by Mac Flynn
He turned his head and his eyes swept down from the ceiling to capture my gaze. "Yes. The year I arrived was a bad fishing year. They didn't have enough fish to appease their 'god,' and so their children began to see a reflection of a pale lady in the puddles and in their mirrors. The villagers feared for them and begged me to do something. I captured the mermaid, separated her from her power-"
"The kappa's plate?" I guessed.
He nodded. "Yes. She was lured out with one of the children and I managed to grab her plate from her hair where she had stowed it. Without the plate she was rendered helpless outside her water portal and I was able to capture her and bring her here."
My shoulders drooped and I turned my face away from him. "So I was duped again, huh?"
A small smile slipped onto his lips. "Don't take it too hard. Many of these creatures are several hundred years old and have survived humans because of their cunning."
"But you were able to outsmart them," I pointed out.
"I have experience."
I sighed. "Well, I guess I need to go return that necklace she gave me."
Fox's eyes widened. "Necklace?"
I nodded. "Yeah, she gave me-" I started back when he grabbed my shoulders and stuck his face in mine.
"Where is it?" he snapped.
"I-it's in my pocket, but what's-" He reached into my pocket and yanked out the necklace. All the pearls were gone. I glared at him. "You broke the pearls off!"
He half-turned away from me and frowned at the necklace in his palm. "On the contrary, any pearls on this necklace were purposefully dropped."
I arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
Fox glanced behind me and the next moment he was drawing me behind him. In the process he turned me around and I saw what he saw, a round puddle on the floor just in front of the elevator. In the center of the puddle lay the pearl, now only half its original size and shrinking even as the puddle grew larger.
"Don't let it touch you!" Fox commanded me as he backed up, taking me with him.
"What the hell is it?" I asked him as the puddle stretched deeper into the room. It pushed against the pedestals and glass stands, wrenching them and toppling them to the floor. The water briefly touched the items moving on to the next case like a curious, crashing wave.
Fox pulled out his cell and pressed the speed dial number. Emery answered it. "Yes, sir?"
"Ligeia's in the Vault," Fox told him.
"I will be there presently."
Fox hung up the phone and looked over his shoulder at me. "How is your catching ability?"
I blinked at him. "Decent, but-"
"Stay here."
He rushed to our right to the far side of the room. His quick movements caught the attention of the puddle and it swam across the room after him. He reached a pedestal with a glass case over its top. Inside the glass was a plate on a stand.
Fox threw off the case and it shattered against the wall as he snatched the plate. He stepped back as the water approached him and his eyes flickered over to me. "Catch!"
Fox drew his arm back and threw the plate like a Frisbee. The puddle of water stretched upward and missed the plate by a hair. I stumbled through the displays and caught the plate before it crashed against a case.
My joy was short-lived as the puddle sped toward Fox. The water slipped under his feet and climbed up to his knees. He latched onto the pedestal as the water began to draw him down into itself.
"Fox!" I screamed.
"Take the plate to the elevator and escape!" he ordered me.
Fox grimaced as the water ran up his back and wrapped around his neck. I could see the water tighten around his throat and press his flesh press inward. His mouth opened in breathless futility as she cut off his windpipe.
I held up the plate. "Ligeia!" The water paused in its strangulation of Fox. I set the plate on the ground and stepped back. "Come on! Come and get it!"
The water shoved Fox out of its depths and dropped off him to rush toward me. He slid down the pedestal and onto the floor. I rushed through the displays and skirted the water to reach his side.
His breathing was harsh as I knelt on my knees and grabbed his shoulders. "Fox! Come on, Fox, wake-" A loud cackle brought my attention to the puddle.
The water wrapped itself around the plate and absorbed it into its depths just as the elevator doors opened and Emery stepped out. Ligeia rose from the puddle up to her waist and smiled at me. "I knew you would be a useful friend, Gwen."
I glared at her. "I'm no friend of yours!"
Ligeia chuckled as she plucked one of her scales from her body and held it in her open palm. The scale stretched outward in both directions, making itself into a short spear. "Such harsh words but I suppose humans always have to be heroic just before they die."
She drew back her arm and threw the spear. It flew across the room straight at me. My hand whipped up and caught it just before the point embedded itself into my face. Sharp claws adorned my fingers and fur sprouted on the back of my palm as I clenched my hand. The scale shattered beneath my strength. I stood to face her and tossed the remains away.
Ligeia smiled and plucked two scales with her hands. She changed them into daggers and drew back one arm. "I can do this all day, if you wish."
I held out my arms and both my hands changed into furry claws. "Bring it," I growled.
Our duel was interrupted when the air was suddenly charged with electricity. I looked to my right and saw Emery standing beside one of the pedestals near the elevator. A small secret panel was open in the side and the bottom of his fist was smashed against a small red button.
"Execute Order Shakespeare," he commanded.
Movement above me made me look up. The three bent hags in the fresco straightened themselves and lifted their faces to reveal their hideous vestiges. They turned toward the floor and stretched out their hands beyond the boundaries of the painting. The three sisters drew themselves out and dropped onto their feet onto the floor between Ligeia and me.
They turned to face Ligeia and stood side-by-side before they raised their hands in front of themselves. Their hoarse, crooning voices each spoke a chant that echoed around the room:
"Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd."
"Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined."
"Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time.""
At the final syllable lightning shot from their fingertips and arched toward Ligeia. Her eyes widened and she ducked down into the puddle a second before the lightning hit the surface. The water boiled and hissed, and steam rose up to become air until there was nothing left of the puddle save for a scorch mark in the carpet.
7
A groan beside me forced my attention back to Fox. He forced open his eyes and tried to sit up, but his strength failed him and he fell back to the floor. When he spoke it was in a hoarse whisper. "What happened?"
Emery walked up to stand beside me and knelt on one knee. "She has escaped with her plate."
"How did it happen?" Fox asked as he tried, and succeeded, in sitting up.
"I gave it to her," I told him.
He frowned up at me. "That was a very foolish thing to do."
I glared right back at him. "She was killing you, and I wasn't going to let you die for some stupid plate."
The hardness in his expression softened. His gaze fell on the shattered scale close beside us. "She attacked you."
I nodded. "Yeah, but Emery scared her off with the witches."
His eyes flickered to Emery. "What took you?" he asked his servant
"You must excuse me, sir, but the elevator wouldn't move any faster," Emery apologized.
I looked to my right and across the room. There were only three faint paint stains on the carpet. I tilted my head back and studied the ceiling. The witches had returned to their places around the cauldron.
I returned my attention to the men at my side and looked from one to the other. "Somebody mind telling me how they go out of that painting?"
&nb
sp; "It was a failsafe in case someone should get past the initial security," Emery explained to me.
I snorted. "I think you need a better initial security system.".
"There is no better system in the world than what I have," Fox argued as he struggled to his feet. Emery moved to help him, but Fox held up his hand and stood on his own power.
"So how come it didn't go off when I walked inside with that necklace?" I asked him.
"The system is designed to stop any unwelcome guests. You were invited into the room, and all that you carried with you was also invited," he told me.
"How the hell did she use those pearls to escape, anyway? I thought she couldn't leave the pond," I pointed out.
"The pearls were doubtless not real ones, but created through force with the sands of the pond. Thus she could use them as a gateway in order to steal the plate," Fox explained as he swept his eyes over the room with its shattered glass and toppled artifacts. "You appear to have found more trouble for us again."
I glared up him. "I'm the one who found trouble?" I hissed as I stabbed a sharp fingernail against his shirt. "If you hadn't pissed off all these mythical creatures than I wouldn't be falling for their tricks, would I?"
He grabbed my wrist and caught my gaze in his own. "If you don't mind, I would rather not lose another shirt this evening. As for our current situation, you are too trusting."
"Might I suggest we save the blame for a later time?" Emery spoke up.
Fox pursed his lips. "You're right. We have to hurry or she may learn of its existence."
Emery arched an eyebrow. "Then you know where she is going?"
He shook his head. "No, but we must acquire the Smoking Mirror before she does."
I arched an eyebrow. "The what?"
"The Smoking Mirror is an ancient relic of the Aztec's. It was said their god Tezcatlipoca used it to view the entire universe," he explained.
"And she could use it, too?" I guessed.
He nodded. "Yes. Using the Smoking Mirror in conjunction with her plate will allow her to go wherever she wishes, and no one would be able to stop her."
I didn't need to ask how much damage she could do as I glanced over my shoulder at the wreck of a room. I pursed my lips and returned my attention back to Fox. "Well, where's this mirror so we can stop her?"
"The museum. I loaned it to a temporary exhibit."
I felt the color drain from my face and my voice came out an octave higher than usual. "The museum?"
Fox studied me with a furrowed brow. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
I nodded. "Yeah, a big problem. She showed me a view of downtown and one of the billboards was advertising that exhibit and mentioned you loaned stuff to it."
Fox pursed his lips. "Then we don't have a moment to lose."
Fox hurried to the elevator with Emery and me close behind. He paused before the doors and scooped up an object on the ground that he slipped into his suit coat.
"What's that?" I asked him.
"Insurance," he replied as he stepped into the elevator with us.
Fox slammed on the button for the garage and the doors shut. The elevator flew down and swayed to one side as we returned to the usual shaft.
Fox glanced over his shoulder at me. "Under the circumstances, we may have to rely solely on your strength to recapture her."
"So are we using me as bait?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "I don't believe she'll fall for the same trick twice. What I had in mind was for you to grab her once she draws herself out of her portal."
My face fell. "That's it? That's your brilliant plan?"
Emery pursed his lips and pushed the bridge of his glasses against his nose. "Sir, might I remind you that the mermaid has immense strength in her own right, and were she to carry Miss Rogers into her waters there would be no way to escape?"
"It's an unfortunate risk we must take. However, we are not without options." Fox dug into his suit coat before he turned to face me. His arm was outstretched and in his hand he held the Sikin Alqamar in its sheath. "This may equal increase your strength enough to pull her from the portal and capture her plate."
My heart dropped into my stomach as I looked from the weapon to Fox's intense dark eyes. "But didn't you tell me it had to be stabbed into my heart for it to do much good?"
"Yes, but I won't force you to go through with it if you feel uncomfortable," he assured me.
I snorted as I took the weapon and looked it over as it lay in my palms. "Uncomfortable isn't quite the word for it."
The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal Fox's private underground parking garage. All manner of expensive cars were parked in wide berths. Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and many others I couldn't even recognize were all represented in several forms.
We, however, hurried up to a simple black sedan with an extended rear so that it resembled half of a limousine. Emery opened the door and stepped to the side. I tucked the weapon and its sheath behind my back and slipped into the leather interior with Fox close behind. A small table sat in front of the single long seat. There was enough leg room to sleep on the floor so long as you didn't mind your back resting against the bottom of the seat.
Emery shut the door and took his position in the driver's seat. A dark window separated so that we couldn't see Emery, but I could feel when he put his foot to the gas. The car spun its tires before gaining traction and leaping forward.
"We should make good time," Fox commented as he drew his phone from his suit jacket.
"Or die. . ." I muttered as I grasped the oh-shit handle above my door. I tightened my grip on the weapon in my other hand.
Fox chuckled. "One of Emery's many skills is his uncanny ability to drive fast without so much as drawing a scratch on the vehicle."
"I'm sure the police think it's impressive," I quipped.
"They have yet to find out," he told me as he lifted his phone and frowned as he looked at the screen. "Apparently the mechanics of the modern age can't hold their own against an ancient supernatural creature."
"Why?" I asked as I leaned against his shoulder and looked at his phone. The screen was dead.
"This may be to our advantage," he commented as he tucked the phone back into his suit and drew out another from the drawer of the table in front of us.
"How?" I asked him.
He dialed a number and pressed the phone against his ear. The voice of an older gentleman answered. "Mr. Fox, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?"
"I've changed my mind about visiting the exhibit. I'd like a private viewing, if at all possible," Fox told him.
"Of course, Mr. Fox. When would you like to schedule it?"
"Today in about ten minutes."
"Ten minutes? That's awfully short notice, but I think we can oblige you."
"Excellent. See you soon." He ended the call and slipped the phone back into the drawer. "That's one problem solved."
I frowned at him. "But how's a cell phone going to give us an-" Emery took a corner hard and threw me to my left.
Fox sat there. I fell across him as he caught me in his arms so that I ended up almost on my back looking up into his smiling face. "I would have gladly offered to change seats."
I glared and sat up beside him. "I'm pretty sure Emery's the one trying to get me to change seats, or get me stabbed with this-" I added as I held up the dagger.
Fox's expression fell as he looked from the weapon to my face. "While we're on the subject of the Vault, I realize I didn't properly thank you for saving my life."
I snorted. "You didn't thank me at all."
He took one of my hands in his own and lifted my hand to press a soft kiss on the back. I stared with wide eyes at his chivalrous display as my cheeks lit up like red Christmas lights.
That damn mischievous smile returned to his lips as his eyes met my bewildered ones. "Think of this as a token of my thanks, and a small installment."
I yanked my hand out of his and turned my red fa
ce away. "I-it's fine. You've saved my life tons of times-"
"A matter of protecting what is mine," he argued.
I whipped my head to face him and glared at the man. "What's that supposed to mean?"
That evil crooked smile slipped onto his lips. "Do I detect a hint of interest in my addressing you so?"
That damn blush of mine returned and I turned my face away. "You need to get your ears checked. Besides, I'm probably going to get killed trying to get Ligeia's plate out of her wet hands."
Fox leaned back against the seat, crossed his legs, and clasped his hands together atop them. "I am formulating a plan as we speak."
My eyes flickered to him and I arched an eyebrow. "Mind letting me in on the big secret?"
He shook his head. "Not until the plan is formalized. Then you will be the first to know."
"Thanks. . ."
8
We arrived downtown in record time, and probably with a lot of broken land speed records. The museum dedicated to ancient history was a towering marble mausoleum with two dozen stone steps that led up to its portico. Large pane windows adorned the front wall, and heavy wood doors allowed entrance into the marble-floored building.
Emery parked us on the curb out front. Fox grabbed an overcoat from a compartment in the table and we both slipped out. The front passenger side window slid down so that we could see our psychotic driver.
"Park in the garage and meet us back here," Fox ordered him.
"As you wish," Emery replied before he rolled up the window and rolled away.
Fox turned to me and offered me his arm and a smile. "Shall we?"
I pursed my lips, but looped my arm through his and let him lead me up the long stairs. "You got a plan yet?" I muttered under my breath.
"How much does Ligeia trust you?" he asked me.
I shrugged. "I don't know, but she did just try to kill you."
"That is exactly what I am counting on."
I arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
By this time we were in the grand lobby of the large museum. An elderly man with a spry step and a gray suit clacked across the marble floor and greeted us with open arms. I couldn't help but notice that he was missing one of his hands. "Mr. Fox. I can't tell you how much it pleases me for you to be here to see the exhibit."