Nico's Cruse (8 page)

She peeked up at Nico who already looked like he was asleep.

“Nico?” she murmured.

“Hmm.” He twitched, telling her he was almost there, which
couldn’t have been more perfect.

She waited a few beats then whispered, “What did she want?”

“Who?”

“The witch, what does she want to break the curse?”

He held her close, moving a bit, trying to get more
comfortable. “I can’t tell you.”

Now or never…
“Sure you can, this is just a dream,
remember? You can tell me anything.”

She didn’t move, didn’t even breathe waiting for his answer.

“A trade,” he responded barely loud enough to be heard.

“Of what?” she whispered back.

“A life for a life, she told me. Someone has to go there in
my place for me to be free.” A light snore a few minutes later told her sleep had
finally claimed him.

For hours she stayed awake, thinking about what he said,
thinking about love and happiness and everything a life should be. Being stuck,
trapped, even in a beautiful home didn’t make it any less of a prison for him.

The first rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon and fear
grabbed her by the throat as Nico slowly…disappeared. It started at his feet
beneath the covers and they flattened out a bit at a time. She jumped when his
arm moved. He laid his palm against her cheek and stared at her, as if trying
to memorize her face.

The rest of his legs went, his stomach, up his chest. Tears
filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She clutched at his hand, holding
it to her. “Don’t go, don’t leave me.”

“I’m sorry,
mi amor
. If only…”

Whatever else he wanted to say disappeared right along with
the rest of him. She closed her eyes and the phantom touch of his thumb
brushing away her tears stayed with her.

She wrapped a pillow over her head and cried. Gasping sobs
the likes of which she’d never heard from her own body filled the room. She
cried until the tears dried up, her eyes left gritty, and her throat raw.

She padded naked to the kitchen to get a glass of water,
then climbed back in bed, exhausted and wanting to sleep.

Hours later when sleep wouldn’t come she sat up in bed,
staring at the laptop.

Her mind was made up but she had no idea how to get the
witch what she wanted.

Miss Priss jumped up on the bed and snuggled in beside her, licking
her arm, as if in condolence.

“I have to save him,” she confided in the only living
creature that would probably believe her.

The kitty purred, staring at her.

“Now I just have to figure out how to get the password from
him, get him to leave up his laptop, sneak over there and make a bargain with a
witch I have no idea how to contact.”

She refocused on the kitty that had fallen asleep some time
during their conversation.

“Great.”

Preparing to leave the only life she’d ever really known
actually didn’t take her very long.

She put all of her important documents, including all of her
contact info, passwords and manuscripts, off onto a USB stick shaped like a
ninja. Her phone she’d take with her as well.

Yeah…that was about it.

Contacting her attorney to handle clearing out her apartment
and finding the kitty a new home would be easy, once she figured out if her
plan would even work.

She didn’t want to drag her clothes or anything else with
her, figuring she could buy what she needed once she got there and have it
shipped.

Questions plagued her while she ate some toast, not tasting
any of it.

Will I age?

Can I still talk to Nico? Text him?

Would the witch even accept me as a replacement for him?
I’m not anything special.

Self-doubt had no place in her mind so every time it tried
to creep in she crumpled it up and chucked it out the proverbial window.

Miss Priss lay in the sun cleaning her face with her paw.
Regret momentarily filled her. “I should have tried harder to find your owner.
I wish I could take you with me.”

The problem? She assumed the laptop would let her through
but it was more a guess on her part. It’s not every day she learned the guy
she’d fallen in love with had been cursed for years and could travel through
his computer screen to see her.

The second problem? How in the holy hell was she going to
get him to fall asleep while she talked with him, especially since he might be
kind of on to her plan if he thought hard enough about it when he woke up? Not
to mention the issue of whether he would give her the password she needed to
get to him?

Third problem? Did mental illness reside in both of their
families and they just needed to have their heads examined? No self-doubt.
Crumple…and…toss
.

She eyed the clock. Half past nine.

She brought up her laptop to the
Crossroads
site,
then picked her cell up.

After rubbing the buttons on her cell a few times, working
up the nerve she finally sent him a text. “
You there? Can we chat?”
The
little rolling circle whirled then the time appeared when the message sent.
Nerves attacked her stomach, since she didn’t know if he could or would answer
her. She mentally kicked herself for not asking more questions the night
before.

His answer appeared almost instantly. “
Yes.”

She decided to try getting the password from him so she had
access. “
Let me connect to you this time. How do I do it?”

His icon lit up on the dating site and he must have pushed
connect because the screen changed and the new password appeared.

“Password?”
appeared on the chat screen.

She made a face in frustration, then gave him the new code.

His face filled her screen when the call connected and she
tried to smile but he looked so sad.

“Did you really think I was going to give you the password,
Rose?”

“I’d hoped you would. I want to help you.”

“I know you do but I’m not willing to destroy your life just
to save mine.”

An idea popped into Rose’s mind. “Have you ever tried going
through while we talked? Like right now. Could you get through?”

Without any hesitation he laid his hand on the screen, flat
so she could see every line and fingerprint up close and personal.

“Many times. It only works if you fall asleep.”

“Have any of the other women tried?” Her eyes bounced up to
his, then back to his palm.

“Well, no. None of them even knew the dreams were real. They
didn’t know I traveled through it to visit them, much less anything about the
curse.”

“So maybe I could get through, maybe it’s how the curse is
supposed to be broken. Maybe I could even come to you right now.”

She reached forward to touch the screen, heart pounding away
in her chest. Her fingers slid across the surface, lining up with his on the
other end of the connection but it wasn’t anything other than just touching a
computer screen. Disappointment settled in her stomach. She shouldn’t have been
frustrated but she couldn’t help it. It couldn’t have been so easy, but she
sure wanted it to be.

She kept her palm on the screen trying to feel something,
willing whoever would listen to let her through. They finally both moved away.

“And before you even think about it, no I’m not going to
fall asleep while I’m on with you. So you can forget about trying that again.
I’ve already told you I can’t get the witch what she wants to break the curse.
This is my mistake and I’m going to deal with it.”

“Well, I’m hoping you will. You can deal with it by
accepting my help.”

“No.”

“Why won’t you even hear me out? How do you even contact the
witch? Is she on your speed dial?”

He considered it and then shook his head. “I don’t have a
clue how to get in touch with her. I thought she’d just appear when I needed
her. Doesn’t matter though. I don’t need to see her.”

“But I could free you. You could have your life back.”

“At what price? Cursing you in the process? Fuck that. This
isn’t some fairytale, Rose, where everything’s going to work out in the end.
There isn’t a happy ending in our future just because it’s what we want. She
said a trade, a life for a life, and I know I told you in my sleep last night.
I can’t believe I fell for that.”

Frustration bled off of him, but she snapped back. “This
isn’t your choice to make, it’s mine. And I’ve already made it. I’ll do this
with or without your help. Make it easy on me, help me, and fall asleep so I
can see if I can get through. We don’t have that many hours left if your time
is up at midnight.”

“I’m not helping you ruin your life. This is not your battle
to fight.”

“I still believe in fairytales. Maybe we could have one,
too.”

“That’s not how it works for me.”

“Have a little faith,” she persisted. “At the very least
choose my profile next year. Tell me the date your week starts and I’ll be the
first profile you see. I’ll wait for you. A week with you each year would be
better than a lifetime with someone else.”

Indecision radiated from him, then resignation marred his
features. “No, Rose. Don’t wait for me. Don’t try to come here. I won’t choose
your profile next year. I can’t have a taste of you and then have to let you go
again and again. It’s too cruel to both of us.”

“Then let me fall asleep tonight, right now. I’ll lie here
and you can come to me one last time.” Tears fell unbidden down her cheeks and
she brushed them away angrily. She didn’t have time for being a weepy girl.

Regret laced his words. “I can’t come to you tonight. I
can’t say goodbye again. I can’t. My heart’s already broken after seeing you
cry when I left this morning. Please forgive me but I just can’t. I have to
go.”

He reached for his mouse to disconnect, but she yelled,
“Answer me one question, Nico. You owe me at least that much.”

He clenched his hand into a fist and nodded once.

“Do you love me?”

He narrowed his eyes at her, and she couldn’t read him at
all. “You already know the answer to your question.”

“No I don’t, or I wouldn’t be asking you. If I already know
it then it won’t hurt to say it out loud. Do you love me?”

“Hopefully this will answer it.” And he was gone, the video
screen announcing his departure. For a few seconds she sat paralyzed, staring
at the empty screen, then she panicked, hitting keys, typing messages to him,
but nothing happened. Nothing changed.

He wouldn’t answer her again, no matter how hard she tried
or what she told him. His mind was made up.

Didn’t he realize love could move mountains?

Didn’t he see he gave up his life for hers? It was no different
than what she was willing to do for his. “Stubborn man,” she cursed.

She hit the button to connect to him, the phone dialing
seemed shrill in the quiet apartment. The password screen with six boxes
appeared, the edges blinking, taunting her since he wouldn’t respond to her
chat messages.

The connection timed out and then his icon went dark. He’d
logged off and her heart sank. If he wasn’t even on the other end she had no
hope of convincing him to give her the password.

She picked up her phone and texted him, “
Please, Sir,
please
.”

Miss Priss jumped up on the table, meowing to be fed. She
petted her and put her down, not needing the distraction. “I’ll feed you in
just a few minutes, pretty kitty. I can’t let him do this.”

Texting him several more times got her exactly zero
response. She left her laptop up and paced around the apartment trying to think
of some way to fix everything.

She wandered into the kitchen and fed the cat, which
continued to meow and wasn’t interested in the food at all. “I’m not certain
what you need then.” She picked her up and carried her around with her to pace,
scratching her ears and beneath her chin.

She set her on the floor in the bathroom and decided to
brush her teeth with the cat making figure eights around her legs, which she’d
never done before.

Absentmindedly, she slipped on a silk nightie, wishing Nico
would come over to see it. She hauled her laptop with her to bed and crawled
under the covers. His icon still showed offline but she tried to connect to him
one more time.

The password screen blinked empty boxes at her again,
blinking, blinking. The clock ticked closer and closer to midnight and she
became frantic, having no idea what to do. She texted several more times but
those went unanswered too.

The cat jumped on the bed, meowing in Rose’s face, rubbing
on the edge of the laptop screen.

“What do you need? I’ve fed you, loved you, petted you. I
just don’t know what you need tonight.” Rose moved to brush her off the bed but
the cat ducked behind the laptop screen.

She peeked her head over the top of the monitor, sitting on
her haunches so she could drape her front paws over the screen along with the
key on her collar. Her meow sounded like a plea as she seemed to beseech Rose
for something.

Light from Rose’s lamp on the nightstand lit up the key as
it danced in front of the laptop screen.

The code on the key was six digits, just like she needed for
the password to access his laptop. “But… That couldn’t work.”

She stared at the cat that held her gaze. She didn’t move,
didn’t make a sound, imploring her, Rose thought, to believe in miracles.

With a shaky hand she steadied the key so she could read the
numbers and she typed them in, one digit at a time.

The connection opened immediately and Rose gasped, covering
her mouth.

She held her breath, her heart pounding away at her ribs and
she tried to make out what was in the dark. Nico shifted in bed and she could
tell he was already asleep in bed.

“How did you…” she started to ask the cat, but she padded
over to the corner of the bed and circled up to go to sleep.

Surprise, fear, and hope swirled inside her as she stared at
Nico in bed.

It didn’t matter how it worked, she decided. She grabbed her
cell and USB stick off of the nightstand, looking around the apartment one more
time.

“Thank you,” she breathed out in a soft voice to the cat, so
she didn’t wake Nico.

She reached toward the screen and her fingers passed right
through. It didn’t feel strange or cold or anything. It was no different than
crawling through a window.

Standing beside his dresser, she looked back at her bedroom,
seeing for the first time what he had seen. Pics of her parents were pinned on
picture boards behind the bed. The pretty pillows she bought the year before
leaned against the headboard. She ordered them wanting to spice up her bedroom
and libido and it led her to Nico. He was what she needed to find herself and
she wanted to return the favor.

That’s what you did for people you loved.

She set her phone and stick next to the keyboard on the
dresser and closed the laptop, breaking the connection. One deep breath and a
couple seconds of feeling sad was all she allowed herself, then the scent of
Nico, rich and all delicious male reached her nose. She slipped off her nightie
and crawled into bed with him, determined to wake him up in a way he’d never
forget.