His ruggedly handsome features were a little obscured by his neatly trimmed beard and mustache that had the same traces of grey. But his eyes... ice blue and penetrating, were... I caught myself smiling and staring. I straightened up my posture a bit and fought the smile off my face and forced a more professional demeanor upon myself.
I turned to Henry with a questioning tilt to my head, and he smiled at me as he said, “Doctor Myra O'Connell, I'd like you to meet Mr. Reginald Blaine. A private antiquities collector from London.”
I offered my hand and he caught it between both of his as his eyes locked on mine. I know I was blushing as I felt the warmth of his hands as he shook my hand. I could feel that pressure again, especially where we were touching each other, as it was tugging at us at the point of contact. His voice was strong and commanding with its British accent as he said, “Doctor O'Connell. It is a pleasure. I have been following your work the past few months. On the alternate take on the mythology of Saint George.”
I took a deep breath as he released my hand. I smiled. Someone follows my work? I tried not to sound as flustered as I felt while looking into his eyes and said. “I'll be havin' none of that 'doctor' tom foolery. Myra if you please. I didn't think my work merited any followin' Mr. Blaine.”
He smiled back. “Then please, call me Reggie.” He seemed to be studying every inch of me. Then he said. “Well I find your work especially interesting, given that I am a descendant of Saint George himself. I have collected artifacts and writings with everything that has to do with him over the years. My collection is quite... extensive.” Then he idly picked up a paperweight from Henry's desk and examined it.
Henry chimed in. “Mr. Blaine has asked if the museum would keep him abreast on our research since it looks to be leading into his family history. As I informed him, it is the least we could do and he insisted on meeting the woman responsible for the breakthrough findings these past couple weeks.” He finished with a proud smile. Damn the man, now I'm blushing again.
Without looking Reggie went to sit the paperweight down but accidentally hit the edge of the desk, knocking it out of his hand. I squatted slightly, and my hand shot out to catch it before it hit the ground. Then I blushed and put it on the desk and pushed my unruly hair back out of my face.
Reggie was smiling. “Nice reflexes Myra.” Then he showed pity on my blushing self and continued, “I don't suppose I could see the scrolls and the shard?”
I shook my head before Henry could speak. “I'm sorry Reggie, but that just would'na be possible. We have them only by the grace of our counterparts in Ireland, and it is restricted access. You'll be able to view them behind glass with the public in three weeks when the exhibit opens. Until then, I can keep you in the loop as to our findings as we progress.”
He gave a charming, crooked half smile and bowed his head slightly. “Completely understood. You can't blame a man for trying.”
I couldn't help but smile. He produced a card and wrote something on the back and handed it to me. “This is my card, you can email any findings to my address there. That's my mobile on the back in case you need to contact me while I am in the States.”
I took the card, I don't have the foggiest notion why I felt embarrassed. Henry saved me by saying, “I'm sure you want to get back to your translating Doctor.”
I nodded and turned toward the door gratefully, turning back to say, “It was a pleasure meeting you Reggie.”
He smiled. “Not at all. The pleasure was mine. I look forward to hearing from you Myra.” It was almost seductive the way he said my name. I gave a tiny wave like a wee schoolgirl as I dashed out of the office. I shook my head at myself. “Very smooth there Myra.” Then made my way back down to the scrolls and the secrets they held within.
When I got back into the clean room, Mei kept looking at me. So I finally broke, my Irish temper getting the better of me. “What!?”
Mei just grinned. “Nothing. It's just that you've had that silly grin on your face since you came back from Henry's office.”
She paused, prompting a response. I rolled my eyes and sighed in surrender as my temper ebbed. “Fine, you evil woman. He wanted me to meet a private collector. Reginal Blaine. He's a private collector and wants to be kept abreast of our findings as it pertains to his ancestor, Saint George.”
Mei tilted her head expectantly. “Aaaaand?”
I shrugged at the frustrating woman. “And what?” She just grinned like a tot with a cookie. I surrendered. “Fine you trollop! – He was gorgeous!” I looked around then showed her the back of his card. “He gave me his private mobile number.”
We exchanged huge smiles, and James just shook his head, rolled his eyes, and went back to work. I grabbed his arm and gave it a playful squeeze. “Fine. No more girl talk.” I turned to the scrolls. “Now where were we?”
We spent the rest of the day on the scrolls. The fractured and fragmented picture we were starting to build was not casting Reggie's ancestor in a good light. From whet we could tell, the Drakon were benevolent, at least to the Irish folk. There was something about deceit and betrayal by Saint George. One word kept popping up, caragh, or 'friend' but it didn't make sense in the context of the writings. I stabbed at it again in conjunction with George's name. It was so frustrating!
“Raaaaaagh!” I spouted out and slammed my palm on the counter top. Mei knew my temper by now and waited for me to calm myself back down, but James was suddenly by my side.
He smiled and excitedly said, “Caragh! Why didn't I see it before?”
I looked at him my temper going nowhere and I snapped, “Yes I know! But it is still out of context!”
It was one of the few times I saw his long face almost sparkling in an 'I figured it out' look. I squinted at him, promising doom and destruction if he didn't clarify. He smiled broadly at my implied threat and said smugly, “Caragh... as in a woman's name, not the literal 'friend' definition.”
I looked at him as he was being silly, he was our linguistics expert and the one who, near the beginning of our research, had offered up the 'friend' translation. But then I looked back at the passage I was working on and whispered, “By all that's warm and fuzzy! Dear lord. Twas a woman all along. A... dragon... woman? Caragh was a woman... but then that makes this.” I scrolled through my translations, my eyes growing wider as I looked at every instance of 'her' name. Mei gasped as she realized what I was seeing. I looked at both of them excitedly. “That makes this... a love story. A story of love and betrayal.” Things were clicking throughout the translation with this new revelation. I looked up at the smiling linguist whom I'd never describe as handsome, but I knew Mei saw him as such. I said, “James, you're a genius.” Mei bumped her hip into his leg playfully in congratulations. Did he just blush? Those two would make a fine match.
I just said quietly to myself as I reviewed my texts, updating 'her' name with a capital C. “Caragh... Caragh.” The name resonated with me for some reason. I found myself smiling as we went back to work on the translations, my earlier outburst from before a distant memory.
At some point in the night, Mei noticed it was almost eight, dear lord we did it again. I quickly emailed the researchers in Dublin our startling findings today and also forwarded a copy to Reggie. I felt bad that this was starting to look like his ancestor was the villain in this piece, but we still only had about twenty percent of the story, so it is best not to jump to any conclusions.
We had security walk us to our cars, and we said our goodbyes. As I drove to “my” alley, I thought about how good it was going to be to have an apartment. The grant money should be deposited in the next two days.
The light patter on the roof told me the forecasted rain had started. I was excited about the day's events. I pulled up my work on my tablet. I had to go back over so much now. I looked up, I needed coffee, there was a 7-11 just across the street from the alley entrance. With Caragh, Saint George, and Reggie on my mind, I hopped out of Maggie and hurried through the light rain to fetch my coffee.
I paused for a moment when I thought I caught a shadow of movement out of the corner of my eye. I continued on when I couldn't see anything. I'm just a little jumpy because I need my coffee.
Chapter 4 – Mugging!
On my way back to Mags, bent over my extra large cup of coffee and a danish to shield them from the rain, I thought I heard something behind me as I walked into the alley, and this time I know I saw movement. I looked around, but didn't see anything, so I continued on my way, albeit at a little faster pace.
My heart was racing when I heard a bottle clink and roll in the alleyway. I felt like I blinked but I never shut my eyes and the world was suddenly bathed in purple, and red light I could see clear as day in the dark alley. All of the sounds around me were amplified, the stench of the alley was overwhelming. I could hear my own breathing, my own heart, the rain hitting the rooftops and the alleyway and someone else breathing. I looked in the direction it was coming from and I saw him as well, hiding by a dumpster. “Who's there?” I called out.
He knew he was made and stepped out. He had something in his hand as he started walking toward me. He was a large man dressed all in black with a heavy black hoodie and a black face mask from some sort of sport no doubt. Even from here, I could smell a spicy fragrance that was somehow familiar to me. I dropped my coffee and danish and ran toward Maggie. I can tell you that I had never been so terrified in my entire life.
I was moving twice as fast as I ever had and it felt effortless, but the man still reached me before I could get into Maggie. He grabbed my arm, and I don't know what came over me, I thought for sure I was going to die, but I spun on him and struck out with my hand to try to knock him away. I must have been hallucinating, it looked as though my hand was engulfed in flames and it looked like a claw formed of those same flames. I struck the man in the chest with such great force that he went flying back and tumbling along the ground. The flames were gone in an instant making me wonder if I had just imagined it with all the adrenaline pumping through my veins.
He was up in an instant and charging, I now saw it was a large knife in one of his hands. He attacked with a flurry of blows and slashing motions. Now mind you, I have never been in a fight in my entire life, even though I got my Ma's temper. But somehow I was dodging and deflecting almost every blow. The ones that did come slamming into me felt muted somehow. I'm a tiny slip of a lass and this large bloke was barely hurting me.
It felt almost as if I were dancing as I spun and dodged away from his onslaught. On some sort of instinct, I dropped and kicked his legs out from under him. Then I ran past him and down the alley, fumbling with my cell phone as I tried to get to the 7-11.
I made it to the street before I heard someone rapidly approaching me from behind. I screamed, hoping to draw attention. I saw the clerk in the store look out the window as the knife struck me in the side. I felt the power of the blow as it knocked me to the ground but not the tearing sensation of the blade I would have expected. There was a crack, and the searing pain from my side that told me I had a cracked rib. I was sobbing in fear as the man rolled me to my back and he was raising the knife again with both hands over his head for the killing blow when the clerk ran out yelling, “Hey! Don't do it! I called the police! Let her go!” I could hear police sirens in the distance approaching.
My assailant paused and looked at the man, that was all I needed. I struck out with all my fear and anger and knocked him to the ground, causing him to skid backward almost ten feet, colliding solidly with the curb with a thud and a crack. He was instantly on his feet, holding his left arm and he ran down the street, disappearing between two buildings as the police arrived.
The clerk was now crouched beside me. “Hey lady, are you OK?” I was just staring at my side, where the knife had struck, not believing my eyes as I watched as what looked like gold tipped red serpent scales on my side fading back to the appearance of normal skin. I was in shock, that must be it. I blinked without closing my eyes again, and everything dimmed as the night returned along with my normal eyesight.
I looked at the young man, his concern was etched on his face and he kept glancing at my side. He had seen it too! I shook my head and tried to sit up, but the pain in my side from the cracked rib made me gasp. “I'm fine. Thank you for coming to me rescue.”
He smiled back at me as the first police cruiser arrived. The officers were instantly out of their vehicles with their weapons drawn. They yelled at the young man to move away from me and get down on the ground face down and place his hands on his head.
I was waving both hands in a warding off motion. “No, it wasn't him. He chased the mugger off ya know!” They still apprehended him and told me not to get up when they saw me favoring my side where my blouse was torn. They called for an ambulance. One fit Hispanic looking officer kneeled on the ground beside me holding his jacket above me to shield me from the rain. He gave me a reassuring smile, I'm sure I still looked terrified. “You're okay now miss.”
I looked back at the other officer who was talking to the clerk beside the doors of the store, the poor lad's hands were cuffed behind his back. I looked at the man above me with pleading eyes. “By God's own truth, I be tellin' ya that boy helped me.”
He looked at me and nodded. “I know miss. We have to follow protocol, just doing our jobs.” And I saw the other officer uncuffing the young man as two other cruisers arrived. My officer had me give a description of my attacker.
I pointed to where the assailant went. “He ran that way and between those two buildings.” He nodded and told the arriving officers, and they all fanned out, searching the area as he asked me a few general questions.
A minute later the ambulance arrived. They checked me on the ground to make sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong besides the bruise developing on my side and the apparent cracked rib. They allowed me to walk on my own to get into the ambulance. My officer looked at me with a charming smile. “We'll have an officer meet you at the hospital to take your statement. We have the area covered, he won't get away, don't worry about that Miss.”
I smiled back nervously. I was shaky, coming down from the adrenaline high. “Myra.”
“Myra.” He repeated and nodded as they shut the ambulance doors.
Now that everything had slowed down I started taking ragged breaths as the tears started coming. When we arrived at the hospital they walked me slowly over to a couple medical types waiting with a wheelchair. They had me sit as the medics relayed my condition to them as I was wheeled to an examination room.
A nurse asked if there were anyone they could call for me. I wasn't sure, Ma and Da were half a country away. I shrugged and gave her Henry's contact information.
By the time the doctor was done examining me, and they x-rayed my ribs, wrapped my chest and cleared me to go after the police spoke with me. Henry, Mei, and James were there with worried looks on their faces. Henry asked half in humor, half in concern, “You're not planning on making trips to the hospital a habit while you are with us are you Myra?”
Mei pushed him aside giving him a reproving look and turned to me, grabbing my hand. “Are you ok Myra?”
I chuckled a little at her concern, we had all become good friends in the short weeks I have been in Denver. “I'm fine Mei. Scared and mad, but fine.”
James had a longer face than normal, his eyes creased with concern as well. “What the heck happened?”
I opened my mouth to speak as the curtain was pushed aside. A nondescript uniformed officer was standing there and a tall woman who had a badge hanging from her belt. Now I've spent my fair share of time hoppin' to both sides of the fence so I could really appreciate her looks, and wow.
She had long chestnut hair that was pulled back into a tight, professional ponytail. She wore a professional black pantsuit with a midnight blue blouse that did absolutely nothing to hide her feminine curves. She wore black flats that looked more practical than decorative. Her smooth, strong movements, told of a hidden lethality.
But it was her face, specifically her silver eyes that had my pulse racing. They were strong and intelligent and darting everywhere, taking everything in at once and assessing it. They complimented her deceptively feminine features. She may well have been one of those statues of Roman goddesses that I admired at the museum.
I was amused with myself. I just got mugged and I find myself girl crushing at the hospital. What would Ma be saying about now.
Her clear and commanding alto voice rang out saying, “I'm sorry everyone, but could I please ask you to wait outside? You too officer. I have a few questions for Miss O'Connell.” It really wasn't a question, it was an order.
I found it equal parts compelling and annoying. I pushed down the one and went with 'annoying' as my friends left the room with the uniformed officer, leaving me alone with officer pushy. I found myself forcefully saying, my Irish temper flaring, “That'll be Doctor O'Connell to you.” I hate being called Doctor O'Connell. Why in the bejesus did I tell her that?
Her eyes could have frozen molten lava as she said in an even tone, “Fine. Doctor O'Connell, I have some questions for you.” Nice, our mutual frost put an end to my girl crush right there. I grinned, daring her to try to push me around, but she was all business.
She looked around then closed the exam room door. I felt the way she stood in the room was strategic, as I watched her sharp eyes take in the door then the window. Maybe I was reading more into it, but as she faced me, it seemed she was keeping both in her peripheral vision.
Then she asked a couple general questions which I expected. First my full name and I told her Myra Marie O'Connell. She asked if I was ok. I explained what the doctors had said that I had a cracked rib and a couple minor bruises. But then it all derailed...
She looked directly at me and asked, “After the incident in the museum with the crystal, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?”
Huh? What does that have to do with my mugging? Yes, I've noticed plenty out of the ordinary, but nothing I was going to tell her. “No. What does this have to do with me mugging?”
Drakon_Awakening Page 3
