The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set

by N. S. Wikarski

  “Disgusting but effective. At the very least, he’ll be forced to let go. While he’s seeing stars, you can try another move. Give me your arm.”

  She balled her hand up into a fist.

  “No,” he corrected, gently unrolling her fingers. “Punching somebody with a clenched fist is a good way to sprain your wrist.”

  “It is?”

  “Yeah, it is, if you haven’t been trained to throw a punch. This way is better.” He bent her arm at the elbow and held her hand up at a right angle, then folded her fingers under her thumb.

  “Dude, you just made a fist,” she commented in puzzlement.

  “But the way you use it is different. You don’t punch forward; you use your arm like a hammer.” He wrapped his fingers over hers, keeping her hand compressed into a fist, and then flexed her forearm downward in a karate chop move.

  “Oh, that’s kind of neat.” Cassie was impressed.

  “And fairly effective too if you can bring your arm down on a guy’s neck or face.”

  Cassie was about to practice on the security coordinator’s shoulder blade, but he blocked her arm.

  “Not yet, princess. You’ll get plenty of opportunity to pummel me black and blue in a few minutes. I want to show you a few more things first.”

  “OK, OK.” She put her arms down.

  Do you know what the strongest point on your body is?”

  She raised an eyebrow. “My sarcastic tongue?”

  He bent her arm up and tapped her elbow. “This. If you’re ever in a position to jab somebody in the eye or the neck or the spleen with your elbow, do it.”

  “Huh.” Cassie looked down at her arm with newfound respect. “Who’d a thunk it?”

  Without warning, Erik threw his forearm across her neck and pulled her to his chest. “You remember this one, don’t you?” he whispered in her ear.

  The move took her by surprise. Her heart was racing but not just with alarm. She commanded her pulse to slow down before she spoke. “I remember it a little too well. First Leroy and then the Turk.”

  “Well, here’s what you might have done. Roll your head down and turn it to the side.”

  “What’s the point of that?”

  “Just in case he’s trying to cut off your air supply. You could faint. Makes it easier for him to drag you away.”

  The pythia did as he instructed, blocking his efforts to squeeze her windpipe.

  “Now, you could try to hook his ankle with your foot to pull him off balance, or you could do exactly what you did to—”

  Before he could finish the sentence, she gleefully raised her leg and stomped as hard as possible on Erik’s instep.

  “Oww, oww, oww!” He crumpled to the floor in pain. “This is only a training exercise!”

  She looked down at him impassively. “You were going to tell me to do exactly what I did to the Turk. I was just following instructions.”

  “Next time, I’ll remember to tell you to pretend,” he replied, rubbing his injured foot.

  She gave him a few moments to recover and then extended a hand to help him up. “Are we ready to practice now?” she asked sweetly.

  He took her extended hand and jumped to his feet. “Oh, yeah!”

  They went at it for nearly half an hour with Cassie trying all the techniques she’d learned. At first, Erik blocked her easily, but by the end of the session, the pythia began to anticipate his defenses and worked around them. They both ended up bruised and winded before Erik finally called a time out.

  Dropping down onto a mat, Cassie grabbed a water bottle. She handed one to the security coordinator.

  “Pretty good for a rookie,” he admitted.

  They sat cross-legged, facing each other. Cassie untwisted the bottle cap and took a long drink.

  Erik gave her an appraising look. “Seriously, Cass, you don’t need a lot of coaching. You’re a natural at this stuff.”

  “Really?” she asked in surprise. “You’re not just saying that?”

  He shook his head. “No, I mean it. Most chicks hesitate, especially if they’re small, because they think they aren’t strong enough to defend themselves, but not you.” He paused. “You’ve got fast reflexes and killer instincts.”

  “I guess I should take that as a compliment,” she said guardedly.

  “You should. I meant it to be. You’ve got a lot of anger churning around inside, and you really make it work for you.”

  She flinched self-consciously. “Channeling my inner rage. Gee, who knew it would come in handy.”

  “Look, I didn’t mean to—”

  “No, it’s OK. You need to understand where it all comes from. What it was like for me growing up. For starters, I was mad as hell at Sybil for dragging me around the country with no explanations and no warning. Every year a new school. When you’re the new kid, your defenses are naturally up because everybody wants to bully you if they can. I had just one rule. Never let them see you weak because if that happens, you’re finished. You might as well be a gazelle with a broken leg surrounded by a pack of slavering hyenas.”

  “What kind of scary ass high school did you go to?” Erik asked in disbelief.

  “Every kind there was, dude,” the pythia sighed. “Never fitting in. Always being treated like an outcast. I couldn’t help but develop quite a chip on my shoulder.”

  “But you’re not an outcast here,” the security coordinator corrected quietly. “You’re one of us now. You earned your place in the Arkana. I know because I was there to see you do it.”

  She gave him a grateful smile. “Yeah, I get that. I feel like I belong, but old habits die hard. Letting down my guard still doesn’t come easy. Even when I know I’m among friends.” Cassie laughed in wonder. “What do you know? I have friends. That’s entirely new.”

  He gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Yeah, you do. But since this is supposed to be a self-defense session, it’s OK for you to keep your guard up sometimes—especially when you’re surrounded by the Nephilim.”

  She nodded. “Good advice. I believe I’ll take it.” She gave him a searching look. “And as long as I’m in full disclosure mode, I might as well tell you that I really do think you’re good at your job. The best, in fact. The only reason I had the guts to con those Turkish thieves was because I knew you had my back, no matter what.”

  He seemed delighted at her approval and gave her an open smile. One of the few she remembered ever seeing on his face. “And I meant what I said in Turkey,” he replied. “You were worth saving. Always will be.”

  Their eyes locked for just a few seconds too long.

  Cassie blushed and stood up hastily, not quite ready to admit where their friendship might be heading. Instead, she asked eagerly, “So when do I get to shoot a gun?”

  Erik sunk his face into his hands in mock misery and groaned.

  Chapter 6 – Wifely Demotion

  Daniel sloped back toward his quarters in the compound, shaken by his conversation with Hannah. In his heart of hearts, he had known all along what her plans were. Why else would he have consented to meet her secretly and teach her everything he knew about the world of the Fallen? He just never expected her to act so soon. Of course, it hadn’t been her decision to act at all, had it? Like everything else that happened in the world of the Blessed Nephilim, it was the will of his father that drove events. Hannah’s pregnancy was his father’s doing. She never wanted to marry him in the first place. Didn’t Daniel have an obligation to help her escape if he could? He knew it was the right thing to do but if they were caught the consequences would be dire.

  Gossip swirled around the compound about what happened to people who crossed the diviner. Wives who proved unruly were secretly shipped off to some asylum before their outspokenness became an embarrassment. There they were sedated into a state of quiet catatonia for the rest of their miserable lives. Incorrigible boys were banished from the community—“damned to hell” as the diviner
put it. Daniel thought sardonically that if his father believed the Fallen Lands were hell, he was sadly mistaken. He was doing them a favor by casting them out. Adult males who incurred the displeasure of Abraham often found their wives reassigned and their children as well. Some men even disappeared altogether.

  But what of young girls who defied the laws of the Nephilim? Daniel could never remember such an instance occurring. Perhaps because thirteen-year-old girls weren’t given a chance to think about their predicament before they were bundled into marriages with much older men. Once pregnant, their days were full until the children were all grown. After that, some of them became angry or eccentric. The talk among the women was that the change of life had scrambled their sister-wives’ brains. To Daniel, it seemed the change of life gave them a brief glimpse of their true plight. Who could remain placid after such a revelation as that?

  Of course, his father wasn’t the originator of any of the punishments meted out to the rebellious. These had all been set down by Jedediah Proctor over two hundred years ago. Abraham Metcalf was merely following in the footsteps of diviners past. Daniel wondered at what point tradition first became a convenient justification for evil. He gasped inwardly. There, he’d said it. The ways of the Blessed Nephilim were evil. Why hadn’t God struck him dead for his blasphemy? He waited. Nothing happened. Still, he cringed at his own disloyalty. He’d spent just enough time in the outer world to question the customs of his people, but not enough time to lose his superstitious dread of damnation. Perhaps God was devising a worse punishment for him—to continue the relic quest—to see more innocent lives destroyed through his actions. That was surely worse than a quick death by lightning bolt.

  His thoughts drifted back to Hannah. What was he going to do? Still grappling with this problem, he opened the door to his chamber only to be greeted by an unexpected sight. His third wife, Annabeth, sat waiting for him. She sprang out of her chair and hurled herself at him.

  “How could you!” she beat at his chest with her frail fists.

  Daniel felt completely taken aback. He had never seen Annabeth angry—weak, tearful, hesitant. Until this moment he never saw rage glittering in her pale, watery eyes. It was almost incandescent. She trembled with the force of it.

  “Annabeth?” he asked uncertainly. “What is the matter with you?”

  “The matter with me? The matter with me?” she practically screamed.

  He disentangled himself from her flailing arms and hastily shut the door. Then he advanced to the middle of the bedroom where she stood.

  “Shhh!” he cautioned. “People will hear.”

  “I don’t care who hears me,” she hissed. “I know what you’re doing!”

  “What I’m—” He cut himself off. It wasn’t possible. How could she know? Instead, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

  She stood her ground—her face almost touching his. “I’ve been watching the two of you for weeks now. Sneaking about. Meeting secretly when you thought nobody was looking. I was looking, Daniel. Looking and finding proof that my husband is an adulterer!”

  “A what?” He almost laughed in relief. “Annabeth, it isn’t what you think.”

  She was still quivering with rage. “What else could it possibly be? Explain it to me! You already have three wives that you never see. Three children you hardly ever ask about. That’s more than some men have. Yet you turn your back on us for a girl who isn’t your lawful wife anymore.”

  He noticed that the handkerchief in her hand was nearly shredded to rags. She must have been waiting for him a long time, working herself up to a feverish pitch.

  She continued. “You have set her above us. Me and my sister-wives have been cast beneath the foot of this girl you had no use for just a few months ago. You only want her now because she’s forbidden fruit. I won’t lose my place, Daniel! I’ll tell you that much! I won’t have your father accusing me of being a bad wife because I’ve borne only a single child. It isn’t my fault. Nobody believes me, but it isn’t my fault. It’s your fault! All yours! Who knows if the child Hannah is carrying even belongs to the diviner.”

  That last accusation knocked the breath out of him. If his father were ever to hear such a rumor, Daniel would be finished. Hannah too. He tried to soothe his wife. “Annabeth, please calm down and let me explain.” He took her by the hand and coaxed her to sit on the bed beside him.

  She followed grudgingly. Her brief explosion of temper had spent itself and been replaced by sullen silence.

  “I have no carnal interest in Hannah whatsoever.”

  Annabeth peered into his face, trying to detect whether he was lying or not.

  At least, he had the advantage there. He was telling the absolute truth, and it showed in his expression.

  “You don’t?” she asked uncertainly. Her natural tendency to doubt herself began to reemerge.

  “Of course not. I’ve merely been teaching her.”

  Annabeth’s face cleared a bit. “You have?” She seemed to want to believe him.

  “Yes, she asked the diviner if she might learn Hebrew, so she could read scripture in its original language. As you know, I’m considered a scholar of ancient tongues.”

  “Yes, you are,” Annabeth agreed in a much calmer voice. “I was always proud to be the wife of such a learned man.”

  He forced himself to give a plausible smile. “It’s no secret that the diviner can deny Hannah nothing, but he feared what the congregation might say. As a general rule, women are discouraged from higher learning.”

  “The diviner says Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden because it was woman’s weakness to be tempted by the tree of knowledge,” Annabeth agreed sententiously.

  Daniel could feel her resolve weakening and pursued his advantage. “So how would it look if his own wife was seen studying scripture in Hebrew?”

  “Oh,” Annabeth said. “I never thought of that.”

  Daniel took her hands in his and squeezed them lightly. “We’ve had to be very secretive about her lessons. Promise you won’t tell. It could cause all sorts of problems for my father and for Hannah if you do.”

  “Oh, I won’t, Daniel, I promise.” Annabeth had settled into her usual gullible state. It allowed her to remain happily ignorant of most of what went on around her.

  The scion thought about her wavering temperament. Her doubts might easily surface again unless he did something drastic to reassure her. He put his arm around her shoulder and suffered her to rest her head against his shoulder. He stroked her hair. “Poor Annabeth. I’m sorry I caused you so much distress.”

  “It’s all right,” she sniffled into her ragged handkerchief.

  They sat quietly for a few moments. Hannah had been right. She was out of time. Now Daniel was out of time too. He racked his brain for a solution. It appeared, but the idea didn’t please him at all. He knew what Annabeth wanted more than anything else in the world. The thought of what he must do next disgusted him but it was the only way to quiet her suspicions for good. He tilted her face to look up toward his. “I know we talked about having another child.”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “It was so long ago I thought you had forgotten.”

  “I didn’t forget,” he said. “Perhaps we should start making one now.” He tipped her head up further and kissed her on the mouth.

  She responded eagerly. Too eagerly. Almost ravenously.

  Daniel considered once more the possible punishments God might mete out to him for his blasphemy. What was about to transpire would be far more unpleasant than a quick death by lightning bolt.

  Chapter 7 – All Up in the Air

  Cassie climbed the spiral staircase to the bell tower, nicknamed the “chimney” ever since Maddie had claimed it for a smoking lounge. Wafting away clouds of smoke, the pythia advanced toward the operations director. “You should seriously think about getting a better ventilation system up here.” She coughed.

  Maddie glanced up. “Griffin�
��s on it, but he hasn’t had a lot of down time lately to deal with my little issues. Sorry about the air quality.”

  Cassie took a seat next to her on the couch. “So, what’s up that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?”

  The frizzy-haired Amazon smiled mysteriously. “It’s something you need to see. C’mon.” She ground out her cigarette in an ashtray, grabbed a set of keys off the coffee table, and led the way out.

  As they traveled down the hall to the elevator, Maddie asked, “Has Erik been keeping you busy?”

  Cassie rubbed a large bruise on her hip. “Busy and sore,” she replied. “He’s been very... thorough.”

  The older woman laughed. “His forearms were black and blue when he got to work this morning. I’d say you gave as good as you got.”

  The pythia giggled. “I suppose I did.”

  They took the elevator to the lower level which housed the Central Catalog of all the Arkana’s finds around the world. Instead of turning left toward her office, Maddie led Cassie down a dark, narrow hallway to the right.

  “I’ve never been in this part of the vault before,” the pythia remarked. “What’s back here?”

  “You’ll see,” was her companion’s cryptic response.

  They turned a corner and stopped in front of a door that bore the title “pythia.”

  “What’s this?” Cassie asked.

  Maddie fitted one of the keys from her ring into the lock. “It’s your office,” she replied.

  “My what?”

  “Office. Where did you think Sybil did her work?”

  Cassie frowned. “I never thought about it. I figured she was on the road so much that there wasn’t any reason for her to have a space at HQ.”

  Maddie swung the door open and flipped a switch on the wall.

  Cassie’s jaw dropped. “Wow!” she exclaimed.

  The walls seemed to be moving, or rather, water seemed to be flowing down the walls. There was light coming from behind the water. A soft, luminous glow.