your power had anything to do with them holding back. I think they genuinely liked you in that once upon a time you mention, and that keeps them from unleashing on you now.”
Hurt pooled in her gut, turning her insides to stone faster than a look from Medusa. This was too painful to talk about. She cleared her throat. “I doubt it.”
“Why not? I like you.” His gaze changed from serious to molten in a blink, stealing the air from the room and replacing it with thick, urgent need.
Definitely time to run before she did something stupid like tackle him and beg him to help her forget, if just for a little while. “Yeah…well. The feeling’s mutual.”
Damn. Where had that come from? Run, stupid.
She fled into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. A nice long soak would bring her back to her senses and empower her for her chat with Calli later. Something was definitely off with her sisters. She just couldn’t put her finger on what.
Chapter Seven
Leia needed to not be cooped. The room was stifling her. Instead, she spent a good deal of time wandering the grounds of the hotel, enjoying the cool breeze and the smells of the mountains, until it got dark.
All the while, she worked through what she intended to do at the ceremony. It wouldn’t win her any popularity points with her sister nymphs, but they’d ousted her from their circle anyway. Had they even mourned her death? Was she angry enough with them to force a confrontation?
Yeah. None of what happened to her was her fault, dammit. Maybe if they’d stood with her…
