Medusa's Dagger: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 1) (18 page)

Agent Silva had returned to her impeccable style of a crisp white blouse and straight legged black pants. Her slicked back ponytail and clean face hid any signs of weariness.

I stood outside Michelle’s hospital room as her IV for fluids was being hooked up. She looked rough, but doctors had already told me she’d be okay. With a few day’s rest and some stitches, she could be back to normal.

Except, normal didn’t exist for Michelle anymore. Her family had been harvested by a madman. There was no way to bounce back from that. And we didn’t know if her son was still alive. For all I knew, we left him to burn in that warehouse. The idea made me want to vomit.

Instead, I focused on Gideon as he approached. His eyes were busy scanning every part of me, as if I’d break into a million pieces at any instant. From the tension in his jaw and the tight line of his mouth, I could tell he was angry.

But at who, I couldn’t say. Chasing Theo across Arcana’s city streets hadn’t been my brightest idea. In the span of two days, I’d already had three near-death experiences. He had every right to give me another lecture.

“I’ll look in on the victim,” Agent Silva said. She breezed past me and went into Michelle’s room.

I was surprised she didn’t try to chew me out again – blame me for getting her victim nearly burnt to a crisp. It was all for the better, though, because I still had some serious pent up rage ready to throw into her face. Hospital or not, I was ready for a showdown.  

Gideon barely nodded at her and stepped in close, pressing against me. He cupped the side of my face with his hand and ran his thumb along my jawline. The intensity in his eyes scared me. They bore into mine, making me feel as if I were naked in the middle of a shopping mall. His fingers trailed down to my neck, tracing the bruises that Theo had left. My skin burned under his touch, while at the same time a shiver ran through my back.

“You’re hurt.” Gideon’s hand lingered on my neck, his touch soft.

“It’s not that bad.” I couldn’t turn away. My feet were glued to the waxed tile floor. “Better than getting barbequed for the second day in a row.”

“From what I hear, you almost got spit roasted.”

“Yeah. Giant fireball. Burning warehouse. Just another day for me.”

A sideways grin softened his face. “You’re a recipe for disaster, Ms. Harris.”

My knees shook, as if they were turning into jelly. I put my hand on the wall behind me to steady myself. “Someone’s got to do the heavy lifting around here.”  

A nurse came flying down the hall with a cart of bandages and gauze. Gideon blinked and stepped away from me – the spell was broken. He rubbed the back of his head, the determined frown back in place.

“We didn’t get to the high rise in time,” he said. “Theo was already gone. He must have a spell that allowed him to know if anyone was tracking him. There was no other way he could’ve known we were on to him.”

I’d never heard of such a spell, but I wouldn’t put it above someone like my brother to find one and teach Theo how to use it. All of this was Nicky’s fault. If only he could’ve left the past behind him like I did. Learned to grow up despite the lack of parental guidance.

But he seemed stuck and determined to live the life that I’d abandoned. Hunting monsters, exacting justice. That was harpy business. But, he wouldn’t have been welcomed into the HQ, and mother didn’t have the time of day for him. It must’ve been harder for him than I knew.

“Theo came to the museum. He was asking about the dagger. He knows we have it.”

Gideon’s frown grew deeper. “Is that why he attacked you?”

I opened my mouth and snapped it closed. In hindsight, running after a serial killer seemed like an even worse idea than it did at the time. I didn’t want to say it aloud.

Gideon saw my hesitation and cocked his head at me. “You chased him, didn’t you?”

I smirked and shrugged my shoulders. Obviously, I couldn’t help my suicidal tendencies. But at least I’d found Michelle before it was too late.

“He tried to choke me at one point, that’s how I got these bruises,” – I pointed to my neck – “and then he ran into an old warehouse. That’s where he had Michelle tied up. He threw a fireball at us, but we got out just before the whole building burnt up like a dried old Christmas tree.”

He let out a low groan between his clenched teeth and shook his head. “I think the lesson here is that I shouldn’t let you out of my sight.”

“I guess not,” I said.

Having Gideon around to babysit me wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Yesterday was kind of fun. If we didn’t have two madmen to worry about, I might really enjoy his company.

Agent Silva poked her head out the door. She deliberately avoided looking at any part of me. “Gideon, she’s awake and ready to talk to us.”

He followed her into the hospital room. I lingered in the doorway, unsure whether I was welcome. But, no one said anything.

Michelle looked like a small child in the bed. White and red cords ran from her body to various machines in the room. An IV with a clear bag of liquid dripped at her side. A set of stark white sheets covered her legs, tucked under her bandaged arms. Her complexion was already a lot better, although I could tell she’d been crying only minutes ago.

“Where’s my son? Did you find him?” Michelle pushed herself up from the bed. “Was he in the warehouse?”

Gideon gave her a sympathetic smile. “The firemen are still looking, but so far, there’s no indication that your son was in that warehouse, ma’am.”

Michelle leaned back on the bed. The look of relief didn’t last long on her face. “If he isn’t dead, then that monster still has him.”

“That’s what we suspect,” Agent Silva interjected. “I have all our best psychics on the case. They’re hoping for a break soon.”

“I don’t understand.” Michelle folded her hands on top of the blanket. The IV had been taped to her left hand. “Why haven’t the psychics found him already? I thought they could find anyone. Last year, they found that baby-eating witch hiding in the Rocky Mountains.”

The search for that old woman had been all over the supernatural news in late November. I remembered watching it over a Thanksgiving weekend alone in my apartment. After three babies went missing from a hospital in New York, the SI realized they had a Baba Yaga on the loose in the US. Baba Yagas came from Ukraine and surrounding countries. Creatures like her weren’t allowed into the country unless under strict observation. Somehow, she’d slipped under the radar.

The manhunt ended when SI psychics found the Baba Yaga hiding out in a cave in the mountains. As far as I knew, she was still lingering in Mastix, the SI’s mysterious underground prison, awaiting her trial. Not many creatures that went into Mastix came out.

“This Gorgon’s been trained to avoid getting caught,” Agent Silva said.

For the first time, she snuck a glance at me. It didn’t last long, but the way she narrowed her eyes told me she blamed me for Nicky’s involvement. As if I had a part in his crazy act.

“They’re doing the best they can,” she added.

“But I need my little boy back.” Tears began to spill onto Michelle’s cheeks. “He starts kindergarten next year. He’s so excited.”

It took everything I had not to rush to her side and pull her into a hug. But instead, I gripped the doorframe. Agent Silva awkwardly patted Michelle’s shoulder, giving her what I’m sure she thought was a comforting smile.

Michelle buried her face in her hands and choked on her sobs. They gave her a minute to cry, waiting until she’d blown her nose on a tissue before proceeding.

“Ms. Yonas, can you tell me what you saw?” Gideon asked. He grabbed a hard plastic orange chair from its position against the wall, and sat next to her bed. “I need everything we can get to find Kit.”

“I didn’t see much.” Michelle hiccupped and covered her mouth with a new tissue. “He kept us in dark rooms mostly. I didn’t even know for sure my parents were dead until I got to the hospital. He’d only take us one at a time.” Tears rimmed her eyes, but she dabbed them away.

“What about the bleeding? How did he do that?” Gideon had his notepad out. He was scribbling on it before she even answered.

“He tied me to a table. Cut my arms on both sides.” She held up her arms for emphasis and pointed to the bandages. “And then let the blood drip into cups. After he drew those symbols on my stomach, he dipped an amulet into the blood and then said a spell. That’s all I saw.”

Agent Silva’s head snapped up from her own notebook. “Do you remember the spell?”

“No. It was in a weird language. I didn’t recognize it.”

Most of the spell books I’d seen Angel carrying around were written in Latin or ancient languages from extinguished cultures. It wasn’t surprising that Theo’s spell to steal powers was in one of those languages.

“Is there anything else you can remember that might help us?” Gideon looked up from his notepad. “Anything at all?”

Michelle pursed her lips and then closed her eyes. For a moment, I thought she’d fallen asleep. But they snapped wide open again.

“He had a key,” she said. “It fell out of his pocket when he was tying me to the table. He didn’t think I saw it, but I did. He had a key.”

“What kind of key?” Gideon asked. He leaned forward in the plastic chair, lifting the back legs off the ground.

“A hotel room key. One of those card keys. I clean rooms part time at the Holiday Inn, so I recognized it right away.” Michelle bounced up and down in the bed. “It was green with white writing. I’m not sure what hotel it belongs to, but I know I saw it.”

“That’s great, Ms. Yonas.” Agent Silva patted her on the shoulder again. “We’ll look into it right away. Now, get some rest. We’ll update you as soon as we have something.”

I moved out of the way for Gideon and Agent Silva to leave the room. They closed the door behind them and walked across the hall into the empty sitting room.

A TV hanging on the wall was turned to the local news station. The weather man stood in front of a map of Arcana, predicting rain for next week. Usually, I’d be happy about a little rain in the forecast. Rainy days meant people tended to stay indoors, and that meant more business for the museum. But now, it just made me grumpy.

“We’ve got to get working on that hotel key,” Gideon said to Agent Silva. “Let’s put out an alert to all local police and start contacting hotels.”

“I’m on it.” Agent Silva sucked in her cheeks and flipped through her notebook. “You know we don’t have much time left. There’s no way he’s leaving town with that boy in tow.”

“I know.” Gideon reached for the tie that wasn’t there, so he unbuttoned the top of his shirt instead. “It’d be too hard to travel with a kid and everyone on alert.”

I’d known since the beginning that the Yonas family was in danger, but even still, I had the tiniest hope that Theo wouldn’t kill an innocent little boy. That hope was dying a slow death.

“And now, we bring you footage from the warehouse that burnt down in downtown Arcana this afternoon.”

The newscaster’s voice caught my attention. I grabbed the remote from the top of a stack of People magazines and turned up the volume.

“We’re live with Ian Welch downtown. Ian?”

My stomach fell as Ian appeared on the screen, two fingers on his earpiece and his other hand holding a mic. After a slight delay, he smiled into the camera and stepped aside to reveal the pile of ash and rubble behind him.

“Sandra, I’m standing in front of what used to be Ulright’s warehouse on 89
^th
and Philips. The warehouse is completely gone, reduced to a pile of ashes. Firemen are still on the scene and sifting through the rubble to find the cause of the fire.”

The camera zoomed in on a fireman in his gear, stepping over some broken boards.

“At this point, they suspect arson, but there’s been no confirmation of that theory. KYZA has obtained exclusive footage that was taken during the fire – two young women narrowly escaping this inferno with their lives.”

My heart jumped into my throat. A clip of me carrying Michelle out of the building played on the screen. The film was shaky and fuzzy. If I had to guess, it was probably taken across the street by someone on their cell phone.

Arcana’s enchantment hid my wings from the video, but my long blond hair was clearly visible. The camera zoomed in on us. The quality was too low to make out many features on my face. Still, it was more attention than I needed.

Ian Welch popped back on the screen, his hair tussled by a light breeze. “We are still working on confirming the identities of the females in this footage, but police are on the scene and we will alert the public if there are any new developments. Sandra, back to you.”

I was surprised Ian Welch didn’t rat me out on live television. I supposed he had to make sure it was me in that video first, before he risked his career. We could expect Ian to show up at the hospital any minute now with his camera crew. If I knew anything about demons, it was that they never gave up the hunt.

“Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame,” Agent Silva said behind me, “while you can.”

I’ve had about enough of her attitude.

“You don’t know anything. I don’t want fifteen minutes of fame. I don’t want any fame. Just leave me alone.”

Storming away, I left Agent Silva with a sour expression on her face. She didn’t understand me or the past that I’d left behind. I certainly didn’t want attention for saving anyone.

My feet carried me to Michelle’s doorway. She’d fallen asleep, her cheek resting on the pillow, and a soft snore on her breath. I couldn’t imagine what her dreams held for her, but at the moment, she looked peaceful. Maybe the doctors had given her something to help.

“I’m sorry about Rita,” Gideon whispered, stepping in the doorway beside me. “She can be a bit harsh, but she’s a good partner. Always has my back.”

I wondered if there wasn’t something more between them, especially after last night and the way Agent Silva had rushed to Gideon’s side. But, I didn’t feel right asking him. It was none of my business.

“My family can’t find out I’m here.” I looked at him over my shoulder. “I don’t know what’ll happen if the HQ finds me, but it won’t be good. They’ll punish me for not going after Nicky.”