Page 19 of Monsters in the Museum

He sighed from his perch on the fountain before embarking on another explanation. “I’m afraid the attack may have happened even if I wasn’t there. The sword and the spear are both very powerful artifacts. The Shadow would be drawn to that power.”

Nora raised her head and squinted up at Adam through the hair that had fallen across her face, doing some quick mental math. “Powerful artifacts? And you said that the Eteria took their final stand against the Shadow around 400 BC. The battle took place near Athens.” It all made sense to her now. “We carbon dated the sword and spear to about that time period. They were left from the battle with the Shadow.”

Adam nodded, “They are both Eteria weapons, forged by our Smiths. That’s why they haven’t deteriorated throughout the centuries; they were forged using the Light.”

“Explains why you wanted to see them so badly,” Nora observed, piecing together the puzzle formed by Adam’s explanations. Nora had a sudden thought about the lengths Adam might have gone to see the sword, but she kept that thought to herself for now, putting it away to examine later.

“Well, yes.” Adam looked down and rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “I will admit that I was rather desperate to see the sword once I saw it in the paper. I was particularly interested in seeing the sword, because… well—it’s mine.”

“You mean mine, as in it belongs to the Eteria?” Nora clarified.

“No,” Adam would not meet her eyes as he spoke, choosing his words as if she were a wounded animal who might bolt if he said the wrong thing. “That sword belonged to me personally. It was made for me, and I used it in the battle against the Shadow.”

Nora pinched her eyebrows together. “But Adam, that can’t be your sword. That weapon was left behind over two millennia ago. You can’t be…”

Adam grimaced.

Nora’s ears rang.

“No, no. If that sword was yours, then you’d have to be—”

“I’m 2600 years old, give or take.” He cut her off, glancing up through his lashes.

Nora stared in silence, waiting for him to burst out laughing and tell her that it was all a joke. When she looked into his eyes, though, she found no amusement. She shook her head. She had been trying to take his explanations in stride up until this point, but this tipped her over the edge.

“Our connection with the Light prevents us from aging,” Adam began to explain, “Just like the weapons in the museum show no signs of the centuries of wear and tear, we are protected from accumulating damage and signs of decay. We are immune to most sickness, and we won’t die unless we are killed. Even though using the Light is nearly impossible these days, the connection sustains us.”

The gears in Nora’s brain that had come to a standstill earlier began to move again, attempting to integrate this new bit of information. The theory had made sense when he had been explaining why the weapons did not age, but it still somehow seemed farfetched to apply the same principle to human beings.

Something caught at the back of Nora’s throat, and for one horrifying moment, she thought she was going to burst into tears. Instead, a small laugh bubbled up. The single quiet giggle seemed to break the damn of hysteria within her. It grew into violent laughter until she was rocking back and forth on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

Adam’s mouth hung open, and his eyes were round as he watched her antics. Nora wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he had expected, but she was sure this wasn’t it. To his credit, he did not reprimand her or tell her to calm down. Her hysteria echoed around the smooth stone of the courtyard for long minutes, and she let the ridiculousness of her situation wash over her.

Eventually, her laughter subsided, leaving Nora gasping for breath and dashing tears from her eyes. She was probably as red as the crimson fabric she was draped in, but that seemed to be the least of her issues at this point.

Adam commented mildly. “Well, you took that better than Drew did.”

Nora’s face fell, her mirth fading. “Drew. Where is he?”

“He’s fine. Totally fine,” Adam reassured, his palms held out toward her placatingly. “He came with us to the Sanctuary. He refused to let you out of his sight, and he stayed with you while Thad drew the Shadows out of your blood—kept yelling about breaking sterile procedure while Thad was healing you. Still, after seeing Thad work, he was in a better position to believe our explanation.”

Nora’s anxiety ebbed a little, a plan starting to form in its place, “But you said I took it better than he did?”

“Well, yes.” The corners of Adam’s mouth twitched up. “When Thad told him how old he was, Drew fainted.”

Nora’s hand flew to her open mouth, “Is he okay? Can I see him?”

“Yes, yes, he’s fine. Thad saw to it that he was well taken care of, and he’s probably anxious to see you. If you’re feeling up to it, of course.”

Nora nodded as she pushed to her feet. “I’d like to see him right away. I need a little space to process all of this.”

“Of course, take as long as you need. I’m sure a familiar face will help,” Adam said as he also stood, offering her a small smile.

“Thanks. Oh, and Adam?”

“Yes?”

Nora took a quick step forward and braced both of her hands on Adam’s chest before giving him the most forceful shove she could manage. He stumbled back a step or two, arms wind-milling wildly to regain his balance before his knees hit the edge of the fountain, and he toppled backward into the water with an almighty splash.

When he surfaced, he spluttered and shook his soaked hair out of his eyes like an oversized dog. The wet strands plastered to his high cheekbones as he gaped at her.

“That’s for almost getting me killed,” she snapped, before spinning on her heel and marching out of the courtyard. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought the beginnings of a smile formed on his face before she turned away.