Page 24 of Monsters in the Museum

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.