The Dragon Legion Collection(76)

She wanted to be with her own kind.

She wanted to know if anyone else had ever experienced a firestorm. Could she make love to this dragon shifter without conceiving his son? Aura was desperate to know. His kiss had done nothing to minimize her desire—in fact, she felt that she was filled with an even more consuming lust. If she hadn’t left him, she would have been entangled with him already.

To Aura’s relief, Nephele was in the glade. Nephele was as fair in coloring as the clouds she could become and knew so much more of the world than Aura. Nephele trailed her hand in the water as she listened to the gossip of the other nymphs, characteristically quiet and attentive.

One of the Anthousai was there, easily identified by the strong scent of hyacinth flowers. Aura didn’t know this one’s name but she was dark-haired and pretty like all her sisters. The flower nymphs looked more or less the same to Aura, and she found none of them to be very clever. They were sweet, though, and forgave much.

Arethusa was standing before the spring, her words sparkling as they fell. She was a naiad, a nymph of the fresh waters, and the fact that she hovered on the cusp of change was a sign of her excitement.

Aura blew near to their circle and changed shape, even as Arethusa exclaimed. “She was one of us, but not immortal.” Droplets fell from the nymph in her agitation. “She called herself an Earthdaughter.” The other nymphs tried the word, then Nephele nodded to Aura. “She could make the earth heave and start an earthquake.”

The nymphs exchanged glances. “Like a goddess!”

Nephele snapped her fingers. “I’ve heard of women like this. They’re similar to us, but are mortal. They tend to stay in human form and live in human society. There was one I blew past a while ago on a mountaintop. She called herself a Waterdaughter and could change into a shimmering pillar of water.”


“But that’s what you can do,” the flower nymph declared. “Change into water.”

Arethusa shook her head. “We’re bound to a specific source. I can only come to you because the water flows from here to my well. It’s not the same as being able to wander around like a mortal and change shape whenever you want.”

“As a Waterdaughter, you could pursue a man, instead of waiting for him to come back,” the flower nymph said with a sigh.

“Or anything else,’ Arethusa said. She sat down, her expression revealing that she had more to tell. “Here’s the remarkable thing.” She looked between the nymphs, verifying that she had their attention, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “A man came after her.”

“Did she entrance him and seduce him?” the flower nymph asked.

“She was already pregnant with his son.”

“Impossible,” Aura said with resolve. “They never come back once we’re pregnant.”

“This one did!” Arethusa was triumphant. “He didn’t just come back: he sought her out.” The nymphs exchanged glances. Aura knew she wasn’t the only one who had never heard of such a thing.

“But you said you saw her in the Underworld,” Nephele protested quietly. “You mean he was dead, too?”

“No, he was mortal and alive, but he came after her.” Arethusa nodded. “He fought Cerberus and pursued her into the Underworld.”

“He willingly entered the realm of the dead,” Aura murmured, amazed. She wasn’t sure whether to believe Arethusa or not. Men, in her experience, weren’t self-sacrificing at all.

But if one was, he’d be exactly the kind of man she wanted. Aura admired those who didn’t always consider themselves first.

“Then he really did want to be with her,” the flower nymph said. “How romantic!”

“How could you know this?” Nephele asked.

“Orphne told me that she saw it all.”

“Because she was in the River Acheron,” Aura contributed.

Arethusa nodded again. “She said he fought Cerberus and was losing, but this Earthdaughter sang the hellhound to sleep, to save him. They argued at the gates and she went into the Underworld, but he followed her.”

This story showed unusual dedication on the part of the man. Aura had problems believing it was true. After all, he had had his pleasure of the Earthdaughter, and Aura knew better than to expect a man to linger after that.

“Did he come out again?” the flower nymph asked. “Or was he lured to his death?” She seemed to take a salacious glee in the possibility.

“They came out together. That’s what I saw.”

“Your waters flow far and deep, Arethusa,” Nephele said with a smile.

“Not far enough that I could hide from Alpheus,” the nymph said bitterly. “If justice had been served, I would still be paying homage to my lady Artemis, but my choice to remain chaste was irrelevant to him.”

“Chastity is over-rated,” the flower nymph said slyly. “We keep our youth and vigor by claiming men.” She smiled. “As many as possible.”

“You said it was romantic that he came back,” Nephele pointed out.

“Because it would make a repeat conquest easier,” the flower nymph declared with a toss of her hair. “Much easier than enchanting him and keeping him captive.” She pouted a little. “Don’t they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder? Something about seeing a captive all the time makes me want him less.”