Milo...Time

        By Pattie Lawler

 

           

            Alone again, he paused to consider.

            The ambient light hadn’t changed with the death of the glow on Albany and she had said she was afraid. There had been no feeling of malice, as when he previously crushed the glow. Was this glow different in more than intent? Had it been weakened by the reduction of its numbers? Or had Albany’s love kept it from realizing its full potential?

            Reaching into his belt, he pulled Osiris’ Thigh into the wan light. Balancing the pommel on the flat of his hand, he set the knife to spinning. His natural instincts kept the blade from slipping and gave his body a task while he, staring at the flashing blade, mused aloud.

            “Albany, Simon...possibly Sam, Williams and his staff, maintenance, and the odd seventeen guests; less than a hundred people and perhaps five spirits left.”

            A shadow against the far wall silenced him. Rising, he flipped the knife into the air, caught the handle and slid it back into hiding before hurrying to the door to wait.

            Albany, looking utterly confused, entered the gallery.

            Stepping into her view, his mouth was open to greet her when she cried out. “Mr. Scarlet!”

            His surprise was equal to hers as he joined her. “You remember me?”

            “It was only this afternoon,” she murmured, sounding crushed and dropping her gaze as he stood before her.

            He mentally backpedaled, spreading his hands. “I’m sorry. I just don’t think of myself as memorable.”

            Her amused smile reassured him. “Then you should wear leather pants more often. I guarantee plenty of women will find you hard to forget.”

            “Thank you, but there’s only one woman I’m trying to impress.”

            “Oh? And how’s it going?”

            “You tell me.”

            She looked up, astonishment giving way to pleasure. “I wanna have this dream every night. Think of all the things I can do to you, and you’ll never know.”

            He chuckled. “Don’t be so sure. And tell me, why do you think you’re dreaming?”

            Albany shrugged, stepping closer, pressing against him. “I’m talking to you at the Met, what other proof do I need? I must have fallen asleep in the theater. Der Rosen is always a hard show and doubly so tonight...as I was trying to impress someone.”

            “Oh? And how’s it going?”

            Her smile grew. “You tell me.”

            He reached around her, lacing his fingers together at the small of her back. She was a warm, tempting armful. “Well...if you consider that I’ve been having the most outrageous fantasies about you since we met, I’m thinkin’ it’s a done deal.”

            “Outrageous, huh? Such as?”

            “How do you feel about skydiving?”      The answering chuckle made him smile until an approaching shadow stole the moment. “I’ll share the rest another night. Right now I have a job and, sadly, it doesn’t allow for public indulgence.”

            Albany twisted to see where he was looking. “What is it?”

            “A possessed guard.”

            “Possessed? Like the sword?”

            He briefly explained about time slippage and the roving spirits.

            “You said they’re from a certain dynasty, maybe there’s something about that?”

            It was his turn to shrug. “Qin...and could be any number of things.”

            “Well, why don’t we follow one and see what happens?”

            His eyes upon the distant shadow, he nodded. “Rather than remove it. That’s valid. My attempt to destroy them and reset Time doesn’t address the reason they’re suddenly active. Good plan.” Smiling down at her, he kissed her nose.

            And tried to ignore the catch in her breathing.

            “We’ll follow that one.” He pointed, recovering himself. “He’s handy enough.” Not waiting for a reply, he caught her hand and slipped from the gallery. At the next door he paused, leaning toward her. “It looks like it’s heading back into the Asian Wing. We’ll let him get ahead of us, one room, so we don’t lose him.”

            She nodded.

            “When the galleries open up, however, things will get a bit harder. You’ll have to watch our backs.”

            He tugged her forward, hurrying to the next door.

            “So,” she whispered when they stopped beside the next door and he had leaned out to check the guard’s progress. “I’m guessing this isn’t a dream.”

            “Hmm? Oh. No.”

            “Then this begs the question, how come you’re not being affected by the time changes? I mean…I’m getting the feeling we’re more than friends, Mr. Scarlet. So why me and not you?”

            He didn’t answer right away, being distracted by another guard, coming from the European Paintings, and joining the one they were trailing. The pair ambled for the Japanese collection, and Milo waited until they were through the door before following.

            “You have a basic grasp of my line of work,” he whispered when next they paused. “I have several weapons in my arsenal.” He chuckled at his own joke. “One of them is a knife whose iron blade is made from a meteorite. The spell can’t affect it, since the metal is far older than anything on Earth. I have, more than once, cut myself with the knife, yes, on purpose. As a result, the iron of the blade is now in my blood stream so the spell on the arrowheads can’t see me.”

            She digested this before continuing. “So...can you prove that I’m not asleep at the theater?”

            He looked away from her, into the further gallery, a lopsided smile on his face. “You’re wearing a black Chantilly lace bra I bought you. Good ahead and check, I’ll be the gentleman and promise not to peek.”

            The rustling of clothes, followed by stony silence, told him all he needed to know.

            “Okay,” she finally whispered. “I admit this is not something I’ve bought, but I’m not convinced that proves your case. However, I am willing to admit you have excellent taste in lingerie. So tell me, please, why am I here? And why are you buying me lingerie?”

            He still didn’t look at her. “Are you sure you want to know?”

            “Of course.”

            “Okay. One statement will answer both questions; I asked you to come with me so that we could look at the old masters for inspiration on an engagement ring.”

            A full minute of silence reigned before she murmured, as if thinking aloud, “I said yes.”

            “Yes, you did.”

            He felt her draw closer. “And...you love me?”

            Twisting, he caught her, hugging her to his chest as he bent, his mouth near her ear. “Yes, I do. And I want to be with your forever, Albany Wendel.”

She melted in his embrace. “Forever’s a long time, Milo Scarlet.”

            “It’s barely time enough when it comes to being with you.”

He threw away reserve and turned his face to her neck, kissing a path to her lips. She writhed in his arms, her hands inside his jacket, smoothing across his back. He heard her softly begging; shared her intake of breath as their mouths fused.

And forgot everything as her hands caught him, pulling him forward, her hips grinding against his.

He pressed her to the wall, his hands caressing for the first time what he had memorized months ago. She responded to his every touch, her rasping breath moving them further away from his task.

“Promise me,” she gasped as he chewed his way to her lips. “Promise me this isn’t a dream.”

“I love you, Albany. I swear.”

<0>

They found the guard and three others arrayed before the exit to the Asian labs.

“Looks like they’re guarding the door,” Albany murmured.

“Yeah. And one’s missing.”

“Assuming there was one for each arrowhead and that you counted right.”

He chuckled, looking down at her. “Do you doubt me?”

“Not after the last half hour.” She grinned back at him. “I think you proved your point exceedingly well.”

“And,” he returned to studying the guards, “when we get home, I’ll reprove my point in a more leisurely fashion. Not that you’ll remember any of this.”

“That part bothers me,” she murmured.

“Me, too. But it can’t be helped.”

“Well, when we get home...I can’t believe I just said that.” She shook her head and hurried on. “When we get home, you can cut me with the knife and I’ll be immune, too.”

“I could cut you now, if you wanted. But it won’t change the fact that you’ll forget.”

“You have the knife on you?”

He took her wrist and reached under his coat to place her hand on the pommel. “I’ve told you once tonight how I got it here, so I’m going to wait until we’re home to tell you again. I don’t wanna be yelled at twice in one night.”

“We fought over it?”

“No. You yelled, and I said nothing.” Raising his hand, he cautioned her to silence and pointed to the guards. Movement within their ranks caused them both to shrink back.

The door to the labs opened, and Simon strode out. Milo cursed under his breath as Simon gestured to a pair of the guards who moved off in response. Milo’s bodyguard and the remaining guards moved off in the opposite direction.

“What to do, what to do?” Milo murmured.

“We could spilt up,” Albany whispered, though her tone suggested she knew this would be rejected.

Milo cast her a withering look. “Not likely. We’ll follow them.” He nodded at Simon. They watched as the trio left the gallery before silently trailing.

“If you have to overpower him—”

Milo shook his head. “Put your money on Simon. Yes, I can hold my own, but he taught me everything I know and doubtless has a few tricks in reserve. Not that I think it’ll come to that. The three spirits I crushed offered no resistance.”

“Poor things. They’re probably happy to be put to rest.”

“Assuming that, that’s what happens to a spirit when it’s crushed.”

“Well...what else?”

“I would assume they’re simply recycled. They’re here because they have a job to do.”

“I trust you know what you’re talking about, but if that’s the case, then why aren’t we looking for the original eight spirits?”

He paused and smiled down at her. “Because I’m in denial.”

<0>

They followed Simon back to the labs in the Greek wing, which puzzled Milo. He speculated that they were after the arrowheads, but couldn’t fathom how that would further their vengeance. This, in turn, made him question his original assumption.

Finally, he admitted defeat. “I can’t second guess them,” he whispered as the guards used their passes to enter the lab. He gestured to the door. “We’ll have to catch it. They changed the codes daily, and I’m outta the loop.”

She nodded, and together they hurried for the shadow of a pillar.

Just as the missing guards returned.

Milo shoved Albany behind the pillar. She spun, her expression one of indignation, until she saw the reason and leapt into hiding.

The guards hurried forward, catching Milo, who didn’t try to fight. Seemingly Albany’s presence was unknown as they made no motion toward her. Instead, they pulled him toward the door, one guard holding him while the other swiped his pass through the lock. Once the door was open, Milo struggled, hoping to give Albany a chance to catch the doorknob as well as distracting the guards from the fact that the door didn’t close all the way. How successful he was he didn’t know, as they all but carried him into the lab.

Within, Simon and Sam stood before Sam’s station, a massive crate on the table. Simon was wielding a crowbar to pry the top off as the others looked on. The energy in the room was frantic with anticipation as protesting nails screeched free of their wooden sheathes.

Milo dragged his feet, again hoping to give Albany a chance to catch the lab door. One of the guards joined the two carrying him, a length of cord in his hands. The three took their time binding his hands behind his back. Milo arched his back, trying to keep the knife’s presence from them. When they pushed him to the floor beside the door, he didn’t resist.

Secure in Milo’s elimination, the guards hurried to help Simon and Sam who were pulling handfuls of straw from the now open crate.

A minute passed and Milo used the time to confirm that all eight spirits were present, when he felt Albany’s hand on his wrist, groping for Orisis’ Thigh. He was suddenly sorry he wasn’t left-handed as she was forced to lean further into the room. But the guards appeared engrossed by Sam and Simon lifting a colossal Tang vase from the crate.

As they placed it on the table, Milo knew and understood what was happening.

“Albany,” he whispered. “Take the knife and stay out of the way until I tell you to act. When I do, trust me, okay? Promise you’ll trust me and not hesitate.”

“Yes.”

He twisted as best he could, to shorten her task; felt the blade move from the sheath, and felt it slip as she misjudged its weight. He tried to cover her gasp with a cough and a show of resettling himself. But the spirits were occupied by the vase. The eight moved around the room, each one, in turn, reaching a hand out over the vase.

“Get ready,” Milo whispered, struggling against the rope. He scraped his gloves off, giving him a modicum of room to try and free himself.

The green glow on each man rose from the top of their spine to become a burning flame at the crown of their heads.

Moving his heels as close to his body as he could, Milo pushed himself up the wall as the seventh guard placed his hand atop his companions’. Simon started chanting in a dialect Milo didn’t recognize, and the refrain was taken up by the others. Instantly the glows detached themselves to drift toward the conjoined hands. Milo’s foot caught the edge of the door, ready to shove it open.

“When the glows come together on their hands,” he whispered but couldn’t finish as the glows raced to their goal and the chant became a shout.

“NOW!” Milo kicked the door open. “Stab their hands!”

Albany flashed past him, the knife raised. He raced in her wake, his gait hampered by his hands behind his back. He saw the guards look up as she shouldered her way into their midst, her fisted-hand arcing down. He saw the flash as the glow tried to stop her, and the blinding light as Osiris’ Thigh cut through the glow to pass harmlessly through their hands and stop with a thunk in the detritus choking the vase.

Simon and the guards vanished.

Albany did not.

And the room lightened.

 

 

Previous   Home   Next