Читать книгу Heiress to a Curse - Zandria Munson - Страница 13

“Ouch!” Alexandra exclaimed.

April stopped wiping the small bruise on her forehead to glare at her. “Now let me get this right. While you were walking in the South Bronx, three men tried to mug you, but you were saved by a man with wings and a tail?”

Alexandra, still grimacing slightly, nodded. “Yes, and he had horns, too. And fangs.”

April’s face twisted into a pained expression. “And this creature came to your bed last night and went down on you?”

Alexandra nodded a second time, and when April fixed her with a look of concern, she sighed. “I know it sounds insane, but it happened. I mean, look at me—what other reason would I have for being bruised and missing a shirtsleeve?”

April moved around the couch and sat on the edge of the coffee table facing Alexandra. “It’s not that I don’t believe that some guys tried to mug you. You shouldn’t have gone to that neighborhood alone in the first place. What did you expect? I think you’ve suffered a real hard blow to the head. Are you sure you don’t want to see a doctor?”

Alexandra jumped up from the couch. “No, I don’t need a doctor! I know you don’t believe it, but do you honestly think I would make up something like this? The visions? The creature? Trust me—it would take a much harder blow to my head before I start hallucinating about things like that.”

With a torn expression and a heavy sigh, April slumped onto the couch. “I want to believe you, but listen to yourself. How can you get upset with me for being concerned? I’m sure if I was the one ranting, you’d respond the same way.”

Alexandra walked to the window of April’s apartment. She parted a space in the blinds and peeked out. It was late, but traffic still swarmed the streets below. Her gaze traveled up the buildings to scan their towering peaks. She was looking for him.

Alexandra had gone to April because she really didn’t have anyone else to turn to and she’d been too afraid to go home. The other woman had patiently listened to her frantic recount of the events in the alley and then had offered to accompany her to the police station to file a report. Alexandra had declined, of course. With no witnesses and no solid evidence, she would come across as a raving lunatic. April’s offer to take her to the hospital was also declined. Alexandra felt fine physically. It was her mind that was in a state of frenzy.

“I’m sorry, April. I’m overreacting,” Alexandra apologized, feeling guilty. “It’s just hard to believe that even you don’t think what I’m saying is the truth.”

“Well, I want to believe you, but I just can’t imagine something like that lurking in alleyways or creeping into women’s beds at night, especially not in New York.”

“You’re the one working on the story, for God’s sake!” Alexandra tried reasoning. “Don’t you think that there’s a remote possibility that this thing is the mysterious shadow that’s been haunting Central Park?”

April’s face contorted. “I write articles about it, but I don’t actually believe that there’s something out there. Well, nothing like that, anyway.”

Alexandra let the blinds snap back into place. “I don’t want to argue about it. I know what I saw, and I know I’m not crazy. Right now I just need to get some rest before my head explodes,” she said.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here tonight,” April said.

“Thanks.” Alexandra smiled at her friend and crossed the elegant living room to the bathroom.

She turned the light on and looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t badly bruised, but then that was the least of her concerns. For now, she had to find out what the creature was, where it had come from and why she seemed to be the focus of its attention. And, more important, she had to find another way to connect with Mady Halman. The bracelet was gone, but she’d seen enough to start an investigation of her own. She didn’t know how she was going to tell Mady’s mother that she’d lost the bracelet, but finding Mady was more important.

The next morning, Alexandra borrowed some of April’s clothes for work. She matched a tweed sleeveless dress with a blue blazer to mask the bruises on her wrist. To hide the small grotto on her forehead, she combed a sweeping bang over it. She really didn’t have the time or the patience to answer any questions.

Later, she sat at her desk in the busy newsroom, completely oblivious to the noise and activity around her. She’d acquired a list of all the blue Mercury vans registered in the area and was comparing it to the lists of registered sex offenders in both New York and Pennsylvania. It was a tedious task, especially without a name to go on, but if there was a match, she was determined to find it.

She was so engrossed in her work, she didn’t see April approaching her desk until her friend tossed a copy of a rival newspaper in front of her. “Look at this,” she said.

Alexandra looked up at her. “What is it?”

“Just read it.”

She looked at the heading.

Central Park Mystery Revealed!

Below the bold letters was a large and overly exaggerated illustration of a winged creature that looked more like something from a horror film than the thing she’d seen. Alexandra quickly skimmed the article. It was an account of what had happened in the alley the night before, only the thieves had tactfully omitted the part where they had been trying to rob her.

“Those dirty bastards!” she gasped.

April leaned over her desk. “I’m sorry for not believing you. It’s just …”

“It’s okay,” Alexandra interrupted her. “No need to explain. I don’t know if I would’ve believed myself, either.”

“No, it’s not okay. You’re my best friend. I should’ve at least given you the benefit of the doubt. I really am sorry,” she apologized.

Alexandra offered her a reassuring smile. “Stop beating yourself up about it.” She returned her attention to the front page. “It says here that the creature attacked them while they were rummaging for food. Those lying scumbags!”

“Is that really what you saw, Alexandra?” April asked with a daunted expression. “It looks like something from a bad dream.”

Alexandra’s brows puckered and she looked over the picture again. “Well, this drawing is a bit gruesome. It had wings, a tail, horns and fangs and its face was somewhat distorted, but it looked like a man.”

“Do you think it could’ve been some kind of costume?” April speculated.

She shook her head. “No. The way that thing jumped around, it was totally not human. And I told you, it flew away. There’s no way some guy in a suit could’ve pulled that off.”

April’s eyes brightened and she snatched a pen from the mug on Alexandra’s desk. “Wow, you must’ve been scared to death. And you say this thing came into your apartment a few nights ago? Tell me everything,” she said as she pulled out a notebook.

Alexandra looked at her friend, uncertain of how to proceed. By this time she was pretty sure that the creature was following her, but she wasn’t sure why. She really didn’t feel comfortable revealing more until she learned exactly what was going on.

“I’m sorry, April. I can’t. Not yet, anyway.”

April raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean you can’t? You have a perfect eyewitness’s point of view. This is going to make the front page, not to mention that the Daily Sun will be the only paper with this account.”

Alexandra shook her head. “No, I just can’t. There are some things I need to find out before any of this gets out.”

“Oh, come on!” April retorted. “Do you remember the time I flirted with that district attorney and persuaded him to give you the information you needed?”

“Yes, but this is different. I seem to be a target for this creature, and I need to know why.” At April’s displeased look she sighed. “Look, please try to understand. And you have to promise that you won’t print anything I told you.”

April was silent. She glared at her, tapping her pen against the notebook. Alexandra knew that stubborn expression, for she’d seen it countless times before.

“Please, April. Will you promise?”

April rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine, but only if you promise to tell me everything—and I mean from start to finish—as soon as you’re ready.”

“Agreed.” Alexandra smiled.

Alexandra didn’t go directly home after work. She went to the New York Public Library. There was too much on her mind, and she needed to know what the creature was and what he could possibly want from her. The only thing she had to aid her in determining his origin was the way he’d been dressed.

His attire had been rather sparse, but she remembered the leather bracers that had encased his wrists. They’d looked like the accessories of knights and archers of another time. She also remembered the weapon he’d carried. Although she’d only gotten a quick look at it, it very well could have been a medieval knife.

She headed straight for the section on medieval legends and folktales and plucked a thick volume from the row.

“Medieval Myths by Percy Langston,” she read aloud as she flipped open the book.

She began turning the pages, skipping through sections on werewolves, vampires and dragons. She read each heading and examined the illustrations for any likenesses to the creature. She froze when she came to a drawing. It wasn’t a large one, but it immediately sparked a sense of recognition within her. The thing stood on the rampart of a castle wall. It looked to be the size of a man, with horns protruding from its forehead, claws, ragged wings and a great lashing tail. Its face was contorted in a fierce growl, its daggered teeth bared and menacing. It was like looking at a snapshot of the Central Park Creature—only the one that had saved her was beautiful.

His long inky hair, coupled with the shadows of the night, had shrouded most of his face, but what she’d seen had been enough to imprint his features in her mind. She remembered a chiseled jawline, a straight and hard mouth, a regal nose and intense eyes that had penetrated her very soul. An image of his head between her thighs flashed in her mind, and she remembered the feel of his strong hands clenching her backside as he’d thrust his tongue into her throbbing body. She’d never imagined a pleasure quite so extreme.

A wave of heat washed over her and she shook herself, returning her attention to the book before her. The paragraphs below the illustration described gargoyles as beings of the night—beings that were doomed to spend eternity guarding castles and holy places. Their fate was punishment for sins committed during another lifetime. They were grotesque creatures that shunned the daylight with such vehemence that they became stone beneath the sun’s rays.