Shah.
“You only knew her as a therapist,” said Lena. “If you met her outside of the office, you’d probably like her. She’s a bit of a geek, too.”
“What do you mean,
too
?” I asked, but my heart wasn’t in the banter.
“Nidhi grew up reading comics, especially
She-Hulk
and
Tank Girl
. Those fantasies helped to shape me. The Nymphs of Neptune were able warriors, and there were plenty of scenes where we fought our sisters for the pleasure of men. I learned to fight for a better purpose.” She shrugged. “It could be worse. I’m smart, strong, and nigh indestructible.”
Being born from an acorn, she wouldn’t have experienced the shock of transition the way a more fully-fleshed character might. I suspected her nature helped there as well, just as Smudge’s had. Presumably both Frank Dearing and Doctor Shah wanted a
sane
lover, and Lena would have been shaped by those desires. “Is it strength if you exist to fulfill someone else’s fantasy?”
She flexed an arm. “Tell you what. Let’s arm wrestle, and you can tell me if that strength is real.” Her words were playful, but muted.
“This doesn’t explain why you read my file. Why you sought me out.” My anger at Lena had fled, replaced by confusion. Her athleticism, her energy, her sense of humor, everything I found so appealing about her, were these things simply a result of how her race had been written?
“Think about it, Isaac. My lover was taken by vampires. If she’s not dead, if they turn her like they did your friend Deb . . . her desires define me, Isaac.”
“And you can’t refuse your lover. So you need—” I almost swerved off the road.
“You’re not usually this slow on the uptake,” Lena commented.
“You want me to become your next
owner
?” Red sparks crackled from Smudge’s back, either from the anger in my words or my driving.
“I knew you were attracted to me, when we met before. You appreciated my body, but you also liked
me
. Your file confirmed that you’d make a good partner.”
“And you didn’t think you should let me in on this plan?”
“Sorry, I got a bit distracted saving your ass from those sparklers.”
“Lena, I can’t—”
“Nidhi was conflicted, too, when she learned the truth about me. This is what I am. I can’t change that. And there are a lot of people out there who . . . well, their fantasies aren’t something I ever intend to become.”
I couldn’t even figure out who I was angry at. Whatever hack had written Lena’s book couldn’t have known what he was creating. From the sound of things, whoever pulled her acorn from the pages had been an untrained amateur. Otherwise, why leave it in the woods? As for Lena herself, she was simply trying to survive, to take some kind of control over what she would become.
Of everyone she had met in her time with Doctor Shah, she had chosen me. She was entrusting me with her life and with her
self
, with who she would become.
I thought back to her unwillingness to kill, the way she had described vampires as victims of magic, shaped and defined by their magical nature. “I’m sorry.”
Her answering silence lasted long enough for me to realize how inadequate my words were, and then she shrugged. “Everyone has problems.”
“Couldn’t you—”
“
Don’t
try to fix me. I am what I am.” Her sudden, mischievous smile eased the mood. “It’s a lot to process, I know. I’m thinking of putting together a pamphlet. ‘What to do When a Dryad has the Hots for You.’ What do you think?”
How had Shah lived with herself? Yet if I said no, Lena Greenwood could become far more dangerous than any vampire. “So what
are
you supposed to do?”
She took a deep, slow breath. “I’m not asking you to make a decision, or to commit to anything. Just please think about it.”
I was going to have a hard time thinking about anything else.
Chapter 6
I WAS NO LESS CONFLICTED when we reached the Mackinac Bridge three hours
“You only knew her as a therapist,” said Lena. “If you met her outside of the office, you’d probably like her. She’s a bit of a geek, too.”
“What do you mean,
too
?” I asked, but my heart wasn’t in the banter.
“Nidhi grew up reading comics, especially
She-Hulk
and
Tank Girl
. Those fantasies helped to shape me. The Nymphs of Neptune were able warriors, and there were plenty of scenes where we fought our sisters for the pleasure of men. I learned to fight for a better purpose.” She shrugged. “It could be worse. I’m smart, strong, and nigh indestructible.”
Being born from an acorn, she wouldn’t have experienced the shock of transition the way a more fully-fleshed character might. I suspected her nature helped there as well, just as Smudge’s had. Presumably both Frank Dearing and Doctor Shah wanted a
sane
lover, and Lena would have been shaped by those desires. “Is it strength if you exist to fulfill someone else’s fantasy?”
She flexed an arm. “Tell you what. Let’s arm wrestle, and you can tell me if that strength is real.” Her words were playful, but muted.
“This doesn’t explain why you read my file. Why you sought me out.” My anger at Lena had fled, replaced by confusion. Her athleticism, her energy, her sense of humor, everything I found so appealing about her, were these things simply a result of how her race had been written?
“Think about it, Isaac. My lover was taken by vampires. If she’s not dead, if they turn her like they did your friend Deb . . . her desires define me, Isaac.”
“And you can’t refuse your lover. So you need—” I almost swerved off the road.
“You’re not usually this slow on the uptake,” Lena commented.
“You want me to become your next
owner
?” Red sparks crackled from Smudge’s back, either from the anger in my words or my driving.
“I knew you were attracted to me, when we met before. You appreciated my body, but you also liked
me
. Your file confirmed that you’d make a good partner.”
“And you didn’t think you should let me in on this plan?”
“Sorry, I got a bit distracted saving your ass from those sparklers.”
“Lena, I can’t—”
“Nidhi was conflicted, too, when she learned the truth about me. This is what I am. I can’t change that. And there are a lot of people out there who . . . well, their fantasies aren’t something I ever intend to become.”
I couldn’t even figure out who I was angry at. Whatever hack had written Lena’s book couldn’t have known what he was creating. From the sound of things, whoever pulled her acorn from the pages had been an untrained amateur. Otherwise, why leave it in the woods? As for Lena herself, she was simply trying to survive, to take some kind of control over what she would become.
Of everyone she had met in her time with Doctor Shah, she had chosen me. She was entrusting me with her life and with her
self
, with who she would become.
I thought back to her unwillingness to kill, the way she had described vampires as victims of magic, shaped and defined by their magical nature. “I’m sorry.”
Her answering silence lasted long enough for me to realize how inadequate my words were, and then she shrugged. “Everyone has problems.”
“Couldn’t you—”
“
Don’t
try to fix me. I am what I am.” Her sudden, mischievous smile eased the mood. “It’s a lot to process, I know. I’m thinking of putting together a pamphlet. ‘What to do When a Dryad has the Hots for You.’ What do you think?”
How had Shah lived with herself? Yet if I said no, Lena Greenwood could become far more dangerous than any vampire. “So what
are
you supposed to do?”
She took a deep, slow breath. “I’m not asking you to make a decision, or to commit to anything. Just please think about it.”
I was going to have a hard time thinking about anything else.
Chapter 6
I WAS NO LESS CONFLICTED when we reached the Mackinac Bridge three hours
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