Page 57 of Spears and Shadows (Defenders of the Light)
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When Nora steppedthrough the portal early on Tuesday afternoon and out into the sunshine on the Sanctuary lawn, she sighed in relief and unzipped her leather jacket. The pleasant crispness of early fall had given way to actual cold that Nora would be inclined to call “wintry” if she didn’t know much worse weather was around the corner.
She was there to go over the final plan for that night’s trap at the museum with Adam and Thad. Nora had ducked out of work early, complaining that she wasn’t feeling well. She hadn’t had to do much to convince her coworkers of her apparent illness; she had been pale and distracted for days. Very little was getting done in the office right now anyways, with everybody still reeling from the shock of losing Leo. He wasn’t well liked among most of the workers, but historians weren’t accustomed to losing men on the job, and the days seemed to drag on in shocked silence.
Now that the time to execute her own self-sacrificial plot was finally here, she felt something halfway between relief and debilitating stomach cramps.
She made her way to the courtyard with the long tables and entered to find that, not only were Thad and Adam seated there, but they were joined by Ezra, Antony, and Drew. It was still odd to see Adam in a tweed jacket and Drew in a flannel among a group of men wearing brightly colored chitons. Nora wondered how many years it would take her to find such a sight ordinary as she approached the table and slid herself onto an empty stool between Adam and Drew.
Adam offered her a gentle smile as she sat, although she could still sense how nervous he was from the way he fidgeted with a ring he was wearing on his right hand. What little conversation there had been at the table seemed to die as she settled in, and Nora attempted to break the suffocating silence. “I didn’t expect to see you here Drew.”
He shrugged one broad shoulder, but his eyes betrayed his seriousness.
“Thad filled me in on what you were planning, and I couldn’t stand to just wait at home by myself wondering if you were all right. Besides, it’s never done any harm to have a real emergency medicine doctor at the ready in a dangerous situation.”
“I told you, there’s already a doctor at the ready,” Thad interjected, but his words were gentle.
“Yes, but this doctor has real suture kits in his bag, not just fancy herbs,” Drew countered.
Adam butted in before a lengthy discussion about healthcare practices could break out. “I think the point here is to go over the plan so nobody ends up needing any healing. If we could get to business now...”
With everybody’s attention on him, Adam began to outline how they would spring the trap. Nora was shocked to hear that other Eteria members who resided in the Sanctuary would be joining them for the ambush.
Noticing her surprise, Thad leaned around Drew to murmur to her. “Just because some of them are shy of strangers and keep out of your way when you’re here doesn’t mean they don’t want to help.”
A wave a gratitude washed over Nora as she returned her attention to what Adam was saying. She began to fidget when Adam started to detail how she wouldn’t be able to carry any weapons into the museum to not tip the agent off to their plans. Her sleek black manicure from the weekend before had been halfway picked off by the time it became apparent she was going to be alone and minimally armed with the Shadow for a few minutes as the attack party rushed in.
“Your best bet is to get the agent talking,” Thad piped up once Adam got to this part of the plan. “The evil ones are always so mouthy. It’s how they spread their lies and fear.”
Nora wrinkled her nose at him. “Really? I thought the bad guy speech was just an action movie trope.”
“It’s a trope for a reason,” Adam responded. “Getting them talking is a good strategy for keeping them distracted while we get there.”
Adam turned back to Ezra and Antony to start interrogating them on their plans for the attack party, but Nora was too distracted to follow any of the conversation.
While the others were occupied, Drew leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You know you don’t have to do this, right?”
“You know I’m going to do it anyways, right?”
She felt his slight huff of breath that passed for an unamused laugh against her hair. “I know how stubborn you can be, so yes, I do know that.” He paused for a second before adding, “I’ll go with you if you want.”
Nora started, having not considered that she might have the option to not be completely alone with the enemy. She tried to envision what it might be like to have company at the museum, but instead, the vision of Leo lying at the bottom of the stairs in a pool of his own blood came to mind.
“I don’t want to take the chance that it would give the plan away, or that you would get hurt. Safer to endanger one person instead of two. Besides, it makes me feel better to know you’ll be there after to help take care of anybody who is injured.”
Drew nodded his understanding. “As long as you’re sure.”
By this point, Antony and Ezra were discussing weapons between the two of them and Adam seemed to be done with his part. He turned to Nora before standing and inclining his head to indicate she should do the same.
“Come with me and we’ll see if we can get you geared up a bit more.”
Nora rose from her seat and followed him from the courtyard, trying not to let her hands fuss too much as they strode down the hallway. Normally not at a loss for what to say to each other, they were both quiet, their footsteps echoing harshly in the vast and empty hallways.
They turned through a doorway and Nora found that they had not come to the armory but were instead in Adam’s bedroom. Adam ushered her inside and strode over to his kettle in the corner.
“How about some tea to calm our nerves? English breakfast, right?” he asked, pulling out some teacups.
“All right,” Nora agreed. “Although I think a weapon in my hands right now would do more to calm my nerves than tea.”
