Her master shook his head. “Like I said, we might have competition for the job. Arachne?”
“Standing guard. I’d let her in but I’m not sure if they have alarms on the doors or not.” Eva gestured around the slumped over figures in the front lobby. “They obviously don’t have motion sensors or the guards and cleaning crew would set them off.”
“Maybe it’ll deter any others.” Devon turned, glancing about the ceiling. He stopped and pointed almost immediately. “Cameras though.”
Eva groaned and ran her fingers down her face. “You should have reminded me before we stepped in.”
He chuckled and said, “don’t worry. While you were working your runes, I made myself a bit useful. For the next six hours we should appear as nothing more than shadows on any sort of recording. Hopefully.”
“Very reassuring.”
“Better than having to hunt down their server room only to find they have off site backups.”
“Right,” Eva grumbled. “What does this phylactery look like?”
“Golden skull, not sure on the size but it has two rubies for eyes and opal teeth. If you find it, don’t touch it just destroy it. I doubt anything bad would happen as it was handled by the archaeologists without problem, but take no chances.”
“Splitting up then?”
Nodding, Devon said, “it might not be on display yet. I’ll check the storage rooms, you run through the main areas. If it proves resistant to your efforts at destroying it, find me and I’ll see what we can do.”
With that said, her master turned and stalked down the hallway.
Might as well start at the second floor, Eva thought with a shrug.
—
Eva had never been in a museum before. As she walked through the silent halls, she couldn’t help but wonder if museums were as creepy during the day as they were at night.
Main lights were turned off in all the rooms except one room. That room had a number of the custodial crew that looked to be in the middle of polishing glass and waxing floors before a sudden drowsiness overtook them. Dim lights illuminated the floor, probably for patrolling security.
The display lights were the worst. Most were turned off to prevent damaging the works, but some were left on. The hallway leading to the Egyptian exhibit was lined with statues, each with a spotlight trained on them.
Eva walked through the Egyptian exhibit, looking through the displays for any sign of the phylactery. She passed by a set of scrolls spread out on the wall. There was not enough light to read them even if she had the time.
She focused on gold objects instead. There was a surprising amount. Several amulets and knickknacks glinted under the dim lighting. A small fortune could probably be made off just the gold in the room, let along whatever historical value the objects themselves had.
One of the displays caused Eva to do a double take. Beneath a thick glass display case sat a golden dagger. The information plaque to its side said that such gold knives were flaunted by the extremely wealthy and that the displayed dagger was one of the few intact ones they had come across.
Eva had to struggle to keep from bursting out laughing.
It was obviously a ritual dagger. The gold blade would be worthless for any sort of combat, but that could be confused with a simple ornamental or ceremonial dagger. The bloodstone capping the hilt is what gave it away. Eva smiled at the plaque which mistakenly identified it as a ruby.
A golden sheath, inlaid with several more bloodstones, lay just beneath the blade in the display case. Eva wondered at that. Her own sheath was a simple wrapping of hardened leather with no bloodstones or magical properties of its own.
Something to research later, Eva thought as she licked her dry lips.
All the bloodstones were in pristine condition. Almost like the dagger had never been used. It struck her as odd for ancient bloodstone. Use and time would degrade them. Eva had to replace her own twice so far, though her first one had been very poorly formed. Whoever made the ones on the golden daggers knew what they were doing.
Eva brought her own dagger to the bare skin on her left arm and drew blood. Dark-red droplets ran down the edge of the blade. Rather than drop to the ground, the blood hung in the air. Three marble sized globules formed before Eva sheathed the dagger. A quick flick of her wrist set the residual blood to healing the cut.
She tapped her index finger to a globule and dragged a small trail to the glass. She completed a circle and snapped her fingers. The blood circle flashed and with a light tap of her finger, fell into the display case.
Dipping her finger into one of the remaining globules, Eva reached into the case and smeared blood across the blade of the dagger. She repeated the action with the sheath, just in case.
“You’ve lost your master, to death or abandonment I know not. As a trophy, a relic, you’re left to dull and rot. I give a taste of what I can offer, with promise to increase your sheen and luster, so forgo your old ties and chose a new master.”
The rhymes were unnecessary as was the verbal request. Yet there was a certain magic in words, or so books told her. When dealing with an artifact that, according to the plaque, was over five thousand years old, it paid to be careful. A loyal blade was much less likely to cause problems with any protections left on it than a stolen blade. She made a note to give it a thorough examination before using it.
The bloodstones, on the other hand, did require a conversion to her. Again though, that could probably be done without a chant.
The blood sat on the blade long enough for Eva to wonder if it was rejecting her offer. Her rhymes weren’t very good. The first line popped into her head and she’d liked it. She started speaking without thinking and had to make up the second line as she went along. She frowned, mentally apologizing for not being a professional poet
A sigh of relief escaped her lips when the blood simmered and vanished within the golden metal. The bloodstones on both the sheath and the dagger darkened to black-red of her own dagger.
She sheathed the golden dagger and dropped it into her bag with a whispered “thanks.” Covering up the theft would be near impossible, and Eva didn’t care enough to try. It would be impossible to cover up the fact that people were here on account of the sleeping guards. As long as no trails led back to Eva, she was happy with the outcome.
To help cover up the theft of that specific item, Eva broke into a few other displays. She didn’t want the wrong sort of people looking into the dagger and finding it to be anything other than a simple ornament. She liberated a pair of earrings, a handful of rings, a bracelet and a necklace adorned with sapphires. All of it made of gold.
Eva didn’t think any of it was anything magical, but the presence of the dagger made her second guess herself. She promised herself to give everything a once over when she got home.
Eva quickly finished checking the rest of the room for the phylactery, unsuccessfully. She left the Egyptian exhibit with a significantly heavier bag.
She turned the corner and ran into someone. One hand had her dagger out and pressed against her arm and the other hand reached for a vial of demon blood before she even registered her master’s face.
“Did you find it?” Eva asked, slowly replacing her equipment.
Her master held up a plastic bag as far away from himself as he could. The outline of a palm sized skull could be seen through the thick plastic.
“I thought we weren’t going to touch it.”
“I haven’t touched it directly, but I was having trouble destroying it. I’ll need more specialized equipment.”
“Let me try?” She doubted she’d be able to succeed where her master failed, but blood magic was powerful. Her master was not fond of it. He probably didn’t try it.
“Later. I think a silent alarm was tripped. At least, there are police cars outside with their lights on. Your sloth rune may be deterring their entry.”