Medusa's Dagger: A New Adult Urban Fantasy (Aya Harris Collection Book 1) (21 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The warm sun streamed across my face, glowing red and orange through my closed eyelids. I opened one eye and then the other. Above me was a white popcorn ceiling and fluorescent lights that remained dark.

This wasn’t my bedroom. In my room, I had a fake mahogany ceiling lamp and a lilac wallpaper border around the top of the walls. In the mornings, I could usually smell Johnny’s expensive coffee from South America, which he only took black. Here, the air smelled like antiseptic and bleach.

I sat straight up. Someone had stripped away my work clothes and folded them neatly on a chair next to the bed. They’d stuffed me into a thin hospital gown that’d been washed a hundred times and was seeing the last of its days. A dozen cords were stuck to my body, while a machine next to me dinged to the beat of my heart.

The last thing I remembered was Nicky touching my forehead. I’d tried to stop him from leaving – tried to get him to turn himself in. It was something that I’d failed to do years ago after he murdered Mrs. Beckett. But, I was stronger now and less afraid. I could finally stand up to him.

Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I yanked off the cords and the sticky little pads that held them on my chest. The eerie sound of the heartbeat monitor flat lining buzzed, while I pulled my pants on under the hospital gown, and shoved my feet into my boots which lay underneath the chair.

A nurse came running into the room, her face flushed. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall. I towered above her. She rushed to turn off the assortment of beeping machines, while I pulled my shirt on and discarded the hospital gown.

“You have to lie back down, Ms. Harris,” she said. “You’ve been seriously hurt. We don’t know the extent of your injuries.”

“I feel great.” I stretched my arms high above my head. It felt like I’d just gotten up from a ten-hour sleep. “I don’t think I need to be here anymore.”

“I wish you’d change your mind.” The nurse put her hands on her hips and frowned. “You really should wait for the doctor to release you.”

I had the feeling her business-like tone worked on a lot of her patients, but not on me.

“I feel fine. Where’s the boy they brought in with me today? Is he okay?”

“First of all,” —she raised her index finger— “you were brought in yesterday. So don’t start skipping around. Take it easy. Secondly, the boy’s down the hall in another room.”

I gaped at her. No wonder I felt so rested. I’d been unconscious in the hospital for almost twenty-four hours. Nicky must’ve really taken it out of me with his little magic trick. But none of that mattered now. If Kit was down the hall, that meant he was still alive. I had to see him with my own two eyes to believe it.

Stepping toward the door, I went to leave, but the nurse mimicked my step and blocked the way. The flush in her cheeks had spread to her neck and under the edge of her bright pink scrubs. There was a slight flicker in the air and the nurse’s skin turned into a moldy green. A bulbous nose sat in the middle of her face under black eyes.

I should’ve known she was a troll. My landlord was just as short and bossy. I stretched to my entire height of five feet six inches and looked down my nose at her. She could tell I wasn’t giving up. With a sigh, she moved aside and let me pass.

About five rooms down the hall, I spotted Kit through a glass window. I skidded to a halt and nearly pressed my nose to the glass. He lay stretched out on a hospital bed, a similar gown tied around his tiny body. His mother lay next to him. She had a Dr. Seuss book in her hands, and was reading aloud to him.

I watched as Kit laughed and pointed at the drawings, his face rosy again with life. A bandage around his arm was the only reminder of yesterday’s events. Other than that, he looked perfectly healthy.

Sighing, I pressed my back to the wall, relief washing over me. When I saw Nicky holding Medusa’s dagger over that little boy, I was sure he’d killed him. He would’ve done anything to stop Theo – to get revenge.

The thrill of Kit’s giggles was like music to my ears. For all the bad things Nicky’s done over the last seven years, at least I could say he didn’t kill that little boy. He must’ve bled him just enough to get a taste of his powers to stop Theo.

My brother was still out there, hunting down creatures he thought were evil. For all I knew, I’d signed my death warrant by trying to stop him from leaving. But, I didn’t regret it.

All these years I’d been in hiding, it felt like I was to blame for Nicky’s madness. As if I could’ve stopped him and his killing spree before it even happened. But, I was beginning to realize that wasn’t true.

Nicky would travel down his own path. And I would travel mine. Maybe someday, he’d come after me. Until that day, at least I could say that I’d stood up to him and tried to put an end to it.

“Aya!”

I heard Gideon call my name and looked up. He was strutting down the hallway, a newspaper in hand, and his freshly pressed suit jacket buttoned up. Compared to the last time I saw him, it was a world of difference.

Worry no longer clouded his face. The deep lines in his forehead were gone. Instead, a carefree boyish smile lit up his face.

“I knew you’d pull through,” he said. “Whatever your brother did to you, I knew you’d wake up.”

“Yeah, I’m tougher than I look.” I smiled at him.

The little green flecks in his eyes were almost brighter today. If was as if everything looked clearer since we saved Kit.

“Listen… I know we didn’t part on good terms yesterday in that elevator.” He shuffled his feet and grimaced. “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. You can definitely hold your own. I’ve seen that.”

“It’s okay. Really.”

Watching Gideon apologize was one of the most uncomfortable things I’d ever seen. 

“I needed to tell you I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to get hurt again.”

I turned my head away. “And yet, the first thing I did was run after you to the hotel and get myself hurt… again. I think you’re right to worry about me. I’m a recipe for disaster.”

He chuckled, drawing my gaze back to his face. I liked the way he laughed. It felt carefree – like the way I assumed he used to laugh when he was a boy.

He caught my eyes and gave me a cocky grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll save you every time you feel the urge to run after a madman.”

“Now, wait a minute. I seem to remember saving you at least once.” I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, true.” He raised his arms in self-defense. “We’ll save each other. How about that?”

Satisfied, I nodded and lowered my arms. As much as we liked to joke about it, I hoped I’d never have a repeat of the previous week. Chasing after criminals was hard work. I didn’t know how Gideon kept it up day after day.

“How’s your partner?” I asked.

The last I’d seen of Agent Silva, she’d been lying unconscious in the hotel bathroom.

“She’s fine.” He waved his hand through the air. “It took her less than an hour to get back on her feet. But, she was pretty angry when she found out you helped take down Theo. I’d stay clear of her for at least a year. Or two.”

I grimaced. I’d already gotten a small taste of the wrath of Agent Silva. It’d be best to avoid a rematch.

“That reminds me, I’ve got something I have to show you.”

Gideon unfolded the newspaper in his hands and flattened it out. On the front page was a giant picture of me lying on an ambulance stretcher, my face ghostly white.

“Ian Welch, in all his glory, snapped this picture of you when they were wheeling you into the ambulance. Your face is splashed across every major newscast and paper across the country – supernatural or not. They’re saying a terrorist set off a bomb in the hotel. It was big news.”

I groaned and smacked my forehead with the palm of my head. If the HQ didn’t know where I was before, they certainly did now. One of the harpies in Chicago was bound to recognize me from the papers in their local grocery store. It was only a matter of time before they tracked me down.

“I’m going to help you,” Gideon said, stepping closer. He cupped my face with the palm of his hand and stroked his thumb along my bottom lip. “We’ll get through this – together.”

I closed my eyes and let the warmth of his hand sink into my skin. Compared to Theo and Nicky, the HQ was a whole different ballgame. They had networks of resources and centuries of training to back them up. It was like two little ants trying to take on the elephant threatening to squash them.

“Okay,” I said, against my better judgment. “Together.”

Someone bumped into me from behind, sending me sailing into Gideon’s shoulder. I righted myself and turned around to help whoever had failed to see me standing there.

“I’m sorry miss, I didn’t see you…”

Trevor and I made eye contact and instantly we both turned bright red. A pair of dark blue scrubs hugged his shapely torso, while a stethoscope hung from his neck. He looked almost as good in scrubs as he had in a suit on our blind date. I hadn’t thought of contacting him since Gideon so rudely yanked me out of the restaurant. Trevor probably thought I’d cut out and ran from our date.

“Trevor!” My nervous energy made my voice tremble. “It’s so good to see you again.”

He mumbled something and shook his head, looking wildly around the hall at anything but me. The poor guy deserved an explanation, if nothing else. Nobody deserved to be ghosted like that. It was the least I could do.

“Hey listen, about our date the other night…” I searched for the words that might make him feel better. “I didn’t mean to leave you hanging. I got yanked out on some business.”

Gideon cleared his throat behind me, trying to hide a laugh.

I smiled at Trevor and stepped nonchalantly backwards, pressing my heel on Gideon’s toe. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. No hard feelings?”

“Um… yeah.” Trevor pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and scanned the screen. “I’ve got to go. They need me in surgery. See you around.”

Without looking at me, he made a U-turn and sped down the hallway. The signs tacked on the walls said the surgery was in the opposite direction, but I was pretty sure it didn’t matter to someone running away from the girl who stood him up. Oh well. Trevor was a big boy. He’d find love someday.

“I guess he won’t be calling for a second date,” Gideon said in my ear.

I spun around and smacked him playfully on the shoulder. “No thanks to you. What am I going to do now?”

He gave me a cocky smile that tugged at my heart. “I think I have a good idea.”

His lips were on mine before I had a chance to come up with a smart-alecky response. They pressed hungrily against me as my body responded in kind. The taste of cinnamon candy filled my mouth with a spicy heat.

I melted into his arms and pressed my chest against his, relishing the feel of his quickening heartbeat. This was so much better than what I’d imagined. Every part of me lit up with electric energy, tingling where his skin touched mine. Sighing, he wound his hands in my messy hair and paused to catch his breath.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for days,” he whispered.

I stared at his mouth, mesmerized by the shape of his lips. Reaching up to my tiptoes, I brushed my lips softly across his, pausing in the corner to kiss him.

The sounds of whoops and hollers behind us broke up the kissing session. Angel, Steven, and Johnny had just landed on the hallway, standing in the middle with a dozen Get Well balloons and three vases full of multi-colored lilies. They pumped their fists and whistled, telling us to get a room.

“And here comes the embarrassing best friends,” I mumbled with a smile.

Gideon squeezed my hand, but didn’t let go. I was intensely aware of my hand in his, and the nervous energy burning like a red hot coal in my stomach. Whatever this was, it felt right. I’d been so intent on hiding in Arcana from my past, that I’d forgotten how to put myself out there. Life’s adventure didn’t come without a bit of risk.

We could worry about the HQ and my unhinged brother tomorrow. Tonight, we’d celebrate our victory.

~

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Athena’s Jewel

The second book in the Aya Harris Collection