Page 26 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter twenty-six

A s Nora made her way through the streets of Chicago, she suddenly understood the practice of warriors wearing capes on a new level. She had tried to put on her puffy winter jacket over her clothes and armor, and it had turned out to be obnoxiously bulky and restrictive. She was unable to zip her coat over the added bulk of the breastplate, so she was forced to use one hand to hold it around her as the other carried her spear.

The storm had intensified even further since she and Adam had exited the portal for the first time that day. Nora was forced to bow her head and press forward into the frigid wind, which threatened to tug the edges of her coat from her numb fingers yet again. This blizzard was of epic proportions for it not being fully winter yet, but Nora could sense the malice in the wind that told her this was not a natural storm.

Knowing the Shadow would want Nora’s journey to Odelle to be as hard and demoralizing as possible, Nora turned and walked directly into the wind, toward where the air seemed the coldest and the swirling snow the densest.

So far, it had led her away from the lakefront and among the towering skyscrapers of the loop. Nora had hoped that the shelter of the buildings would give her some relief from the biting wind, but it only served to tunnel the air, whistling through the streets so loudly that Nora could hear little else. There wasn’t much to hear anyway, with the streets as empty as Nora had ever seen them, the only cars in sight blanketed in snow.

Nora tried to think positively as the last of the feeling left her frigid face. At least the abandoned streets meant there would be minimal collateral damage from the coming confrontation.

As Nora approached the L tracks, any ability to think positively was lost as the howling wind became impossibly loud. The snowfall was so dense that Nora had to squint to make out the poles holding up the tracks for the elevated train.

The sound of the wind began to take on a groaning quality, and Nora paused before she realized that it was not the wind at all, but a voice. She followed the sound toward one of the square metal poles buried in the street.

Through the haze of snow, Nora could just make out a huddled form propped up against the painted yellow column. She did her best to run toward it, slipping on the accumulating snow and ice until she skidded to a halt in front of the bundled figure and clattered to her knees.

As she had feared, the figure was Odelle. Nora was relieved to find her still bundled in the excessively large puffer jacket with the fur-lined hood that the newscasters were issued when they broadcasted in extreme weather. Odelle herself appeared to not be aware of Nora’s approach, masked by the sounds of the storm. Odelle buried her face in her coat so that it was completely obscured, and a fresh rush of rage filled her blood as she saw that one of her hands was bound to the pole at her back. The rage almost immediately gave way to puzzlement when she saw that one of Odelle’s prosthetic legs was no longer strapped on but instead clutched tightly in her free hand.

Nora put her hand on Odelle’s shoulder, and her sister flinched away as she pulled her head out of her coat. Her eyes widened before becoming narrow and hard.

“You.” Odelle’s voice was as angry as it was broken. “This is all your fault.”

The words twisted like a knife in Nora’s heart even though they were an exact echo of what she had thought when she’d heard of Odelle’s capture. Just a few more hours and Nora would have been at dinner with Odelle, telling her the truth about everything. Now Odelle had the truth thrust upon her in the cruelest way possible.

Nora distracted herself from the pain by reaching for Odelle’s still-bound hand to untie her.

“I know, zaika , and you can be mad at me once we get you out of here,” Nora said, struggling with her numb fingers to untie the cord that held Odelle’s wrist. She did her best to hurry when Odelle shivered violently against her arm.

She didn’t manage to loosen the knot at all before a voice colder than the raging storm sounded behind her.

“I would call this a touching family reunion, but I think you are the last person Odelle wants to see right now.”

Nora whirled around and jumped to her feet in the same motion, snatching up her spear as she rose.

“Not after I’ve told her how you lied to her,” the Agent continued, unperturbed by Nora being substantially more well-armed than she had been at their last meeting. He looked exactly the same as he had then, dressed in an impeccable suit, without a coat despite the temperature. He still bore Leo’s face, but Nora knew that Leo was gone, and this twisted creature of darkness wore him like a mask by his own admission.

“You need to work on your human disguise,” Nora spat at him. “Normal people need to wear winter coats in a blizzard.”

He cocked his head and looked down at his clothing. The snow around his feet melted from the heat that she knew radiated from his body. Her foot still ached slightly from kicking him a few days ago.

“I was human once, you know,” the agent said in a tone that would have been conversational had his voice been capable of any sort of warmth. “I haven’t missed the condition.”

“Then why don’t you just show yourself as the monster you really are?” The feelings from Nora’s last meeting with the Agent crept up her spine, and she gripped her spear tighter until her fingers ached. She couldn’t let him keep talking and get inside her head again, as much as she needed to buy more time. She would rather goad him into a fair fight. Running him through with her spear felt like a fantastic idea when she thought about the pain in Odelle’s eyes.

“If memory serves, taking a human form hasn’t stopped me from being a monster before,” the Agent continued with a shrug. “In fact, I think I do some of my best work when I wear a human face.”

Nora responded by tugging off her bulky winter coat. “You aren’t going to do any more work at all if I have anything to say about it.”

“Feisty after our last meeting, aren’t we? I must say, I’m surprised that you and Adam reconciled so quickly. Shame that you abandoned him so soon after reuniting. I can feel the guilt rolling off you for running off without explanation.”

Nora tried desperately not to worry about where Adam might be at that moment, only sparing the barest thought to hope that Seraphina had given him her message. Then she distracted herself by swinging her spear into its ready position, held in her left hand with her arm bent, the long blade pointed to the ground to her left, and the butt pointed up behind her right shoulder.

The agent smiled at her unspoken challenge, but the smile grew and grew like a rip across his face to reveal the fiery blackness beneath. His skin continued to peel back as it had last time, his form growing until it was a seven-foot monster of darkness with whip-like arms and red coals where eyes should be. When the gash where the mouth should be parted, Nora saw the harsh glow of white fire within and the heat of it scraped across her numbed cheeks. Odelle began whimpering behind her, but Nora didn’t spare her a look, keeping the whole of her focus on the adversary before her.

Nora swung her spear first, and the force when the Shadow blocked it with one of its arms was enough to make her eyeballs hurt. As they began exchanging blows, Nora became grateful that her spear was longer than her usual practice weapon. The extra reach allowed her to stay away from the Shadow’s disproportionately long arms, which swung out faster than her eyes could follow. Still, Ezra’s training had managed to work its way under her skin, and she blocked the blow before her mind had fully processed what was happening.

As the Shadow feinted one way, Nora fell for its maneuver and was forced to dodge narrowly as it swerved in the other direction, ducking into a quick roll. She was suddenly much more grateful for the afternoon she had spent collecting bruises while practicing rolling with a weapon as she managed to regain her footing without impaling herself.

On the back foot, and clearly outmatched by her enemy, Nora grit her teeth in determination. She just had to hold on a little longer. Ezra’s training could get her that far.

Hoping to catch the Shadow off guard, she stayed low after her roll and stepped out into a lunge, swinging her weapon in a sweeping arc to knock the creature’s legs out from under it. The blow connected, but the Shadow managed to keep its footing, its unnaturally shaped legs bending in a way that looked wrong to absorb the impact.

Now it was the Shadow’s turn to catch Nora off guard, locking its arm against her blade and pulling in so close that Nora’s breastplate heated rapidly against her body. Its face loomed over her, and the mouth split in the parody of a grin, opening wide enough to swallow her whole. Just as the Shadow began to lower its head as if it were about to do exactly that, a shuffle behind Nora made it pause for a moment.

A split second was all Nora needed to free her blade from the lock and execute a quick spin, catching the Shadow in the chest with the spike on the butt of her spear. As the Shadow stumbled back with a shriek, there was a whoosh and a metallic thud.

Nora looked toward the far side of the elevated train track just in time to see Ezra drop from above and land on one knee in a dramatic pose that Nora would have to tease him for if she managed to make it out of this encounter alive. Still, she sent a silent thanks to Seraphina for successfully delivering her message.

The Shadow spun toward the fully armed Warrior in surprise, and Nora took the moment of distraction to glance at the commotion behind her. Pounding down the street toward her were Adam, Thad, and Drew.

“Odelle!” was all she could yell to them before turning her attention back to the fight. Thankfully, Adam understood her meaning and tugged the group over to where Odelle was still huddled a few meters away.

The Shadow and Ezra circled each other, the Shadow sporting a gash in the blackness of its chest, showing the same white fire that filled its mouth.

“How?” it hissed in a voice that had lost all of its unnatural polish. “I could feel your guilt in abandoning them.”

“I needed you to feel that, but my friends were with me all along.” Was the only gloating that Nora allowed herself before she and Ezra lunged at the Shadow together.

Now that there were two of them, the pace of the battle was nearly blinding. Bronze spears and black arms swung so fast that they blurred into colored arcs against the stark white backdrop of the snow. The Shadow fought more viciously now, growing so hot that Nora dripped sweat from the proximity, despite the cold of the surrounding air.

Still, the Shadow began blocking more than it was swinging under their coordinated attacks. The tide of the battle slowly began to shift, Ezra’s prowess clear as he drove the agent back, Nora doing her best to cut off their opponent’s escape routes and keep him from focusing his full attention on the more experienced Warrior. Ezra and Nora both swung their spears in sharp downward cuts at the same moment, and the Shadow caught both blows on one long arm. The pair of Warriors bore down together, and the Shadow folded under the weight. Just as Nora thought she could taste victory, the Shadow’s mouth spread into a smile once more.

Nora watched in horror as the Shadow’s free arm snaked out towards where Odelle was huddled, surrounded by Adam, Thad, and Drew. A scream tore from her throat, but she was powerless to stop anything as the whip-like arm tore a huge icicle from the train tracks above Odelle’s head.

Everything happened slowly as the icicle hurtled towards where Odelle was on the ground. Just before it made impact, a dark figure plowed into her and knocked her out of the way. Instead of Odelle lying on the churned snow, impaled by a spear of ice as long as Nora’s arm, it was Adam. The icicle had pierced the right side of his chest, pinning him to the ground like a butterfly in a glass case.

Time stood still for a moment, and even the snow seemed to stop its flurrying in midair. If the wind was still howling, Nora didn’t hear it as she stared at Adam, lying injured on the ground.

All at once, the sound rushed back in, and time picked up again at double speed. Nora whirled back toward the Shadow and swung her spear in a savage arc at its face. It managed to block in time, but just barely. Something overtook her muscles, like shadows of memories returning all at once, and she swung it with more confidence than she ever had before. The Agent hurried to defend itself, throwing its arms up over its misshapen head. Undeterred, Nora hacked doggedly at it with all the strength she possessed. She let out a broken cry as the Shadow was forced to stumble back. She pursued it relentlessly. This creature had made this happen, and she would swing at it until it was reduced to nothing. She felt hot all over now, as if she herself may burst into flames. Wisps of smoking drifted off her shirt and her hair as her blows grew in power.

As she raised her spear in both hands for one final stroke through the Shadow’s chest, a hoarse shout sounded behind her. The voice was thin, but it stopped her in her tracks.

“Nora.”

When Nora turned her head back toward where Adam lay, his head was lifted. Drew knelt next to him, holding a bloody icicle in his hand, but all Nora saw was Adam’s face, looking pale but alive. The emotion in his eyes made Nora think of the message she had left for him with Seraphina to let him know that she was not really abandoning him.

Through the darkest night .

Adam knew her well enough to know what she intended from just those four words, following her and setting up a trap for the Shadow that Nora wouldn’t give away in her feelings. He loved her enough that he was willing to die to save her family. He loved her, through the darkest night.

That’s when Nora felt it. The rage that had fueled her rampage against the Shadow had dissipated, and instead, a small golden kernel of something warm sprouted in her chest. She reached for that something inside her, and her consciousness brushed against it, a pleasant warmth like the sun caressing her face.

The warmth felt like the love she carried for Odelle and Drew and Adam, and the golden kernel grew until she was full to brimming. Her vision was white, and she sensed she was going to dissolve into Light. Nora threw out her hands in front of her wildly and recognized the Light tearing through her, filling up and ravaging her insides as it went.

It was over as quickly as it had started, and Nora opened her eyes to find herself on her knees in the snow. Where the Agent had once been lingered the last wisps of smoke, and when Nora looked down at her hands, the faintest glimmers of gold danced between her fingers.

Whatever she had just done, she had destroyed the Agent.

Drew’s gruff string of expletives behind her drew her from her amazed stupor. Remembering Adam’s injury, she scrabbled to her feet and rushed to his side. Drew had already peeled back Adam’s shirt to reveal the wound. The icicle had pierced him a few fingerbreadths below his collarbone, just to the right of his breastbone, leaving a hole as big as a quarter.

“It missed his major blood vessels,” Drew said, digging a pair of blue nitrile gloves from his bag and tossing a pair to Thad. Thad put them on, looking as if he would roll his eyes at the gesture had the situation not been so dire.

“He shouldn’t bleed out, but it managed to puncture a lung,” Drew continued, pulling more supplies out of his pouch. “We need to cover the wound and get him to a hospital, stat.”

From the amount of red on the surrounding snow, it still seemed like Adam had lost a lot of blood, but she trusted Drew’s judgment. Nora looked up at Adam’s face to find that he was taking quick, shallow breaths. The edges of his lips had turned a dusty shade of blue, but it was hard to say if it was from the cold or a lack of oxygen.

“I wouldn’t recommend this,” Adam said through gritted teeth. “It’s making me very dizzy.”

“Dizzy?” Drew paused in his work, hands hovering over where he had been taping a square of gauze over the hole in Adam’s chest.

“Yeah,” Adam managed to wheeze between breaths. “I’m very lightheaded.”

Drew reached up and ran his fingers deftly over Adam’s throat. It looked to Nora as if his Adam’s apple had pushed off to the left side.

“Shit,” Drew plunged his hands back into the supply kit, searching frantically for something. “His lung is completely collapsed from the air getting in. It’s shifted his lungs off to the side, and it’s compressing his heart.”

Now that Nora looked, Adam’s exposed chest was only expanding on one side with each of his labored breaths, and his normally bronze skin had taken on a ghostly quality.

“A tension pneumothorax,” Thad said, nodding quickly.

Drew paused for the barest of moments and looked up from the supplies he was organizing on Adam’s stomach in surprise.

“I did read the modern emergency medicine books you brought me, you know,” Thad retorted.

“Well, then you can help me with the needle decompression. We need to puncture the chest to let the air out.”

Nora picked up Adam’s hand from where it rested in the snow next to her and squeezed tightly.

“Will he be okay?”

It was Odelle who asked the question everybody had been thinking. She had managed to scoot over from where she was seated in the snow and now came up next to Nora.

Drew nodded, busily palpating the location of Adam’s ribs before cleaning his chest with alcohol wipes.

“If we let the air out, the lung should re-expand, and he should stabilize. Then we can get him to a hospital and put a proper chest tube in.”

Drew nodded to Thad, who put one hand on Adam’s shoulders and the other on his hip to keep him still.

“I suspect I’m not going to like this,” Adam panted, staring apprehensively at the excessively long needle that Drew had just unsheathed.

“Probably not,” Drew admitted. “But you’ll like being alive to tell the story.”

Nora gripped Adam’s hand tightly in both of hers. Odelle put an arm around Nora comfortingly, and Nora leaned into it. It was a far cry from her younger sister’s earlier hostility, but Nora wasn’t going to question it at a time like this.

Carefully, Drew inserted the needle between Adam’s ribs. Adam hissed in pain and jolted, but Thad’s firm hands kept him steady until the needle was fully inserted, and the small red stopper on the end of it was pressed against his chest.

There was a quiet rush of air like a small pressure valve being released, and Drew relaxed next to her.

“I got it,” he murmured, sounding relieved. “It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these in the field.”

Within moments, Adam’s chest began to expand more evenly again, and the labored sounds of his breathing decreased. The color started returning to his cheeks and Nora almost threw herself across his chest to hug him in relief, but she stopped herself when she realized it probably wasn’t a good idea to jostle him just yet.

Instead, she contented herself with giving Adam a watery smile and holding his hand to her still-armored chest. Drew was now moving over to Odelle to help her re-strap her prosthetic leg and make sure she wasn’t too banged up. Nora stayed where she was, knowing Odelle was in good hands.

The snow was now drifting down slowly, and it would have been almost a serene picture if not for the blood staining the snow beneath Adam. He smiled back at her and she knew from just that look that he was proud of what she had accomplished today. Through their love, they had managed to push the Shadow back and claim a victory for the Light.

Adam’s face began to blur before her eyes, and she frowned. She was finding it hard to stay upright on her knees. It was the feeling of when the danger has passed and the adrenaline drains from your system, only magnified a thousand times.

Nora’s ears rang, but large hands grasped her shoulders even as Odelle’s worried voice repeated her name.

“She’ll be fine; she’s just exhausted,” came Ezra’s voice from very far away. “She’s never used the Light before. It’s taken a lot out of her.”

“The what now?” she heard Odelle ask before she didn’t hear anything else.