Page 12 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter twelve

N ora stretched luxuriously, unable to remember the last time she had been woken by the sun instead of her blaring alarm. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she made her way down the hall to thank Adam for letting her stay the night. She found the door to his bedroom ajar, but when she pushed it open, the room was empty. The bed was made, and there was no trace of the man who slept there other than the now familiar scent of chai and books.

She wondered where he could have been up and off to so early on a Sunday and suppressed the little bubble of hurt she felt that he hadn’t stayed to say good morning. His leaving had nothing to do with her presence.

It was probably for the best, too. Last night, Nora had realized that the charming academic really was a part of Adam, and not just a facade. But it was only a single facet of him, and there were parts of his life that she could barely fathom. It still wouldn’t be wise to nurture a crush on a man who came from such a vastly different world than her—and would live on it that world long after she died.

The grim thought chased the last of the sleepiness from Nora’s limbs, and she stood up with renewed purpose.

Remembering what had brought her to the Sanctuary in the first place, she mentally kicked herself for not asking Adam where the library was the night before. Now she was going to be back to square one with her search.

She started in the direction she had come from the night before, hoping she would at least be able to retrace her steps back to the entrance. As soon as she rounded the corner, though, she ran into something very warm and solid.

“Oh, there you are, Ad—” The words died in Nora’s mouth as she looked up to find that she had not in fact run into Adam, for the figure was much too broad across the shoulders. Instead, she saw a curling beard and dark brown eyes, wide with surprise.

“Drew? What are you doing here?”

“Oh—well, umm…” Drew’s eyes darted around the hallway. “I was looking for…”

“Wait, were you looking for me?” Nora realized she had not told anybody where she was going when she’d left the day before. “Sorry if you called me. I don’t get cell service here. I should have let somebody know I was staying the night.”

“Oh no, that’s—what were you doing here overnight?”

“I came looking for the library to do some research. I guess I lost track of the time. Adam told me I could sleep in the room I’d stayed in before if I didn’t feel up to the journey home.”

The furrow between Drew’s brows smoothed. “I’m glad you didn’t have to go home by yourself at night.”

“Did Odelle ask you to check up on me? Sorry if she put you up to this. I haven’t told her about all this,” she gestured around the Sanctuary at large, “and she is too smart to not figure out when I’m hiding something from her. It’s made her get all worried about me.”

“No, Odelle hasn’t texted me. I didn’t know you would be here.” Drew rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh,” Nora internally sighed in relief that her younger sister hadn’t resorted to involving her ex-boyfriend. She cocked her head. “So, wait—what are you doing here then?”

“Well…” Drew cleared his throat. “I asked Thad if he could explain to me some of the, ah, techniques he used while he was healing you. Being an ER doc, I was really interested in the science behind it. He agreed to teach me a few tricks that he has learned over the years. I’ve been coming here occasionally to see him.”

“That’s great!” Nora said, and she meant it. “I’ve been working in some weapons research with my combat training too, so I’m glad we’ve both found a way to use this experience to our benefit.”

“I’m sorry if everybody ganged up on you to get you to train in self-defense.” Drew shifted from foot to foot as he spoke. “I’m just glad you’re going to be safer now.”

Nora waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I just needed some time to… reframe the situation.”

“Right. Did you say you were trying to find the library? Thad showed me where it was. I could take you to it if you’d like.”

“That’d be great,” Nora conceded. “I’ve wasted enough time trying to find it on my own.”

A few minutes later, Drew led Nora into a vast circular room that took her breath away. The room overflowed with golden light, streaming in from above. The distant ceiling was composed of a mosaic of glass panels, held in place by a latticework of gold. Turning her attention back to the main room, Nora couldn’t help but find the bookshelves themselves to be one of the most impressive parts. Instead of being made of wood, the shelves were carved into the white stone walls themselves. They were packed haphazardly with books of every size and color, running in both directions, stacked on top of each other, and even shelved two deep in some places.

Nora wove her way through a collection of stools and study tables to the center of the circle, which was clear of furniture. A bronze symbol emblazoned the pale floor. It was the shape of a sun, crossed by a sword and spear. The way the light danced through the glass above caught on the metal and made it shimmer, making it look more like the sun hanging in the sky than just a symbol on the floor.

Nora had been so enchanted by her surroundings that she had forgotten Drew was with her until he chuckled, “You look like you’ve died and gone to Heaven, although I can’t say I’m surprised. This suits you perfectly.”

“I have always loved books,” Nora breathed, still staring around in awe.

“True, but it’s not just that,” Drew continued, a wistful note in his deep voice. “This whole place, you just seem to… fit here. You’ve always seemed like you belonged in a place like this, so full of art and history and knowledge.”

Nora cocked her head up at him, finding herself unsure how to respond to a comment that profound. She settled on a whispered, “Thank you.” A few moments passed before she asked, “Shouldn’t you be going to find Thad? If he’s expecting you, I wouldn’t want to be the reason you’re keeping him waiting.”

“What? Oh—Thad. Of course.” Drew reached out and gave her shoulder a squeeze before turning to go. “Have fun with your explorations. I’ll see you around.”

As Drew’s footsteps faded back into the hallway, Nora turned back to the books in front of her, puzzling over where she should start. She stepped up to the nearest shelf and began to peruse, unable to stop herself from running her fingers along the spines of the books, seeing titles on dozens of topics from every age, all mixed together in no particular order.

She paused when her finger brushed a particularly ancient-looking tome titled The Birth of Shadows , Seraphina’s haughty voice playing in her mind, saying something about an agent of Shadow. Nora pulled the tome out and tucked it under her free arm before continuing to browse. There was no harm in doing some research on her potential enemy.

By the time Nora reached the end of the shelf, she had two more tomes tucked under her arm, both very old with titles hinting at information on weaponry. She considered setting herself up at one of the study tables, but then thought of how she couldn’t receive work emails while she was in the Sanctuary, and how she wished she could have a cup of coffee while she read. So, she tucked the books more firmly under her arm, thinking that it was better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission when it came to removing the books from the library.

As soon as she stepped through the portal and into the cool city air, her phone vibrated insistently with the tone she reserved for her work email. Fishing her phone from her jacket pocket, she crossed her fingers that she didn’t have to go into the office when she had just come across such great reading material.

When she read the subject of the email, she whooped so loudly that a flock of nearby pigeons took flight. She was going on a trip.

Nothing could dampen Nora’s mood that weekend, and she was still practically skipping as she made her way into the training ring on Monday afternoon.

“You seem… bouncy today,” Ezra commented as she approached.

“And you’ll be bouncy too when you hear my news. You’re going to get a few days off from me next week.”

Ezra furrowed his brow. “Why would it make me bouncy to hear that my student will be slacking off and forgetting most of what she’s learned?”

“It’s not slacking,” Nora snapped. “I have to go on a trip for work. I’m presenting on my research at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and I’m sure it’s just a precursor to my promotion!”

To Nora’s disappointment, this only seemed to further concern Ezra.

“Where is Pittsburgh again?”

“Not far. The plane ride should be less than two hours,” Nora answered, still bouncing on her toes in excitement.

“Plane ride? I’m not sure you can do that.”

Nora froze. “What do you mean I can’t do that?”

Ezra pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger as if having to explain this to Nora was already giving him a headache.

“Because your guard would have to come with you, and it’s been hard enough to keep up with you during your crazy skipping around the city. Seriously, do you have to go an extra mile every day to get your coffee when there is a café right across the street?”

“Yes, their espresso is distinctly better,” Nora insisted, “Also, how do you know that? Are you my guard as well as my trainer?”

Ezra shrugged one thick shoulder, “We all take turns. There aren’t that many of us, after all. And none of us can come on a plane with you. It’s not as if I have a valid photo ID, and that makes it hard enough to get around one city.”

Nora planted a hand on her hip in frustration. “The only reason I agreed to any of this was because it could advance my research. If you think I’m going to give up this opportunity because you don’t have enough brains in your head to figure out how to keep me safe while I travel, then you have another thing coming.”

Ezra held out his hands placatingly. “Calm yourself, young firecracker. There is one of us who might be able to come with you.”

Nora looked up from her laptop, which sat propped on top of her suitcase, when a pair of loafers stopped just inside her field of vision. Adam juggled two paper cups while trying to keep his beaten leather bag on his shoulder.

Nora jumped to her feet, relieving him of the cups so he could settle himself into the uncomfortable airport chair beside hers. When she moved to give him back his beverages, he took one, but inclined his hand towards the other cup in her hand.

“That one’s for you. One black Americano.” He reached into his bag as he spoke. “And I got you something else that you will love.” Nora took the crumpled brown bag from his outstretched hand as he proudly proclaimed, “One chocolate croissant.”

She tried not to wrinkle her nose as she passed the bag back to him.

“No, thank you. I’m not really one for sweets.”

Adam blinked. “You’re not? I could have sworn…”

“It’s not a problem.” Nora shrugged. “It’s not like you’ve ever seen me eat dessert.”

“I suppose I haven’t,” Adam said, still dumbly clutching the bakery bag as if the idea that Nora could refuse a croissant had turned his entire world upside down.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Nora reassured, turning her attention to the coffee, which was much more to her liking. “I forgive you. You couldn’t have known.”

Adam settled back in his chair and considered her. “Well, we do have thirty minutes until our flight boards. Why don’t I get to know you a little better?”

“I have to go over my presentation one last time,” Nora lamented, even as the corner of her mouth pulled up. She had told herself repetitively before this trip that she would keep Adam at arm’s length, but the more he smiled at her, the more she forgot why it wasn’t a good idea to let herself be drawn in by his charms. Even if he wasn’t just a sexy professor, that was still a part of him.

“You’ve gone over that presentation three times since we’ve gotten here,” Adam insisted. “And I took a day and a half off from work to fly with you to a conference where you will be presenting details about weaponry that I am already familiar with. Humor me.”

Nora snapped her laptop closed and turned to face him. She crossed her legs and asked, “What do you want to know?”

Adam took a sip of his tea as he debated where to start.

“Pet peeve?” he asked.

“Slow pedestrians who don’t stay to the right side of the sidewalk.”

He nodded as if adding this to a mental catalog.

“Favorite food?”

“Hot sauce.”

“That’s not a—”

“Just go with it,” Nora warned.

To his credit, Adam let the issue drop and moved on to his next question.

“Best friend?”

“Easy. My sister.”

Adam tilted his head. “That doesn’t count. She’s family.”

“It counts to me,” Nora argued. “I spend more of my free time with her than with anybody else.”

“You have to have other friends, though,” Adam insisted.

Nora shrugged. “Some, but I’ve never really done the inseparable group of besties thing. I would almost always rather be alone than be around stupid people.”

“You think most people are stupid?” Adam asked with one corner of his mouth twisting up. Nora could tell that he was baiting her, but she refused to give him satisfaction.

“Well, less interesting than Odelle, at least,” she shot back.

Adam took a long sip of his drink as he hummed. “Well then it’s a good thing I’m well studied, or this might be a very long trip for you.”

Nora rolled her eyes and searched around in her bag until she found what she was looking for as she said, “Now if you are done with the twenty questions act, I’m going to try to get some reading done.”

When she pulled the thick tome onto her lap, Adam’s breath hitched, and she peered at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Should I not have taken this out of the library?” she asked.

“No, it’s not that,” he hedged. “That’s just… very heavy reading for a plane ride.”

“Well, I figured I might as well learn about the creatures that are going to try to kill me.”

Adam shook his head and ran his long fingers through his hair.

“That book is about more than just the creatures. It describes the nature of the Shadow itself and it can get quite… graphic. I would not recommend it. I had to read it in my training to become a Defender and I still have nightmares.”

Nora chewed her lip thoughtfully. “What do you mean by ‘nature of the Shadow’?” Adam hesitated and Nora pressed him, “If you don’t tell me, then I’m just going to read the book myself.”

“Ok, I’ll do my best to explain,” Adam said, folding his hands under his chin and propping his elbows on his knees. He didn’t look at her as he began speaking.

“The creatures at the museum are actually just fragments of the enemy, broken off from the greater whole to wreak havoc. The real enemy is much more insidious. It creeps into people’s minds to hide, masquerading as a piece of their own self-doubt. It feeds upon every negative thought in the person’s head until they can think of nothing else. It’s evasive, though, weaving itself so thoroughly into a person’s insecurities that they can’t tell where they end and the Shadow begins. Once the Shadow fully overtakes a person, they are no more than a puppet for the Shadow to use as they will—not even human anymore. At that point, we call them an agent of Shadow.”

Nora tried to take a sip of her coffee as she listened, but the liquid was suddenly too bitter for her to stomach, and her hands shook. She put the cup down and pressed her palms into the armrests of her seat to steady herself.

“What about things like the fire at the museum then? Where do they fit in?” Nora managed to ask.

“The agent has the power to call down natural disasters of all sorts, even plague, in a hope to bring death and terror. The Shadow can then use the pain sowed in the survivors to create more agents, creating an endless cycle.” Adam inclined his head towards the book in Nora’s lap. “That book details the worst disasters the Shadow has ever brought down, and how it used them to shroud the world in its darkness.”

Nora glanced down at the heavy leather tome that lay open in her lap, before slamming it closed and shoving it into her bag.

She swallowed a few times before responding, “I think you’re right. I really don’t want to read that on an airplane. I’m a nervous enough flyer as it is.”

“Probably wise,” Adam agreed.

Nora resolved to keep the book safely shut in the bottom of her bag for the remainder of the trip.

Adam and Nora managed to find their seats near the rear of the aircraft, but not without a fair amount of grumbling from Nora about how people really needed to learn how to pack their carry-on baggage more effectively and not waste everybody’s time trying to shove too-large bags in the overhead bins. Adam, for his part, appeared to find her tirade very amusing and had no trouble slipping his practical luggage into the bin above their seats.

Determined to cheer herself up, Nora put in her earbuds and closed her eyes as the plane taxied toward the runway. The pilot made some announcements about high winds and turbulence in their flight path, but Nora couldn’t quite hear it over her music. She had just drifted off to sleep by the time the plane lifted off, but she was jerked awake by Adam violently shaking her shoulder shortly after.

“What is your—” she began to scold him but cut off when she saw the wild look in his eyes.

“We have a problem,” he said, gesturing past their already sleeping row-mate to the window.

Nora could just make out the wing of the plane through the clouds as she squinted. She stared for a moment, confused, before her eyes suddenly widened in realization. Clinging onto the end of the wing, was the swirling, gray, but still unmistakable form of a Shadow creature.