I hadn’t seen much of Willow since the night of the party. She had gone into hiding. Or she was avoiding me. Or both.
I searched every lake, river, and stream in Minnesota, starting with her lake. I finally found her on my second trip back to her home. She was sunning herself on some rocks by the river, just outside the cave where she sometimes slept. And sometimes did other things. My treacherous memory supplied me with images of what those things had been. Seeing her wasn’t helping my head. Anyone, any male at least, got a little light-headed around a naiad.
She skinned a fish, a walleye, I think. Her expression didn’t change when she saw me, but she gripped the knife a little tighter. There was no guarantee that Willow wouldn’t kill me when she heard what I had to say.
“Leave me in peace, Nyx Fortuna,” she said. “I have things to do.”
“I just want to help you.” Who was I kidding? I wanted her.
“Help?” she repeated. “It does not help me to see you right now.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “I thought we were friends.”
“I would be your friend,” she said. “I only need some time.”
“I will wait for you,” I said. I didn’t want to be her friend, but I’d take what I could get. I wasn’t sure I could stand not touching her.
“Don’t.” The single word popped the tiny bubble of hope in my chest. Lucky in cards, unlucky in love. “I’ve been thinking of moving on, anyway.”
“You mean leave Minneapolis?” Willow had made it clear we didn’t have a future together, but there was a hint of sadness in her voice.
“Hecate has been taken care of.” Strangely, after my years of roaming the world, I was starting to think of Minneapolis as home. I wasn’t sure I liked the sensation.
I stared at Willow. There was something different about her. I’d been so consumed by lust the night of the party that I hadn’t been paying close attention.
Naiads had the ability to drive men mad with lust, but they’d seduce them and then kill them without thinking twice. A necklace of men’s teeth signified social status in a naiad colony.
But Willow had always worn a simple necklace made of river stone. She might weave in a few spring wildflowers or some greenery. At least that’s what she used to do.
Now she wore a set of men’s teeth, still bloody at the roots. She noticed my gaze and lifted it up so I could get a better look. My stomach roiled.
“My dearly departed husband’s,” she said with a satisfied smile.
Willow was the one who’d killed Danvers.
She’d ended the blood oath. Willow was free. But she wasn’t the girl I’d come to love. I’d turned her into this. A killer of men. A queen. She’d killed Danvers. It’s not that he didn’t deserve it, but murder changed a person. I should know.
Her eyes were full of ambition and pride. She was beyond me now. There was no turning back. My dream of a life with her was impossible. Once she’d experienced the bloodlust, she’d never be satisfied with a little place near the Driftless.
I’d been a fool to think I could ever be happy.
I didn’t regret helping Willow to save herself, even though my actions had freed Hecate, just as the prophecy foretold.
“Can I kiss you good-bye?”
She nodded. I kissed her softly on the nose, the forehead, and finally the lips. She kissed me back until I said the wrong thing.
“I love you,” I whispered into her ear.
She stiffened and pushed me away. “Don’t say that to me ever again,” she said, “or I’ll add your teeth to my collection.”
I dropped my arms and she turned and headed toward the lake. With each step, she moved faster and faster until she was running, arms wide as if greeting a lover. Then she dove into the water and disappeared.
I sat on my favorite bench and stared at the water until the sun came up, but she never returned.