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

by Lacy Andersen

  The taxi hit a bump and the monkey prince flew into the air. Gideon and I both reached out to catch him, successfully nabbing him before he hit the ground. I placed him back between us, keeping my hand on the pedestal to steady him for the rest of the trip.

  “Why do you work in that kooky museum?” He frowned at the monkey. “I know you went to school. You could do anything. But you work there?”

  I smiled. He wasn’t the first to ask me that question.

  “I don’t know. I guess it just feels like the home I never had. I accepted the position there straight out of college because I was desperate for a job. But now, I don’t know if I ever want to leave.”

  My first day at the museum hadn’t exactly gone smoothly. Angel didn’t like me coming in to order her around, and the museum had been disorganized and dirty. But eventually, Angel warmed up to me and I got to dictate every little detail of the displays. It felt great having control over something in my life for once.

  “I love the stories and the history of all the pieces in my museum,” I continued.

  Gideon watched me, his hazel eyes unblinking.

  “What we have there, it’s special. Even if our collection is kooky and flawed and sometimes dangerous... I love it. And I love every piece. Even Roni. I really do.”

  He nodded and bit his lower lip in thought. For a change, I didn’t feel judged or ridiculed by the question. Gideon seemed truly curious about the museum. I didn’t have to defend myself for wanting to work there.

  “Why did you join the Supernatural Investigations?”

  I would bet anything someone in Gideon’s family was an SI agent. Those kinds of things seemed to span generations.

  He traced a finger along the seam of the driver’s seat. “My dad was an agent.”

  Bingo, I was right.

  “He retired five years ago to travel around the world with my mom. I’ve always wanted to go into the SI, even as a small kid.” He looked at me, a sad smile on his face. “I thought that by joining the SI, I’d get to do a lot of good in this world. Put away the bad guys. Save the beautiful women.” He winked at me, although I could see his heart wasn’t in the humor. “But some days, I regret it.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I chewed on the end of my thumbnail. While I knew what regret felt like, I was glad to say I didn’t feel that way in my choice of career. The museum had been too good to me.

  “I don’t know. It’s cases like these that leave me feeling weak. Like I’m no good at my job.” He looked down again. “We’ve got no leads other than this Theo guy, and no idea where he’s keeping his victims. I have no clue where Nicolo’s hiding or how to get to him. Maybe I should’ve become an architect or an engineer or something other than an agent. Maybe then, I would’ve been able to sleep at night.”

  I couldn’t imagine the weight on Gideon’s shoulders. Every case he worked probably took a piece of him with it. The horrors of being an SI agent were never talked about. Even my mother had her own horror stories that she kept locked inside. Fighting the bad guys came with a cost. In the real world, after a fight, Superman came home with baggage. He’d be scarred and beaten. He didn’t always win. And sometimes. he was broken beyond repair. That was reality.

  Slipping my hand into Gideon’s, I squeezed it and held tight. He returned the squeeze, looking up at me.

  “I’m afraid, Aya,” he said, swallowing hard. “I’m afraid that we’re running out of time.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The stuffed monkey made it to its new home in one piece, despite the bumpy taxi and a ride on the Arcana city rails. I handed the little guy off to Angel as soon as we got back. If anyone could find a prince hidden in there, it was Angel. She squealed with delight when she caught a glimpse of the little brown monkey, practically tearing it from my hands. He was in good company.

  Gideon lingered near the counter, as if I could have a vision at any moment. We’d discussed my visions on the train, hoping that another would materialize. But nothing happened. He’d sent out a message to all the SI’s psychics and other contacts, but so far they had zilch.

  If I knew anything about my brother, he would’ve figured out how to shield himself from psychics and magical objects that could capture him. And he would’ve taught Theo those same tricks. We were screwed.

  The phone at the museum rang. It startled me at first because I wasn’t used to hearing it go off. The only people that called the museum were telemarketers, and very rarely, Mr. Jones himself. A sudden thought struck me on the second ring. Nicky said he’d contact me. So far, my track phone had remained quiet all day. It was probably him asking for the dagger. I didn’t know what I was going to tell him.

  Gideon must’ve had the same thought. He raised his eyebrows at me and then nodded for me to answer it. I picked the black receiver off the counter, slowly raising it to my ear. The hard plastic felt cold against my skin. There was a buzzing in the background that made me think it was a bad connection. Wherever he was calling from, it seemed far away.

  “Hello?”

  The buzzing suddenly got louder, and I pulled the receiver away from my ear in pain. There was a blip on the line, like a man trying to talk, but it was fuzzy. I glanced at Gideon, fear working its way through my veins like a shot of adrenaline. He pursed his lips, listening closely. Finally, the buzzing stopped and I put it back up to my ear.

  “Hello? Who is this?”

  “Hello, I’m calling for Aya Harris.”

  The voice sounded oddly familiar, but it wasn’t Nicky’s.

  “I’m Aya. Who is this?”

  “Ah, Aya, I thought that was you. Has the SI contacted you with any updates on the missing Yonas case?”

  I realized in that instance where I knew the voice from.

  “Ian Welch, I’ve told you not to bother me anymore.”

  Gideon threw his hands up and walked a few steps away, shaking his head. He was probably contemplating whether to shoot Ian Welch or simply throw him in jail for messing with the investigation. Either way, I was game.

  “I just want a comment from you. Anything you can tell me. I know there’s more to this case. Has Agent Ward been in touch with you?”

  “No comment.” I slammed the receiver down.

  All the anxiety that had been rushing through my veins only seconds ago made my knees shake as it fizzled out.

  “He just doesn’t give up,” I said. “When will he get a clue?”

  “I’ve never known a demon who could take a clue.” Gideon shrugged. “He’s already sold his soul to get to the top – he’ll do anything else it takes. I’m not surprised he’s harassing you.”

  Angel came running up to us with her cellphone in hand. Her face was flushed like she’d just run a mile in her Jimmy Choos. She hopped next to me, tucking back a strand of hair behind her ear, and waved for Gideon to come closer.

  “I’ve got a crazy idea to help the case,” she said. “There was a rumor a while back that someone who can perform a locator spell resides in Arcana. I talked to my friends who dabble in magic – it took me all day – but I think I’ve finally got a reliable location for him. He might be able to find this Theo guy for us.”

  I held back the flutter of excitement in my stomach. Locator spells weren’t as easy as they made it look on TV. It took powerful magic to find someone who didn’t want to be found. And as always, powerful magic came with a cost.

  “Where is he?” Gideon’s face came alive with action. He finally had a lead to pursue. “What do we need?”

  “His name’s Limax. He’s set up residence under the old sewage plant on the East end.” Angel grimaced as if she could already catch a whiff of the sewers. “And just so you know, he’s a giant slug demon. It’s not going to be easy getting him to help us.”

  I’d heard of slug demons. They tended to live solitary lives underneath big cities. It was pretty common for them to be involved in illegal trade and black market dealings. The SI liked to keep tabs on most of them, but Limax must
’ve escaped their notice.

  I’d never heard of a slug demon performing magic, but it didn’t surprise me. Demons liked power, no matter what form it came in. Performing magic was just another feather in its cap.

  Gideon sighed, a disappointed frown on his face. “Will he even talk to me?”

  “My friend says Limax has agreed to at least talk to us, but you’re the only SI he’ll allow in his sewers. So, better not involve your hot-headed partner.” Angel hadn’t forgiven Agent Silva for attacking me last night. “But before we go, we need something from our target. A fingernail, a drop of blood, anything physical. We need it to find him.”

  I buried my hands in my hair. It was hopeless. We didn’t even know what Theo looked like, let alone possess a drop of his blood. And I doubted Nicky had anything. Even if he did, there was no way in heaven or hades he’d give it to us. We were stuck.

  “We don’t have anything like that,” Gideon mumbled. The new found hope began to drain from his face. He rubbed the back of his head, eyes glazing over in thought.

  Maybe we were going about this all wrong. Maybe we didn’t need to find Theo after all.

  “Wait, we have another way,” I said. “Is there anything we can use from Michelle or Kit? Anything in their apartment that would work.”

  Gideon’s face lit up. “Yes. When our forensics team did a sweep of the apartment, they found Kit’s baby book. It had a lock of his hair.”

  “That’ll work,” Angel said, a giant smile stretching on her face.

  I looked around the lobby. It was already past closing time and the museum was empty. “I’m coming with you. We can swing by the apartment and then head to the sewage plant.”

  Gideon gave me a warning glance. After all my speeches last night about staying away, he was right to look at me that way.

  “I’m coming with you,” I repeated with a stern look. “Someone has to be around to save your arse.”

  The sky had already morphed into an obsidian black abyss by the time Gideon slid into the driver’s seat of his Sedan, tossing the baby book into my lap.

  “It’s all there,” he said, putting the key in the ignition.

  Angel looked over my shoulder from the back seat, as I opened the book and pulled out the lock of hair. Straight black hair tied together with a tiny blue ribbon. It was hard to shake off the guilty feeling I had for destroying Michelle’s keepsake, but I was sure she’d forgive me if it led to her and Kit’s rescue.

  On the open page, I spotted neat handwriting that curled and looped across the lines. She’d lovingly filled out every bit of the book, marking down the dates for Kit’s first haircut, his first step, his first word. Even the family tree in the front of the book had been painstakingly filled out with generations of Michelle’s family. The father’s side was conspicuously blank.

  We drove past the Arcana shopping centers and into the shadier parts of town. Tiny homes with curled up shingles and paint peeling from their siding lined the streets. A pathetic park with one working swing and a rusty old seesaw was the last thing we passed before pulling into the sewage facility.

  The city had closed the plant down five years ago due to faulty machinery, and a big blow up on the city council about sewage run off getting into the nearby river. A brand new sewage plant on the north western part of town took over the job, leaving those on the east side with fewer job opportunities and a decaying old sewage plant.

  Gideon pulled into the empty lot. We got out and headed toward the giant pipes we spotted at the rear of the building. Angel’s friend had said Limax lived underneath the plant, in the man-sized pipes that were supposed to be empty. I shuddered at the thought of a giant slug slithering under our feet. This was the very edge of town, so the city’s enchantment probably wouldn’t hide his true form. And I wasn’t sure if it even worked down in the sewers.

  The drainage pipes were as tall as me. A small amount of water trickled from their giant mouths, forming a polluted stream that flowed into an overgrown brush. We climbed a stack of rocks to pull ourselves into the pipes.

  I was regretting that I didn’t think to change at my apartment. My skinny black jeans and light pink satin blouse weren’t going to hold up well in the sewers. Already, dirty water and rust from the pipes covered my hands, and we hadn’t even gone two feet.

  “Where’s this slug at?” I wiped my hands on my pants, but the red from the rust still stained my palms. “Do we have a way to contact him?”

  “He’s not too far.” Angel handed me a flashlight. It was the type of flashlight you could get at the dollar store or in a Happy Meal. “My friend said to follow the pipe straight in for a good five minutes.”

  “And you’re sure he’ll meet with me?” Gideon held a much sturdier flashlight in his hands.

  It was probably a standard issue SI flashlight, the kind you could use as a baton if a criminal got out of hand. I considered offering him a trade, but kept my dinky little light instead.

  “Yep. I guess he’s up for it,” Angel said, leading the way.

  Without the illusion of the city’s enchantment, her perfect skin shined even brighter than usual, as if she glowed. Her shoulder length hair shimmered with an unnatural ripple, and her body moved with a grace that was almost alien.

  I’d forgotten that nymphs were captivating without the mirage of the city’s spell. It was no wonder that men and women had fallen madly in love with nymphs over the centuries, and written epic stories about it.

  We followed the instructions and trailed the pipe for several hundred yards. There was a dozen connected pipes that went off in different directions, but we stayed on course. Occasionally in the half dark, we’d catch a glimpse of a scurrying rat, or the tail end of a snake slithering through the pipe.

  “At least they’re not spiders,” I said after we spotted our fourth rat.

  I looked sideways at Gideon in the dim beam of my plastic flashlight. He pursed his lips and kept silent, but I could see the beginning of a slight grin.

  Finally, a light flickered in the pipe ahead of us. We plunged forward and found a wide opening where four pipes intersected. Water flowed nearly up to our ankles. A single hanging LED lantern lit up the space from its wire on the ceiling. Lying underneath the lantern was a bulbous and slick mass. A film of white sticky liquid surrounded the black flesh, reeking of ripe fish. I resisted the urge to plug my nose.

  “What do you want?”

  The rumbling voice echoed in the cavernous pipes. We watched the mound of slick flesh constrict and stretch, contorting until it pushed itself up and faced us.

  Limax had five beady black eyes that glistened in the light of the lantern. His nose was two little holes sitting above a gaping mouth lined with thousands of tiny razor sharp teeth. With one chomp, he could’ve bitten off my arm and had it for lunch. I hid my arms behind me, just in case he got a similar idea.

  “I’m Vanessa’s friend, Angel. She told me you could help us.” Angel stepped forward, the strand of Kit’s hair on her open palm. “We need to find the child this belongs to.”

  Limax leaned back, his rolls of blubber undulating as he moved. “That kind of magic requires a great price. You must pay first.”

  The three of us exchanged glances. We weren’t sure what a demon slug would want in exchange for the spell. Gideon had a wad of cash stuffed in his suit jacket. At the very least, we could try and buy it. As most slugs had a desire for stolen merchandise, we figured cash was a safe bet.

  “What’s the cost?” Angel asked.

  I had to admire my friend, standing in front of me and talking to this slug like it was any day of the week. She handled strange and scary better than the rest. It was probably why she’d worked at the museum with me for so long.

  She was especially good at handling any creeps that occasionally made their way to our museum. I’d excuse myself to do some paperwork, and she’d talk them into joining the Peace Corps or going to law school, or something grand like that. Angel saw the potential in peo
ple. It was one of her charms.

  “What does all magic require?” Limax slid along the floor, revealing a table behind him with a tin bowl and three black candles. A thin silver knife and a handful of bones lay scattered next to the bowl. “It requires life force.”

  I felt the chill of the air work its way through my thin blouse, leaving goosebumps along my newly healed skin. The only way we could give him life force was through the exchange of blood. Maybe he only needed a pinprick, or maybe he needed an entire body’s worth of liquid gold. Either way, the idea made my stomach sink like a rock.

  “How much?” Angel pulled her hair out of her face. “We’re willing to pay.”

  “Just enough.” Limax turned his big head in my direction.

  He hadn’t given us a second look since we’d entered his lair. He swept his five eyes over me and then turned to Gideon. The sight of Gideon’s suit made him pause.

  Angel dropped her flashlight and pulled the sleeve of her cashmere sweater up to her elbow. “I’ll do it.”

  “No,” Limax barked. “He’ll do it.” His unblinking eyes were fixed on Gideon, as if daring him to refuse.

  I got the bad feeling that we weren’t going to get out of here so easily. The slug demon had us just where he wanted. His hatred for the SI was all the fuel he needed to make a meal of each of our corpses. Maybe he’d do us a favor and kill us first.

  “Sure.” Gideon pulled off his jacket and handed it to me.

  The warmth of this body clung to the fabric, so I held it close to my cold chest.

  He unbuttoned the cuff of one sleeve and rolled it up, exposing the tendons and tense muscles of his lower arm. “Now what?”

  “The knife.” Limax turned his head to look at the knife on the table.

  Gideon strode forward with confident steps and grabbed it. He dragged the blade across the flesh of his left arm, opening a cut the length of his hand. The blood began to spill over the wound, dripping onto the floor and mixing in with the muddy sludge. Gideon grabbed the metal bowl and held it beneath the cut.