Mythe: A Fairy Tale (38 page)

“No, nothing has changed. I love you. If the fact that I’m 43 years younger than you doesn’t bother you, I’m just going to shut up and count my blessings,” she finally replied.

“I count mine every time I look at you,” he said in a soft voice, and kissed her tenderly. As usual, his kiss left her breathless. “Has the pain gotten any better?”

Manda realized as soon as he asked that the medication had indeed taken affect, and the pain was manageable now. It had faded to an ache that she was able to ignore for the most part.

“Much,” she breathed with feeling. “Thank you.”

“Are you ready to go back to sleep then? It’s still the middle of the night you know.”

The thought of closing her eyes again didn’t appeal to Manda—the nightmare was still too fresh in her mind—but she didn’t want to keep Richard up all night either.

“I think so. I’m still pretty tired and I think I’ll be able to sleep now.”

“I’ll be right out in the other room if you need me,” Richard said. He pressed a kiss to her hand and stood to go. “I’ll leave the light on. Good night, sweetie.”

“Good night.”

Chapter 27

A
fter Richard was gone Manda lay in bed, unwilling to close her eyes. She really was tired but she fought off sleep, afraid of another nightmare. She’d never had one like that before. Usually her bad dreams faded quickly and could never really be considered nightmares in the first place. This one, however, had been a full-blown, terror-inspiring nightmare that refused to be banished even on waking.

She thought about her conversation with Richard and wondered suddenly how old Josh was. Her mind started to drift and her eyes grew heavy. She forced them open again and concentrated on the questions she still wanted to ask. She tried to organize them in her head, knowing it was a pointless exercise, as they would all flood back in a jumble when next she talked to Richard. It helped her stay awake and kept her mind off of the nightmare though. She tried to adjust her thinking about Sarah and Daniel. She was having difficulty casting them in the role of Richard’s parents. Her mind wandered to idle imaginings of what it must have been like when they were children. One hundred and eighty six years was a long time to live. Her eyelids felt like lead weights. They drifted closed in spite of her best efforts to stop them. Immediately Manda’s thoughts fractured into a million shards, flashing through her mind in an uncontrolled torrent. Images from her nightmare flickered behind her eyelids and she quickly jerked away from the edge of sleep with a soft gasp, her eyes snapping open again.

“You aren’t going to be able to sleep, are you?” Richard said from the doorway. “Pretty bad nightmare?”

“Yes,” Manda groaned miserably.

“Would you like to come out here with me for a while? I’ve got a fire going? Maybe that will help you relax and I can keep you company and keep your mind off of the bad dreams.” He sounded hopeful, and a warm wave of pleasure buoyed Manda. He wanted her company as much as she wanted his.

“That would be nice,” she agreed at once.

Richard lifted her gingerly from the bed and carried her to the sofa in the sitting room. He pushed aside a pillow and blanket and deposited her onto the plush cushions.

“You’re sleeping out here,” Manda accused, eyeing the pillow. “You said you were going to take Josh’s room and he would take mine. I could sleep on the sofa. I don’t want to take your bed from you.”

“Don’t be absurd,” Richard dismissed, tossing the pillow onto the chair Josh had occupied earlier and sitting down beside her. “I couldn’t sleep anyway, so I just let Josh have his room and I’ve been out here, enjoying the fire.”

“And keeping tabs on me?” Manda guessed.

“A little,” he admitted unapologetically. “I worry about you.”

“How did you know I wasn’t sleeping well? Have you been standing in the dark watching me?” Manda accused, only half joking. That would explain how he’d been there so quickly both times she woke.

He shrugged. “No, I just have good hearing. I could hear your heartbeat racing and could tell something was wrong.” He angled his body into the corner of the sofa and then enfolded Manda in his arms and drew her against his bare chest. She curled her legs up beside herself, being careful of her injured ankle. Richard shook out the blanket and pulled it over them both.

“You could hear my heartbeat? From out here?” Manda asked, snuggling into Richard’s embrace. Yesterday morning she would have been, at the least, surprised and skeptical about such a revelation, but not now.

“And so continues the education of Miss Amanda Jensen,” Richard chuckled. “Yes, I could hear your heartbeat from here. I told you, I have very good hearing.”

“Is that another part of being a shapeshifter?”

“Well, sort of a fringe benefit, I guess you could say. Josh showed you how we can change just one part of ourselves if we want. It’s sort of a carryover of that. When we want, we can adopt the qualities of different animals that we find useful. We can literally have the eyesight of an eagle, the sense of smell of a bloodhound, the strength of bear, the best abilities of any forms we’ve collected, all while looking perfectly human. It takes a lot of practice, but most of us do it. You get used to having the enhanced abilities and you start to feel handicapped without them.”

“So, that’s how you were able to run so fast in the woods!”

Richard grimaced. “I knew you’d notice that, but I couldn’t make myself slow down. I was too worried about you. I suppose the cat was already out of the bag at that point anyway...no pun intended.”

“And that’s how you can carry me around so easily!” Manda exclaimed.

“Sweetie, I could carry you all day without that.”

“Is that how you knew the lion was there? Is that why you yelled for me to stop?” It seemed like weeks since he’d chased her through the forest, instead of less than twenty-four hours.

“Yes. The wind shifted and I caught his scent. He should have run away from us, and when he didn’t I knew it could be trouble.”

Manda shivered and he kissed the top of her head. She quickly changed the subject.

“So, if you’re 68, how old is Josh? Don’t tell me he’s older than me too? I’ll be sincerely put out if he is!” Manda grinned to let him know she was teasing.

“No, little brother is only 21. He’ll keep aging until he peaks.”

“So, why doesn’t he just automatically jump to the optimum age when he changes?” Manda asked. There was still so much she didn’t understand.

“That’s just not the way it works. Until a therianthrope reaches maturity, all of the forms they assume reflect the level of development analogous to their human development. So, when Josh transforms into a tiger, for example, he transforms into a young, immature tiger. He’ll continue to age normally until he’s in his late twenties or very early thirties. And as he gets older, his other forms will mature as well.” Richard had assumed a lecturing demeanor.

“Don’t people notice when you don’t age? What do you do about that? How have you kept it secret for so long?”

“That’s the trick of it. Mostly, we’re a circumspect lot. We lead quiet lives, under the radar, and move on after we’ve been in one place for a while.” His mouth quirked up wryly. “Josh and I are obviously an exception to the rule. Josh just sort of stumbled into fame. He really enjoys performing though, so my parents didn’t interfere. He still has maybe ten years before he has to worry about it. He’ll still age for several years, and then it will be several more after that before anyone would notice that he’s not anymore. He knows that, and I think he’s willing to stop shifting and keep aging if it means he can still perform.”

“What about you? People will start noticing soon if you aren’t aging.” Manda’s voice was anxious. How would he be able to ‘move on’ when he couldn’t even show his face in public without being recognized?

“I’ve thought about that. I’ll have to age for a while I suppose. Then I’ll drop out of view and start over. I still have a few more years before I have to worry about that though.” Richard seemed unconcerned and Manda relaxed. He knew what he was doing.

“How have all of you kept everyone from discovering your secret for all this time? Hasn’t anyone ever figured it out?”

“People these days don’t believe in stuff like this, Manda. They think it’s all fairytales and fantasy. People in the past were much more ready to believe, I guess, and figured it out sometimes. That’s where stories about things like werewolves and mermaids came from. Sometime, somewhere, a shapeshifter wasn’t as careful as he or she should have been. I have a great aunt who was single-handedly responsible for the legends of selkies. A seal was one of her favorite forms and she was none too discreet about it.” He shook his head ruefully. “But people just think it’s imagination or superstition when they hear about things like that. It’s not as hard to keep the secret as you’d think. Next question.”

Manda considered, but before she could pose another question she was overcome with a wave of fatigue and hid a yawn behind her hand.

“Would you like to go to sleep? You can stay right here with me if that would help.”

Manda’s eyes darted toward the bedroom door and she wondered why he hadn’t just offered to keep her company there, where they both would have been more comfortable. Richard must have noticed her quick look and guessed her thoughts.

“If you’d rather go back to the bed you can, but I won’t keep you company there, Manda. It wouldn’t be appropriate. At least out here I know that Josh could walk in at anytime. It helps me fight temptation...and you are a temptation.” He sighed heavily and stroked her hair. “I’m doing everything I can to be a gentleman. Let’s not make it any harder than it needs to be.”

“No, I’m not ready to go to sleep,” was all Manda said, blushing. She watched the low fire for a while, content to lean against Richards’s broad, warm chest and listen to his heart beat steadily. Finally, another question pushed its way to the front of her mind.

“Does it hurt when you shift?” she asked timidly. She felt his soft laugh more than she heard it.

“No, not at all. In fact, it’s exhilarating. A real rush. And there’s nothing like flying, Manda. You’d love it.”

“Mmmmm. Sounds nice,” Manda murmured sleepily. She couldn’t stop another yawn.

“You know, you’re taking this all really well.”

“That’s probably because I’m pretty sure I’m imagining it all.” She yawned again.

“This is silly,” Richard said softly. “You can barely keep your eyes open. You need to go to sleep.”

“No!” Manda protested with fear creeping into her voice. She was still afraid of what waited for her behind her eyelids.

“How about if I sing you to sleep? That should keep the nightmares away. I’ll hold you in my arms and wake you up if you seem like your having another bad dream. Please try to sleep,” he coaxed.

“That would be nice,” Manda sighed. She was
so
tired.

“Good,” Richard said, sounding pleased. He shifted slightly so that she could more easily stretch out on the sofa, and then tucked the blanket around her securely. He began to sing quietly. His voice was low and soft, and it made Manda feel like melting. She relaxed against him completely, listening to his voice mingle with the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. He sang an old lullaby; Manda recognized the melody, but the lyrics were wrong.

“Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,

Go to sleep my little lovely.

In my arms, safe you’ll keep,

Go to sleep my little lovely.

“By your side, I will stay,

Go to sleep my precious darling.

Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,

Go to sleep my little darling.

When you wake, you shall have,

All my love my precious sweet one.

“Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry,

Go to sleep, my precious darling.

When you sleep, dream of me,

Lovely, precious little darling.”

“What happened to all the pretty little horses?” Manda mumbled sleepily, remembering the original words to the lullaby.

“Remind me to show you sometime if you like horses so much,” was Richard’s amused response. He continued to sing. She could feel his hand caressing her hair. She felt safe and warm. His voice drove away all of her fear and anxiety, and she quickly slipped into a deep and peaceful slumber.

Chapter 28

T
he sound of a door closing woke Manda the next morning. She emerged imperceptibly from sleep with her eyes still closed, and her breathing still slow and even. There was no clear demarcation between where sleep ended and awareness began. Richard’s heartbeat still filled her head and her body felt suspended in warm molasses. She lay motionless and luxuriated in the warmth of Richard’s body against her cheek and under her hand as they rested against his chest. The air in the room was cool on the sides of Manda’s face and hand that weren’t touching him. They were the only parts of her body not covered by the blanket. 

“Are you still sleeping?” Josh asked quietly from the vicinity of the door.

“No, I’m awake,” Richard whispered back, “but Manda is still asleep.”