fault,” he said. Her fingers moved underneath his. He realized he was crushing her hands between his and made a conscious effort to loosen his grip. “It has no bearing on your intelligence or your worth, or strength as a human. It’s like—like coming down with cancer, or—” He cast about his mind for another example but came up blank, so he reached for something that he was more familiar with. “Or mortality. It’s a part of your human condition. That’s all. He is a very old, very Powerful predator, and you are his prey. Everything about him is designed to pull you in, and you heard what he said. Sometimes it takes humans that way.”
She nodded and straightened her back. “Intellectually, I understand what you’re saying. It’s just taking my emotions a little while to catch up. You know, it’s quite terrifying to not be in control of what is happening to you.”
Her words hit him hard, and it was his turn to avert his face. He muttered, very low, “I know.”
There was a pause. He could feel her gaze upon him almost like a physical caress. “That’s happened to you too.”
He didn’t have to tell her anything. The thought flashed through his mind, and he even paused to consider it. He had no business opening up to someone like her, or attempting to develop a real connection. They lived vastly different lives, and his was cursed.
But that intangible thing about her still drew him, just as it had on the plane and earlier on the deck when they had talked. And he discovered that he wanted to confide in her.
His mouth twisted. He said, “It’s happening to me right now.”
Her hands turned under his, slender fingers closing around his. “What do you mean?”
Slowly he disengaged one hand, removed his sunglasses and looked at her. Funny how quickly the glasses had become such an ingrained habit that he felt naked and vulnerable without them.
Her breath caught, the tiny sound quite audible in the deadened quiet of the cabin. Then she leaned forward and cupped his cheeks between her hands as she stared at his eyes. He knew what she saw. He looked at the same thing several times a day.
He was an Eagle Owl in his Wyr form, the largest species of owl in the world, and normally his eyes were very like his Wyr form’s, a kind of golden amber with an orange hue. The strange, brilliant color unsettled many people.
Now his eyes were changing. Darkness like spilled ink grew over the irises, the pupils and the whites. He had already lost some of his distance and peripheral vision. Eventually the black would take over completely.
“What happened?” she breathed. She stroked his temple. The caress felt shockingly intimate and kind, and it woke an immense hunger inside of him.
His voice turned harsh. “I’m going blind,” he said. “The last job I took, I was guarding an archaeological party that traveled along the Amazon River. We were attacked.”
He told her about the chieftain, the shrunken head and the curse, while horror and compassion shadowed her face. “We did everything to try to avoid actual violence, but there comes a point when you have to stop talking and fight for your lives. I think he wanted to strike me blind instantly so that I would be crippled in battle, but my body’s natural immune system took over and started fighting it off. I get periodic headaches and low grade fevers. Eventually the curse will take hold completely.”
She asked gently, “Isn’t there some way to break it? Most written curses I’ve seen are structured like a lock and key. Verbal ones have to have the same kind of structure.”
“This one has a very tight lock,” he said. “I’ve expended most of the company’s personnel and financial resources looking for a cure. In fact, I have a dozen teams searching in the field right now. Carling thinks the only way to reverse the spell is to have the chieftain use the head again. But of course that’s impossible, because he’s dead.”
She shook her
She nodded and straightened her back. “Intellectually, I understand what you’re saying. It’s just taking my emotions a little while to catch up. You know, it’s quite terrifying to not be in control of what is happening to you.”
Her words hit him hard, and it was his turn to avert his face. He muttered, very low, “I know.”
There was a pause. He could feel her gaze upon him almost like a physical caress. “That’s happened to you too.”
He didn’t have to tell her anything. The thought flashed through his mind, and he even paused to consider it. He had no business opening up to someone like her, or attempting to develop a real connection. They lived vastly different lives, and his was cursed.
But that intangible thing about her still drew him, just as it had on the plane and earlier on the deck when they had talked. And he discovered that he wanted to confide in her.
His mouth twisted. He said, “It’s happening to me right now.”
Her hands turned under his, slender fingers closing around his. “What do you mean?”
Slowly he disengaged one hand, removed his sunglasses and looked at her. Funny how quickly the glasses had become such an ingrained habit that he felt naked and vulnerable without them.
Her breath caught, the tiny sound quite audible in the deadened quiet of the cabin. Then she leaned forward and cupped his cheeks between her hands as she stared at his eyes. He knew what she saw. He looked at the same thing several times a day.
He was an Eagle Owl in his Wyr form, the largest species of owl in the world, and normally his eyes were very like his Wyr form’s, a kind of golden amber with an orange hue. The strange, brilliant color unsettled many people.
Now his eyes were changing. Darkness like spilled ink grew over the irises, the pupils and the whites. He had already lost some of his distance and peripheral vision. Eventually the black would take over completely.
“What happened?” she breathed. She stroked his temple. The caress felt shockingly intimate and kind, and it woke an immense hunger inside of him.
His voice turned harsh. “I’m going blind,” he said. “The last job I took, I was guarding an archaeological party that traveled along the Amazon River. We were attacked.”
He told her about the chieftain, the shrunken head and the curse, while horror and compassion shadowed her face. “We did everything to try to avoid actual violence, but there comes a point when you have to stop talking and fight for your lives. I think he wanted to strike me blind instantly so that I would be crippled in battle, but my body’s natural immune system took over and started fighting it off. I get periodic headaches and low grade fevers. Eventually the curse will take hold completely.”
She asked gently, “Isn’t there some way to break it? Most written curses I’ve seen are structured like a lock and key. Verbal ones have to have the same kind of structure.”
“This one has a very tight lock,” he said. “I’ve expended most of the company’s personnel and financial resources looking for a cure. In fact, I have a dozen teams searching in the field right now. Carling thinks the only way to reverse the spell is to have the chieftain use the head again. But of course that’s impossible, because he’s dead.”
She shook her
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