Medusa's Dagger: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 1) (2 page)

“Angel, could you have a look at this dagger later on? See if it has any magical qualities?”

On top of being an ageless nymph, Angel had studied a bit of witchcraft over the years. Most of her abilities were pretty basic, but they came in handy when I needed an artifact examined.

“Sure thing, boss,” Angel chirped from the other side of the room.

No longer distracted by new toys, I watched the man who saved me return to the fertility charms display. With nimble fingers, he plucked the fertility statue from where I’d dropped it, and set it back where it belonged, perfectly aligned with the charms around it. I couldn’t have done it better myself. Suddenly, he turned in my direction, and I ducked down to restack an already perfectly straight pile of
The City of Arcana Tourist Spots
brochures.

“Ma’am, I was wondering if you could help me.”

I looked up from my obsessive stacking into his eyes rimmed with dark brown lashes.

Without warning, Angel popped up beside me. She had a knack for showing up when the handsome customers came through the door. Leaning forward on the counter, she gave him her best one-hundred-watt smile.

“Of course we can help you. What can we do?”

He cleared his throat and blinked, startled by her sudden appearance. His eyes flicked back and forth between us, as if unsure who to address.

I couldn’t help the sinking feeling in my stomach. Sure, we hadn’t exactly hit it off between my spastic fall and the giant phallus man. But as soon as Angel got in the picture, I was toast.

It’s not that I felt inferior to her. I mean, I could hold my own – especially in a tight little dress and my favorite pair of black leather boots. But there was something about the way she moved and the way she smiled that put men into overdrive. Maybe it was her nymph heritage.

“I’m wondering if you could lead me in the right direction.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out an ID. Emblazoned on the front were the letters SI. Supernatural Investigations.

Immediately, I felt a retching sensation in the back of my throat. I never liked SI agents. I had my family to thank for that involuntary bodily reaction, even if I’d never been in trouble with the law myself.

“I’m looking for Aya Harris,” he continued.

I squinted at him. So much for being the man of my dreams.

Angel gave my shoulder a shove. “That’s her.”

“Ouch.” I rubbed the spot she’d hit.

It was great to know that I could rely on my friends to identify me to law enforcement. If I was ever in trouble, Angel was now officially at the end of the list of people I’d hide out with.

“What do you want?” The question came out harsher than I’d intended.

He frowned and put his ID away. “My name’s Gideon Ward. I’m following up on a tip you left with the SI hotline.”

Now it was my turn to frown. “That hotline’s supposed to be anonymous. How’d you get my information?”

“We tracked the number,” he said with a shrug. “Your information was too important not to follow up.”

I silently cursed myself again. Occasionally, over the years, I’d had visions of crimes. It was the joy of being a harpy. We had killer talons, a gorgeous set of black wings, and brain-splitting visions. I’d usually report the visions on the anonymous SI tip line. It would’ve killed me to just ignore them and do nothing. Up until now, no one had ever tracked me down. I guess no good deed goes unpunished.

“I told you everything I know. I had a vision. A glimpse, really. All I saw was a man dressed in jeans and a black jacket. He broke down a door and threatened some people. The vision was so fuzzy, I couldn’t even see their faces. Really, that’s all.”

That wasn’t all, but I wasn’t going to elaborate. At the end of my vision, a single raven’s feather had floated to the ground. It was a cold blast-from-the-past. Just the thought of that image sent shivers down my back. He couldn’t be here. Not in this city. Of all places, I didn’t think he’d dare come to the city bursting with the very monsters he hated.

Gideon eyed me suspiciously. He pursed his lips and tilted his head to one side.

“She’s just trying to help.” Angel grabbed my arm and pulled me closer. “Aya’s a harpy. They have visions of violent crimes. Catching bad guys is practically in her blood.”

She didn’t see the look of fury I sent her. My supernatural abilities were none of his business.

“A harpy?” Gideon’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t harpies usually in Chicago? What brings you so far from home?”

The last thing I needed was some SI agent digging into my past, and reminding my family of my existence. I’d managed to be practically invisible for the past six years. Didn’t draw attention to myself. Stayed miles away from Chicago. I’d even let myself think no one was coming after me. That I was safe. But Gideon’s presence reminded me that I’d never be safe.

“Didn’t like the weather,” I replied. “Too windy. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

I left him standing at the counter. The front display still needed to be reorganized, and there was a stack of paperwork in my office calling my name.

“Wait, I have some more questions.” He followed me to the administration hall, pausing only to grimace at a porcelain doll displayed in a glass box in the middle of the lobby. “It’ll only take a minute.”

A small crowd of people walked through the door at that moment. Angel jumped behind the counter, selling our new guests tickets at seven bucks a pop. Most of the people we got in here were of the ignorant human variety. They couldn’t appreciate the irony of a supernatural museum in the middle of a city that hid supernatural creatures – to them, our exhibits were all fake, like a carnival freak show. My kind didn’t have much of a taste for their own history and lore, even though supernatural creatures have been around for as long as the Earth has existed.

We crawled out of the primordial soup, along with the organisms that would eventually become our human cousins. For centuries, monsters and creatures didn’t hide behind enchantments or in the dark. They’d proudly walked the Earth. Many of the ancient myths were based on our kind. But after Greek times, we went into hiding. It’s not surprising. Humankind has a nasty little habit of destroying what they don’t understand. It was easier to remain hidden than face impending extinction at human hands.

I could still feel Gideon’s eyes on the back of my head. It took all my strength to stop, turn, and face him. Maybe if I answered his questions, he’d leave me alone. There’d be no digging into my past. No more questions about Chicago.

He pulled a notebook out of his suit pants pocket. “A harpy, huh?”

Glancing up at me, he ran his eyes over my body. I shifted my weight and crossed my arms awkwardly.

“Aren’t you supposed to be super ugly and half bird?” he asked.

With a disgusted sigh, I threw my hands into the air. “Really? That’s your question?”

A tiny voice inside my head rejoiced that he didn’t think I was ugly. I wanted to squash it.

“Oh…uh, no,” he said, licking his finger and flipping through the pages of his book.

As he skimmed his notes, I watched him for signs of the glimmer. To catch a glimpse of a supernatural creature’s true form, you’d have to wait for a slight glimmer or disruption in the air. It only lasted a second, but that was usually long enough to figure out if someone was human or not.

I couldn’t spot a glimmer around Gideon. He had to be some sort of spirit or creature. The SI would never allow a human in their ranks.

Supernatural Investigations had been formed in the seventies. It was based on a court system almost identical to that of the Federal system, except we had a few more laws to govern our kind and our special abilities. Mostly, it protected the humans from become walking blood bags for the vampires, or unwilling hosts for demons.

“When did you have this vision?” Gideon asked. He pulled out a golf pencil and waited for my answer.

“I had it four days ago.” I rolled my eyes at him. “This was all this in the
anonymous
message I left.”

He ignored my attitude and scribbled on his paper. “Tell me about the people in your vision.”

“I couldn’t see their faces. I think there were four victims. It was all blurry. But the man used some sort of spell or charm to freeze them. That was all I saw before it went dark.”

Even now, I still had a slight headache leftover from that vision. It throbbed between my eyes. I’d had a few bad visions over the years, but nothing as powerful as that one. By the time it was over, I was left crawling on my hands and knees, barely able to see.

“I need you to be more specific.” Gideon looked up at me. “I need more details.”

“I told you, everything was blurry,” I snapped. “I didn’t see much.”

“I don’t believe you.” He flipped his notebook shut. “I think you know more than you’re saying. You have to know more.”

I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to drive my harpy talons into his perfectly shaped chest. “I’m telling you, that’s it. That’s all folks. The end.”

“No, I don’t think so.” His voice was frustratingly calm. “I think you know because I think you’re the one that did it. You took that family.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. First I was a liar, and now I’m a kidnapper? That escalated quickly. “Family? What family?”

“The Yonas family.”

That name sounded familiar. It took me a moment to search through my mental files, but soon I remembered why. One of the bronze plated mailboxes in my apartment building had the name Yonas taped to it. An older man of about sixty would often check it at the same time I picked up my own mail. He didn’t say much, but he seemed nice.

“The Yonas family that lives in my apartment building?” I asked. “In Kenneth Manor?”

“Yep, that one,” Gideon replied. “They were reported missing this morning. No one’s heard from them in three days.” He leaned forward as if to whisper in my ear. “And I think you had something to do with it, Aya Harris.”
 

Chapter Two

I jumped back like I’d been stung by a bee. Gideon was serious about these accusations. As if I could ever kidnap anyone – the girl who wouldn’t even drive five miles over the speed limit. It was ridiculous.

He studied my reaction. If what he saw convinced him of my innocence, he gave no indication. Instead, his eyes remained narrowed and his jaw tense.

“I didn’t do it. I told you.” I ran my hand through my long blonde hair and tugged on the ends of it. “Like Angel said, I was just trying to help. Seriously.”

His eyes narrowed even more before he pursed his lips and nodded. “Okay. Say I believe you. But why would someone want to kidnap this family?”

That was a great question. Most of the people in my building were supernatural creatures. The landlord was a troll – literally – and he catered more to the supernatural variety. The Yonas family had lived there longer than I have. And no one in that building had much money. It was doubtful they were being held for ransom.

“I don’t know. I think they’re Elementals. Wait… yes… they’re sylphs. Air spirits. They’re completely harmless.”

Elementals are spirits or creatures that come from nature – earth, water, air, and fire. Most of them had low to average magical powers, and simply tried to blend in with the humans. The Yonas family could probably control the wind in small ways. Enough to create a healthy breeze but not enough to cause a strong storm gale.

“Hmmm.” He snapped his notebook open again and scribbled on the page.

I leaned forward, casually trying to catch a glimpse of what he was writing. But he tilted his notebook up, hiding the page from me.

A family of four meandered their way toward us, viewing each exhibit with mild interest.

“Mommy, what’s supposed to be in there?” the little girl squeaked.

“I think it’s supposed to be a doll,” the mother answered.

That caught my immediate attention. I looked over to see the mother pressing her face close to the inscription on the case.

“She must be somewhere else. Or maybe it’s tea time for the dolls.”

The little girl giggled and hugged her Cabbage Patch doll tight in her arms. Her family moved on to the next exhibit, a set of silver bowls enchanted to poison anyone stupid enough to eat from them.

I cursed inwardly. Roni was gone again. That doll would be the end of me and this museum. I’d gotten that very same feeling the day Mr. Jones brought her here from New Hampshire.

“Will you excuse me, I have to take care of this,” I told Gideon.

After a moment’s hesitation, he nodded and stepped aside. “I’ll wait up front. I have a few more questions for you.”

“Can’t wait,” I sniped back. “Angel! Can you come help me?”

She glided toward me from the front counter. “Well, have you hit it off with Mr. Sexy Investigator? When is he taking you out?”

I let out a disgusted sigh. “Uh, no, not any time soon. Unless it’s taking me to jail, under arrest. He thinks I had something to do with the kidnapping of a family from my building.”

“What? That’s crazy.” She tapped the front of her teeth with her long manicured nail as she often did when lost in thought.

I waved my hand in front of her face until she smiled and came out of it.

“Well, then, I guess that means he’s up for grabs.”

Cocking my head to the side, I gave her my best eye roll. “You’re going to date the man that might arrest one of your best friends for kidnapping? That’s great.”

“Well, if I waited around for Mr. Right, I’d never have a date.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Angel certainly wasn’t lacking in dates. She scheduled them for every other night of the week, a new guy almost every time.

Angel was one of those free-love type of people. She adored men. But, she was never going to settle down. That wasn’t her. Instead, she felt determined to date as many men as she could find. In her words, love was infinite. She believed that you could fall in love hundreds of times during a lifetime and never run out of it. I had to admit that sometimes I was jealous of her casual attitude towards the whole romance thing.