She looked almost hurt. “No, Myra. Who would believe me anyway? Last thing I want is a psyche evaluation.”
I looked at her and hung my head. “I'm sorry Quinn. I... overheard your conversation, I didn't know how to shut off me hearing.”
She nodded once with an unreadable expression then left the room, calling out over her shoulder in a cold voice. “If you still insist on going to work on the scrolls today, we should get going soon.” Then she was off into the living room on the phone with some other agents informing them of our impending movement. Did I just piss her off? Why did I care?
I took a shower and got ready. Another agent came in, and stood at the door and Quinn took her own shower and prepped for the day. When she came out of her room, the other agent discretely left. Sheesh, they must have a protocol for everything.
I quickly called my parents to fill them in. I had to hold the phone away from me as Ma got her mad on. I handed the phone to Quinn. “Sorry. Me Ma wants a word.”
I hung my head in embarrassment as she “yes ma'am” and “no ma'am”-ed and, “Of course, ma'am. It was nice speaking with you.” She hung up and handed me the phone with a grin.
I shook my head. “Sorry.”
She laughed, it was odd coming from Miss Ice. “I see where your hair trigger temper comes from. She was nice though.”
I chuckled. “Nice? We are speaking of me Ma right?”
She chuckled a little. Much better than the cold shoulder from earlier. She informed the other agents “Firebrand” was on the move. I squinted at her, and she shrugged with a slight smirk. Then we went to the garage and into the SUV.
On our randomized route to the museum, she brought us through a drive thru for breakfast and coffee. It was comical, really. Matching SUVs magically appeared in front and behind us as we ordered. They disappeared as quickly as they had arrived the moment we were on the road again. We ate as she drove. Then minutes later we were pulling up to the museum. I dug the parking permit from my purse and put it on the dashboard, and she led me into the museum. When we reached security we stopped to get her a badge for the doors.
I looked at her in amusement as we rode the elevator down to the basement. “Just how long am I going to be chaperoned?”
Her cold voice was back. “Until we get the bastard.”
I went into the clean room, James was already there. Quinn stood outside by the observation window communicating with someone on her cell as her keen eyes swept the area. I saw Mei coming down the corridor from the elevator with three cups of coffee. She stutter stepped when she saw Quinn. I could hear her say over the speakers, “Oh, I forgot about you Agent. Umm you want a coffee?” She lifted the tray slightly to her.
Quinn just smiled politely. “No, but thank you for the offer Doctor.”
Mei smiled at her. “Mei.”
Quinn tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Mei.”
Then she placed the tray on the outside work table and came into the clean room and suited up. James looked at her. “That was nice of you to offer your coffee to her.”
Mei snorted. “It wasn't that nice, I was offering her yours.”
I was grinning at their antics as Mei said, “Since when did the FBI start hiring hotties anyway?”
Quinn spoke from the observation window, “You are aware that I can hear you out here aren't you?”
Mei shot her a playful grin. “Of course, why do you think I said it?”
I shook my head, trying to conceal a smile. “That'll be enough of that now. We have work to do ya know.” Then we all started going over the scrolls again. “James, this faded rune. Is that for elemental? I had a thought this morning...” I glanced quickly at Quinn then back. “We saw the same when it mentioned dragons before. Were the druids linking dragons to elementals I wonder?”
He nodded looking at the surrounding snippets. “That would fit into the context of this scroll. It is too faded and damaged to be certain, but the upstroke there does look indicative of it. But this dot above the stroke... I don't know.”
Dot above the... my eyes went wide and I started toward the door quickly shedding my gear. Mei was right on my heels, and Quinn flanked us as soon as we were out of the room. Mei looked at me. “What is it Myra? You have that epiphany look on your face again.”
I spoke to her as we got to the elevator. “It may be nothing Mei. Just a hunch, something James said sounded familiar. We went quickly to the access corridor behind the Fire Stone exhibit that was almost completed, and badged into the glass fronted space. I walked up to the druid stone and ran my hand along it then stabbed a finger at a rune. “There! I knew I had seen it.”
Mei looked at it then me in wonder. There was the elemental symbol with a dot over it. Mei was quickly writing down the passage, but we were getting pretty good at understanding druid writings now. The dot was an accent to mean 'original' on all other symbols it was used on. So this stone was a marker foretelling the return of the original elementals. The previous interpretation was that they were awaiting the return to nature. They mistook elemental for elements, thus their 'nature' translation. But now we had another piece to the puzzle.
I was on the move again with my two shadows, we made our way back down to the clean room. I was almost giddy. One piece at a time we were getting it! As I was gearing up I excitedly spoke to James, “That is the symbol for the original elementals!”
He glanced at me then the scroll and started grinning. My pulse was pounding as I excitedly made my way back to the scrolls. Then I gasped. “What did you do James? We aren't supposed to do anything physically to the scrolls!” I was almost panicking. But there, clear as the day, I could read the scrolls as the faded pigments virtually jumped off the page. I could see the entirety of the writings. Shite, the Dublin team is sure to take them from us now and maybe press charges!
He tilted his head. “I didn't do anything, what are you... Jesus! Myra, your eyes!”
I looked at him and then to Mei who was staring at me now. Quinn was trying to get into the room, but her badge wouldn't allow it. She was saying, “Concentrate Myra. Will them away.”
I looked over toward the door where she was trying to enter. “No! They know now. I can read the scrolls! If I go back to normal, we'll lose this opportunity!”
I glanced at Mei and James who were staring at me now. “Please don't be alarmed. I'll explain everything... I give ya me word. Just right now I need paper! I need to write this all down before it fades!”
James was in motion, not tearing his eyes from me as he retrieved a pen and a tablet of paper. Mei was smiling. “They are beautiful Myra. What... what are you?”
I took a deep shuddering breath, which I found was a mistake as all of the smells and scents around me assaulted my olfactory. I could smell Mei's shampoo and soap, James' antiperspirant, the stale smell of the scrolls and something coppery, like... blood? “I really don't know what kind of freak I am, but I think the answer is in the scrolls. Please, let's get this all down, I don't know how long I'll be like this.” She laid a hand gently on my arm and nodded.
Quinn was talking on the phone and moving back to the observation window. “I need the cameras in this area deactivated and the security footage secured. My eyes only. What? I don't care, just do it NOW.”
I glanced at her in apology. She just gave me a slight nod, and I started copying everything I saw on the scrolls now. By the end of the hour I had it all written down and I had realized that one of the pigments must have been blood, that was what I was smelling. We had virtually everything except where pieces were torn off. Now we knew that each scroll had a different purpose. One detailed the dragons. Another one the story of Saint George and the fall of the dragons and something about the Fire Stone. The third was dated a year after the first two and spoke of the Fire Stone and the discovery of Saint George's 'ultimate' betrayal of Caragh.
It would take us just a few days to translate everything. I looked at the others who didn't seem bothered by my eyes at a
ll now. “The other three scrolls!”
James was already pulling them up on the big screen. Nothing... “I can't see a feckin thing. I must actually have to have them in front of me.” I was frustrated. Mei and James were suddenly backing away from me.
Quinn was speaking forcefully over the speakers. “Myra. Don't lose focus. Calm your emotions. Look at yourself.”
I looked down and my arms and legs were aflame in fiery claws, then to my co-workers. I blushed and sheepishly said, “Sorry.” I willed the flames away. This time it was much easier. My shoes had holes in the front with metallic claws poking through. Shite! I'll ruin all my clothes by the time this is all over. I willed them and the claws on my hands away.
I looked out the window at a concerned looking FBI agent and mouthed, “Thank you Quinn.” She gave an almost imperceptible nod.
I looked at Mei and James. They looked nervous. “I'm sorry 'bout that. I'm not used to controllin' it yet.” I didn't want them afraid of me. I glanced out the door. “Let's have our coffee and calm down a wee bit. I promise I'll be explainin' everything when I understand it myself.”
They followed me out. Immediately I was aware of a scent that felt like safety, security? I glanced over and realized it was Quinn's scent. I instinctively moved closer to her, and she stood protectively between me and the corridor beyond. I smiled bashfully at her.
Then I concentrated on my senses.
It is strange, but I missed the heightened senses the moment they faded. I could experience the world at a level I had never known before. Now everything seemed muted. I glanced through the glass door at the scrolls and saw them as before, faded and incomplete.
James was just looking at me in curiosity, but Mei's hands were shaking. Her voice was small. “How...”
I shrugged. “I don't know. I think it was me accident with the shard.”
Mei lost her grip on the cup with her shaky hands I couldn't get past James fast enough to catch it though I was close, my speed and reflexes were almost lightning fast now. We all just stared as the empty cup hit the floor. And there, hovering in mid air, just past my fingertips was the coffee itself, pulsating in a coalescing blob.
I stared at it, and the shock of it made me lose concentration and the coffee splashed all over the ground. I bent and grabbed the cup then looked at the mess. I concentrated, and the coffee leapt back into the air and then into the cup. I placed it on the table as it might burst in flame... then stared at my hands then the three standing around me who were staring, dumbstruck.
Mei grinned nervously. “You're a superhero Myra.”
I was shaking my head. “No. I'm a freak. We need to translate the scrolls. Maybe they can tell us how to get me back to normal.”
James looked as if he was thinking. I tilted my head at him in question. He placed his security badge on the table. “Can you move that?” I concentrated and then shook my head at him when nothing happened. Then he glanced at the cup I had placed on the table. “And that?” I concentrated, and it moved toward me.
He was smiling. “Coooool...”
I squinted at the cryptic man. “Well are you gonna be sharing with us?”
He nodded looking around at us. “Don't you see? The fire, the...” He motioned at the coffee. “Water.”
My eyes widened. “Oh me lord in heaven. I'm an...elemental? And why are none of you running in fear?”
Mei nervously, shrugged and said, “Well you are our friends Myra. That and we are researchers. This is unprecedented!”
James was apparently lost in his own world as he just kept talking with a silly smile on his long face. “But the odd thing is that all the myths about elementals is that they can effect only one. It is a nature magic thing. Fire, water, earth, and wind. You are doing two!”
I looked at Mei, and we shared a grin at this. Then I panicked a little. “You can't be tellin' anyone about this! I don't want to be poked and prodded and dissected!”
Mei was shaking her head with a look of alarm on her face. “Of course not Myra.”
My question apparently snapped James out of his 'researcher mode' and he was first to speak. “We wouldn't do that to you Myra. Of course, we'll be quiet. But have you... tested the extent of the manifestation?”
I shook my head, I was a bit curious myself. “No, but I'm wanting to get rid of it, so we best be back to work.”
We streamed back into the clean room then to our stations and begin the arduous task of translating the writings. I kept glancing at the observation window. Quinn was ever vigilant, standing guard like a sentinel as she watched us and the corridor. I smiled inside.
It was around three in the afternoon when Henry called down and asked to see me. Jaysus, we were so engrossed in our work that we had missed lunch. I told him I'd be right up.
We left my fellow researchers to their task and made our way up to Henry's office. His smile faltered when Quinn poked her head in first then stood aside so I could walk in. She took a position beside the door in the room.
I closed the door and looked at him, “What can I do for you boss?”
He shook his head with a grin. “Stop calling me that for one. I just wanted to make sure you are ok after last night's... excitement.”
I nodded at him with a wry grin. “None the worse for wear. We've been making huge strides down in the clean room. I think we are days away from having as complete of a translation as we can.”
He shifted in his chair, his eyes smiling at me. “You intellectuals always care more about your work than yourselves. You need to slow down a bit.”
I shook my head. “Hey now, I'm going to be pointing out again that you are a doctor too.”
He grinned while squinting an eye. “Yeah, that's always going to come back and bite me isn't it?”
I nodded once as if it was God's honest truth. “As long as I am workin' here and as long as you pull the intellectual card.”
He surrendered. “I'm beginning to see that.”
We turned at the muted sound of Quinn's phone vibrating. She turned away from us a bit and answered. “Trask... what? No... when?” Alarm is written on her and before I knew it, that weird blink occurred I was listening in.
The man on the other end was saying, “There were four of them. Three agents were killed, and we found Miller with his heart torn out. The primary assailant was favoring his left arm, we got a good look at him though. Agent Danvers ripped his mask off before the bastard killed him with that damn knife. We took one of them down.”
My attention was pulled away from the conversation when a familiar spicy scent hit my nose. I looked over to where it was coming from. The paperweight. Then my blood ran cold. I concentrated, and my senses snapped back to normal as I blurted out, “It was Reginald Blaine, Quinn!”
Her eyes snapped over to me, and she spoke into the phone. “I'll contact you soon. Something came up here. Send me everything you have on the incident.”
She was looking between me and Henry who had now turned his attention from Quinn to me with confusion on his face.
I was still in a little bit of shock at my realization.
Quinn had my arm, gently guiding me out into the corridor while looking back at Henry and saying, “Sorry sir, a security issue just came up, I'm going to have to borrow Doctor O'Connell for a bit.” She pulled me along, leaving a stunned Henry watching us go.
Chapter 6 – Thralls
As soon as we were in the elevator she turned to me and asked. “What do you mean it was Reginald Blaine?”
I was hyperventilating. She looked me directly in the eyes with concern on her face. “Myra! Listen to me. Pull yourself together, we don't need you going all 'flame on' in here. Look at me.”
Her silvery, steel grey eyes held me. There was nothing but strength in them. They promised safety just like her scent had. I again instinctively stepped closer. I took long deep breaths, calming myself. She was tilting her head and smiling. “There you go.”
I nodded that I was ok now an
d she tilted her head the other direction to prompt me. I started to explain, “I can't believe I was attracted to the bastard! It was Blaine who attacked me and probably killed Doctor Miller in New York...” I shut up realizing I just let her know I was listening in on her conversation.
I smiled apologetically. “I can't really control it yet. I'm sorry Quinn.”
She actually smiled as she shook her head then prompted. “It's ok. But why do you think it was this Blaine guy?”
I blushed, “Well, I could smell him.” I looked up at her. “He's a private antiquities collector from London. He had come to see me in Henry's office the other day. He had this musky smell that had a hint of spices or herbs or something. I smelled it on my attacker too, I thought it was familiar but I couldn't place it at the time. And I hurt his left arm in the fight. The other agent said he was favoring it.”
“But just now, in Henry's office when I was... ummm... eavesdropping on you. I could smell it on the paperweight he had accidentally dropped.” I thought about that for a second, and then snapped my eyes back to her. “I think... I think he knows about me. I think he was testing me when he dropped the paperweight. But why?”
She was nodding now with a hint of anger toward the man in her eyes. “Probably for the same reason we hadn't assigned men to you right away. He wasn't sure. All the rest of the victims were male.”
That made sense. “The feckin bastard!”
She was on her phone having an APB sent out for Reginald Blaine and calling for protection duty backup. The agents in New York verified Blaine was one of the attackers after looking up a picture of him. Quinn looked at me with a serious look on her face. “We need to get you to the safe house.”
I shook my head. “I need to get me work. I know the answers are in there somewhere.” She nodded and led me back down to my colleagues.
Quinn reminded them not to tell anyone about what happened today as I gathered copies of all our research. Then she spirited me away to the car. On the way back, on another random path, I swear I caught movement from above again. “Quinn.” I said and she nodded indicating she caught it too. I concentrated and the world wash highlighted in purplish red.
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