My mother dragged me by the hand and almost pushed me into one of the three chairs around the white, round wooden country table next to the huge dough mixer bolted to the floor. She was eyeballing Dawna. “I don't suppose I can be getting' you to take a seat Agent Grove?”
Dawna just shook her head and said, “Sorry Deirdre... I'm on duty.” Then she relayed something into her phone.
Ma wandered off to grab a plate with some fresh butter and cheese scones from a hot tin muttering, “Just like me daughter's Quinn. All stick up the ass about duty or some shite.”
Both Dawna and I snorted in unison as Ma set the plate down on the table with an innocent look on her face that only she could pull off. She jammed a smaller plate at Dawna with two scones on it, daring her not to take them. But she knew the futility of arguin' with the force of nature that brought me into this world. She nodded once in thanks and took a bite.
Ma was off again and a moment later she had coffee cups and a carafe of divine smelling coffee. She poured three cups and then sat down across from me. Then she seemed to relax, I swear to our good lord, that woman has more energy than me. She smiled her motherly smile and said, “I know you have to be getting' to the Museum. You and your father, all research and scholarly pursuits. Lord knows I love that man, but he needs to take the time to relax. But an empty sack does not stand, Myra.” Lord save me, she's pullin' out the Irish proverbs now.
I grinned at her and took a scone and made a show of eating it for her. She rolled her eyes and took a single scone for herself then shoved the entire plate in front of me. Ever since I became Drakon, I have been a bit embarrassed over my appetite. I feel like I make a spectacle of myself when I'm shovelin' down three to four times the food I used to. My dragon metabolism is much higher than an average human's, ya know.
I sighed in defeat and just started eating one after the other as we spoke, washing them down with big gulps of what I assumed was hot coffee the way Dawna was blowing on it and sipping as she stood near the table. Ma was concerned about the news of the dragon murders and her breath hitched at the revelation that the one killed yesterday was Francisco.
She knew I had to get off to work so she cleared away our dishes and said as she walked me toward the swinging door, “Remember we have brunch at the house on Sunday. I'll be expectin' you and your bonnie lass at ten o'clock sharp. Don't be makin' excuses about the case, there's always time for family. Besides, yer Da hasn't seen you in over two weeks now. He worries and you know how he lives to fawn over you and Quinn. And just when are you gonna' be doin' the right thing in the eyes of the lord and marry the girl instead of cavortin' around and livin' in sin?”
I kissed Ma on the cheek. “We'll be there Ma. And... I will, if she'll have me.” Then I whispered, “What if she doesn't?”
She shook her head with that motherly look only she could, makin' me feel like a wee girl again. “There is only love in that woman's eyes for you.”
I rolled my eyes as Dawna blocked the door and gave us both a reprimanding look. She mumbled into her cell then listened to the response and then nodded and led the way out into the bakery proper again. I just spoke at her back with a hint of humor, “Me lord woman. It is always protocol with you lot.”
Agent No-Name fell in behind us. I gave Ma another kiss on the cheek as she handed me a Dragon of Denver Bakery bag filled with scones and soda muffins for the crew at the Museum. Then she went to help customers at the front cases.
I got into Maggie and adjusted her rear view mirror, it was all cattywampus for some reason. I pulled away from the curb with my caravan of agents in tow behind me. I started a randomized trek to the Museum.
As soon as I went through the first light, a large semi ran a red light and hit a car in the opposite lane, blocking the intersection. Shite! That was close. I stopped the car to look back. I didn't realize I was cut off from the protection detail until the man that was sitting in my passenger seat spoke. “Caragh?”
I just about jumped out of my skin! Where the hell did he come from? My instinctual reaction, after all the months of combat training with Quinn, was to strike out at the man with a flaming fist as my dragon senses snapped up. There was a flare of whitish-blue light and the smell of ozone as my strike was stopped in mid-flight when it hit an invisible barrier of light between us. He was holding a gnarled staff in one hand that had an expanded end that was glowing blue. He was fecking fast. My Drakon reflexes are multiple times faster than any human.
I started opening my car door to dive out. I could actually feel this man's power. Magic seemed to flow out from him. He said swiftly in archaic English, “Please, I mean you no harm Queen Caragh of the Eire! Have words with me, I beseech you.”
Something made me hesitate. Was it because he mistook me for Caragh, or because his voice rang true? The magic I felt held no malice nor the stench of death and decay. I paused, my door still half open. “I'm not Caragh.”
He looked pained at that revelation then haunted as if by an old memory returning. “My apologies my lady, I had forgotten that she had met her end. You are the vision of her.” I stared at the man, my door still half open. His eyes were a pale blue, almost silver, they held wisdom and... pain? His staff stopped glowing and he shot me a pleading look.
Against my better judgment I closed my door looking at him hesitantly then said in warning, “Me protection detail will be here any moment.” Like it would do any good against a magic user.
He nodded and asked, “Can this conveyance get us off the roads my lady?” I looked over to see a parking garage and nodded at him and pulled us into the structure. In my mirror, I saw two black SUVs go darting past the entry ramp down on the street. Dawna was going to kill me, then Quinn would kill me again just for good measure.
I parked in the first open spot then whirled at the man. “Who the fecking hell are you and what do you want?” He was a strong looking man, in his late thirties, wearing ill-fitting mismatched clothing. His dark hair had some grey on the fringes and frosting his temples. His hands were callused, telling me he was not a stranger to hard work. The odd thing is that he didn't have any smell. I mean nothing. I could smell the clothing he wore, it had different scents from different people, but he didn't have a scent.
He bowed his head deeply and said, “My apologies my lady, where are my manners. Queen of the Eire Dragons, I am Merlin, the Light Bringer, of Avalon. I fear you and your dragon kin are in grave peril. I have traveled the globe to this new land in quest to find you.”
I just blinked at him. I realized everything was silent in the car when my cell started ringing. Damn... that'll be Dawna or Quinn. I absently turned it off and said, “Merlin? As in King Arthur and his round table? Stonehenge Merlin?”
The man nodded and I laughed, but a serious look on his face stopped me and the immense amounts of magic flowing off of him. “Me lord. You're serious.” The man simply nodded. I was staring at him like I had not the full shilling then shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Umm... hello. I'm Myra O'Connell, don't be callin' me 'my lady,' call me Myra. What... um... why are you here? How are you here Merlin? Are you... are you immortal like the Drakon?”
He smiled and gave another small bow. “As you wish, Myra. I am not immortal. In my final battle with Morgan la Fay that banished her to Avalon until such time she died, she had in turn, bound my spirit to Stonehenge so that I would never know the peace of death until the stones had crumbled to dust. That is what she does with her enemies, the torture of life without life. But she has somehow transcended death, and this has called me back out of my limbo so that I may vanquish her.”
I didn't know what to say as he continued, “Much has changed in the world but when I realized that I could feel the dragons once again, it gave me great joy. So I sought you out to warn you of Morgan's twisted magics. She will try again for Drakon immortality and mastery over the elements, you and your clan are at risk.”
I nodded and said quietly, “Someone has been murdering water dragons the past few weeks.�
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He sighed in sorrow. “Then that is what called me forth from my stone prison. As she commands the magic of darkness, I wield the powers of light. There must always be a balance in magic. She has never understood this. I grieve for your dragons Myra.”
He looked even grimmer. “It was by feasting upon the hearts of the air dragons that she gained her unnatural lifespan, it is what gave her power when she enslaved the air magic. It seems with her resurrection, she is attempting the same again with your water dragons. We must protect them, if she kills them all she will enslave the water element as well, even just tipping the balance she will command the element. She may become too powerful to stop at such time.”
A measure of relief poured into me knowing now that it was indeed Morgan we were facing and not Blaine, George, again. But then rage started to swell, it was true, Morgan was hunting my water dragons. I would stop her if it were with my dying breath!
He suddenly stiffened. “Your protectors are here. We will speak more soon, Queen Myra.” He bowed and I heard the screeching of tires. I looked back and a half dozen black SUVs fanned out behind Maggie. Armed agents came streaming out surrounding the car. With an edge of concern, I looked over to... an empty seat. Heavens above that freaks me out a wee bit! I grinned sheepishly at Dawna through my windshield, who had her sidearm drawn.
She seemed to exhale and relax a bit as she holstered her weapon and shook her head at me as she opened my car door.
Chapter 7 – Discoveries
After sitting through a lecture then a million questions from Dawna, then doing the same when Quinn arrived ten minutes later with a worried and mad expression on her face, I was finally back on my way to work so I could see if the scrolls could shed some light on things. I had held everything back from them, just saying that I pulled into the parking garage to wait for them to show up after the accident, just in case it was another attempt on me. I felt it was smarter to get out of the open.
This didn't placate my Quinn, I whispered to her that we needed to talk and I would fill her in on what really happened at lunch. She was mad at me for taking chances and ditching the protection detail. But underneath I could feel her concern and love radiating through our soul bond.
Dawna was a wee bit peeved at me, she was in full Agent Grove mode. I tried hard not to smile since it reminded me a little of Quinn. Then I remembered I was annoyed with her, I didn't need a fecking escort. She wasn't taking any chances this time and followed me into the reserved parking area and parked next to Maggie. She and Agent No-Name were out of their vehicle and beside mine before I could open my door.
Now, bein' a scholarly type, I knew when to keep my mouth shut. Well, for the most part. Fine, occasionally, like now. I just let her play super agent and lead me to the door. I held back a snicker when she just held her hand out to me. I took my ID lanyard off and gave it to her so she could wave the card over the scanner. She absently handed it back to me as the door obediently buzzed us in. She was through the door first then me and finally Mr. Stinky.
Sefa looked up from the stool he sat at by the metal detector arch and stood as we approached. I saw his quick eyes looking at the grim look on Dawna's face then they darted to her weapon, seeing the unclipped strap on her holster. Then his eyes shot toward me with a questioning look with a tinge of concern for me.
I gave him a crooked smile like a schoolgirl who was being led to the principal's office as I loaded my purse and tablet into a plastic tub and sent it through the x-ray machine as I passed through the metal detector after Agent Grove, who set the lights and buzzers going on the metal detector. She didn't pause for the courtesy of handing her gun and badge around it to Sefa like normal. Shite, she really must be mad at me.
The other agent passed his weapon and badge around to Sefa who handed it right back after the man passed through the metal detector arch.
I stopped beside the big pacific islander without a word and just opened the bakery bag with an apologetic smile. Sefa grinned at my contrition and selected a soda muffin. He murmured, “Ahh... my favorite. Give your mother my thanks.”
I nodded up at him and then continued down the hall to the elevators. I felt like a condemned woman, being flanked by armed agents. When we got silently onto the elevator for the trip to the sub-basement, I whispered, “I said I was sorry.”
Dawna fought a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, but she finally looked down at me and said, “Yes. Yes you did.” Then she added, “Don't think for one moment that I believed the bullshit you were slinging at the parking garage.” I snorted but then sobered when she added, “You scared the shit out of me.” Shite. Now I really did feel bad. She was getting to be a friend of Quinn and I and I shouldn't hide things from her.
My thoughts were interrupted when the elevator doors opened and she led me out and past some museum workers who were staging an exhibit. I reached the clean room and held up the bakery bag to my co-workers inside. I was surprised for a second that there were three people, but then I remembered the intern, Jackie. They made their way out and we stood around the table outside the clean room and partook of the baked goods and the cups of lukewarm coffee on the table. While my protection detail took their positions on either side of the room.
Jackie looked nervously at the armed agents then said, “You seem to be surrounded by guards all the time. But you aren't dangerous, are you?”
I heard a tiny snort from Mei and I grinned at the sound. I shook my head and said, “They aren't guards.” I squinted my eyes slightly and thought about that for a second. “Or at least I don't think they are. They're me protection detail. There is something happening in the area that has me team on high alert.”
She furrowed her brow in confusion. “They protect YOU? But... you're the Dragon of Denver. What could they possibly do to protect you that you can't do yourself.”
I shot a quick concerned look at Dawna, she seemed unphased, then I shrugged. “Oh I think you'd be surprised.”
Mei added, “If you ever saw Agent Trask in action, you'd understand.
We got to talking about the Fire Stone scrolls and asking Jackie to tell us about herself. She was a little vague on the details, but she said she was taking mythological studies specifically for this chance to work with a team on the Fire Stone artifacts. James piped in at that, “And she has already helped in deciphering some of the more archaic runes this morning. Insightful and inspired transitory symbology.”
I smiled as Mei absently handed me yet another soda muffin as I finished my second. She was as bad a Quinn at keeping my metabolism in check, I wonder if she is a little in tune with me after I accidentally made her a fire elemental. I'm still not sure how I did that.
I looked at the betty, she was taller than me but not by much, and quite a looker. Very atypical of people in our field, with the exception of Mei of course, the two of them could be spokesmodels for researcher recruitment with a slogan like, “Join our geeky profession, it is where all the pretty people are.”
I think I liked her because she was smiling all the time and she was very intelligent. Her eyes were a little disturbing though, I mean, they were pretty but there were wisdom and intelligence beyond her years in them and she seemed to be studying me closely, every motion I made and every word I said. I shook myself out of my thoughts. Well, of course she is Myra! That is why she is here, to learn everything she can from my team. My eyes flicked to the broach she had hanging on a delicate gold chain on her neck. A glint of light highlighting the huge blue sapphire in it caught my attention. There was that vague sense of Drakon again.
The elevator dinged, I turned to it and Dawna was on alert but relaxed a bit when Henry walked out carrying a package. He made his way down the corridor then smiled at us and I said, “What's up boss?” As I held the bakery bag up to him. He grinned and handed the package off to James, who started unwrapping it.
Henry's eyes twinkled as he selected a muffin. He said, “Bless your mother, but she's going to get us all fat
. And stop calling me Boss, Myra.”
I nodded in apology and said, “Sure thing boss.” Then shot him a huge toothy smile.
He shook his head and sighed in resignation as he took a big bite of his muffin as he muttered, “It's hopeless.” I nodded in staunch agreement and he smiled and turned to leave, calling back over his shoulder, “A government courier dropped that off at my office a few minutes ago.” He waved a hand in the air at us and wanderd back down the corridor and got back on the elevator for the ride back up to his office.
I looked over as James finished unwrapping the package. Two large hidebound books. Jackie's breath caught and I glanced at her but she was looking away from the books. James said plainly, “Morgan la Fay's tomes from Saint George's library.”
I put my coffee cup down and brushed the crumbs from my blouse and said, “Right. Let's get ta work shall we? Time waits for no woman, ya know.”
We entered the clean room door, badging ourselves inside, then they waited as I donned my hairnet and gown. Then we all scrubbed our hands in the sink and made our way through the second door into the positive pressure room.
James automatically gave the tomes to Mei. She was our book person. Then we all stood around the scroll on the light table. James handed me an iPad and said, “Dragon up.” I snapped my dragon senses up and then gasped and dropped the iPad on the table and scurried away from Mei on instinct and against the observation window.
Dawna and the No-Name drew their weapons instantly and were scanning around for a threat. James and Mei looked concerned. I calmed myself. I wasn't ready for what I had felt when my senses came up. Something cold and foreboding, something evil radiating off of the books. I covered my nose to try to block out the smell of blood and... flesh.
I got control of my wits and took a deep breath through my mouth so I didn't have to smell it anymore then took a step toward the concerned looking Japanese American lass. “Put the books down Mei. They are covered in human skin. She put them down on the light table quickly and looked at her hands with disgust and ran back out the inner doors to the sink and started furiously scrubbing her hands again. We know it is an irrational thing, but it was just the sickening thought that the books were bound in human skin that made us not want to touch them.
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