Page 17 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter seventeen

T he next day at work, Nora found the case for the display of the sword, and the spear had arrived, along with a memo on her desk. She didn’t even have time to set her bag down before Mandy pranced over with a delighted squeal.

“Oh, did you see? This is going to be so much fun!”

Nora slid into the chair at her desk and picked up the official-looking envelope while responding, “I haven’t had a chance to see yet, considering that you ambushed me the moment I walked in the door.”

As she skimmed over the memo in her hand, the reason for Mandy’s delight became clear. To celebrate the reveal of the new weapons in the arms and armor display, the museum was holding a black-tie celebration, and the entire department was invited.

“After all this time in the basement covered in plaster dust, we get to show off! And you know, an event like this would be a perfect time to announce something like, oh, I don’t know, a big promotion,” Mandy nudged her elbow into Nora’s side knowingly.

“Yup, they are letting the nerds out and letting us play dress up for a night, no doubt so we can suck up to some of the major donors,” Nora brushed Mandy off, although she bristled with excitement at Mandy’s suggestion. A public celebration of her work did seem like the perfect backdrop for a promotion announcement.

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot that you hate having fun.”

“I don’t hate having fun,” Nora countered. “I just don’t have anything to wear for an event like this. And it’s next week! How am I supposed to get an outfit on such short notice?”

It was true. Nora was spending all her time when she wasn’t at work either training with Ezra or studying in the library at the Sanctuary. Any other free time she may have had she spent asleep, her body exhausted from all the sudden additions to her routine.

“Why don’t you ask your sister?” Mandy offered. “I’m sure she’d be happy to get an outfit together for you. She’s got better taste than both of us put together.”

Nora’s gut twisted at the mention of Odelle. They hadn’t spoken since the night on the street in front of her apartment. Nora had managed to distract herself from the pain of their disagreement by throwing herself into life at the Sanctuary. Mandy’s casual mention of Odelle reminded her of their strained relationship and reopened the wound it had caused.

Mandy prattled on, unaware of Nora’s inner turmoil.

“We each get a plus one too! Maybe Odelle can set you up with somebody, or do you already have somebody in mind?”

Nora wrenched her mind back to the conversation.

“Oh, I’ll probably just go alone. Make sure I have plenty of time to make a good impression on the donors,” she hedged.

Mandy pursed her lips.

“Just when I thought you were getting the hang of work-life balance by leaving work at a reasonable hour every day, you refuse to have fun and show off at a party being thrown in honor of your work. There has to be somebody you want to impress!”

Nora envisioned a lanky figure and intelligent eyes framed by glasses.

“Well,” Nora debated before continuing, “There is this one guy, but…”

“But what? You’re smart, beautiful, young…”

“That’s the thing,” Nora struggled to explain. “He’s quite a bit older.”

It was an overly simple way to explain her struggles when it came to her attraction to Adam, because she had found that there was no denying that she found him charming. Although she had given up her efforts to keep her distance, she still hadn’t decided where that left her.

Mandy’s eyebrows shot up, and she whistled low.

“Girl, you go get it. Nothing like a more mature guy who can actually keep up with an intelligent woman like yourself. Ask him!”

“I’ll focus on the outfit first, then worry about the date,” Nora responded noncommittally.

Mandy had been right. Having Odelle help her get dressed up for a gala might be a peace offering of sorts. She would just have to do something about the bruises on her skin first, and she thought she knew somebody who might be able to help.

That evening, after training with Ezra, she found herself wandering through the halls of the Sanctuary in search of Thad. Ezra had told her that he thought he might be in the music room.

Nora turned down the hallway that the music room should be on, according to Ezra’s instructions. As she made her way down the marble floors, the slight tinkling of a piano assured her that she was headed in the right direction. As she got closer, though, the sound of laughter drifted down the hallway, and she furrowed her brow.

“Thad?” Nora gently pushed on the broad wooden door leading to the room the sounds emanated from.

Thad was indeed seated at the piano bench, idly picking out a melody on the keys, much more focused on another figure perched on the corner of the piano, clad in a plaid shirt and laughing.

“Drew?” Nora asked.

At the noise, both men jumped, Drew so hard he nearly fell off the piano having clearly been so distracted by his conversation that he hadn’t heard her enter.

“Ah, Nora, how lovely to have you join us,” Thad remarked, and Nora detected amusement in the crinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Drew hopped down off the piano, smoothing down the front of his plaid shirt with fidgeting hands.

“Hi, Nora,” Drew offered, obviously trying to sound casual. “I didn’t know you would be here tonight. I was just—I mean, we were… um, Thad was showing me—”

“I was just teaching Drew how to play the piano,” Thad interrupted.

“Of course,” Nora teased, “It’s a logical extension of discussions of emergency medicine.”

“Funny enough, Drew has managed to spend a fair amount of time clutching his pearls over my lack of sterile technique, but he’s also quite good company.”

Drew attempted to clear his throat and succeeded in falling into a fit of coughing. Thad gave him a hearty clap on the back before returning his focus to Nora.

“So now that we’ve got you here, is there a reason that you interrupted our piano lesson?”

Nora blinked. “Oh. Ezra mentioned that you might be able to help me fade these bruises.” Nora held out her arms, showing the men the scattered marks on her skin. “Not that I’m not proud to have earned these the hard way, it’s just that they might raise some eyebrows when I’m forced to wear short sleeves at a work event next weekend.”

Thad clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “Not the worst I’ve seen on somebody who has just started training with a spear. You must be doing Ezra proud. I think I’ve got something that can help you.”

Nora and Drew emerged into the clear Chicago night and stepped out from under the shelter of the Bean into a crisp wind that whipped Nora’s curls into her face. She carried a miniature Mason jar filled with a yellowish ointment that smelled vaguely of rosemary with a sharper undercurrent that she couldn’t place. She had thought the container a bit odd when Thad passed it to her, but he’d just commented that Drew shouldn’t have introduced him to Pinterest if he didn’t want his concoctions to look rustic-chic.

Drew and Nora walked to the nearest bus stop in companionable silence, calmed by the familiar sounds of honking cabs and the rumble of the train passing a few streets over. Drew had insisted on walking Nora back to the city, saying that he was heading home anyway, but Nora didn’t miss the familiar hug Thad gave Drew as he left.

“So, you’ve been hanging out at the Sanctuary with Thad a lot?” Nora asked, breaking the silence.

Drew shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and shrugged, “I mean, we’ve become friends. He seems to enjoy having more of a connection to the outside world, and he is…”

“Handsome, charming, funny?” Nora supplied, her tone teasing.

Drew coughed. “I don’t want things to be awkward between us, and I know our breakup is still sort of fresh, but I saw you and Adam, and I thought... It’s not really anything, though. I think Thad flirts with everybody.”

They reached the corner of the bus stop, and Nora turned to look up at Drew. “It’s not awkward. We said we would be friends, and friends want each other to be happy, even when it seems like they are being intentionally dense about how much a certain Healer might like them.”

She was being completely honest. In the past few weeks, the ache deep in her chest when she thought about Drew had faded. Every day she came to the Sanctuary, the Drew-shaped hole in her life had been slowly filled in with bits of information she was gathering in the library and the confidence she was gaining from Ezra’s training. Without her even realizing it, she had started to find a new place for herself, there among the Eteria. She was feeling the beginnings of a sense of belonging that had been missing since she’d broken up with Drew, and even before, if she thought about it.

“You’re just being nice,” Drew huffed. “It’s so obvious with you and Adam, but Thad… it can be so hard to tell.”

Nora blew out a breath that clouded in the night air as she turned to look out at the street. “Do you know something I don’t? Adam and I are pretty far from being a thing. I haven’t even had any contact with him since we almost crashed a plane together.”

As much as she tried to sound light, Nora couldn’t keep a small amount of disappointment from her tone. She had hoped to see Adam around the Sanctuary this week, but she was still hesitant to seek him out herself.

“I think he only reached out to me in the first place to get to see the sword, and now he’s kept me around because he feels responsible for what happened.”

The assessment seemed to go against Adam’s character, even to her own ears, but it was what she had been telling herself to explain why she had seen so little of him, even once she had decided against intentionally avoiding him.

Drew threw his head back and laughed. When Nora glared up at him in confusion, he said, “You just accused me of being dense when you’re acting like this? I forgot how oblivious you can be when somebody likes you. It’s like back when you were in grad school, and I was always coming up with any excuse to bother you that I could in that café you used to study in. And it’s probably even worse now that you haven’t had practice in the dating game for a while.”

“Be serious, Drew,” she scolded, slapping his arm lightly.

“I am being serious. Anybody who was there when that man charged into the emergency room covered in your blood would bet their first-born child that he cares for you in a way that goes beyond responsibility.”

The tips of Nora’s ears heated, but she remained obstinate. “If he really felt that way then he would have sought me out. It’s not like he doesn’t know where I’ve been. I’ve been at the Sanctuary constantly!”

“Exactly.” Drew had the smug look of somebody who knew they had argued their opponent into a corner. “He knows you’re so busy with all this new stuff that has been thrust on you, he probably suspects you’re a little overwhelmed. Plus, considering you were attacked by literal demons the last time you guys spent time together, he may be trying to be a gentleman and let you make the next move.”

Nora was growing increasingly sheepish by the second. Adam was trying to be chivalrous and here Nora was getting all up in arms like a spurned teenager. Considering she had only recently realized she was fighting a losing battle against her crush on Adam and decided to surrender, it seemed a bit silly.

Drew continued thoughtfully, “Also, I know the man is literally from ancient Greece, but he has a phone, right? You could always just shoot him a text and see if he wants to do something that doesn’t involve swords or a trip to the hospital. Although, given that it’s you, I think pretty much anything will end up involving swords.”

The next day at lunch, Nora’s thumbs hovered above her phone screen as she chewed on her tuna sandwich. She had taken Drew’s advice and decided to ask Adam if he would like to attend the gala with her. After all, they were revealing his own sword in its new position of honor in the display, and he deserved to be there to see it. Adam had responded promptly that he would love to come, and Nora was amused that he did not let the fact that he was over two millennia old deter him from the uninhibited use of emojis.

Now, Nora was in the predicament of finding herself a suitable dress for a black-tie event in a closet dominated by flannel, oversized sweaters, and a smattering of sharp suits appropriate for professional presentations. She had composed a careful message to Odelle, imploring her to take pity on her and help her pick out a dress, and to her endless relief, Odelle had replied with the name of a boutique and a time this evening.

Nora made her decision and shot off a quick text to Drew, asking him to tell Thad that she would not be coming to the Sanctuary tonight for training so he could pass the message on to Ezra. The lack of cell phone service in the Sanctuary certainly complicated things, although now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure anybody outside of Adam or Thad used a cell phone at all.

Putting her cell phone down and taking another bite of her sandwich, guilt twisted in Nora’s stomach about calling off training tonight. Juggling her work-life balance had started to get to her, although that probably had something to do with the fact that her life outside of work had now stretched to include preparing to fight the physical incarnation of fear.

The sun was already on the horizon by the time Nora stepped off the bus near the store that Odelle had named. It was approaching the time of year when it would be dark by the time Nora left work, and she was forced to pull her scarf up to protect her face from the wind that was cold even for late fall in Chicago.

Nora shouldered her way through the door and spotted Odelle already perusing. She made her way over to the younger woman and stepped up beside her to squeeze her in a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you could make it, zaika .”

Odelle did not turn away from the rack of gowns in front of her or move to return the hug, but she did incline her head into Nora’s embrace so that the side of her head rested on Nora’s shoulder.

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t want to deprive you of my impeccable taste,” Odelle responded airily. Considering Odelle’s legendary stubbornness when it came to giving people the cold shoulder, Nora considered this greeting a win.

Odelle swept a black dress off the rack that had entirely too many straps for Nora’s taste. “This one might look nice on you.”

She handed it to a saleswoman while she continued to browse, next selecting a dress in a pomegranate color that Nora thought might be flattering, but had a slit up the side that would spark a disagreement about what was appropriate for a work event.

The next dress Odelle pulled out of the rack had Nora’s eyes widening. Lengths of shimmering gold fabric draped from a gather at one shoulder to a cinched waistline and a softly draped skirt.

“Let’s try on that one first,” Nora piped up enthusiastically.

Odelle peered at her out of the corner of her eye, smiling triumphantly as she handed the dress to the dutiful saleswoman to take to the dressing room.

“I had hoped I would convince you to go to the gala in a showstopper.”

By the time Nora was stepping out of the dressing room, she was sure Odelle wasn’t going to have to do much convincing. Sure, it might be frivolous to drop as much as she would on groceries for two weeks on a dress she was going to wear once, but it was not every week that a girl had a date with a legendary warrior sorcerer. It wasn’t unreasonable to put her best foot forward when trying to impress a man who had lived through every age of ridiculous fashion.

As Nora pushed aside the curtain and stepped out to stand in front of the mirror, Odelle looked up from her phone and let out a soft, “Damn, girl.”

Nora made eye contact with her sister in the mirror over her shoulder, and Odelle beamed. Nora made a mental note to thank Thad again for the miracle balm as she looked over herself in the mirror. Explaining so many bruises to Odelle would have been a nightmare.

Odelle circled around Nora so she could view the dress from every angle.

“I know I’m good, but we knocked it out of the park on the first try here. That’s a record even for me.”

Nora twisted this way and that in the mirror, admiring the way the fabric cascaded over her curves in soft folds. The draping was reminiscent of the clothes that a Greek goddess would be painted in, and the significance was not lost on her as she appreciated her reflection.

As Odelle stepped around once more to stand behind Nora, she let out a low whistle.

“Have you been going to the gym more or something?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been… taking kickboxing classes,” Nora said, attempting to convince herself that this was not technically lying. “I’ve gotten a lot better.”

“It’s paid off.” Odelle’s tone was approving. “Your butt has never looked this good before.”

Nora twisted to see her backside in the mirror, and she had to admit that Odelle was right. Her training with Ezra had done her some favors when it came to the view of her posterior. What a lovely bonus that one of the side effects of training to survive an attack by evil monsters was a perkier behind.

“Be careful, or I might get jealous. Everybody knows I’m supposed to be the hot one,” Odelle teased, stepping up next to Nora in the mirror before softening her tone. “But seriously, you look breathtaking.”

“Thanks,” Nora said before pausing, taking a moment to fiddle with the waistband of her dress before continuing, “We’re good, right?”

The silence was brief before Odelle said, “It’s the two of us, we’ll always be good.”

Nora nodded gratefully. She opened her mouth, considering spilling the truth about everything that had happened in her life right then and there. A little bit longer . She could wait until she could confidently tell Odelle that she could defend herself from the Shadow so Odelle wouldn’t have to worry.

Nora shut her mouth, and Odelle broke the silence.

“And to show you how good we are, I have a little surprise for you,” she said, a playful glint in her eyes.

“Oh?”

“I managed to get a press pass to your gala, so I get to cover the event for a special interest piece and play up how wonderfully accomplished my big sister is,” Odelle said, lifting her chin proudly. “Plus, I wouldn’t want to miss them announcing your promotion.”

Nora’s jaw dropped and she turned to face her sister. Her mouth worked open and closed a few times before she asked, “Why aren’t we working on finding you something to wear then?”

“Bold of you to assume I haven’t already got something in my closet.” Odelle waved her question away. “Just be sure you save some interview time for me.”

Nora nodded enthusiastically before her mind hit a snag.

“I should warn you, though,” she started, “I’m bringing a date to the event, and I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“Why wouldn’t I like the fact that I seem to have finally convinced you to get back in the saddle?” Odelle said with a quizzical tilt of her head.

Nora chewed her bottom lip before admitting, “It’s Adam.”

“The Adam from the hospital?”

Nora nodded before trying to defend herself, “He helped with the translation of the inscription on the sword, and we’ve been working closely together and… yeah,” she finished lamely.

Odelle pursed her lips, but to her credit, she seemed to try to reign in her skepticism. “I won’t ruin your night. But I swear, if something goes wrong at this gala, I’m going to find a way to embarrass that guy on national television.”

“Are you really going to disapprove of me seeing a perfectly good guy just because he was present when I got in an accident?”

“And an almost plane crash? Until you prove to me that he didn’t have something to do with either, then yes. Now come on, take the dress off so we can check out,” said Odelle, shooing her back into the dressing room. “We’ve still got to find you shoes to go with it.”

Nora did as she was told, but not before stealing one more glance over her shoulder at herself in the dress and grinning. She hoped Adam would appreciate the view from behind too.