Jane The Nymph: The Boxed Set (The Circle Series Book 2)

by Naomi L Scudder

  “I really don’t ma’am.”

  “OK, well, thank you again.” Jane wasn’t going to press her luck and didn’t push the man further.

  The cop directed Eric as he executed a three-point turn and then they were headed back to Jane’s studio.

  “That was scary,” Eric said.

  Jane said nothing, unsure whether he meant the situation or her performance.

  “You actually felt all the things you said to him.”

  “I did. It’s the only way to make it believable.”

  “Never do that to me,” Eric said.

  They drove back in silence.

  3

  Dinner plans ruined.

  Strike one.

  Waiting an hour and a half for a shitty pizza to arrive.

  Strike two.

  Neither Jane or Eric were in the best mood.

  “I don’t know if I can ever trust you. Not really,” Eric said. He chewed on his pineapple pizza and gave her a cold look.

  “No. I don’t think it’s about that at all, Eric. I think you’re used to having the upper hand in every situation and you don’t with me. Must be frustrating never knowing if what I’m feeling is genuine. That’s what’s actually bothering you.”

  Eric glared at her.

  “I’m right, aren’t I?”

  Eric remained silent.

  Jane was about to break one of her rules.

  “As a kid my parents had me enrolled in every type of extra-curricular there was. One was acting lessons. I was really good at it, too.” She never talked about her childhood to anyone. Even though Jane left a lot out, she was trying to have an adult relationship. She didn’t tell Eric about all the other lessons her fashion mogul parents enrolled her in to keep her occupied and out of their way. Dance class, gymnastics, private horseback riding lessons, anything to get her out of the house once she was too old for nannies. “But that means I’ve got a lot of tricks up my sleeve, one being a pretty keen understanding of method acting. It helped out when I had to make a living as a con-artist.”

  Eric choked on his soda. “You were a con-artist?”

  Jane nodded. “I don’t really want to talk about it. But I do want you to know that I have never and will never lie to you. You can trust that.”

  Eric nodded.

  Jane didn’t think Eric was capable of trusting her, or anyone for that matter. He’d never had to, not with direct access to people’s emotions.

  But Jane was willing to try if Eric was. She put her pizza in the lid of the box and crawled over to him. Jane didn’t have any plates or a table for that matter, not that it would fit in her tiny studio. This was the first meal they’d shared at her place. Eric didn’t seem to be bothered by eating on the floor hunched over the pizza box, but it was clear he was bothered by how easily Jane’s emotions had fooled him.

  “Look, I’m not sorry I have skills that helped me survive. I’m not sorry I use them to get what I need. But I am sorry you feel threatened by them.”

  Jane knew she’d chosen her words poorly as soon as she’d said it. She also knew that was probably strike three.

  “I’m not threatened by you, or your so-called skills, Jane. I’m concerned I can’t trust you.”

  “So-called? What does that mean?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing? Then why did you say it?”

  “Because I’m tired, and my mind is exhausted from filtering out everyone else’s emotions.” Eric sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Well, maybe you need to find yourself a metal helmet,” Jane said.

  “Yeah, maybe I do,” Eric said and got off the floor.

  “Ya know, I don’t think-” Jane started but Eric interrupted before Jane could finish.

  “Agreed,” Eric said and left Jane to finish her pizza alone.

  “Fucking empath,” Jane said when Eric shut the door. “Didn’t even give me the satisfaction of breaking up with him.” Jane flicked a chunk of pineapple off her slice. She’d only agreed to get the horrendous topping because she knew Eric liked it.

  She was trying to be accommodating.

  It hadn’t worked out so well.

  You knew you couldn’t do this! You knew as it happened that it was childish to break up with someone after the first fight. You know real adult relationships are about compromise more than anything.

  Jane sighed, ending her self-loathing thoughts. Because even though she knew she’d been immature, she also knew she couldn’t help it. Jane had been robbed of normal romantic relationship experiences when Droshin enslaved her.

  She shivered as she thought the vampire’s name.

  She knew how relationships should work, but she didn’t have the life experience to actually make one work.

  But she refused to be angry about the life Droshin stole from her. She wouldn’t wallow in self-pity.

  Instead, she channeled all her hatred and rage into planning how to set the other girls free, and how to kill the most powerful vampire on the east coast.

  Jane checked the spelled tattoo on her arm, the one that motherfucker had branded her with. Her magical gas gauge. The tattoo let her know exactly how much time she had before really bad shit happened. The snake slithered slowly around her elbow. She wasn’t desperate, it hadn’t made it down to her wrist, but she would need to feed soon. With Eric out of the picture, she’d have to find someone else.

  Jane reached out with her mind, accessing the metaphysical thread connecting her to a local vampire, Theron.

  They had a mutual agreement to feed each other. She gave him blood, and he gave the nymph within her sexual energy.

  It wasn’t unlike the arrangement she’d had with Droshin. Except for the part where Jane was kept shackled to a wall and naked with twelve other girls.

  Jane was the only one of Droshin’s blood nymphs to ever escape, and she planned on figuring out how to get the rest of the girls out of there. After she’d staked Droshin in his beautiful, goddamn perfect face.

  Hungry, little nymph? The vampire’s voice was smooth and silky in Jane’s head.

  I told you not to call me that, Theron.

  My apologies. When would you like to meet?

  Now?

  The vampire chuckled in Jane’s mind.

  I’ll send a car, he thought and ended their connection.

  Jane shoved the pizza box in the fridge, grabbed a jacket and waited for a text from Theron’s driver. She didn’t have to wait long.

  Except she didn’t get a text. The driver knocked on her door.

  Jane opened the door. “You shouldn’t have gotten out, it’s not safe.”

  Fuck.

  It wasn’t Ted, Theron’s driver at her door, but Gunnar Ahlstrom. All six and a half feet of him stood on Jane’s stoop.

  “Back for more?” Jane couldn’t help the sneer on her face. The nymph she housed had fucked him up the last time he toyed with her. At least, according to Jake. Jane wasn’t able to recall anything when the nymph took control of her body.

  “You did exactly what I told you not to. And now you’re going to help me fix it,” said the gigantic platinum-haired man.

  “I’ll do no such thing,” said Jane.

  “Oh, I think you will.” Gunnar motioned behind him to an idling town car. The rear window lowered and Jake’s sad amber eyes stared back at her.

  “What the fuck did you do to him?”

  4

  “Oh, don’t worry about Jake. He won’t be able to shift for about a week, but he’ll be just fine.” Gunnar’s polite tone and polished manners rubbed Jane exactly the wrong way. “Would you mind accompanying me to the center of town so we can reseal the magic you so arrogantly released?”

  Jane dared a second glance at Jake. Did he have a plan? Was he hurt?

  Jake shook his head.

  Fuck.

  Gunnar crooked his arm offering to help Jane up the three steps to street level. She pushed passed him and got in the town car on her own.


  Jake scooted over to let her in. Gunnar caught the door as Jane closed it and forced them both to scoot over even more as he wedged his giant frame into the seat with them.

  Jane sat bitch between two of the biggest men she’d ever met.

  “This is going to hurt,” Gunnar said. He grabbed Jane’s arm and injected her through the sleeve before she could react.

  “What. The fuck. Was that?” Jane said snatching her arm from the man and staring him down.

  “Nothing permanent. It’s a serum we’ve developed to keep magical abilities inert. You’ll be back to normal soon enough. Jake, on the other hand, well his won’t wear off as quickly. Shifters have a lot of energy.”

  The serum dispersed throughout Jane’s body and the slow circles the Ouroboros tattoo had been slithering around her elbow stilled.

  Jane felt different - more alert. More energy was now at her disposal. She hadn’t realized how much of her own life force the nymph constantly drained from her.

  “How long will it last?” she asked.

  “A few hours.”

  “Any way of making it permanent?” Jane asked.

  Gunnar laughed. “Ah, Jane. You do surprise me. But I can assure you, the creature that resides within you will not be pleased that you’ve cut off her supply of energy.”

  Jane hadn’t considered that.

  Was the nymph starving inside her?

  “At this point, we’re only able to temporarily block an individual’s magic. I’ll be sure to let you know if it becomes an option.”

  When the threesome arrived at the center of the circle, Gunnar instructed them on how to put the magic back under the seal.

  “You’ll both need to bleed just as you did to release it. Since I’ve dampened your magic, it’s not going to be as painless as the first time.” Gunnar’s steely blue eyes shined with a hint of satisfaction.

  “Not a fan of that idea, Gunnar,” said Jane.

  “And, there’s a flaw in your logic,” said Jake, breaking his silence. “Neither of us have enough blood to satisfy the spell. Not without our magic.”

  “You’re right, you don’t. But I do,” said Gunnar. “You stand there, and you there.” Gunnar corralled them, pointing to the area in the center of the easement. “Tjusning.” The giant man whispered the word and a glowing rune encircled both Jane and Jake. “Now, bleed.” Gunnar tossed a blade through the suspended runic magic.

  It fell at Jake’s feet.

  “I’m not dying for this, Norse Man,” said Jake.

  But Jane knew that rune. It was Sowulo, the rune of health and life force. She’d been using her own juice boost to channel her native green magic into lima bean runes. It was the same rune she used to keep that panther shifter from eating her.

  Jane wasn’t nearly powerful enough to conjure them from the ether like Gunnar, which is why she had to carve them into a physical medium.

  “The rune will keep you alive, wolf. Just bleed until I’ve finished binding the magic back in place.”

  “Why?” asked Jane.

  “Because it’s blood magic, Jane. Therefore it requires blood.” Gunnar’s polite condescension irritated Jane the way few things could.

  “Yeah, I get that, Sasquatch. I’m asking why you’re so hell bent on keeping magic locked up.”

  “Don’t you see what The Circle has become? The people turning in the streets, businesses shut down. You don’t seem like a dumb girl, but you don’t seem to understand the magnitude of your actions.”

  “Oh, I see it. And I fully understand the gravity of what I did. But you don’t seem to get that this is all temporary. Magic belongs out and free, not locked under sigils and blood. Everything will go back to the way it should. Just give it time.”

  “And what makes you think you know ‘the way it should be’?”

  “I know the way it was, imbalanced and stifling isn’t how it should be.” Jane was careful to keep Gunnar’s eyes locked on hers, engaging him in conversation while she carefully nudged Jake at an angle Gunnar couldn’t see.

  She hoped a nudge would be enough to tell Jake to be ready.

  “And what about the people finding their empowerment who’ve had no instruction? What of them, Jane?”

  “They’ll figure it out, Gunnar,” Jane said his name hard, over-emphasizing the consonants to keep his attention. Everyone responds to their own name. “They’ll level out and find someone to train them, the way it’s always been. The way it is everywhere else.” Jane tossed the handmade rune she’d fished from her pocket at the wall of energy around them. The moment the lines of the Gunnar’s shimmering runic wall started to wiggle Jane yelled, “NOW, Jake!”

  Instinctively, they ran in opposite directions from each other. Jane ran in zigzags, hoping that would make it harder for Gunnar to hit her with his green “hulk smash” magic.

  Thanks to the juice boost, the stored magic in Jane’s protection rune was the largest amount of magic she’d ever accessed without the nymph’s aid. It was just enough to break through Gunnar’s wall.

  Theron! Change of plans. Tell your driver to meet us at the south spoke of the circle.

  Who is “us”, little one?

  Nevermind that, Theron. Just tell him to hurry the fuck up!

  Telepathy existed in the ether, just as magic itself did. Jane’s metaphysical link to Theron remained unaffected by Gunnar’s serum because it didn’t reside within her.

  Jane hurtled over the bushes that surrounded the center of the circle and scanned the spokes for Jake. She spotted him on the west spoke, whistled to get his attention, and motioned toward the south. Jane ran full out and zigzagging toward South Street. She didn’t see Theron’s limo yet.

  “Fuck, where is it? He should be here by now!” Jane ran right through the middle of South Street looking down each intersection and alley for the car.

  THERON! Where’s the goddamn car?!

  It should be right there, Janey.

  And just as the old vamp used his most favorite pet name, the limo pulled out of an impossibly narrow alley right in front of Jane.

  She had too much momentum to stop, and instead of crashing into the side of the vehicle Jane hopped up and slid ass-first across the hood.

  “Nice move,” said the female driver when Jane got in the backseat. “Theron said there’d be two?”

  “He’s coming. I hope.”

  “Is that him?” The driver pointed ahead to Jake hauling ass down an alley further down South Street.

  “Yeah. How’d he get... whatever, get down there.” Jane searched behind them for Gunnar.

  “You got it.” The driver mashed the accelerator and the sped down South Street.

  Jane was pretty sure the driver made the wheels smoke.

  Jane lowered her blacked-out window when they were close enough. “Get in!” She scrambled over to make room for the shifter.

  Jake piled in next to her, all knees and elbows as he tried to get in the still moving limo. He tumbled into the seat next to Jane, sighed and filled the whole cabin with a sweaty, musky scent. The driver lowered her window. Jane didn’t. She kind of liked the way Jake smelled.

  Jane didn’t see Gunnar following but she didn’t want to press her luck.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here!”

  The driver blasted down the deserted street the way no one should ever drive a limo down any street ever. Both Jane and Jake scrounged around for their seat belts when the driver took a particularly sharp corner too fast.

  Jane yelped as her slight frame slammed into the door. “Hey, Blue, cool it on the turns.”

  The driver laughed, tossing her midnight blue hair. “It’s Xandrie, and I’ll cool it when I’m sure that you two are safe.”

  After a few miles, when they were out of the city center and in the outlying suburbs of The Circle, Xandrie slowed to a more comfortable speed. “I haven’t met you before,” said Jane when the adrenaline from Gunnar’s runic prison and the new driver’s lead foot wore off. “Ted usual
ly picks me up.”

  “Yeah. Ted was caught stealing and had to be let go.”

  Jane didn’t ask if “let go” was a euphemism for something more deadly. She couldn’t imagine anyone stupid enough to steal from a vamp. Especially not Theron.

  5

  “You know, Theron is a lot different now that you’re in the picture,” Xandrie said, adjusting the rear view mirror to see Jane better.

  Jane ignored the comment. She knew. She used it to her advantage.

  “You’re a relief from his perpetual ennui. I haven’t seen him this interested in anything in decades.”

  Xandrie didn’t look old enough to have known anyone for decades.

  “I’m fae,” she said, catching Jane’s questioning look. She moved her hair, exposing the delicately pointed tip of her ear.

  “You can’t smell it?” Jake asked.

  Jane wrinkled her nose. “No. Can you?”

  Jake nodded. “Yeah, fae smell kind of spicy, like cloves or curry or something.”

  “And shifters smell like garbage.”

  “Xandrie!” Jane said.

  “It’s true.” Jake didn’t seem offended in the least. “We smell terrible to the fae.”

  “It’s a biological safeguard. It keeps fae from breeding with shifters,” said Xandrie.

  Jake nodded. “Keeps the bloodlines pure.”

  “Anyway,” Xandrie continued. “We live just as long - well maybe not just as long as vamps, but a damn long time - and you don’t see us wasting away into oblivion because we’ve got a bad case of the ‘been there, done that’s’. We find meaning in life, we make ourselves relevant.” Xandrie sighed letting out the rest of her frustration. “Theron was in a real bad way before you came along. That’s all I’m saying.”

  They crested a hill, taking them just beyond the city’s proper border. Jane relaxed incrementally as the ether grew less saturated with wild magic.

  “I thought the city was quarantined,” Jane said, wondering why the road wasn’t blocked.

  “It is. But this road is warded. It only leads to Theron’s mansion and only those with the right charms can enter.”