The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (70 page)

It was a passion she had never had in her life — not even in her work. Yes, she’d been dedicated and selfless in getting the next drug out to consumers, getting the next safe and effective drug developed, or the next drug from concept to application — but her work wasn’t driven by passion. No. It was driven by the need to run and hide from her mistakes and the loneliness of her life.

If being around Chance, Kodie, and Starling had taught her anything, it was that going back to her old way of life was going to be hard. Unfortunately, it was something she was going to have to do. The level of passion that Chance held for the game was something he would never be able to replicate. More to the point, he would never be able to love her as much as he loved the game. And standing second to a deck of cards and the click of poker chips was not something Harper was willing to accept — no matter how much she cared about the disheveled cowboy.

“We’ll see you guys at tonight’s game,” Kodie said, almost as if it was more of a command than a hope or request. The door clicked shut.

“Are you really thinking about not going to tonight’s game?”

Chance’s fingers dug into the finely sewn edges of the chair. “I have to go. You heard Kodie.”

“What did the gaming commissioner want?”

His finger’s drove deeper into the fabric, so deep Harper wondered how much the chair could withstand, how much it could endure before it would tear under the pressure.

Chance slid from the chair, down to his knees in front of her. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. I just need a break.” He took her hands and interlaced his fingers with hers. “Like I told you on the phone, I just want you in my arms. I need to feel you again.”

She didn’t know how to react. He wanted her, but did she want
this
? She peered down at the rounded edges of his nails and the tanned skin on the back of his hand. His hands were just like him — tender and strong, giving and needing.

If they did this, if she let herself be swept away into his arms, it would have to be the last time. She couldn’t risk everything that would be at stake — her heart, his future, and his life. And even if they found a way around the curse, she couldn’t ask him to give up poker, and if she fell for this man, someone was going to have to compromise for things to work out. Either she would have to give up her job and the comfort of her routine in Seattle, or he would have to give up his drifter lifestyle.

Both she and Chance were so defined by their careers. It was hard for her to imagine a life without her job. For a fleeting moment, her mind wandered to the thoughts of what life would be like following Chance around the country, from one dive bar to the next while he banked on the fact that his hereditary advantage would keep him playing for at least one more night. There was just too much risk.

“Chance, we can’t do this … We can’t be together like this … ”

“Why can’t we have this moment?” He looked up at her and there was a deep rolling sadness in his gaze. He must have known just as well as she that there was nothing beyond this last night together. As soon as she got the formula from Dr. McDougal, and as soon as Chance finished the tournament and they returned to Idaho, they would have to go their separate ways. The only time they might ever see each other again would be when and
if
she could make a drug that could help Starling — and that was a long shot.

“We made a promise … We agreed the other night was going to be the only time. It’s too dangerous. And you know it, Chance.”

He dropped his hands down to her knees. The heat of his touch sank into her skin, making some of the delicate snowflakes of her resolve melt away.

“Why do you always have to look at the negative? Why can’t you just live for the moment? Live for this second. Right here. Right now.”

“That’s what Jenna did. And look where she ended up. I can’t handle losing another person in my life. It’s better to walk away now than to let anything happen.” She tried to be angry, she tried to force her body to stand up and run away from his wanting touch, but her body refused.

“You don’t have to be afraid to love.”

“Yes, I do, Chance.” She looked down to their entwined fingers. “There’s nothing I fear more.”

“Then tell yourself you don’t love me.”

“What about the curse Chance? Even if there is the possibility of you getting hurt it can’t be worth loving me. You have a daughter to think about.”

“I love Starling. She’s a nymph. I’m in danger, but I’m not going to stop loving her — or you. We are going to just deal with the future one day at a time. We aren’t immortal and death may come to me, but at least we can love each other until that day. And if I’m taken, I will love you from the heavens.”

It was too late to keep from loving him, but he still couldn’t know how badly she wanted to give him her heart.

He wrapped his hands around hers and pressed them together over his heart. “If you really don’t care about me, tell me … Tell me that and I will walk away. I will go downstairs, go to my game, and never look back. I won’t bother you again. Or you can give me this moment, you can make love to me and let go of everything that is holding you back. We can make this work. We can escape, at least for a moment, into each other. Please. Let me love — ”

“Stop. Chance. Just stop.” Her heart ached. She wanted to fall down to her knees, feel the moist pleasure of his kiss, but it just couldn’t be. They were too different. Too far apart. It was too far into the unknown, too dangerous.

“If that’s the way you feel, just tell me … Tell me you don’t care … that you don’t love me … Let me put a stop to the confusing mess I’m feeling. I’ll just take Starling and she and I can go back to my old life. Starling will be okay.”

It would be so much easier for everyone involved. Harper couldn’t risk everyone’s safety and the security and comfort of the known to take a chance on something that would probably never work … He was a broken man and the only way she could fix things for him was to leave. “Chance.” She trembled as she rose to her feet. “I don’t love you.”

The business lounge was filled with people in black. Black suits, black dresses, and black expressions. It seemed unlikely the rest of them had just lied and told the most important person in their life they didn’t love them — that they didn’t want a future, when in fact it was the one thing they wanted above anything else. But there were times when even a demigod had to be selfless. Life wasn’t a fairy tale. Life was life, hard, filled with anger, lies, deception, and death. If Harper could stop just one person she loved from dying by keeping away, then that was what had to be done — she’d already lost her sister, she couldn’t lose another person she loved.

The chair dug into the back of Harper’s legs as if even it wanted her to move along, like it knew she would only bring death to those around her. Shifting to ease the pressure, she glanced down at her watch.

Dr. McDougal was late. She should have never trusted him to come through on his word. He had nothing to gain in their agreement. Her only hope was that her seduction and appealing to his softer side had paid off — if not, hell would have no greater fury.

If he didn’t come, they would be in the same situation — no answers, only a limited supply of drugs, and a bleak future for Starling. The only option the young woman would have would be to turn into her animal form. She would have to stay there until Harper could find something, anything, that would help Starling deal with the spirits which haunted her day and night, taunting and pressing her to communicate through words that were often best left unwritten and unanswered.

If Harper couldn’t help her, Starling would have no future, no hope for a somewhat normal life. And once again, Harper would disappoint another person — just like she had let Jenna down. She couldn’t make the same mistake again.

The edge of the seat cut deeper into her skin. Unable to stand the annoyance any longer, Harper stood up. To her right, down a dimly lit hall, was a women’s restroom. One more time, Harper glanced around the business lounge, but Dr. McDougal wasn’t to be seen. She couldn’t help feeling this was like watching a pot of water and waiting for it to boil. She walked to the restroom — if this worked like the rest of her life, he would show up while she was away.

The anteroom of the restroom matched the rest of the Bellagio with its gold and suede-covered chairs that were beautiful, but ill-suited for comfort. Passing through the empty room, she made her way to the row of gold sinks with matching gold faucets. Dropping her purse on the counter next to the sink, she stared up at her reflection in the mirror. The week had been drawing on her like a ravenous suckling babe, leaving only a skeletal woman with deep bags beneath her once light-filled eyes.

It would soon be all over. In a few days, she would be back in Seattle, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t convince herself that life would return to normal. Yes, she would be home, but too much had changed in the last week. Life would never be the same. She no longer had family. And she’d constantly be barraged with thoughts of what might have been with Chance had she made a different choice.

Digging through her purse, she found her lipstick and pressed the waxy tip to her lips, covering them with the fake color. She dabbed her lips on a tissue, and once again stared at her reflection. She couldn’t draw her eyes away from the red hues. The color was a counterfeit in the way it promised of life and beauty, but instead covered the dull prospect that was she, and her future. If she went back to Seattle, her job would be just like the fake color — it would only be there for the sake of appearances, but beneath it all would be the pale nothingness that came with being empty and alone.

Unable to bear her reflection any longer, Harper turned away just as a man with fear-filled eyes staggered into the bathroom.

“Harper,” Dr. McDougal’s strangled voice echoed through the cavernous space. “Run. Don’t give her your sister’s keys.”

“What keys?”

Dr. McDougal dropped to the floor, and a manila envelope fell out of his jacket. A needle protruded from his neck.

Harper moved to run, but there was nowhere to go. She was trapped.

Standing behind the body was a small beak-nosed woman. The woman smiled, reminding Harper of a bird in the way woman’s beady eyes skimmed over the room before settling upon her like she was the next prey to scavenge.

“Harper, I’ve been looking for you.” The woman stepped forward and picked up the manila envelope from the floor with a confused frown. Shrugging indifferently, she stuffed the envelope into her purse.

Dr. McDougal twitched on the floor as the convulsions of death rippled through his body.

“Who are you?”

The woman smiled; her small teeth only lacked dripping blood to make her appear more frightening. “Don’t you remember me? I’m offended.”

Then it struck her — the beak-nosed woman was the woman from Jenna’s funeral. She’d spent so much time thinking about Carey and Chance that she’d almost completely forgotten about the chief medical examiner. “What are you doing here, Dr. Redbird?” Harper tried not to stare as Dr. McDougal’s legs bounced around the floor like fish out of water.

“You have something I want.”

What was the woman talking about? The only thing she had was her job and a little bit of money, neither of which the doctor could have wanted. “I don’t have anything to give you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Dr. Redbird stepped over Dr. McDougal’s quivering body, coming much too close to Harper. She scanned the room for anything she could use to defend herself, but Harper found nothing.

The doctor reached down into her purse and extracted another needle filled with some type of clear fluid. “If you do what I ask, I won’t have to kill you. If you refuse, you will end up just like this idiot.” She jabbed the body with the tip of her red, alligator skin high heel. “I tried to tell him, but he wanted to play hardball, to lie and say he didn’t know what I was talking about … You don’t want to end up like him, do you?”

Harper shook her head. She had no idea what Dr. Redbird was talking about and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to find out.

“Are you going to help me?” There was a strange, crazed look in Dr. Redbird’s eyes. Harper took a step toward the door, but Dr. Redbird stepped in her way. “There’s no escape. You will do as I wish or you will die, just like Carey.”

“What? You killed her?” Her words were less of a question and more of an accusation. She thought of how Jenna had tried to warn her by having Starling write the word “red.” Had Jenna been telling her to watch for Dr.
Red
bird?

She was answered with the tight-lipped smile of the crazed woman. “If she would have just given me the drugs, none of this would have ever happened. But no … Her damned daughter was more important. Just give me the GX 149 and I’ll leave you with your life.”

With Dr. McDougal dead, there would be no more drugs, only the little bit which she still had to ration out to Starling. If she gave Dr. Redbird what little they had left, there would be nothing. Starling would be lost. Unless the manila envelope Dr. McDougal had dropped carried the formula to GX 149 …

Harper needed to get the envelope — it was the only hope she had left to help Starling.

“What do you want with the drugs?” Harper asked, trying not to stare at the woman’s purse.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business. All you need to worry about is giving me what I want.”

“You can’t kill me,” Harper said, taking another step toward the door.

Dr. Redbird’s cackle echoed through the stony bathroom. “That’s where you’re wrong.” She lifted a thin strand of her mousy brown hair and twirled it in her fingers. “You may think you and your little shifter friends are immortal, but I know better. You, just like Carey, would be easy to dispatch.”

Harper shrank back from the woman and brushed down her hair.

“Don’t act shocked. Didn’t you stop to think anything was amiss when none of your sister’s
peculiarities
showed up in the autopsy report? Only someone like me, someone who knew the truth of the world and your kind, could have covered it so neatly. ”