I shook off the ick crawling over my skin. “Well, that was heinous.”
“What?” Justin rolled his forehead on the tabletop until I had a clear view of his eyes.
Tom went on alert beside me, stiffening up like the Tin Man.
I covered my ears. “I’ve never heard such a nasty cackle outside old Halloween movies and The Wizard of Oz.”
Allison looked skeptically at me and then over both shoulders. “I didn’t hear anything.” Her what-are-you-up-to look was in full force.
Tom scanned the crowd. He carried a straw paper to the trash, presumably for a better view of the room.
Justin nudged my foot and lifted his chin toward Allison. “So, you think a kiss on your hand healed your headaches?”
She blushed and waved a ketchup-coated fry at him. “No. I think the kiss on my forehead did that. The kiss on my hand was just a bonus. Though, my side barely hurts now and I still have another week of pain killers in my bathroom.”
He shook his head and pursed his lips. “It’s been a couple weeks since the surgery. Have you considered you’re healing on your own? I rarely take all my pain pills.”
She stuck out her tongue.
“You think Oliver’s kiss healed you?” Could that happen?
Justin snorted. “Don’t encourage her. I think she’s found something else to obsess over and stopped thinking about her scars, her surgery, and the robbery so much. Plus, she’s healed because bodies heal.” He rubbed his temples. “Stress will drive you crazy.” He lifted his gaze to Allison. “Stress can literally make you sick. Ask any cowboy who’s barfed on his bull waiting for the stall to open.”
“Ew. You’ve barfed on your bull?” Her tiny nose wrinkled into a knot.
Justin made a crazy face back at her. “Not me.”
Tom lowered his body beside mine. Back from a leisurely walk to the cafeteria trash. “New girl.”
I gave a mental eye roll.
“Black hair, pale blue eyes. Curvy.” He cleared his throat. “She’s sitting with that table of boys.”
Justin and I turned in unison. A crowd of guys packed three bodies deep circled a small table near the front of the lunchroom. We stood for a look over their heads.
Justin released a low wolf whistle and she turned her head in our direction.
No freaking way. “It’s her.”
Allison bounced on her toes beside me. “Who?”
“The motorcycle girl.”
She gasped. “From outside the deli?”
Justin wiped faux sweat from his brow. “Hot damn. She rides a bike and looks like that?”
I guffawed. “What happened to going home for a nap? You bounced back already, huh?”
“Like a slingshot.”
Allison tugged my hand. “Let’s go meet her. She looks like fun.”
I shifted my center of gravity so she couldn’t budge me. “She looks like trouble.”
Justin barked a laugh. “Ah, come on, Caution Sign. That new girl is hardly a stick of dynamite. Besides, I thought you’d become the welcome wagon.” He rubbed his hands together as if he liked the comparison of her and a stick of dynamite. “Here she comes.”
Tom rolled his shoulders back and took a baby step forward, placing me at his flank in one slick motion.
The girl stopped in front of Justin, while her groupies stared from the table where she’d been seated. She lifted her hand in a small wave. “Hi.”
Justin smoldered beside me. “Hey.” The testosterone was nauseating.
“I’m Nym.” She looped her thumbs behind her silver belt and tapped long gas-blue nails against her dark blue skinny jeans.
“Justin.” He gave her my favorite lopsided smile.
I willed the wave of male hormones away and was smacked in the face with a missile load of loathing. My skin snapped and prickled in defense. Who was that coming from?
“I’m Allison. This is Callie and our friend Tom.”
“Nice to meet you,” Nym said.
My skin crawled. What kind of a name was Nym? Was that short for nymph? I shuddered. Hopefully not. Instinct told me to get away from her. Definitely not acclimate her into the group of nymphs who’d stayed behind after the battle. Another blast of hatred curled my stomach. With any luck, she wouldn’t be in any of my classes. I couldn’t stand being in the same room with this girl every day.
The stubborn pacifist in me said it was hard being new in a small town school. I should be kind and make conversation. “Nym’s unusual. Is it a family name?”
She quirked her lips. The acid in her almost smile was enough to melt her face. “It’s a nickname.”
“Cool.” Justin motioned to my seat. “You want to sit with us?”
Maybe I could start eating lunch in the locker room.
Tom tugged me back a few steps. “Can we do that thing before lunch ends?” He exaggerated each word.
“What thing?” Allison turned her curiosity back to me.
“She’s teaching me to read the heat sheets so I can help Coach at this weekend’s swim meet. I’m the new team manager.”
“Our swim team doesn’t have a manager.”
“Yes they do.”
Nym shoved my tray aside and sat on the lunch table. She put her boots on my seat. The vibes rolling off her were nasty. Arrogant. Superior. No way Nym was a nymph, but she was definitely something.
I grabbed my bag, thankful for the escape. “Okay. We’d better go.”
Tom stopped short. “Uh-oh. Here we go.”
Allison gagged behind me. “Gross.”
My obnoxious, cheating ex-boyfriend jogged across the room toward us. Three of his goofball sidekicks followed, like ducklings after their mama. The last thing I needed was a round of insults with Kirk. What would it be today? I was such a slut that I’d added Tom to my ménage? Maybe some taunts about how I was still a virgin, as far as he knew. I braced myself for anything. Kirk was an all-over-the-field kind of insulter who’d say absolutely anything to piss me off.
He dragged his sleazy gaze over Nym’s clingy black shirt and rubbed his chest with both palms. “Well, well, well. The sexy new thing is looking especially hot and tempting this afternoon. I bet it’s not even an accident Nym rhymes with trim.” He leered and traded a few lame looks with his crew.
Kirk had found a new target for his ignorance? That I hadn’t expected.
A hush fell over our table as we waited for her response. My limbs itched to dive between them, but curiosity held me back. Would she drop her attitude for ten seconds? Mouth off? Kick him in the crotch?
Nym’s gaze skipped over Kirk’s shoulder and back to Kirk, anxiously awaiting her to jump his bones.
Behind him, his girlfriend, Hannah, closed the distance with purpose.
Nym pushed off the table, planting both feet on my chair and standing taller than everyone in the room. She leaned down as Kirk arched his back for a better look. She touched his chin with one finger and his face lit up as if he’d just taken the team to state.
My attention bounced back and forth between the moron in front of me and the angry girlfriend headed his way. Hannah was only three tables away when Nym whispered, “Talk to me like that again, and I promise I will make you scream.”
“Kirk!” Hannah yanked his arm. “What the hell are you doing?”
Nym sat back on the table with an air of indifference. Blackness flicked over her eerie blue eyes. “I’d say he was learning a lesson, but I doubt that’s true.”
Hannah turned her wrath on Nym. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She tossed blue-streaked hair over one shoulder.
Nym leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Maybe you’re the one in need of a lesson. Honestly, I’m not sure where to start.” She hopped down and turned to Justin. “Walk me to class?”
He hesitated, looking from me to Tom. Justin always walked me to study hall after lunch. “You got this?”
Tom nodded. “I’v
e got this.”
Allison laughed at their retreating figures. “What the hell just happened?”
Kirk pulled Hannah to his chest and spoke over her head. “Nym the Trim promised to make me scream.”
Hannah wrestled halfheartedly against his grip.
I rubbed an apple on my sleeve. “Up is down. Left is right.”
Allison dumped her tray and grabbed her bag. “I’m back at school just in time. I’m done with the pain meds, so I can drive and I sure as shit can’t leave Oliver alone in a building with that raven-haired vixen.”
“She’s dramatic,” Tom whispered.
“One of my favorite things about her.”
The day dragged on without Liam, and I didn’t see Justin again. Most of the girls in my classes had noticed Nym and it was a fifty-fifty split on whether she was the devil. Swim was a nice escape from the world until Tom abruptly pulled me from the water, making excuses to Coach about why he needed to leave and since he was my ride, I had to go too. It took more than ten minutes to convince Coach to release me twenty-three minutes early.
I changed faster than humanly possible and misbuttoned my coat twice getting out of the locker room.
Tom paced a path in the concrete outside.
“What’s happening?”
An SUV was running at the curb. “Get in.”
He circled the hood and climbed behind the wheel.
“Tell me what’s wrong before I get in.”
He stretched across the passenger seat and shoved the door wide. “I asked Mason to tail Nym when school let out. She didn’t do anything significant until twenty minutes ago when I told Coach we had to go.”
“And?”
“Get in.”
I climbed in and buckled my seat belt. “And?”
“She’s at the new bed-and-breakfast on Elm.”
Fear seized my tongue. A handful of varied nymphs had opened the bed-and-breakfast last month. They’d pledged fealty and refused to return to their previous lives. I didn’t put up a fight. It was nice to have girls in town who knew what I was, and if I ever had five seconds to think about being a water nymph, I might have questions. As a bonus, they were relatively safe in Zoar. As far as I knew, no one had a beef with nymphs.
I groaned. “Do you think she’s there because she needs a place to stay?”
Tom didn’t respond. He shifted into drive.
I petted the soft leather around me. “What happened to borrowing the Hales’ Town Car?”
“I use it too much. The others noticed, and I can’t afford the impression of favoritism, even if it’s my job to protect the boss.”
I bit back a pointless argument. “So you bought a high-end SUV?”
“It’s a lease.”
“How very modern of you.” The white Escalade gleamed from fresh detailing. The interior smelled of leather and vanilla. “You bought a vanilla air freshener?”
“I noticed you liked that scent. I’m partial to the ones that smell like pine.”
“Because you like the outdoors?”
He raced through a yellow light and my head hit the seat. “Because I like Christmas.”
I played with the touch screen dash. “Do you think Nym’s a nymph?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t know nymphs existed until last month.” He shot me a strange look.
“Me either. Didn’t anyone make you study mythology when you changed?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m a nymph. It’s still news to me. Are we sure there aren’t any female Vikings?”
“Positive.”
I slouched. “Is there any way she could be a Stian? What do you know about them?”
He seemed to consider the question before answering. A hint of his agitation flowed over me with what I guessed to be nostalgia. “When I came into this life, my clan was all about the game. We traveled in search of other clans to battle. We made a lot of friends along the way. They told stories of the legends, but mostly we just had a good time.”
“Until the Stians ruined it.”
He nodded. “Calder, the Stian leader, challenged our friend. We’d heard rumors about the Stians and we went to our friend as soon as we got word, but we were too late. By the time we returned, the clan was gone. Many were dead. A surviving woman, the lover of a fallen warrior, told us what happened. Calder fought unfairly and took their leader’s life without reason, then claimed the remaining clan as Stians. There was an uprising.”
“And your friend’s clan lost.”
Tom slowed to a crawl on Elm. His voice cracked. Each word seemed to cost him something. “We followed rumors of the Stians all over Europe, determined to free any Viking who didn’t choose to follow Calder. We planned to challenge him and punish him for what he’d done. Plundering. Pillaging. Murdering. That’s not who we are. Not what we’re meant to be.”
“What do you think you’re meant to be?”
He lifted a brow; surprise colored the air. “Protectors of the Earth. Of men.”
I rode in stunned silence to the bed-and-breakfast. I was chosen to lead the protectors of Earth.
We’d barely stopped moving before Zoe danced down the steps to the Escalade and slid inside the back door. “Hey, Callie. We miss seeing you.” She pushed her head between the front seats.
“Hey, Zoe. Sorry I’m a flake. I can’t help it. I want to come over, but something’s always happening. Plus, it’s swim season.”
She fluffed my hair. “Silly. You have things going on. It’s no big deal. We can come see you too. We’re finishing detail work here. There was more renovation needed than we realized when we picked this spot. Do you want to come in and see it?”
Tom interrupted. “Another time. Can you tell us what the girl wanted?”
“Nym?”
I spun in my seat. “Do you know her?”
Zoe pushed her lower lip forward. “No. She was nice, though. She wanted a tour of the place, all the guest rooms, and the wine cellar. She said she’s planning a party, but I told her we weren’t able to accommodate a party, so she left.”
Tom shut down the engine. “When?”
“When did she leave or when is the party?”
Tom pressed his lips together for a long beat. “When did she leave?”
“Fifteen minutes ago.”
I unbuckled my seat belt and twisted for a better look at Zoe. “Who throws a high school party at a bed-and-breakfast?”
Zoe shrugged. “She didn’t say what kind of party. Maybe it’s her parents’ anniversary or her grandmother’s birthday.”
Tom watched me. “You think she’s not what she seems.”
“Maybe.” Definitely.
“Do you think her interest in Justin has influence on your opinion?”
Zoe shrank against the backseat. A haze of distress filled the vehicle.
I waved him off. “Not at all. She gives off horrible vibes. I don’t know what it means or what she is, but she’s not human.” I didn’t think.
He arched his brows.
I toyed with the hem of my jacket. “Can we keep a man on her for a day or two? Hopefully, I’m wrong.”
“Yes.”
His eager response gagged me. “I suppose you’d like the job.”
“No. I like my job, but you never give orders. I think you’re growing into the position, boss.”
“Stop. Hang on. That’s Mom’s ringtone.” I dug my ringing phone from my backpack. “Hello?”
Her shaky voice frightened me before the words had time to sink in. “Callie. It’s me. I’m on Route 212 coming home from the market. Just past the hospital. Your dad and Ginger were in an accident. It happened right in front of my eyes. I don’t think they’re okay.” She sobbed. “I recognized his car coming toward me. I beeped as we passed and then I heard the crash. I looked in my rearview. They bounced off the guardrail a couple times before it broke. The car rolled down the bank to the river. It was aw
ful.”
I blinked back tears as sirens echoed through the phone and in the world outside the Escalade.
“I called nine-one-one and Phil from work was following me. He and a few guys from Trauma just got off their shift at the hospital. They went down to check on them. I should go down, but I can’t.” Her final word was barely a whisper.
I refastened my seat belt. Cold indifference settled through me. Shock. I remembered it from the river. “Tom, can you take me to the hospital?”
The engine revved to life and Zoe was suddenly outside my window.
“Mom. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
She sobbed into the phone unintelligibly.
I thought she said, “They’re bringing them up.”
Chapter 7
Dad was an emotional mess. Bruises striped his body and his face was more messed up than Justin’s after Nationals, but Dad was alive. He was lucky.
Ginger wasn’t.
Her body went back to Poughkeepsie for a hometown memorial and placement in the family mausoleum. Dad wasn’t keen on letting her go, but he had no claim. Defeated, but not dissuaded from saying good-bye on his terms, he invited half the town to a memorial at his house. My old house.
Mom parked the Bronco at the park where I’d learned to roller blade and shoot hoops. Everything looked smaller. A train of parked cars lined the street in both directions. “Looks like we’ll have to walk from here.”
“Yep.” Four days after the accident Mom had witnessed but couldn’t explain, Ginger’s family mourned and our family guiltily rejoiced. Dad was my third loved one to be spared in a month. What would I owe for this? And to whom? Mom called it a bizarre accident. One of those things life dealt. I didn’t believe in accidents or the notion “life” made decisions. Gods made choices for us. What we remembered. What we chose. Whether we lived. It was all completely beyond our control, unless you made a deal like I had. I hadn’t asked for Dad’s life, but I probably would have and whoever saved him probably knew it.
“Let’s go.” Mom creaked the half-frozen door open. “If I wait any longer, I’ll go home or get frostbite.”
A sheen of white covered the ground and ice covered everything from tree limbs to immobile swings. The temperature had risen to normal after the accident, but it didn’t last, and this morning’s rain had become this evening’s ice.
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