From time to time I saw a shadowy shape jumping... almost flying, from rooftop to rooftop. “There are at least two. Are they tracking us?”
She was on the phone calling for helicopter aerial support. I heard the chopper approaching long before we could see it. Then the shadows disappeared, I offhandedly said, “I think that scared them off.”
The block was swarming with black SUVs when we arrived back at the safe house. Quinn pulled us into the garage and shut the garage door before we both sighed in relief. She looked over and pointed at her eyes and whispered, “Your eyes Myra.”
I grinned in apology. “Right!” Then all my senses deadened again. This was almost a letdown as I really did find myself preferring them enhanced now. My lord, am I really an elemental?
She was still looking at me, studying me. She must think I'm a freak. But then she smiled, probably the first genuine smile I've seen from her. I liked it. She tilted her head toward the door into the apartment. “Let's get you inside. I can't keep you a secret much longer if you keep manifesting... whatever it is in public.”
I squinted as we got out of the car. “You haven't written up like ninety five different reports on it yet?”
She shook her head. “No. I... it wouldn't... I'd just hate to see you being studied like an animal is all.” Then her cold facade was back. I liked the glimpse inside that she had just afforded me.
We walked into the apartment and I was a little startled to see two men in suits standing inside. One of them gave a single nod to Quinn and said, “Agent Trask. We've swept the apartment. There are shooters on roofs north and south. We have a perimeter set.”
She nodded and replied, “Understood. I want a man at each entrance. I have Firebrand.” Then without a word, one man went out the front door, the other out the garage door, following her orders. Was she the 'agent in charge' or whatever they call it? I watch too much television.
She looked over and there was a single suitcase in the middle of the living room. She smiled, “Good, my stuff arrived.”
She dug around in it while I sat at the little rickety kitchen table and started pulling my research out and my iPad to get back to work. I pulled up FaceTime and called Mei. The clean room bloomed on the screen with Mei's nose and part of her smile. “Myra!”
I almost giggled. “Mei, you don't need to be eatin' the camera you silly betty. Let's get to work shall we?”
She pulled back with a cute blush on her face. “You got it Myra.” Then she caught me up on what little they were able to piece together while I was being whisked away.
Quinn joined me with a government issue laptop looking device. She was gathering all the intel she could about the New York incident and Blaine. At one point she paused and interrupted me. “Myra, please take a look at this. We caught the other three of Blaine's accomplices. They were just average citizens. A mailman, a garbage collector, and a barista. All of them are denying knowledge of the assault or not thinking it was real. They seem confused and disoriented. The one that our agents took down, Daniel Simms, was an accountant and father of two. We found this mark on his forehead, apparently written in blood. I thought it sort of looked like some of the symbols you are translating.”
I looked at the picture then looked away as the color drained from my face at the bloody mess. She put a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed. “Jarring I know, but this is important Myra.”
I took a deep breath then looked over and looked at the man's forehead. Then I leaned closer to the screen. “It is definitely a rune. But I don't recognize this particular one. It is similar to 'property', that would be its root, but see this tick down here? I don't know how that changes it.”
I drew it on a piece of paper then looked at my iPad and said, “James.” I saw him by his workstation pouring over our notes. I almost smiled at his obliviousness then said loudly, “James!” He almost fell off his chair and I heard an amused noise coming from Quinn.
He scurried over to the camera. “Yes Myra?”
I held up the paper to the camera. I simply asked, “Property?”
He shook his head. “No, that is the accent for flesh or human. That makes this either slave, or thrall.” His eyes lit up. “Oh!” He was typing something on a console. Then he looked up. “It was used extensively in the arcane writings of Morgan la Fay. Here it is. Yes, that was supposedly the rune to bind someone to her will. To make them her thralls.”
I smiled at his enthusiasm. “Thanks James.” He nodded and gave a little wave and wandered back to his workstation.
I looked over at Quinn. “Could Blaine have somehow... enchanted those people into doing his bidding?”
She looked at me and squinted her eyes. “You mean like, hypnotism or magic? Come on Myra, you're an educated woman you don't believe in that mumbo jumbo do you?”
I shrugged with a matter of fact look on my face. “Up until just recently I didn't believe in elementals either. I've studied myths and legends for quite some time and find most of them are based on a specter of truth.”
She smirked a little at my argument. “Fair point.” We both went back to work.
At the time, I was concentrating on the most complete scroll with the information about the drakon. I dubbed this one the Dragon Scroll. I was confused in areas, they kept referring to the drakon individuals as men. James had confirmed that it referred to men and not 'male'. So dragons were human? Not fire breathing winged lizards? We determined that the dragons were what the druids were calling the original elementals. I wondered about the druid stone foretelling the return of the original elementals. I looked down at my hands. Then I shook off that line of thinking. So the Drakon were a race?
There were three groups of dragons. The Irish clan, the British clan, and the European clan in the Germanic regions. The only females of the Drakon race seemed to be the queen of each clan.
They were sworn to help the humans of their regions with their elemental magic. It seemed that each Drakon could manifest his power in the form of one of the elements. Though it was rumored the queens could sometimes use more than one, though it was never witnessed by the druids.
The Drakon were pseudo-immortal. Never aging, but could still be injured or killed if you could get through their... what the druids referred to as living chain mail. They healed quickly. There was also talk of some sort of bonds between Drakon and humans that I didn't understand yet. One was something about rebirth as elementals... was this how new Drakon were made, or simply elementals? And the other was the 'blood tie'. Which made no sense because it was incomplete. Part of the scroll had either been torn off in that area or rotted trough. But it was something about them being 'the same' or 'as one'. That was the best Mei and I could come up with. James concurred.
“Raughhh!” I spat out in frustration and slapped the table.
Quinn chuckled. “Easy there sparky. Though I'm kind of partial to you impressive temper... you'll need to get a rein on it until you can control your power.” I chuckled and put the flaming claw around my hand, out.
At some point, mankind had turned against the benevolent dragons and the Drakon would manifest their elements into great winged serpents to battle against the attacking humans. The European and British clans were eventually wiped out but the Irish clan stood for decades against the onslaught. The druids recorded everything as a neutral party.
Then Saint George came to the land of Eire to talk peace. That is where this scroll ended. I pushed back from the table and stretched. I looked at Quinn. “I don't see where any of the info from the Dragon Scroll can help us understand why Blaine is going all psycho. I'll start on the Saint George scroll now. There has to be something that can give us a clue here ya'know.”
She sat back too. I was impressed with her determination as well. She was dedicated to bringing the person responsible for killing her agents and the researchers to justice. I saw the barely concealed rage in her eyes, it did not bode well for what that meant for Blaine when she caught up with the bastard.
She asked, “So why are all the people affected by the shards, researchers and intellectuals like yourself?”
I shrugged, “We are the only ones with access to them at the moment. It seems that only a few people are susceptible to the shocks and the... gift... the shards are cursing us with.”
She shook her head slowly at me with a small grin. “We could discuss this more, but first, you worked through lunch and it is almost past dinner time too. You need to eat to keep up your strength.”
She was mothering me but I somehow didn't mind. I know it is irrational, but I felt safe around her. I glanced away with a little blush when she stretched, she looked better than any FBI agent had any right to. I'm still apparently girl crushing on her. I stole a quick glance. Then nodded. “You're probably right.”
She looked at me with an unreadable expression. Why was she always studying me. I could feel the burn of a blush on my cheeks. Then she asked, “Chinese?” I nodded and stood up to stretch my legs then wandered over to the couch as she contacted her fellow agents and instructed them to bring Chinese food.
I pulled up the news as Quinn joined me on the couch. There was a report of Doctor Miller and some FBI agents being killed in a 'terrorist attack' at the natural history museum in New York. I shuddered and Quinn's warm hand was on my arm. She felt like safety. She said softly, “That isn't going to happen to you Myra. He'll have to come through me.” I leaned into her a bit to bump shoulders and we watched the rest of the news.
An agent arrived with our food and relieved the one at the garage door. I saw a different one at the front door as the other man left. I looked at the chestnut haired woman beside me. “You've been with me for almost twenty four hours. Aren't you going to do a shift change?”
She shot a cute wink at me and asked, “Trying to get rid of me?”
I shook my head and replied quickly, “No, no, of course not.”
She grinned. “I'm by your side until we get this murdering bastard.” This somehow made me feel better. I smiled at her then we dug into the food. I couldn't believe how hungry I was. We stole from each others containers and washed it down with coffee. I could live off of caffeine.
We sat and talked after the meal. Just getting to know each other. She was fascinating. I found out that she was pulled out of the special forces to join the FBI's Interpol joint task force to hunt down violent international fugitives that cross over into the United States.
Her parents are retired down in New Mexico. And the breakup I overheard was with a woman, not a man. They had been dating only a couple months but the betty couldn't handle that Quinn was constantly flying out on assignments. This all made Quinn look more... desirable, to me? I mean, sure I found her attractive, but that was all wasn't it? I tilted my head. I could see myself with someone as strong as her. “Her loss, the eejit.”
She gave a sad smile. “Thanks Myra.” There was a knock at the door and she stood. “We should get some sleep, another long day ahead of us tomorrow.” She checked the peephole with a hand on her weapon at her hip then moved her hand away and opened the door. The man just took a position by the door and she turned to me and motioned her head toward the bedrooms.
We took turns getting ready for the night. Now that I'm noticing her more, I blushed at how good she looked in the form fitting white tank top and shorts she went to bed in. Damn her arms and legs were muscular and tone. I was grinning at that while I got into my own bed and quickly fell asleep.
- - -
I woke with a start to the sound of glass shattering, shouting, and the sounds of fighting and gunfire. It was bright as day when I looked around in a panic. Then I realized it was still the middle of the night, my senses were just expanded. It sounded like a war zone down the hall. I was starting to hyperventilate.
I jumped when my door burst open and Quinn was there with her gun in hand, still in her night clothes. I relaxed a little as her scent hit me. There was that smell I associated with safety again.
She tilted her head at what was probably my look of terror and she gave a quick smile. “Come on, we need to go, now!” I stood and she grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her and placed my hand firmly on her shoulder. “Keep behind me and keep contact so I know you are there.”
Then we were on the move directly into the chaos of the fighting at the end of the hall. The sound of her gun firing startled me as a man that was charging down the hall was blown to the side by the impact of her rounds. We hit the living room and there were three agents fighting six or seven men and women. The front window was smashed in and the drapes torn down.
Quinn fired twice and took down a woman who was about to hit an agent from behind as we got to the garage door. It was kicked in before we could open it and a large man dove on Quinn yelling. “We must bring her to the meeting place!” She rolled to the ground with him and wound up on top, straddling him and she delivered a few startlingly powerful blows to his face then she grabbed his head and twisted violently. I could hear the sickening crunch as she snapped his neck.
The room was lighting up with a flickering and I realized that most of my body was on fire. I willed it to stop and Quinn was suddenly standing between me and a woman that was diving at me in my distraction. Quinn leapt up into the air and spun with her leg striking out in a roundhouse kick. It sent the woman tumbling to the ground. I noticed the rune mark on the woman's forehead and on the other attackers.
An agent went down and two attackers dove on him. There were two gunshots and the agent went still. The roar of rage that erupted from Quinn snapped my attention back to her. Her face was a mask of rage as she threw herself onto the two men who had just killed her comrade.
In a fury of fists and powerful kicks she knocked them back, pressing her attack as the last of the men were taken down by the other agents. She rolled onto the ground, coming up to her feet with a pistol and she emptied the magazine into the two.
That's when I saw it. I could actually see the path of the laser connected to the dot swinging toward Quinn. I was screaming Quinn's name and I was moving before I realized it as it swung up toward her chest. I flung myself into her just as the high powered round ripped across my arm and her left bicep. I couldn't believe the relief that flooded trough me, knowing I had moved her aside enough to prevent her death.
We rolled onto the ground and I wound up on top of her with our faces inches apart. I heard another shot outside then an all clear came over the radio from one of the agents. I looked at Quinn in relief. We were both panting. I could feel her hot breath on my face. Lordy be, she was beautiful.
Our eyes were locked on each other, I glanced down at her lips. Then she cleared her throat with a little smile. Oh! “Oh! I'm sorry.” I quickly got off of her, still staring at her lips as other agents came swarming in.
I was blushing harder than I ever had. Then she whispered, “Your eyes.” Oh. I concentrated and it was suddenly very dark. She was touching her injured arm then her eyes swung back to my injury. She grabbed my arm with her hand that was now covered in her own blood. “You're bleeding! You're hurt!” I flinched at the pain of her touching my arm but then a huge warmth spread trough me, almost as if something flowed out between us. Her eyes dilated in surprise.
She shrugged off the men that were trying to look at her arm and kept her hand over my wound. She whispered, “I need to get you into the bathroom, stay by my side!” I stood with Quinn still covering my wound, leading me toward the hall. She called to the men, “I need to check her for injuries.” I shot a questioning look at her. She shook her head once in warning and I just followed her into the bathroom.
As soon as the door closed she uttered, “Shit!” I somehow could feel her concern in my head. I followed her gaze as she released my arm. There was a large patch of gold tipped red scales around the impact site. It looked like a single scale had been torn off and that is where my blood was coming from.
She ran a finger lightly along the scales. Oh my lord that was almost sedu
ctive. She looked at me and tilted her head with an odd shy smile. “Were you just... never mind.” Then she looked closer at the scales. “They're beautiful. And they somehow deflected a high powered round. The bleeding has stopped. Can you make them go away?”
I tried but nothing happened. “No. But if it is like the other night, they will fade on their own.”
Then she looked directly into my eyes. “Thanks. That was a brave thing, and a very stupid thing that you just did.”
My temper flared. “There'll be none of that you infuriating woman! You don't need to be gettin' yerself killed to prove a point! I've sort of been growing fond of you. Twould be a shame to cut that short.” Now I was blushing. And I could feel her amazement and amusement. I squinted at her. “Hey, don't be getting smug now.” I paused, I was imagining it, right?
She looked at me like she wanted to ask a question abut just shook her head. “Come with me. You need a new shirt to cover these.”
I looked at her still bleeding arm. I could feel an ache in my other arm, approximately where her injury was. “That can wait ya know. You've been shot you stubborn ox.”
I have no clue why I did it, but I instinctively laid a hand over her wound and gasped in pain as a matching wound opened on my left arm. Blood was flowing freely. I took my hand away from her wound and there was nothing but smooth skin and lots of surface blood. I was a little dizzy, but relief flowed through me that she was ok now. I laid a hand tenderly on her cheek and leaned forward, touching my forehead on hers and I smiled as I looked into her eyes. “There. Good as new.” Then the world went dark as I felt her catching me as I collapsed.
Chapter 7 – Caragh, Queen of the Dragons
I was drifting in a comfortable sleep. I don't know how long I had slumbered. I found myself in a pleasant dream of a meadow with towering trees ringing it, a creek babbled along beside me. I sat up and looked to the sky. I was greeted by the most amazing sight I have ever laid my eyes on.
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