Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2

by Bella Roccaforte

  Leira took a step closer to the door and punched her codes into the keypad. She knew she’d be risking her job but she hoped if she played her cards right and went into hiding with the relic, and if she kept it safe, she was likely to get her job back when the danger had passed.

  Then laughter bubbled up inside her. Was she just kidding herself? The very theft of the relic would be enough to land her in prison.

  Now she shook off the thoughts and pulled free the key that sat in the lanyard around her neck. Then she inserted the key into the slot beside the keypad and twisted it clockwise two clicks, then anti clockwise once.

  The keypad blinked then all the lights flashed green. A soft voice said, “Good evening Professer Carmichael. You have ten minutes before lockdown is initiated. Please remember to re-initiate security protocol 5B in fourteen minutes and forty-five seconds or lockdown procedures will take effect.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Leira muttered as she tugged her key out of the lock and slid between the doors which had opened only enough for a person to fit through. It was part of the security protocol that the doors wouldn’t open wide enough to allow large artifacts or boxes to be removed.

  Smaller items like the relic she was after were rigged with a second layer of security, an alarm that would be tripped the second the item was removed.

  But again, Leira had a plan. One she hoped would work.

  She walked down the center of the vault ceiling high shelving bracketing her in like two leaning towers. Multiple shelves went all the way to the ceiling about XXX feet high, where very few levels had empty spaces available.

  There were dozens of cameras here too but thankfully the lights hadn’t been initiated when she’d entered. She hadn’t requested lights, which wasn’t unusual in that most of the work done within the vault was carried out in darkness.

  The darkness protected the ancient relics and paintings from further deterioration. Exposure to certain types of lighting tended to fade pigments on artworks and degrade fossilized pieces over time.

  Most of the staff at the museum who were responsible for working with the artifacts were used to navigating the vaults without light.

  They simply used a small light to allow them to see where they were going. Unless they were Leria of course.

  She could see in the darkness, a special gift from her face heritage. Now she strode quickly down the hall and knees that the cameras would capture her and anyone who watched the tapes after the theft would be puzzled as to how anyone was capable of walking so quickly in the dark without the aid of night vision goggles or an external source of light.

  Leira paused halfway down the aisle to rummage around inside a box that had been brought in recently form the Marinara Trench. Divers had discovered a bunch of items they believed to be relics, covered so entirely by shells and overgrowth they they were still not identified.

  One was a long thin piece that to her eyes was likely a broken sword judging by how thin and flat it was. She didn’t need to know what it was though, all she needed to know was that it was the right length width and weight to serve her purposes.

  She opened the lid, palmed the artifact and kept walk knowing the cameras would have caught her pausing at the box. It didn’t matter because in the end they’d know her intention.

  T the end of the aisle the bad wall of the room was again lined with shelving this time all glassed in with air-flow controlled and regulated differently for each item.

  Along each end of the hall was a floor to ceiling iron staircase the could be moved along on wheels. Each staircase didn’t look very different to what one would find attached to the outside of apartment buildings in many a city across America.

  The only difference was the staircase was movable. She headed to her right and guided the stairs along the wall walking it a few feet before she found the correct position.

  Then she began to climb the stairs, going three flights up to get to Level 8. She had to drop into a crouch which she wasn’t all that happy about. She was already nervous and worried, a number of worries pecking slowly at her confidence.

  What if she tripped the alarm? What if they recognized her? What if they didn’t believe her when she sent her message?

  She wasn’t stupid. She knew the museum would question XX and she didn’t believe for a second that he’d protect her or maintain a belief in her innocents, He’d throw her under the bus faster than she could blink.

  Gritting her teeth, she sank to her knees and faces the narrow glass door of the vault. The entire wall was filled with hatches of different shapes and sizes. Each of the levels were of different heights, some as narrow as five inches with the taller being four feet. The level Leira was interested in was just over a foot in height.

  The relic wasn’t tall by any means, but handling the item required exceptional care. After some time the piece would have been transferred to another level where it would have remained in secret, hidden away from the world for however long the museum directors deemed necessary.

  Leira punched in her codes and listed for the light whoosh as the pressurized door released. She let out her breath and held the handle, pausing only to glare at her shaking hands.

  Nerves would only get her arrested, or worse, killed. She couldn’t afford to mess up. Not now when she was so close to getting what she needed and escaping.

  She swallowed hard and pulled open the door.

  The lights to the right of the glass casing turned from red to green and Leira opened the door. There was plenty of space for her to work but her normal procedure was to disengage the alarm before moving the relic. But the problem with this part of the plan was the Leira had already completed her work with the relic and her code to disengage the alarm had already expired.

  Hence her need for her duplicate.

  Again, her thoughts took over with whispers of what if she failed, what if she set off the alarms, what if she was caught red-handed, what if someone was waiting outside the vault right now for her to walk out and be arrested?

  Leira shook her head. Nobody was inside the museum, and nobody was outside the door waiting for her.

  Taking a deep breath, she withdrew the undersea fossil and then reached both hands into the case. With her empty hand she got a good grip on the relic, at the same time bringing the fossil as close as she could without jarring the relive.

  The relic sat on a pressure plate and removal would trip the alarm. The only good thing was there was a grace period built into the protocol allowing for mishaps on the part of researchers and museum staff, in order to avoid unnecessary callouts for the security team or the police.

  Five seconds.

  Five seconds was all she had to make the switch. Leira let out a slow breath to ease the rapid beating of her heart. Then she lifted the relic and quickly, and very carefully replaced it with the fossil.

  Then she froze as she counted down the seconds until the grace period ended. She had honestly expected the alarms to begin yelling when she counted to zero but nothing happened.

  Darkness still prevailed within the vaults and Leira was safe, though now she held the relic in her hand.

  Her skin buzzed now as it came into full contact with the relic. She recalled the feelings she’d experiences when she’d first begun to work with it.

  The book of Anubis.

  * * *

  Not that she spoke the name of the book out loud to Ciaran. She’d kept all the pertinent details of the relic and the robbery to herself. For now, all he needed to know was the item was dangerous.

  From the look on his face, she could tell he was fascinated. He'd hung onto her every word as she’d related the story. It was somewhat amusing to know that he was impressed though he didn’t voice his thoughts. Either way, she had decided for now she wasn't going to be giving him any more information. And neither was she going to tell him the true identity of the relic.

  Not yet.

  25

  Leria

  Before they’d gone outside, L
eira had checked her phone for messages from her boss from the museum. She’d found it hard to believe that nobody had reached out to her to find out why she hadn't been to work in the last few days. More surprisingly, she hadn't received any notification that she was under investigation, nor had she been bombarded with questions regarding the missing relic.

  When they’d returned from the fire-pit, they had prepared a light lunch before Ciaran had gone out to patrol the perimeter. He’d assured her that the cameras were all functioning well but she could understand his need to check on things personally.

  Leira couldn't help but smile as she recalled drying out and then lighting the wet wood for him. He was going to figure out what she was soon enough. She didn't really have a reason to keep her true nature from him. If being a djinn had something to do with why she was on the run, why her life was in danger, she would have told him already.

  The cabin was silent, giving her time to think. The relic had fascinated her with its ancient history and the incredible powers it was said to contain. She wanted to find out how the power within the book was initiated, and what the consequences were should it be used. And possibly how to bind those powers to ensure it never endangered anyone.

  One way to learn more was to search the web, the other was to access the djinn library archives. After preparing a cup of hot chocolate, Leira quickly retrieved her laptop from the study.

  Taking it with her to the living room, along with her hot mug of chocolate, she curled up on the sofa and scoured the Internet first before she accessed the archives. She knew that the moment she gained entry to the files, her high priestess would be alerted.

  It wasn't illegal for Leira to research within the djinn records, even though she’d refused to join the organization she was still entitled to the knowledge and records of her people. She just didn't want the woman to be thinking about her. One never knew when the high priestess would renew her efforts to force Leira back into the fold.

  An effort the woman had already discovered would be fruitless.

  Sipping her chocolate, Leira shifted her attention to the beauty of the view. She tensed suddenly when a flash of darkness sped across the clearing near the tree line.

  Was that a wolf?

  It had been. A particularly large wolf was traipsing around the property just outside the cabin. A wolf patrolling the area around the cabin? Could it be Ciaran in his wolf form? Curiosity, fascination, awe—whatever the emotion was—drew her focus toward the window and the snow, and the wolf still walking along the edge of the clearing.

  Research forgotten, Leira slide the laptop onto the sofa beside her and shifted forward on the sofa, mug in hand. She was about to get to her feet when a voice rang around her.

  “Thought you could hide from me, huh?” asked Aldrich, his tone mocking, cold, dangerous.

  In her shock, Leira spun to grab the laptop, to make sure she’d heard right. Her ears were ringing so maybe she was imagining that she’d heard his words coming to her as though he was standing right there beside her, in the fucking flesh.

  She moved so fast that she sloshed most of the steaming hot chocolate all over her hand and onto the rug, and onto the keyboard of her laptop. She wanted to scream from a combination of fear and frustration, but she forced herself to breathe and to focus. Focus and control, or else she would set fire to something.

  Empty mug still held within tightly clenched fingers, she swiveled to her right to stare at the laptop monitor. Should she dare to touch the device? Some strange part of her mind was telling her that contact with the metal would somehow allow him to come through, like touching a mirror within which evil spirits resided.

  This was the kind of shit that only happened in movies.

  Aldrich’s square face filled the screen, his white teeth garishly bright. Leira blinked at the image, wanting to will it all away. Maybe this was simply a recording?

  But what would have set it off to play? A timer perhaps? Then Leira gritted her teeth. Who the hell was she kidding? Her gut told her this was Aldrich, in real time. Aldrich was talking to her in a live video call when she was supposed to have been protected by Frankie’s tech and Ciaran’s professional skills.

  “What? Cat got you your tongue? Or maybe wolf?” Aldrich snorted, the sound hollow and edged in steel. “Not sure what you hoped to achieve in wolf territory. They can’t protect you.”

  Leira frowned. He’d just said wolf territory. Did he know about Ciaran? That she’d hired a wolf shifter to protect her?

  Aldrich bent closer to the screen, scowling. “Is this thing on?” He punched a few keys then sat back. Then he laughed coldly. “You should see your face. It’s actually quite funny.”

  She didn’t want to reply, didn’t want to speak because her voice in conversation with Aldrich, here in a snowbound cabin high in the mountains where she was supposed to be safe, shouldn’t be happening. Ciaran had done everything he could to ensure she remained out of Aldrich’s reach.

  “I can hear you breathing, you know. But I need to know something. Did you realize at all how well I moved you around like a chess piece? Blink once for yes.” Aldrich snickered. “It was like…what’s that saying…taking candy from a baby.”

  Leira forced herself to breathe slowly. The fire surged within her, hot enough that if she wasn’t careful she’d set the laptop and the sofa alight. She didn’t even want to process his words because its meaning was too much for her to absorb right now.

  And that’s what he wanted. He wanted her in shock, unable to respond, still in his control.

  Without another thought, she slammed the lid of the laptop closed and got to her feet. As she moved, the door to the cabin opened and Ciaran entered, his expression satisfied until he saw Leira’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” he rushed toward her so fast she could have sword he’d moved in the blink of an eye.

  She shook her head, opened her mouth to explain and instead just burst into tears. Ciaran’s arms went around her and she soaked up the warmth and comfort he offered. She wanted to laugh. Nothing about this whole situation was normal. She wasn’t even the type of woman who leaned on others, least of all a man as some sort of crutch.

  She managed to get her sobs under control and Ciaran leaned back to study her face. “Want to tell me what happened?”

  She flicked a glance at the laptop. “I though you said the device was clean?” She stepped out of his arms and instantly felt bereft.

  He dropped his hand and nodded, then his eyes went wide. “Did he send another message?

  “Not a message. He was patched in somehow. A video call.”

  “Live?”

  Leira blinked as she stared at him. “Yes. A live videocall. They’re usually live.” She hadn’t meant for her words to come out so shrewish but she was more than merely unsettled. She was terrified.

  He dragged his fingers through his hair. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just surprised. Frankie confirmed the laptop was inaccessible. The only way anyone could access it is if there was something in close proximity that would allow him to make the connection.”

  Leira shook her head. “Like a flash drive or some kind of wireless remote device? I put everything I could think of inside that case. Everything was inside the study.”

  There was a long moment of dead silent. “And then I brought it out here.”

  “Which means the laptop was secure only while inside the study, which makes sense with the protective cage. But a device that’s been thoroughly cleaned and protected cannot be hacked unless it’s on a connection that can be infiltrated.”

  “Or unless you have a device that acts like a connection.”

  Leira nodded. “But we’d ruled that out. I don’t understand how else he’s been able to track me down.” Then she froze, her blood going cold. “Which means he knows where I am.”

  Ciaran held up a hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. If there’s something around here that they are bumping a signal off, that’s one thing. No guarantee t
hey have your location locked down.”

  “Unless whatever they are using acts like a GPS itself.” Leira hated to speak the words out loud. “But I still don’t understand what it could be.”

  Ciaran turned and headed for the hall. “Let me speak to Frankie. See what he thinks our options are.” He was gone before she could respond.

  Left alone, Leira stared at the laptop. If Ciaran was right, and something she had with her was allowing him access to her devices, then that would explain how Aldrich had managed to access the new phone she’d bought at the truck stop, even after Ivan had declared it clean.

  Her thoughts fell to Ivan again. And then to Frankie. Was it possible that either one of the hackers could be the mole, working for Aldrich?

  With the idea on her mind, Leira jogged to the study, entering without announcing herself, wanting to speak to Ciaran before he began the call to the hacker, his back to the door.

  She’d stepped into the room to catch Ciaran’s words. “Frankie. We need to go to Code 2. Aldrich has gained access.”

  Her ears rang with the horror of Ciaran speaking Aldrich’s name. She’d never mentioned the man’s name to Ciaran. Not that she could recall. So how did he know?

  Heart thudding hard she tiptoed to her room and stood at the foot of the bed. She’d been so focused on the hacker that was it possible that she’d missed Ciaran as the one leading Aldrich to her?

  She knew the truth of it now. That she couldn’t trust Ciaran either. However he made her feel, he was turning out to be as untrustworthy as Aldrich himself. To think she’d been telling Ciaran the details of her theft of the relic from the museum. Had he been coaxing the details from her and feeding that to Aldrich for him to use against her?

  As unlikely as it sounded, she couldn’t toss aside the possibility. She grabbed the warm coat and beanie, the wig and the rucksack containing the relic then hurried down the hall on tiptoe.