Medusa's Dagger: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 1) (6 page)

Gideon stood up suddenly. “I have to go,” he said. Tucking the notepad in his jean pocket, he stowed the pictures inside his jacket. “I have to look into this. Reach out to my contacts. Call me if you think of anything more.”

He strode to the door, pausing before opening it. I thought he was going to turn around and thank me or something. Maybe apologize again for ruining my night.

“Enjoy your date,” was all he said. And then he was gone.

Chapter Five

Not a moment later, Johnny and Steven breezed through the door to our apartment. In their arms were several brown paper bags worth of groceries, with bunches of greenery hanging over the tops. Johnny spotted me at the kitchen table and raised an eyebrow.

“Who was that just leaving?” He set down the bags and looked at the wine glass Gideon had abandoned. “Did someone have a date that I didn’t know about?”

“No, not a date.” I buried my head back in my hands. The throbbing in my temples had yet to subside. “He’s an SI agent. He thinks I had something to do with the Yonas family disappearing.”

Steven gasped. “But he’s so yummy. Why would he accuse you of that?”

I rolled my eyes at the table. Leave it to Steven to notice Gideon’s distractingly good looks.

“Because I made the mistake of reporting that vision I had last week. Apparently, it was the Yonas family that I saw. And now he thinks I can help him find them.”

I wasn’t quite sure if Gideon was convinced of my innocence yet. He was so guarded, I couldn’t get a good reading on him. Obviously, I was at least a person of suspicion. The way he stared at me told me that much.

“I heard about that down at the courthouse,” Johnny said. He pulled an eggplant from one of the bags and dropped it in the sink. “I guess they’re feeling pretty hopeless about the situation, so it’s no wonder they’re grasping at straws. The SI’s been questioning everyone and their dogs. No leads.”

“Yeah, that’s the impression I’m getting.”

I glanced at the clock. My blind date was supposed to be there in less than forty minutes. Maybe it wasn’t too late to cancel.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Johnny said. He’d been watching me from the kitchen window. “I know that look and you’re not getting out of this date. Angel worked hard to set this up.”

I pushed out my bottom lip at him, but it had no effect. Johnny was tough as nails and twice as sharp. “I have another blind date for tomorrow. Isn’t one enough?”

“No, because if I have to hear you whine one more time about being single, I’m going to drive this corkscrew through my head.” Johnny pursed his lips at me and stepped out from behind the kitchen counter.

The air shimmered around his form, his human legs morphing into the hind legs of a horse. When I first met Johnny, I thought he was a centaur. I made the mistake once of calling him that – it’s a mistake I’ll never make again.

Johnny was a proud Seilenoi. Cousins of the fauns, they had a human upper body, and stood upright on a single pair of horse legs. In ancient Greek times, the Seilenoi were revered as guardians. Johnny certainly fit that mold.

“What’s the point? I’ll never find what you two have.”

I faked a glare at both of them and they smiled at each other. They’d been together for several years, way before I came into the picture. Steven was an elemental of the earth. He looked totally human, but had an innate connection to every organic and living creature. Even stray animals tended to follow him home. I used to joke with Johnny that he was just another stray animal that followed Stephen home.

One random night a while back, I’d asked Johnny why they didn’t get it over with and move in together. Kick me out. But he said their relationship was perfect the way it was – they both kept a little autonomy, and enjoyed the best parts of each other. I didn’t press him. After all, I didn’t want to lose my perfect roommate.

“Get your arse in gear,” Steven said, pointing a knife at me before slicing into the eggplant.

I reluctantly obeyed, dragging myself out of the chair and into my bedroom. If I was going to go on a blind date, I might as well make a little bit of effort. It’d be a great distraction from the horror of today’s events.

I pulled a black dress with a lacy back out of my closet. It was the kind of thing I usually bought on a whim, but never wore. Tonight, would be its maiden voyage. It paired great with my knee high boots and NARS Lip Pencil in Dragon Girl red.

Checking myself out in the full length mirror, I admired the way my muscular thighs peeked out from under the short dress. The tattoo outline of my wings barely showed through the intricate weaving of the lace back. I left my customary silver cross necklace on, which fell just above the neckline. It was a reminder of better times – times when I wasn’t constantly in fear for my life. Topping it off with a dangly pair of silver earrings, the outfit was complete.

My date knocked on the door exactly four minutes after eight o’clock. Not too early – he didn’t want to look desperate. And not late enough to be a jerk.

I opened the door to greet him. He was a relatively good looking man with light brown hair and matching eyes. Dressed up in a casual suit, he stood there with a single yellow rose in his hands.

I took a breath and put on the best smile I could muster under the awkward circumstances. “I’m Aya, but I’m sure you already figured that out. I’m guessing you’re Eddie.”

“Yeah, Angel told me about you. I’ve been looking forward to this date all week.” He held out the rose. “For you. I hope you don’t have allergies.”

I took the flower with a smile and dropped it on the counter behind me. Nothing said
friendship zone
more than a yellow flower, but I didn’t mention it. The idea was nice, and it wasn’t often that men bought me flowers. I couldn’t complain.

“Should we go?” Draping my purse over my shoulder, I shut the apartment door behind me.

Steven and Johnny were snuggled up in front of the TV. It was
Walking Dead
night on AMC. I didn’t want to linger and give them the chance to drop in with some embarrassing questions.

“I picked a restaurant that I like on the other side of town. We can take my Ford.” Eddie smiled shyly at me, revealing his overlapping front teeth.

He escorted me out of the apartment and onto the street. The sky had already turned a deep shade of midnight blue. A few stars dared to twinkle against the streetlights of the city, dotting the sky in random patterns.

I breathed in the cool night air, filling my lungs to capacity with the sweet scent of a fall evening. Soon enough, the city would be inhabited by winter’s chilling breezes and perfect crystalline snowflakes.

The trees on the sides of the streets would be decked out with white lights, and the store fronts decorated in reds and greens. It was my favorite season in Arcana. Supernatural or not, everyone would be in a Christmas mood.

Eddie’s ride was a white Ford Focus parked on the street outside my apartment. He opened the door for me before hopping in the driver’s side, turning down the orchestra music when it began blaring through the speakers. We rode in silence for a good ten minutes, before I couldn’t stand it any longer.

“So, Eddie, what’s a nice guy like you doing in a city like this?” I asked, attempting to break the ice. “Did you move here for a job?”

“I’m an accountant at Sextant Cooperation, but no, I didn’t move here for a job.” He pulled at his collar, swallowing loud enough for me to hear. “Actually, my ex-girlfriend got me to move here. I wanted to stay in Massachusetts, but she got a job here doing interior design work.”

The ex-zone was not where I wanted to go, so I steered the conversation another way. “Oh, do you like working at Sextant? I’ve heard they have great benefits.”

So far, on our short date, we’d discussed jobs, ex-girlfriends, and now benefits. Not exactly stimulating conversation. I tried to think of something interesting to say, fast.

“They’re okay.” Eddie parked his Focus outside
The Tiny Pub
, a restaurant known for its pasta dishes and assortment of beers.

I hadn’t eaten there, but it seemed like a good choice. A large wooden leprechaun in green overalls was stationed outside the door. The silence threatened to come back, so I rushed to find something to say.

“Did you know that during the Troubles conflict in Ireland, over 3,600 people were killed and more than 50,000 injured?” I clenched my jaw closed. Of all the things to talk about, I chose a thirty-year war on the other side of the world? The leprechaun must’ve thrown me off.

“Um… no, I didn’t. That’s interesting,” he mumbled.

Eddie held open the door for me. We slipped inside and were shown to a cozy little booth in the back. A tea candle inside a red jar did nothing to light up the dark wooden nook of our table. I sat down and resisted twiddling my thumbs in the long stretch of awkward quiet.

“Did you study history in college?” Eddie bit his bottom lip and looked up at me. “Or, do you just like Irish history?”

“Yeah, actually, I studied history and minored in anthropology. I’m the curator at the supernatural museum downtown.” I could feel myself lighting up. There was nothing more interesting than the objects in my museum. Now we were really cooking.

“My girlfriend was Irish.” Eddie folded his hands on the table and stared at them. “She always wanted to travel to Ireland, but we couldn’t afford it.”

“That’s no fun.”

I looked around for the waiter. We weren’t even twenty minutes into this date and already his ex-girlfriend had made two appearances. I wasn’t getting a good feeling about this.

“Yeah, I think it’s one of the reasons we broke up.” He began to shred the napkin wrapped around his fork. “Sarah always wanted me to take a job at a bigger company. Make more money. But, I like the guys at Sextant and it takes a long time to really fit into a place.”

Was it too early to ask for the check? I grabbed the glass of ice water the hostess had left for me and gulped half of it down.

“And it’s not like she made much money as an interior designer. Anything she brought home went to expensive clothes and shoes. Who needs a five hundred dollar pair of flip-flops, anyway?”

Eddie locked eyes with me over my emptying glass of water. I choked on an ice cube and sputtered a reply which seemed to satisfy him, because he continued.

“Yeah, relationships are hard. Sometimes I wonder if that Charles Manson guy had the right idea.” He waved his hands in front of his chest. “The commune thing, not the murder thing. You know, a group of people that stick together for life. Teaching each other how to live away from society.”

“I guess you could just go to prison like the Manson Family and find your commune there.” I bit my tongue, but it was too late.

Eddie cocked his head at me, frowning. The waitress showed up just in time to distract him.

My order spilled out of my mouth. “I’ll have the spaghetti, the garlic bread, and a beer. A giant beer.”

Our waitress looked at me over her notebook, and then nodded her head in a knowing way. It probably wasn’t the first date she’d seen go south in
The Little Pub
.

“I’ll have the same, but no beer,” Eddie said.

We handed her our menus and stared at each other’s elbows until my beer came. It frothed over the glass, spilling onto the dark stain of the table top. I greedily sucked it down, relishing the tart taste on the tip of my tongue. The hops filled my belly, leaving a delightful little buzz in my head that almost erased the headache leftover from my vision.

“You sure can drink.” Eddie sipped daintily at his water and returned to shredding his napkin.

I’d barely swallowed a fifth of the glass, but pushed it away.

“So, did you like that latest James Bond film?” Now I was reaching, desperately, for anything to connect on. I hadn’t even seen the film, but it seemed like a safe enough topic.

Eddie’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, it’s great. I love the new guy playing Bond. He’s got that suave attitude really down pat. And I just love the whole Bond franchise. It’s genius.”

Finally, something positive. “Yeah, they’re really great. A lot of action and mystery. That’s what makes a good movie, in my book.”

We chatted more about each Bond film, pausing only to thank the waitress when she brought us our food. It turned out, Eddie had every collector’s edition DVD and various memorabilia from the films. He was a die-hard Bond fan and spent a long time mulling over his choice for the best Bond actor. We were already done with our food by the time he made up his mind.

“I mean, Brosnan did alright. Peter Sellers wasn’t as bad as everyone says. But I think Sean Connery would have to be my favorite.” Eddie flashed a smile at me as we got up to leave.

He’d more than warmed up during our meal, even daring to touch me on the hand once. But somehow, he’d missed my lukewarm smiles and the
not interested
neon sign flashing on my forehead. Talking about movies was great, but the chemistry between us was nil. Story of my life.

I thanked our waitress and she gave me a knowing wink. This was going to be the hardest part. Letting them down easy was never actually easy.

“Would you be interested in coming over to my place? I have
Diamonds are Forever
on Blu-ray.” Eddie’s shy smile returned.

In the moonlight outside the restaurant, I caught a glimpse of his true form. In the glimmer, his head grew bright red feathers and he sprouted the scaly tail of a lizard. In a flash, they were gone, and Eddie’s human form returned.

I should’ve known Angel would set me up with a Cockatrice. She’d thrown every other magical creature at me, so why not try a scaly bird combination? I didn’t like to be prejudiced against my own bird kind, but Cockatrices didn’t exactly turn me on. Eddie was definitely out of luck tonight.

“Oh, ow,” I said, pretending to turn my ankle on a crack in the sidewalk.

Eddie grabbed my hand and kept me from falling to the pavement, leading me over to a curb to rest. I watched a rusted out school bus and black sedan drive by while I moaned in fake agony.

“Did you break it?” He pulled on my boot, intent on examining the injury.