Strange Fates (Nyx Fortuna) by Marlene Perez

Author:Marlene Perez
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780316233545
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2013-03-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Working at Parsi Enterprises all week and then Eternity Road on the weekends left me with little free time, but I finally got a Sunday off. It was a tantalizingly warm spring day. The weather couldn’t be counted on to stay that way, though, and I had no intention of spending my only day off inside.

I also wanted to investigate the lake.

The water looked smooth and serene, but I could see dark shapes below. It reminded me of the water hag in the pool. Had Willow sent her?

“I got your little present,” I called to a listening wave. There was no answer and I started to turn away when Willow appeared.

“Come closer, Nyx,” she said.

“When does the lake thaw, Willow?”

“It is thawed now,” she said.

“Only for water nymphs,” I said. “When will the water be warm enough for me?”

“That would be foolish, even for the son of Fortuna,” she warned.

I sat at the water’s edge and she flopped beside me and dangled her feet into the water.

She saw me staring at her legs and gave me an icy stare. “Not all water nymphs have tails.” She snaked a hand through my open jacket and unbuttoned a button on my shirt. Her cold touch should have repulsed me, but my body responded.

I captured her hand before it went into the danger zone. “Stop it.”

“I am merely checking to see if you have a heart,” she replied.

“I have a heart and it belongs to someone else.”

“What does that mean?” she scoffed.

“It means I’m in love with someone else.”

I knew she was strong, but she gripped my hands so fiercely that I winced. “The mortal? You think she will make you happy?”

“She does make me happy,” I said.

“Wanting something to be true doesn’t make it so,” Willow replied. Her eyes held equal parts sadness and longing.

I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in. I wanted just one taste of her lips. They’d taste cold and sharp. Her expression told me to come closer. There was less than a breath between us when I remembered Elizabeth and gained the strength to pull back.

“Don’t try your tricks with me,” I muttered.

“Tricks? I used no tricks.” She seemed bewildered, but nymphs were good at pretending emotions they didn’t feel, to lure men to their doom.

“But I wanted to kiss you.”

Willow gave a disgusted little snort. “Men,” she said. “Blaming others for their own desires.”

“You mean you didn’t…?”

She met my eyes. “I didn’t have to,” she said.

“I’ve got to go,” I said abruptly. I’d almost kissed her, had wanted to desperately, and couldn’t even blame it on magic. There was an angry splash as Willow left me.

I waited until there wasn’t anyone around and then stripped down.

I dove in and swam down as far as I could. I thought my lungs would burst. Nothing. I had gone back to the surface, gulping blessed air, when a slight movement caught my eye, but before I could investigate, a naiad appeared, then another. They moved so quickly. I was surrounded.

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