Chapter 14

She opened her eyes and peered at the full moon shining overhead. A warm breeze caressed her face as she lay in the cool grass in the moonlight. She was back in the garden at the palace. Turning her head, she saw Lei sitting beside her in the grass. His dark eyes were shadowed as he watched her.

"You made friends," he stated simply.

"Yes, I decided to quit surviving and start living," she said, sitting up. In the dream world, all her injuries were gone, and she could move around without pain.

"You've made enemies also."

She nodded. "I want to make my life matter." She paused, trying to put into words what she was feeling.

"I save someone once a month, but I have no control over that. I want to have control over my life as much as this curse allows, so I want to help people voluntarily. Does that sound crazy?"

"No, Little Bee," he smiled. "It sounds like you are finally growing up."

She laughed, "it only took me 700 years!"

He nodded sagely, "Everyone does things in their own time and their own way."

They sat in comfortable silence and listened to the sounds of the garden at night around them.

Lei was the first to break the silence. "You need to take down the shrine."

Nyah looked at him in alarm. "No!" she said forcefully. "I love you and I need you! I will always love you! I won't take it down. I won't forget you." Her voice trailed off into a whisper.

"You think you won't remember me or love me if you take down the shrine?" he simply asked.

She didn't have an answer, so she huffed and crossed her arms across her chest like a petulant child.

"It has you locked in the past. In order to let go of the past, you need to let it go. Let me go," he gently told her. "Letting me go doesn't mean you don't love me. It doesn't mean you forget about me."

Tears rolled down her face dripping on her hands. She couldn't take his probing gaze, so she looked down at her lap. She didn't want to agree with what he was telling her, but she knew in her heart that it was true.

"Little Bee, listen to me. You need to build a life that makes you happy. When was the last time you were happy, truly happy? Search your heart and you will know the truth of what I am saying," he echoed her thoughts.

She nodded miserably, tears freely flowing. Then he was beside her, pulling her into his embrace. She clung to him and wept until she was drained, then she just allowed him to hold her. She breathed in his familiar scent, still fresh in her mind after all the centuries that separated them.

Finally, he pushed her away, tipping her head up to look into her eyes, "You need to wake up now. Your new life is waiting for you," he said with a smile.

She smiled up at him, "I will always love you."

"I know. But you need to make room in your heart for others now. Wake up."

She stretched up and placed a chaste kiss on his lips as the dream faded.

She blinked her eyes at the sunlight streaming in the window. Her clock on the table read 1:35 pm. She briefly wondered what day it was and how close it was to the next new moon. A soft snore interrupted her musing and a smile came to her face at the sight of Matt slumped in as chair that had been drug into her room and positioned at the foot of bed. He looked entirely uncomfortable stretched out in the chair with his head leaned back at an awkward angle against its back.

Her smile faded as she took in the dark circles under his eyes and the drawn look on his face despite being relaxed in sleep. He looked like he hadn't slept well for days. She wondered if someone had been with her constantly since she was brought here by Daredevil. From the way Matt looked, they had. She felt a twinge of guilt.

She sat up to make her way to the bathroom again. When the sheet dropped away, she realized she was wearing just a pair of panties and tee shirt that did nothing to cover her. But Matt was blind, so he couldn't see anything that was exposed, so she threw the sheet back, stood and made her way slowly to the bathroom, trying to keep a hand on a piece of furniture or a wall along the way for support.

When she was finished, she pulled the tee shirt over her head and discarded it on the bathroom floor. Out in her room, she opened her closet and selected a simple slip dress made from silk and pulled it on. Smoothing it over her hips, she turned back to the bed and came to an abrupt stop. Matt was sitting up in the chair with an odd look on his face.

Matt hadn't meant to fall asleep, but between trying to find the men that attacked Nyah and helping Foggy and Karen sit with her, he had gotten very little sleep over the last three nights. He had been so out of it, that he never heard her get up, but the flushing of the toilet woke him up. At first, he was alarmed because he wasn't in his apartment, but as he filtered through all the sensory input flooding his brain, he realized he was in her room.

Just then, the door to the bathroom opened and she walked out. She never turned to look at him and he was going to say something to alert her that he was awake but was struck by her state of undress. She wasn't wearing anything buy her panties. He could 'see' the heat that radiated from her skin, the injuries to her ribs, arm, and head warmer than the surrounding skin, but not warm enough to indicate infection.

She turned towards him, catching him gaping.

"Oh, sorry, Matt, I didn't mean to wake you up. I was trying to be quiet," she told him.

He swallowed and replied, "that's okay. I needed to get up anyway." He rolled his head to work any kinks out.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

He stood and stretched. "It doesn't matter." He moved past her to the door. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

She didn't answer immediately, "Hey?"

"I'm sorry," she said again. "What?"

"I asked if you were hungry," he repeated.

"Yeah, I think I could eat an entire cow right now," she smiled.

"Well, I don't have a cow handy, but I can whip up something if you think you can make it downstairs."

This surprised her. "You cook?"

He grinned, "Scared?"

She returned his grin, "maybe."

"Come on, then. Let me dazzle you." He held out his hand to her.

She giggled at that and crossed the room to take his hand with her small, delicate one and allowed him to lead her from the room.

"I can't eat another bite," Nyah announced, pushing the plate away from her to remove the temptation. Her head was still throbbing, but it was bearable right now.

"Are you sure? I think I hear a cow out on the street?" he teased her.

She giggled again. Really? Since when did she giggle?

The meal had been good even if it was simple: seared salmon, green beans, and a salad. She had eaten two helpings and still wanted another. Matt had once again entertained her by telling her stories about him and Foggy during law school.

His phone rang and he answered, "Hey, Karen. Yeah, she's awake."

He listened for a moment, "no, we've eaten, but I bet she would eat desert if you brought something."

"Oh, no!" Nyah protested and reached over to grab the phone from him. He deftly moved out of her reach and stood up. How did he do that?

"Yeah, she said something about eating a cow, so that will be fine," he smiled into the phone.

"Matt!" she cried getting up, "stop it! Give me that phone!" She made another attempt to grab it, but he just put a hand in the middle of her chest and help her off. His hand was warm on her bare skin above the vee of the top of the dress and she leaned into it.

"Ok," he said with that same odd look he had earlier, "see you guys in in a bit. We're at my place. Then he hung up and tossed the phone on the table beside them.

They just stood there as if frozen, then he quickly withdrew his hand, causing her to stumble forward a step. He moved forward to catch her and they ended up chest to chest. Well, her chest to his midsection, since she was so much shorter than him. He reached up and tucked a tendril of her hair behind her ear and cupped her head with his hand. She leaned her head into its warmth, closing her eyes. He drew her towards him, and she allowed it rising up on her toes a bit. But then he adjusted his grip and his fingers grazed the knot on her head and pain exploded.

She reacted with pure instinct, bringing up her hand and shoving him hard backwards while sweeping his feet out from under him with hers. She jumped back as he hit the floor with a thud.

"Fuck!" she cried, cradling her broken arm, the one she had used to shove him, and her head pounding painfully. She backed up until she was against a wall and slid down it to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees and leaning her head against them.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she almost chanted trying to fight back tears and control her breathing.

There was a slight groan from Matt as he regained his feet. She heard him come over to where she sat on the floor and lower himself to the floor to sit beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly and put a hand gently on her back.

"Not really," she answered truthfully. "I just reacted to the pain without thinking."

"You didn't break me," he told her putting his arm across her shoulders and pulling her into his side. "I'll just have to remember never to piss you off," he joked.

She leaned into him and tucked head under his chin where she could feel his heartbeat under her cheek and smell his clean scent and allowed him to hold her until the others arrived.

"Wow," Foggy said into the silence that followed Nyah telling them what happened at the police station with Maroney and the alley.

"He's not even trying to be subtle," Karen added.

Matt was up and pacing the room with angry energy. He looked like he wanted to hit something.

"He gave me two days to get out of Hell's Kitchen, and it's been three days, so I suppose I can expect some more unpleasantness soon," Nyah told them.

"We are not going to let them do anything to you!" Karen said reaching over and putting a hand on her knee. "Can we get him for false imprisonment or something?"

Foggy ruffled his already messed up hair. "I'm afraid it won't be that easy. He's obviously been doing this for a while, so he will have covered his trail. I doubt any of the camera's in the holding room were one and anyone that knew Nyah was there is probably in on it or won't talk."

Matt spoke up from his position by the window, "No, we are not going to be able to pursue this through legal channels. Not yet. We have to tie Maroney and Williams to the disappearances."

Nyah understood what he was saying. "That means we have to figure out what happened to these women. And I have to stay out of their crosshairs or chance another beatdown or worse."

"We have to find a place for you to stay where they can't find you," Karen insisted.

Nyah blocked out the conversation as it continued around her. She had a plan forming. If they could catch Mrs. Williams in the act of abducting someone and follow her, they would learn a lot more than they already knew. But it could be days or even weeks before another woman was abducted. How could they ensure they were there when it happened? Setting up a 24/7 watch on the director would be a huge drain on their resources; it took everything they had just to sit with her for three days.

How could they guarantee they would be there?

A terrifying idea came to her. It might work. They would hate it, though, and wouldn't let her do it. Hell, she didn't want to do it, but she didn't have much of a choice. Not if she wanted to continue to live her and be with her friends.

She noticed the others had quit talking and looked up to see them staring at her.

"Are you okay?" Karen asked.

Nyah gave her a slight smile, "I'm just tired and my head is hurting again."

Karen got up, "Well, it's getting late anyway, and we have one more day to work this week, so we better be going." She rounded up the guys, said goodbye, and herded them to the door.

Matt was the last one out. He paused at the door and looked back towards where Nyah stood, waiting on them to leave. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he just told her goodnight and shut the door behind him.

Nyah immediately went to her computer and started preparing for the upcoming new moon. She only had three days.