“I was.” Five-hundred years of facing that fact gave her the strength to keep the tremor out of her voice. “My spring was buried under lava and destroyed.” Thanks to a werewolf.
She kept that last part to herself.
“I see. I’m sorry,” Tala murmured.
An off tone to Tala’s voice caught Leia’s attention. “Have you met a nymph before?”
“No. But your gifts gave me an idea. I was wondering if you might help us.”
She was hard-pressed to think of what a nymph could do for a werewolf. “I’d be happy to, if I can. What do you need?”
Tala and Marrok exchanged a glance. “In order to explain that, let me fill you in on the reasons behind our marriage 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 marrying. Is it common?”
“Our union is…unusual,” Marrok said.
Tala’s lips thinned in a grim line. “Our packs have been at each other’s throats 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.
“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 pulled the car into the parking lot outside a hotel situated above a lake with beautiful views of the valley. The hotel had dark wood siding and white trim, blending beautifully with the surrounding mountains. A wide porch graced the front of the main building. Was there a building in this town that didn’t have a spectacular view?
Marrok parked, shut off the car, and turned in his seat. “There is a prophesy among our kind that two alphas—a male and a female—would unite our people in peace.”
She glanced back and forth between them, still not following.
“The sign would be a display of nature as has never been seen before,” Tala added.
Oh. “You want me to help put on a show?” she asked slowly while cringing inside.
“Maybe you could recruit other nymphs in the area?” Castor suggested.
She dropped her gaze to her hands clenched in her lap. “It’s likely they won’t even talk to me.”
“Why?” Tala asked.
“I lost my spring. They don’t see me as a sister any more. If anything, I’m a disease among them to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. I might be contagious.” After over a thousand years of practice, she was able to keep the pain that still ripped through her out of her voice.
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.”
“Why do you think I needed a job as your EA? Or never talk about my past?”
The warmth of Cas’s hands on hers and his silent support seeped into her, warming her soul from the inside out. Thawing places she’d long through frozen inside her.
She pulled her shoulders back and raised her gaze from her lap to the couple seated before her. 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. “I will try. That’s all I can promise.”
Tala laid her hand on Leia’s knee. “Thank you.”
Chapter Six
Wow. Interesting choice. Leia approved of the idyllic chapel Tala and Marrok had selected for the marriage ceremony.
The small building was positioned on top of a large rock base, built of the same granite as the rock, almost as though it had been placed there since the beginning of time. Below was a creek-fed lake reflecting the blues of the sky and the spire of the chapel.
Such a natural, gorgeous setting was perfect for this event. After the 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. The following day a more formal reception would be held at the Stanley Hotel, where they were staying.
This location, surrounded by nature, also gave her ample opportunity to find her sisters. She could sense them, even from the car in the parking lot.
Castor placed his hand over hers, calling her attention to how she’d been wringing them. “Do you want me to come with you?”
Not really. This was sure to end in humiliation. However, the nymphs might be more likely to listen to a demigod than her. While they had the ability to resist a god, most nymphs didn’t. They were attracted to the power the same as other women. As a son of Zeus, power practically dripped off him.
“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 for the first time since she’d lost her own spring.
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.
“Leia!” the nymph squealed.
Leia held up a hand to hold off Castor, who’d stepped forward, obviously confused by the scene. “Hello, Calliadne.” Leia pulled back to smile at her sister, Naiad. “I didn’t know you’d relocated.”
The adorable red head—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—waved a dismissive hand. “The Nile was getting too crowded with all my father’s offspring. I much prefer this lovely place. But, Lyleia, as much as my heart sings to see you again, you need to leave. Quickly.” She glanced behind her.
Not good.
“I love you,” Calli continued, “But there are others who don’t want your kind of luck.”
“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. “That’s not luck, Calli, that’s harassment.”
Calli grimaced. “I know.” She flicked a glance toward Castor. “Which is why I’m surprised you’re here with a demigod.”
“I’m his Executive Assistant.”
“Lucky you.” Calli winked at Castor who, in turn, sent Leia a confounded look.
“We’re here for a werewolf mating ceremony, and I could use your help.”
The water in the river started to gurgle and ripple as it flowed faster. Calli shifted nervously. “We don’t have time.”
A breeze swept through the trees in a shoosh of pine needles. The Naiads in the area certainly were stirred up by Leia’s presence among them. “Will you meet me later?”
“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, careful to keep her feet dry. “In town at the Stanley Hotel. Please, Calli?”
“All right. Yes. Tonight at 5pm.”
Leia reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand. “Thank you.”
She stepped back 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 blue eyes shifted to her face. “Yes.”
He placed his hand at the small of her back, that one gesture lending to the strength she needed to walk back to the car with her head held high. She wasn’t afraid, just sad.
She got in the back of the car. 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.
“I’m meeting with Calliadne tonight. We’ll see how that goes.”
The drive back to the hotel was a quiet one, and they said their goodbyes in the hallway. 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.
“Are you going to explain what happened back there?”
“I’m not particularly in the mood for a postmortem right now.”
He crossed his arms. “Why would the other nymphs be mad at you?”
She sighed. “Not mad, afraid.”
“Why?”
“Because all nymphs fear 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. A nymph who has a negative run-in with a god is shunned.”
“That’s family for you,” he muttered.
“Yeah.” She huffed a laugh, surprised she could.
He sat beside her, crowding into her personal space as he draped his arm along the top of the couch behind her. “Which god?”
“Poseidon.” But he’d been tricked into it by a werewolf. She took another swig of water, feeling infinitely better, though whether the water or Castor was the cause, she couldn’t say for sure.
“At least it wasn’t Zeus.”
“I would’ve refused to work for you had it been Zeus.”
“I’m surprised Poseidon would punish you by demolishing your spring.”
She lifted one shoulder. “A god scorned…and all that. He had Hephaestus do the dirty work.”
He squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry.”
The contact warmed her from the inside out. She could get addicted to his touch. Time to run.
She hopped up. “I need a bath.” She’d made it to the door when his voice stopped her.
“What did she mean when she said, They’re holding back because of you?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “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 raised a single eyebrow. “That I was powerful?”
“That your power had anything to do with them holding back. I think they genuinely liked you once upon a time and that keeps them from unleashing on you now.”
Hurt pooled in her gut, too painful to talk about. She cleared her throat. “I doubt it.”
“Why not? I like you.”
Definitely time to run before she did something stupid like take him seriously. “Yeah…well. The feeling’s mutual.”
Damn. Where had that come from? Run, stupid.
She fled into the bathroom, locking it 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 sister’s rejection of help, more than the nymphs’ rejection of her. She just couldn’t put her finger on what.
Chapter Seven
“How’d it go?” Castor’s voice had her swinging her gaze sharply right as she walked in the main door of the hotel.
She frowned when she found him lounging in one of the big leather chairs close to a big stone fireplace in the lobby, a happy fire crackling away, giving off a comforting campfire odor. While the early May days were warm, the nights were still crisply chilly, which was why she’d added a long brown sweater over her pink dress and changed out her heels for a pair of tall suede boots. “Were you waiting for me?”
He held up a leather-bound book, The Shining. “Nope.”
She moved closer, took the book from him, and flipped through the pages. “Creep-tastic.”
“It seemed appropriate, giving the surroundings.”
“You know this place is haunted, right?”
“You believe in ghosts?”
She shrugged and handed the book back. “I know a couple.”
“I guess you do then. How’d it go with Calliadne?”
She wrinkled her nose. “About what I expected.” Honestly, their meeting had been weird. Calli had been afraid—more than seeing Leia should have warranted. Calli’d practically jumped out of her skin at every noise or person who walked by. For someone who used to like humans, her behavior seemed odd. But she wouldn’t admit anything was wrong, and she refused to help Leia with her cause, muttering something about it being too late.
“Marrok and Tala will be disappointed.” Castor interrupted her thoughts.
“I have a plan.” Of sorts. She thumbed over her shoulder toward the stairs. “I’m going to our room now. Are you going to stay down here?”
“I’ll come up with you. I want to hear this plan.” He unfolded his long length from the overstuffed chair.
That’s when her worst nightmare appeared across the room, laughing with a group of five or six other men—Kaios. The werewolf was still drop dead handsome, still remarkably young for one so old. She’d bet money he was also still the same total and utter ass.
“Shit,” she hissed through clenched teeth. Panic flipped her heartrate to max. She frantically scanned the room for an escape. Seeing none close enough, she stepped closer to Castor, letting his size hide her.
“What the—” Cas glanced over his shoulder at whatever had captured her attention.
She yanked on his arm. “Don’t look,” she pleaded.
“What’s going on?”
She peeped around her human shield. Crap. Kaios was walking this way. He’d see her any second. She glanced up at Cas, who stared at her like she’d lost her mind. Because she had.
“Kiss me,” she demanded.
His eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Only a few more seconds.
“You want me to—”
“Screw it,” she muttered.
Going up on tiptoe, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her. Taken by surprise, he didn’t resist as she planted her lips over his.
He was unresponsive at first, which didn’t matter because she was more occupied with where her nemesis was in the room. But then Cas took over the kiss. She went from distracted to completely focused…on Castor.
Electricity burst through her body, her nerves alive to his every touch, starting from what his lips were doing, then spreading outward. Those lips—warm against her own—they mastered, they coaxed, they tempted. She gave a small moan as he ran his tongue along hers. She opened for him like a flower to the sun, and heat pooled in her core. His hands smoothed under her sweater, over her back to her hips, where he used a light grip to tug her in closer to his body.
For a demigod he was amazingly gentle. A warm glow of rightness joined the heat of passion. In his arms was where she was meant to be. Nothing had ever felt this right.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
The warning bells went off in her head. This was her boss. And a demigod. And a man still in love with his dead wife. Nothing was right about this.
With a gasp she jerked back, stepping out of his arms before he could stop her. Her hand flew to her lips, which throbbed from his touch. Oh great gods, she’d just kissed her boss like the nymph she’d once been.
He pinned her with his blazing blue eyes. “Wow.” His voice was low and raspy and skittered along her nerves in a delicious way.
She pulled her shoulders back. Time to act casual. “Thanks for helping me with that. I’m sorry if it got out of hand. I couldn’t think of any other way to avoid that son of a hell
hound.”
Passion shifted to confusion as his brows lowered. “Helping you with what?”
He’d only been playing along… hadn’t he? “I was hiding from someone. I thought you realized.”
She checked over her shoulder, belatedly. There was no sign of her tormentor, thank the gods.
A quick glance back at Castor revealed an angry scowl on his face. “Let’s go upstairs,” he said. Or ordered.
He took her by the elbow, but a flash of pink on the floor caught her eye. When had he untied her belt? She grabbed it up and cast Castor a glower, daring him to crack a joke. Granted, he wasn’t in a joking mood. Head held high, she led the way.
As soon as they were in the rooms, she headed to the bathroom. A long soak in water was what she needed right now.
“Hey.”
She paused in the doorway and glanced over her shoulder, eyebrows raised in question. Bluffing her way through this was her best bet.
He crossed his arms, and she did her best to ignore how the muscles strained the fine material of his shirt or the strength of his forearms exposed by his rolled back sleeves.
“You’re going to explain what happened down there.”
Damn. She’d hoped he’d let it go. Time to play dumb. “Um. I saw a person I’d rather avoid. You helped me avoid him.”
She turned away.
“Hold on, you.”
She gave a little sigh before she turned back around, then gave a yelp because he’d managed to cross the room to stand directly behind her without a sound.
She blinked up at him. “What?”
“You’re telling me that kiss was all an act?”
“Of course.” She grimaced. “I shouldn’t have kissed you at all, but he showed up and I just kind of…panicked.”
He put his hands on the door frame on either side of her, leaning close, his spicy scent swirling around her, pulling her more under his thrall. She hardened her heart and held her ground, angling her head to look him in the eyes.
“So if I were to kiss you right now, you’d feel nothing?”
Ah. That was his problem. She’d pricked his pride. Shoving aside her unreasonable disappointment, she tried to forget the feel of his lips against hers. “Of course I’d feel something. I’m a nymph and you’re a demigod.” And a hell of a kisser. “But it wouldn’t mean anything. You’re my boss, not my lover.”
My Paranormal Valentine: A Paranormal Romance Box Set Page 84
