Page 7 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter seven

N ora scurried through the hallways of the Sanctuary, peering into every doorway she passed, hoping to spot Drew. She realized belatedly that she should have asked Adam for directions before shoving him in the fountain, but she didn’t want to ruin her moment of triumph by going back. She also hadn’t expected how distracted she would be by the way Adam’s wet hair clung to the tendons in his neck. It turned out that the Sanctuary was a labyrinth of identical hallways, and at this point, she was unsure if she could find her way back to Adam if she tried.

Nora peeked into another room and huffed in annoyance when she found it deserted. She moved on to the next, feeling a pang of disappointment that she couldn’t take her time exploring the beautiful building. There was no time to linger if the plan that had begun to take form in her mind was going to work. Still, her eyes snagged on a few of the remarkable paintings adorning the walls before she poked her head around the corner to check the next room.

It was another white stone monstrosity, this one filled with low couches and plush rugs layered over one another in a rich tapestry. Nora spotted Drew, looking as out of place as possible, seated on one of the low couches, still wearing his scrubs and lab coat.

As soon as he noticed her, he jumped up from his seat, crossed the room in three long strides, and caught her up in a giant bear hug. Nora closed her eyes and let her head rest on his broad torso for just a moment. The hair on his chest tickled her cheek where it poked out of the slight V in his scrubs, and she took in the familiar scent of citrus laundry soap and the faint tinge of antiseptic that always clung to Drew after a shift in the emergency department. With all the chaos that had erupted in her life, this was a piece of solid ground.

Remembering the turmoil that had brought her here, she stepped backward out of his embrace. Drew left his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to examine her from head to toe.

“How are you feeling?” he questioned, continuing his scrutiny of her. “Any dizziness? Pain? Headache?”

Nora cocked her head.

“I feel… great, actually,” she answered truthfully. “Which is good, because we need to get out of here.”

Drew’s thick brows snapped together in concern. “Why? Did something happen?”

“ Did something happen ? What happened is that I’ve been given the same explanation you have, and it’s certifiably insane!”

“You mean you don’t believe them?” Drew asked with a tilt of his head.

Nora released a heavy sigh from between pursed lips, “After all that I’ve seen, I don’t think I have a choice to believe them—about the Shadows and the Light, at least. But it seems like the type of thing I shouldn’t be getting wrapped up in. A group of immortal sorcerers who stay secluded in a pocket dimension for thousands of years now wants me to train in self-defense and keep a guard on me at all times? It sounds like they are trying to trick me into joining a cult or something. Not to mention, I’m ninety-nine percent sure that Adam is the same man who broke into the museum last week to see the weapons. He’s put my work in jeopardy twice now, and I can’t risk anymore.” Nora threw her hands up in frustration.

Drew tugged at his sleeves before asking, “And your solution is to run away? You’re a historian. I would have thought you would want to stay and find out everything you possibly can.”

“Well…” Nora chewed on her chapped lips. It was a thought that had crossed her mind, but— “It’s just too much right now. It’s too overwhelming to even consider.”

“Why don’t you just take a minute to think it through,” Drew suggested, ever reasonable.

“Of course,” Nora huffed. For somebody so intelligent, he was being oddly dense about the situation. “You seem disturbingly calm about all of this yourself.”

“Nora, I’m an emergency medicine doctor. Aggressively calm is what I do. It’s my way of coping.”

“Well, go ahead and keep up the level-headed act. I’m going to need your help to get out of here because I was unconscious when we came in,” Nora grabbed his hand and started towing him towards the door, “We’ll need to act fast. Eventually, they will come looking for me.”

Drew hesitated, causing Nora to look back over her shoulder at him in irritation. “You’re sure about this?”

Nora turned back to face him, “Look, Drew, I don’t have time for this sort of craziness in my life. Adam shows up, and a week later, I almost die. I’m so close to achieving my goals at work, and I can’t get caught up in something like this. I need to get away while I still can. Do you want to stay or something?”

“No,” said Drew with a shake of his head, “I’m only here because of you. I’ll go where you go.”

“Good,” Nora said, already turning once more and towing him toward the door.

Drew caught up with a few long strides and indicated that they should head to the left out of the door. They trotted down the hallways, their footsteps jarring in the unnatural stillness of the enormous building. They poked their head around every corner before making a turn, but never encountered another soul, or even heard the whisper of another set of footsteps. Still, the two of them remained silent, Drew directing the way with jerks of his head.

After several tense minutes, they made it to a wider hallway than the rest, with a broad arch at the end. Beyond the arch, Nora could see a sloping path cutting through thick grass. Drew and Nora darted toward the arch, only for her to pull up short as soon as they passed through it.

A dozen yards ahead of her stood a thick layer of fog, denser than any she had seen rolling over the lake in all her years living in the city. She whipped her head back and forth and found it extended as far as she could see in both directions, encircling the entire Sanctuary and leaving only a small strip of neatly kempt lawn between the swirling mist and the solid stone walls. Drew tugged Nora toward the mist even as she gaped.

“This is the edge of the pocket dimension and where we came in. It’s a portal that can bring us back to the city, but getting through might be a little tricky,” he explained as he stopped with the toes of his sneakers mere inches from the barrier of fog.

Nora bounced on the balls of her feet in frustration, “Well, how did you get through the first time?”

“Adam described to me where we were going and told me to picture it in my mind as we stepped through. He held onto me as we went, though, so I didn’t get lost.”

“Seems deceptively simple. Did he say what happens if you get lost?” Nora asked.

“Well, no, but—”

“Great, then it must not be important. Picture Chicago.” She grasped Drew’s hand tightly so at least they would not get separated.

“I always knew you would be the death of me,” she heard Drew grumble under his breath as she closed her eyes and tugged him forward into the swirling mist.

The sensation was something like stepping through a cool waterfall, if the waterfall was made of molten silk and electricity. A series of small shocks danced over her skin, and then the sensation was over as soon as it started. She opened her eyes and almost laughed in incredulity as she recognized the mirrored curvature of The Bean around her.

“I thought I dreamed The Bean,” she remarked as she turned to look at Drew, who looked rather harried, but none the worse for wear.

Drew shrugged and pulled Nora out from under the mirrored structure where they had begun to be jostled by tourists.

“So, what is your grand plan now?” he asked.

Nora bit her lip, “I was pretty sure that getting out of the Sanctuary was going to be the hard part, so I didn’t really get this far.”

Drew clapped a hand to his forehead, “I should have known.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a plan. Sometimes you just need guts,” Nora said with a shrug, trying to look at least a little contrite.

“I don’t think this is exactly one of those situations,” Drew argued. “You can’t exactly run through the city wearing… what is it you have on exactly?”

Nora looked down at herself and almost giggled, having nearly forgotten how ridiculous she must look. “I’m not entirely sure. It’s some sort of traditional Greek garment. Thad left it for me to put on.”

“Well, either way, you need some real clothes. All of your belongings were left at the hospital, and I don’t know where they might have put them when you disappeared. I myself don’t even have my wallet or my phone.”

Nora glanced over Drew and saw that he still had his hospital ID clipped to the collar of his white coat. She quickly weighed their options.

“Your ID works as a bus pass, right?” she asked. When Drew nodded, she continued, Why don’t we split up? You take the bus to the hospital and get our phones and wallets. I’ll head over to the museum and get somebody to let me in. It’s closer, and I left a change of clothes there a few weeks ago.”

Drew looked unconvinced, “Are you sure splitting up is the right move? You only just woke up.”

“I told you, I’m feeling fine, and my first priority is to get something less conspicuous to put on. It’ll be easy to track down the girl in the red toga.”

Indeed, the pedestrians around Nora were whispering behind their hands and trying unsuccessfully not to stare at her. It seemed that even a cosmopolitan city like Chicago had some limits when it came to fashion.

Drew looked far from pleased, but he nodded slowly. “Wait at the museum for me, ok? I’ll take a cab down once I have my wallet and bring you all your stuff.”

“It’s a plan. Ok, break.”

Nora turned and headed briskly into the park toward the lakefront, planning to follow it up to the museum campus as Drew headed toward the street to find a bus. She was glad it was a warm day for fall, as her clothing left her arms bare and did very little to shelter her from the breeze. As it was, goosebumps were already forming on her arms, and she sped up her pace, hoping the activity would warm her.

Soon, she reached the lake and turned up toward the museum. The water gently lapping at the sea wall was a backdrop to her thoughts as she began to contemplate her next move. She would need to see if she could do some damage control on the sword and spear, which had been left lying on the museum floor after the attack—come up with some sort of explanation for their state that wouldn’t end with her losing her job. She hoped Mandy was in the office to let her in. The last thing she needed was somebody who wanted her to fail to see her in this condition and start spreading rumors that she had lost her mind. Nothing like waltzing into work in a toga to get the board to reconsider her promotion.

Nora was snapped from her reverie by a disgruntled hiss to her right. Just off the edge of the path was a Canadian goose, rearing its head at Nora for coming too close to its domain. Not in the mood to be bullied by a bird, Nora hissed back, drawing a startled look from a passing runner.

She made to move past the goose, but to her surprise, it began flapping its wings and advancing toward her. With its neck craned and wings spread, the posture clearly telegraphed aggression. Nora darted out of its path but wasn’t quite quick enough to entirely avoid it. The goose managed to snap at her bare ankle, hard enough to draw blood.

Nora yelped, hoping backward on her uninjured foot. Still, the goose advanced toward her, hissing with a renewed vigor. That’s when she saw it. Instead of the beady black eyes that already made her distrustful of the animals, the eyes glowed a hellish red. They looked like the same burning coals that had been embedded in the faces of the Shadows at the museum. Nora’s blood ran cold. Adam said that she would be a sort of homing beacon for disaster, and while a possessed Canadian goose was not quite what she had in mind, she had no doubt that this could end in disaster.

As the goose lunged again, it revealed sharp teeth that Nora was sure normal geese did not possess. She jumped back just in time for the elongated beak to snap on empty air. Before the goose could wind up for its third strike, she turned and began to sprint up the path. The snapping sound of wings flapping crept up behind her, and her hair was buffeted as the goose took to the air. She pumped her arms and legs desperately, thinking for a brief moment that she should have joined her sister on her runs more often. As it was, she couldn’t outrun the flying bird, and her already oxygen-deprived brain searched for alternatives.

The clap of wings drew closer, and she threw her arms up over her head, and the bird dove down to harry her. It managed to nip at her wrist, but she batted it away. She tried to pick up her pace, pumping her arms so hard that rivulets of blood dripped out of the bite and down her fingers.

Nora chanced a glance up, but the momentary change in focus caused her feet to slide in the sandals, and she stumbled. She fell to her hands and knees and yelped as the rough concrete bit into her skin. She panted for breath, the cool air burning like fire in her lungs as she struggled to her feet, but she knew she couldn’t stop running.

The goose let out a cry close to her head again, and this time, she managed to throw her hands up in time to avoid the worst of the attack; the goose only managing to grab a strand of her loose hair and yank it out by the roots as it took to the air again. Her scalp now burned along with her lungs and her skinned knees. She looked wildly around for options.

By this point, they had reached a marina, and a series of docks jutted off the seawall into the water, large boats bobbing in their berths. A boat might make a perfect getaway vehicle, but she didn’t exactly know how to hotwire a yacht. Just as she was about to write off the idea of a water escape and search for a weapon, she saw it: a small dingy with an outboard motor tied up at the end of one of the long piers.

She skidded into a sharp turn, the leather sandals almost tearing off her feet as she cut toward the pier. Her feet pounded on the wooden boards, and she threw herself into the dinghy at the end so violently she almost toppled straight out of the other side and into the lake. The metal gunwales bit into her palms as she steadied herself briefly before reaching for the pull start on the motor.

Nora prayed to every force that might be listening as she yanked on the cord. Her heart froze as the first pull yielded no result. She tugged again with all her might, nearly punching herself in the face in the process, unused back muscles screaming in protest. After a moment of silence, the engine turned over, once, twice, before beginning to chug steadily. Her heart began to beat again as she threw herself toward the rope, tying the dinghy to the dock, glancing up to find the goose wheeling in the sky to follow her sudden change in trajectory.

Splinters dug under her nails as she scrabbled at the rope tied to the dock, but she quickly freed the small craft and reached for the motor. She twisted the throttle as far as it would go, immediately finding herself thrown back against the rear of the craft as the hull shot forward. The bow of the boat lifted so high at this speed that she could barely see where she was going, but she did not let up. The wind in her eyes made tears stream down her face, and she squinted up at the sky in search of her pursuer.

The growl of the engine filled her ears, but a shrill squawking cut through the rumble. She twisted to look behind her to see the goose still on her tail, skimming low over the water at an alarming speed, looking more like the black wings of death itself than a simple goose.

Nora had chosen her watercraft by how easy it was to steal as opposed to the horsepower of its engine, and it was beginning to show as the goose steadily gained on her. The only option was to try to kill the bird, but she wasn’t going to be able to manage it with her bare hands.

Holding her breath, she slowed the dinghy slightly, allowing the goose to gain on her faster. Seeing its quarry within reach, it redoubled its effort, long black neck fully extended and the glow of its eyes intensifying as it approached. Nora waited until the goose was almost upon her, too close to pull up.

When the goose was no more than six inches from the motor, Nora twisted her wrist violently, slamming the motor into reverse. The goose flapped wildly and skidded into the water to stop, but it was too late. The engine sucked the bird down, and it let out one last bone-chilling screech before the engine skipped, the noise punctuated by a spray of blood and feathers.

Nora pried her stiff fingers from the throttle, hesitant to believe that the chase was over so abruptly. As the dinghy bobbed in a spreading patch of crimson and feathers drifting slowly to the surface, there was no noise but the idling engine and Nora’s own ragged panting.

Edging to the rear of the craft, Nora poked her head out to look for any sign of the demonic bird and was greeted by the sight of shredded innards that made her stomach twist. She wrenched her gaze back inside the dinghy, rapidly swallowing down the bile that had risen in the back of the boat. With a shaky hand, she reached for the engine again, revving it up and pointing herself back toward shore, this time at a much more reasonable pace. She tried to level her breathing and let the cool wind soothe her, but she kept glancing all around for signs of further danger.

As she approached the dock where she had gotten the boat, her heart froze to see two figures sprinting down the pier, alert for another attack. She was just about to pull the boat into a sharp turn, away from the danger, when she recognized the dark curls and bronze skin of the figure in the lead. She knew that she had been running away from Adam with all due haste an hour ago, but her muscles seemed to have a mind of their own and released their tension at the sight of a familiar face.

Adam crouched down and reached for the bow of the boat as she idled into the dock. She thought he meant to pull in the boat and tie it up for her, but instead, he threw himself into the craft, overbalancing it so violently that Nora had to grip the metal sides to avoid falling overboard. Adam didn’t seem perturbed at all and practically leaped over the benches to get to the back where Nora sat.

“Nora! What happened? Are you hurt? Why are you in a boat?”

He asked his questions in such quick succession that Nora had no hope of cutting in to reply. His hand reached out to her, obviously intending to search for injuries, but he didn’t quite touch her, his hands ghosting over her face and arms as if they weren’t quite sure where to land.

Meanwhile, Nora recognized Thad as one of the other men in the small group, and he reached down to tie the boat to the dock.

“I’ll answer your questions, but can we get out of the boat first? It’s not exactly mine, and I’d rather not be caught in it,” Nora interjected when Adam paused to draw breath.

Seeming temporarily placated by the fact that Nora was at least capable of speech, Adam levered himself back out of the boat while Nora stood on unsteady legs and stepped over the benches toward the bow. She reached up for the dock, preparing to do some sort of beached whale maneuver to get up on it, but instead, Adam reached down and caught her under the armpits, pulling her up to stand on the dock so quickly that she nearly lost her breath. Now that the adrenaline of the chase was gone, Nora was starting to feel chilly again. The momentary warmth of his proximity pulled her in, and she found herself stepping into his chest unconsciously.

Thad clicked his tongue behind Adam.

“I’m going to have to patch you up for the second time in twenty-four hours, aren’t I?” he asked, eyes skimming over her assortment of scrapes and bites.

Nora looked herself over and winced at her disheveled state. She had managed to rip some of the fabric in her antics, and even more of her was exposed to the elements than before. Seeming to sense her thoughts, Adam stepped back and pulled off his sweater, revealing a plain black t-shirt underneath. He handed it to her and Nora pulled it on gratefully, momentarily reveling in the fact that it was still warm from his skin and thinking a little sheepishly that he must have changed clothes since she threw him in the fountain. His dark curls were still damp, though, and clung to his forehead in a way that made Nora’s mouth suddenly dry. She distracted herself by waving Thad off.

“It’s only a few scrapes,” Nora responded now that she was warmer, “But I do think we have a little bit more talking to do than I thought.”

“I’d say,” Thad snorted, “You are as reckless as the day is long, girl.”

Nora shot him what she hoped was a withering glare, but Thad waved her off.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I find your feistiness charming.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Can we talk about this later? Maybe once we are somewhere safer, like back at the Sanctuary?”

Thad nodded, and they began to usher Nora down the dock. She hesitated before she started walking, but decided she really wasn’t in much condition to resist, let alone fight off another demon goose on her own.

“Does one of you have a cell phone I could borrow? I’ve got to let Drew know about the change in plans,” she asked instead.

Adam reached into his pocket to fish out a phone as Thad chuckled.

“He helped you with this? What a troublemaker. I do love a good troublemaker.”

Nora found herself in a courtyard similar to the one she had met Adam in earlier. Instead of a fountain, this one was filled with several long tables, each surrounded by short, backless stools, enough to seat several dozen. However, the courtyard’s only occupants were three other people Nora didn’t recognize sitting at the far end—and a bright blue peacock picking its way between the tables.

Adam led the small band composed of her, Drew, and Thad over to where the people were sitting. He gestured to a stool where she should sit.

As she took her seat, Adam said, “Everybody, this is Nora.” The way he said it gave Nora visions of standing up in front of the class at a new school as the teacher introduced her, warning the other children to play nice.

“Nora, this is Ezra.” Adam motioned to a square-jawed man in red who looked her over before giving a grunt of affirmation.

“This is Antony.” The man in purple looked up from his food to give her a dreamy smile.

“And this is Seraphina.” Nora glanced to the last person at the table, but the woman didn’t even look up and Nora was forced to give her polite smile to the elaborate tangle of pale blonde braids on top of the woman’s head. Nora didn’t have much of a chance to be offended, however, because her attention was quickly monopolized by the food on the table as her stomach growled.

Thad, sitting across from her, gave her a knowing look and grabbed a plate.

“You should be starved after the massive healing you went through,” he commented as he shoveled stuffed dates, cheese, and olives onto the plate.

“Are you sure you didn’t replace my stomach with a bottomless pit?” Nora asked as she watched Thad add a pancake-like piece of bread drizzled in olive oil to the pile, and her mouth watered. As Thad put the plate down in front of her, she looked around for silverware. Not seeing any, she shrugged and began tearing into the food with her hands.

The blonde woman on the end looked up and sniffed distastefully while delicately nibbling on an olive.

“Speaking of healing, I think we would all prefer it if Thad didn’t have to heal Nora like that more than he already has,” Drew started diplomatically. “Maybe we should talk about how we are going to keep her safe before she eats you out of house and home.”

Nora narrowed her eyes at Drew but kept herself quiet by filling her mouth with a bite of cheese. The briny and tangy flavor coated her tongue.

“Well, unfortunately, Nora is now going to be some sort of homing beacon for disaster—as evidenced by the possessed goose. She will need to have protection around her to be able to continue going about her normal life,” Adam explained.

“So, what do you want me to do? Walk around with a fully armed bodyguard? That won’t raise any questions or get in the way of my life at all,” Nora argued, remembering why it had seemed like such a good idea to run away just a few minutes ago.

She almost jumped when the man in purple, Antony, chimed in from the far end of the table.

“I would enjoy being your bodyguard. Chicago sounds lovely.” His smile was excited enough that Nora almost felt bad for being frustrated at the suggestion.

“That’s not the point! I don’t want my entire routine upset by this!”

“I agree with her,” the blonde at the end of the table spoke up. “I don’t think we should be putting ourselves in harm’s way just because she was dense enough to mess with things she shouldn’t have.”

Nora opened and shut her mouth, uncomfortable with the feeling of being lost for words, which hadn’t happened to her in quite a while.

Adam stepped in before she could formulate her response.

“Seraphina,” he warned, to which the woman just shrugged and turned back to her plate. Adam turned back to Nora and continued, “The guard could be temporary. If we get you trained in at least basic combat, you could learn to defend yourself if there was any trouble.”

“I’m resourceful enough. After all, didn’t I save you by skewering a Shadow in the eye with a pair of tweezers?” Nora jabbed Adam in the chest with her finger and was thrown off guard by how solid it was.

Thad grimaced. “Yes, but as much as I’d love to see how many Shadows you can fight with everyday objects, I’m sure Ezra could teach you to fight in a way that won’t involve you throwing your tools—or stealing a boat.”

Ezra himself grumbled from the end of the table. “I’m not training anybody.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you can’t train her?” Thad asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous; I could train a goat to fight if I wanted to,” Ezra responded, his gray eyes narrowed. “But she’s too old to start training now. It would be too hard for her to learn, and she would get hurt.”

Nora pounded her fist on the table, making the plates rattle as everybody jumped.

“Could everyone stop arguing about what to do with me as if I don’t have any say in the matter?” she ground out through gritted teeth.

Adam opened his mouth but thought better of what he was going to say when Nora narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’ve worked hard for the life I have, and I’m not going to let one weekend of craziness ruin it for me.” Nora continued. “Drew, you’ve been quiet for all of this. You’re on my side, aren’t you?”

She looked pleadingly at one of her oldest friends, but he wouldn’t quite meet her eyes, instead rubbing his beard and looking down at the table.

“I don’t know, Nora. I don’t want to see you coming through the emergency room doors covered in blood again,” Drew said. “Maybe playing it safe wouldn’t be such a bad idea.”

The silence that followed was so thick that nobody breathed. Nora’s mouth hung open, and Drew peeked up apologetically through his lashes.

Nora pushed to her feet, making the stool beneath her topple over, a harsh clatter shattering the silence that had fallen over the courtyard. Then she turned and stomped back into the Sanctuary. Another stool scraped, as if somebody had stood to follow her, but then Drew’s voice cut in.

“Let her go. Just give her a minute.”

She didn’t look back to see who had tried to follow her.

It wasn’t long before Nora was hopelessly lost in the labyrinthian hallways of the Sanctuary. In her retreat from the courtyard, her only focus had been on putting distance between herself and the people there, and she hadn’t thought to look for landmarks or paid attention to where she was going. Now, she continued to wander, although at a much more reasonable pace. Her initial anger had faded, but she still wasn’t ready to face the group again. Instead, she distracted herself with wondering where all these hallways could lead.

Seeing a door ajar ahead, she peeked in to find an empty bedroom. It looked like the one she had woken up in, except without the elaborate painting on the ceiling. She continued to peer into every open room she passed as she walked, finding the same sight behind every door.

Just as Nora was calm enough to consider turning around and trying to retrace her steps, she came upon a pair of carved double doors, much grander than any she had passed so far. Nora only paused for a moment before her curiosity got the best of her, and she pushed it open to step inside.

The room was filled with rows upon rows of weapons, all made of bronze and shimmering softly in the faint light of the hallway. She drifted further into the darkened space and had to tuck her hands behind her back to not run her fingers over the racks of swords and spears as she passed. The collection was three times the size of the entire inventory at the Field Museum, and her head spun as she glanced around, hoping to find other types of weapons—perhaps even a shield.

As she searched, her eyes caught on something else. In one corner, there was a tall case, just like the one at the museum, that contained the replica armor of a Greek hoplite. It only took Nora one glance to tell that the armor in the case in front of her now was no replica. She strode across the room to stand in front of it, stepping as close to it as she could manage. Her nose was inches from the glass, so close that her breath made a thin coat of fog. It was magnificent.

Her eyes ran along the intricate whorls on the breastplate, which almost seemed to dance in the dim light. She considered the type of mold that would have to be used to craft such a piece. A dent had once caved in one side of the helmet, but somebody had done their best to return it to its original form. This was not just ceremonial; this outfit had seen real combat. Whomever this armor had been made for, they couldn’t have been much taller than her.

Nora had become so enraptured by the armor that she didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind her.

“See something you like?”

Nora started so hard that she jumped backward and landed directly on Adam’s foot. She spun around to face him, ready to chastise him for sneaking up on her. As she turned, she lost her balance, and his hands shot out to grab her waist, steadying her. Nora involuntarily stepped into his space at the feeling of strong, warm fingers on her hips before her brain caught up with her. Even if she found Adam charming, Nora didn’t know enough about his life as an immortal sorcerer to be having those kinds of thoughts. She backed out of his grasp before any more distracting thoughts about his hands on her waist got the better of her. The heat of his touch lingered, though, and skittered up her spine even as his hands fell away.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. I assumed you had heard me come in,” he apologized, shoving his outstretched hands into his pockets.

“Yes, well. I was distracted by the armor.”

Adam glanced over her shoulder at the display case. “I suppose it is worth being distracted by. This set belongs to one of our greatest commanders.”

Curious, Nora pressed him. “Really? Who is he? Does he live here in the Sanctuary?”

Adam took a moment to swallow before responding. “They died, a long time ago. In the battle against the Shadow.”

Adam’s face was obscured by darkness, with the light coming from the door behind him, but Nora didn’t need to be able to see his face to know the pain she would find there. The tightness in his voice was enough.

“I’m very sorry,” Nora looked down at her toes in her sandals.

“It’s okay, they would have been happy that you were admiring their armor.” Some of the tightness had left Adam’s tone, and his usual musical lilt was edging its way back into his voice.

“I was admiring all of it.” Nora gestured to the room in general. Then she added sheepishly, “I had an itch to go exploring, I hope that was all right.”

Adam chuckled, “I figured you would. I wouldn’t have left you alone if I wasn’t okay with you poking around a little bit.”

“Good, because I wasn’t going to be that sorry anyway. I hope that doesn’t get you in trouble with your leaders or anything.”

Adam shrugged. “There are too few of us to have any sort of organized governance anymore. We all just try to do what we think is best and hope by this age we’ve managed to develop good judgment.”

Nora nodded, and silence fell between them once more. She looked down at her toes and wiggled them in her sandals, knowing they couldn’t avoid the inevitable discussion forever, though she didn’t want to be the one to start it.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked.

Nora’s eyes snapped up, not expecting that to be Adam’s opening line.

She thought for a second before shrugging. “I wouldn’t say ‘okay,’ but considering the circumstances, I think I’m faring admirably.”

Adam nodded, as if considering her answer. “I want you to know that I didn’t seek you out with the intention of upsetting your life. If—if there were a way to keep you safe without drawing you into our war, I would do it. If you don’t want to train, I’ll respect your decision, but it would go against our mission, and my own conscious, to send you out there alone again.”

Nora sighed and turned back around to face the case, putting her back to Adam as she considered.

“There is no winning, is there? Either I let myself most likely get killed by the incarnation of evil, or I take precious time away from life and work to learn how to defend myself.”

“You’re too smart to see things in such all-or-nothing terms.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

“I am.”

Nora glanced up at his profile, strikingly defined in the backlighting, and considered what he said. Her eyes caught on the glimmer of bronze behind him, and her mind whirred.

“So, if I were to choose to train, do you think Ezra could be convinced to train me to fight with a spear?” Nora asked slowly.

Adam glanced down at her, with a smile starting to form on his lips, but he played it cool.

“He could be.”

“And I could be given insight into ancient fighting techniques? Say… even techniques that a well-studied weapons expert may not have known about?”

“Absolutely.”

Nora hummed in thought. “And I could maybe even write an academic paper and present my findings about these techniques to my peers at an upcoming conference?”

“Of course.” Adam was no longer trying to hide his smile. “But you would need to come up with a way to cite your sources that would be believable. Perhaps you could cite some texts that have been newly translated by a local professor of ancient languages.”

“That could work.”

“So, do we have a deal?” Adam held out his hand for Nora to shake on it, but she hesitated.

“I have just a few more requirements.”

Adam tilted his head, indicating that she should state her terms.

“My temporary guard while I’m learning would have to keep their distance, not interfere unless I was in immediate danger. And they can’t follow me around Chicago wearing a toga.”

“They aren’t togas; they‘re called peplos. And deal. You won’t even know they’re there unless the Shadow tries to attack.”

Reassured, Nora took his hand and shook on the arrangement, and Adam offered her a grin that made him look almost boyish. As she smiled back, she realized something about him looked off. She squinted as she scrutinized his face, trying to figure out what was different.

“Your glasses! I forgot they were crushed at the museum. Can you see all right?”

Adam shoved his hands in his pockets, “Oh yeah, I’m fine. I don’t need glasses.”

“Then why do you wear them?”

“I guess I view them as kind of a disguise. I guess nobody in Chicago is going to recognize me as a member of the Eteria, but still. They make me feel kind of like a superhero with a secret identity.”

Nora blinked, incredulous.

“I’ve had a lot of free time through the years, and I’ve filled some of it by consuming excessive amounts of pop culture.” Adam’s tone was defensive.

Nora snorted. “Well, I kind of get why you do it. The glasses suit you. They add to the whole sexy professor vibe.”

Adam raised his brows. “Sexy professor vibe?”

It was Nora’s turn to get defensive as she snapped, “I said what I said. Don’t let it go to your head.” To his credit, Adam didn’t press the issue.

“Come on,” he said, turning to lead her from the room. “You still need to finish your lunch.”