Medusa's Dagger: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 1) (14 page)

Gideon blew out a loud breath and held his ground. “I don’t care what Rita says, we need your help.”

He wasn’t budging, so I turned down the next hall.

He followed close behind. “You’re the only one with visions and a connection with Nicolo Harris. That has to count for something.”

I stopped midstride, shaking my head. “I’ve already stuck my neck out there enough for you, Agent Ward. And now, either my brother will come after me, or the HQ will find out where I am. Neither option leaves me alive at the end of the story.”

“Trust me.” He clenched his hands into fists and then relaxed them. “Trust me,” he said again in a quieter tone. “I can protect you.”

“No, no you can’t.”

A deep and heavy sleepiness came over me at that moment. I turned back to the apartment, ready to sink into my bed, whether Agent Silva had left or not. Gideon didn’t follow. He still stood in the hall, staring at the ragged grey carpet, when I closed the apartment door behind me.

Chapter Eleven

I held up the gnarled claw for all the guests to see. Five of them had gathered around me, eager to see the mummified ashy-colored flesh, with long sharpened fingernails.

“And here, we have the claw of
Der schwarze Mann.
The Schwarze Mann is a creature based in Germany. He gets his name from the black places he likes to hide in. A shadowy forest. A creepy abandoned house. Or in the dark, under a child’s bed.”

A collective shudder went through my audience.

I hid my smile and continued. “The tough thing about hunting the Schwarze Mann is that only children can spot them. Their innocent eyes can pick up the supernatural elements of our world, you see. So, how do you think we got this claw?”

While waiting for someone to guess, I saw Gideon enter the museum. He was back in his suit, tie and all. He spotted me right away and headed to the counter. Angel was there, so they struck up a conversation, glancing at me every so often.

“No guesses?” I returned my attention to the guests. “Well, it so happened that in 1903, a little German girl had one living under her bed. He’d taken up residence there one cold winter’s night. Luckily for her, she had a daddy who was adamant about teaching his eight-year-old how to defend herself. That little girl took her daddy’s shotgun and blasted the Schwarze Mann away with one shot. The whole family came running into her room, worried she’d killed herself, and instead, they found this creature dead under her bed. Quite an amazing story.”

I gently placed the claw back on its stand and moved out of the way for the guests to get a closer look. They crowded around the glass case, gawking at the gruesome token. It was days like this that I really loved my job. The gruesome and enchanting tales behind the objects in this tiny museum each held a place in my heart. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing a single object – not even Roni. I knew each of their stories by heart. They were like weird and violent children to me.

Gideon was leaning up against the counter when I approached him. He had the whole suave look going on. His suit jacket was undone, and his elbows rested behind him on the counter. He’d shaved that morning and the scent of aftershave still lingered in the air around him.

I took a deep breath and leaned against the counter next to him. We hadn’t left on the best of terms. I had no idea how he’d act.

“Morning,” he said. A toothpick dangled between his lips. “I don’t suppose you hate me right now?”

I sighed. As much as I’d tried to hate him last night, I couldn’t. “No. Not yet, anyway.”

A smile pulled at the sides of his mouth. He stepped away from the counter and faced me. “I’m sorry about pushing you last night. It wasn’t fair of me to involve a civilian in my investigation, but I was desperate for a lead.”

Nodding, I turned toward him. “I know. I’m sorry for freaking out. I do care what happens to Michelle and Kit.”

I hadn’t been able to sleep last night after walking away from Gideon. It didn’t seem right to value my own life over Michelle and Kit’s. In some twisted way, I felt responsible for their fate. If I walked away now, I’d never forgive myself.

“I know.” Gideon took the aviators out of his pocket and began rubbing the lenses with the bottom of his jacket. He only succeeded in smudging them more, so he gave up and stashed them back in his pocket.

“Have you made any progress since last night?” I asked. “Any news on this Theo guy?”

“No. As far as we know, he’s never done anything to warrant our attention before now.”

As big as the federal SI system was, I couldn’t believe they didn’t have any idea who this guy was.

“But, don’t you have a list of all the Gorgons living in the States? Couldn’t you track him down that way?” I asked. 

Gideon raised an eyebrow at me. “People frown on supernatural profiling. Requiring species registration is a slippery slope. Hitler tried it in the 1940s. See where that led to?”

I frowned down at my hands. He had a point. Hitler’s genocide had targeted more than just certain religions and nationalities. After the registration was enacted, he’d wiped out thousands of supernatural creatures living peacefully among the Europeans. His obsession with the occult led to sick experimentation on my fellow creatures. Few lived to talk about it after the war.

“What can I do to help?” If the SI had no clue where to go next, I certainly wasn’t going to be of much use, but I’d try. “I haven’t had any more visions.”

“I know,” he said. “My partner’s busy contacting the oracle contacts we have at the SI for any clue on Theo, or our remaining victims. Theo could be anywhere. He could’ve already left the city, for all we know. Until we hear something, I’m stuck twiddling my thumbs. So… I thought I’d tag along with you until you have your next vision,” he added with a shrug.

As nice as it sounded to have my own personal SI babysitter, the museum was still open and I had work to do. My visions didn’t come on command. Gideon would be wasting his time.

“It’s pretty boring around here. I’m not sure you’ll want to stick around. Besides, I’m heading out now to go across town and pick up a new exhibit my boss just bought from an estate.”

“Sounds better than rearranging the fertility statues again.” Gideon gave me a wicked grin as the blood pooled in my cheeks. “I’ll escort you.”

There was no shaking him off, so I grabbed my stuff and we left the museum. He tried to convince me to take his Sedan, but that was stealing half my fun. It wasn’t often I got an excuse to ride the train to the northern part of town.

We walked the block to the nearest train station and bought our tickets. The train was still ten minutes out. A few benches and two food carts stood near the train deck. I settled on one of the benches, my body still tired from last night’s craziness.

“Are you hungry?” Gideon licked his lips while he stared at the food vendor carts.

The cart with a green umbrella served hot dogs and Coke products. The stand next to that had brightly colored polka dots on the cart and served pretzels and popcorn.

“I’ve got a major hotdog craving.”

“Are you kidding me?” I watched the man behind the pretzel stand lick his finger before shoving it into the bag of popcorn he was dishing. “Those places have E.coli written all over them.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Gideon grinned at me before heading to the hotdog stand.

He ordered two dogs with everything on them and a bottle of Coke. Sitting down on the bench next to me, he passed me a dog, ignoring my refusal.

“You know, I’ve never ridden a train before,” he said between giant bites.

I nibbled on the hotdog. It was too good to throw away. I’d risk stomach pains for something so delicious.

“How could you be in the twenty-first century and never ridden a train before?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I just haven’t had the chance. It’s not like we have a ton of trains in Texas. And growing up in Orlando, I guess we just drove everywhere we wanted to go.”

Our train pulled up just as we were finishing our dogs. We hopped on and Gideon got to enjoy his first ride, staring out the window as the business sector of Arcana flashed by. Every once in a while, a glowing symbol on a rooftop or large pavement area would appear. They were the charms that kept Arcana’s supernatural life hidden. Like magical graffiti, their symbols blanketed the city in a continuous veil.

Not that I needed the enchantment to fit in. Harpies were blessed with the ability to look like humans if we chose. People like Gideon wouldn’t have a problem fitting in, either. It was the monsters and half-human creatures, like Johnny, that took advantage of Arcana’s unique setting.

It was three stops until Rowen Park. The estate that Mr. Jones had visited was located in a suburb close to the edge of the city. We had to grab a taxi for the remainder of the journey. A tiny African man with a thick accent picked us up in his yellow cab. He sang along with the show tunes radio station, while Gideon and I exchanged glances in the back seat.

After a stunningly bad rendition of Oklahoma’s
Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’
, the driver dropped us off in an old neighborhood full of homes that would’ve been magnificent mansions once. The paint was peeling from most of the houses and the yards were overgrown, but underneath the dirty layer that had settled on their bones, I could still see a bit of that old world beauty.

“What a dump.” Gideon got out of his side of the cab. “They need to tear down this whole neighborhood.”

I ask the cabbie to wait for us before getting out of my side. As soon as I slammed my door, he dialed the show tunes radio station up a few notches to blare
Defying Gravity
.

I gave him a fake glare and looked up at the house again. “No way, this house just needs some tender loving care. It’s beautiful. You just can’t see it yet.”

“Hmmm…” he raised an eyebrow at me. He didn’t believe me.

“Just wait and check out all the character on the inside. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

We climbed the gigantic wrap-around porch and approached the front door. There was no doorbell, so Gideon knocked on the thick wooden door. As soon as he knocked, something inside crashed to the floor. There was a mad scramble of objects being shifted around, and then the door cracked open a foot.

“Yes?” A tall thin man stuck his nose out the crack at us. His voice was quiet and nasally. “What do you want?”

“Hi. My name is Aya Harris. Mr. Jones sent me to pick up his package.”

The man looked at me, his thin lips twisting into a dissatisfied frown. He blinked twice, then pulled his head back and slammed the door shut. I looked at Gideon, unsure what to do. Mr. Jones had sent me to some strange places in the past, but this was unusual. Most people wanted to get rid of their supernatural items as soon as possible.

“So… what do you do now?” Gideon pulled at his tie and stared at the closed door.

I felt myself chewing on my thumb nail and quickly dropped my hand. “I’m sure it’s just a mistake. I’ll try again.”

I knocked on the door. There was another scuffle inside, then the door opened to the thin man’s face.

“Yes? Who are you?”

“Um… I’m Aya Harris. I just came to get the…” I looked down at the crumbled note in my hand, “the taxidermy monkey. Mr. Jones purchased it from a Mrs. Ethel DeFleur.”

The door slammed shut again, but this time the sound of a chain lock being undone gave me hope. It was swung open and the thin man stepped aside for us to enter.

“Mrs. DeFleur was my mother,” he said. “I am Henry and the proprietor of her will. Follow me.”

He left us standing at the door, the intense smell of moth balls and old women’s perfume wafting out. Just inside the door, were stacks upon stacks of cardboard boxes and old newspapers. There was hardly a place left to walk on.

I widened my eyes at Gideon. This was the kind of place where you’d expect to get kidnapped by some sicko. They wouldn’t find your body until fifty years later, when somebody renovated the house and discovered your dried bones in the wall.

Gideon grinned at me, mischief in his eyes. He shrugged and stepped back. “Ladies first.”

I groaned and then led the way into the house. So much for the benefit of having an armed SI agent escorting me.

We followed Henry deep into the piles of boxes and past the grand old wooden staircase into a dark hallway. Everywhere I looked, there was crown molding and detailed wooden trim. I pointed them out silently to Gideon, taking in the beauty of the home. He just rolled his eyes and laughed at me. We turned the corner of the hallway where I narrowly avoided running into a teetering pile of boxes and causing an avalanche.

Henry led us into a small parlor. There was a dusty and thick blue shag carpet on the floors and matching blue wallpaper with flowers embossed in the surface. Even the chairs and tablecloths were a matching shade of blue.

Tiny tea cups with blue flowers sat on the table with tea still inside them. The lemon bread on a platter next to them had a thin layer of white furry mold. I had the sick feeling Mrs. DeFleur died suddenly, in this very room. It gave me the uncomfortable sensation that we were barging in on someone’s privacy.

“This is the item you procured.” Henry pointed to a small animal in the corner of the room on a shelf.

He stood there, staring at the wall, as I timidly moved forward to inspect the monkey.

It wasn’t much taller than a foot. Standing on an oval wooden pedestal, its tiny black hands were raised above its head, as if it died that way. I hated to say it, but the monkey had been poorly cared for over the years. Its fur was patchy in places and rubbed bare in others. The tiny amber glass eyes gave it an eerie look, like it was watching me. I didn’t want to touch the shriveled thing, but we had to get it back to the museum.

“What’s so supernatural about this thing?”

Gideon’s breath on the back of my neck startled me. I jumped backwards, hitting him with my shoulder. He grabbed both my arms and steadied me while I laughed nervously.

“Supposedly, a prince was transformed into this monkey after he double-crossed a wicked old witch.” I leaned into Gideon, whispering as I did. “He’s supposed to awaken after two hundred years and reclaim his throne. But, I don’t think he’s going to find the modern world to his liking.”