Chapter 9 #2
Ariel paled. If the snake overheard their conversation, it was all about Ariel coming to terms with being duped by Grimm.
That would make their act not make any sense.
Before Joline could suggest that maybe it was too far away to have heard anything they said, the man they thought was a baddie got up from his corner table.
The man threw some dollar bills on his table before sauntering over to them.
Joline held her breath and Anson leaned back. She noticed that as he did so, he also reached into his pocket, making Joline wonder if he had a weapon. But then he removed his hand, without a weapon, and kept his hand loose at his side, a viper ready to strike.
As the stranger approached them, something about him smelled familiar, yet she couldn’t quite place it.
Though she’d bet she’d met him somewhere before.
Joline wasn’t able to put more thought into it because when the man passed them, a folded piece of paper fell out of his hand onto their table.
Joline wondered if it had been a mistake, if it had accidently fell out of his hand or something, since the man did it so quickly, and without looking down.
But there was another reason she didn’t exactly catch the movements of the man.
At the exact same time as he passed, Anson flicked his hand out.
It was so fast, Joline thought she maybe imagined it.
The man didn’t seem to notice; he appeared focused on the exit.
Still, the interaction left her on edge.
She itched her arms, trying her best to keep her quills at bay.
Joline flicked her eyes toward Anson. “What did you do as he walked past?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Joline was about to challenge him when Ariel poked the note with her butterknife before glancing up at them. “You open it,” Ariel said to her brother, her whiskey voice wavered with nervousness.
“No. I’m not touching that. Maybe it’s coated in some sort of poison.” Anson glared at the paper as if it could bite him.
“Fine.” Joline leaned forward and grabbed it.
The man had it in his bare hands, so there was no way it was poisoned.
Ariel tried stopping her, but Joline was too quick.
Joline felt her eyes nearly pop out of her head over what the note said.
This was an actual note written by a bad guy, like the ones she was learning about in classes.
Except this wasn’t pretend or a copy of something from an old FUC case.
“So, what does it say?” Ariel asked, concern wrinkling her forehead.
“It says, ‘I had my men follow you, Ariel, to make sure you hadn’t turned on me.’” Joline glanced up, noticing Ariel’s golden skin pale.
“‘I was pleased by what they reported back. I want you and your new friend to meet me at 2400 Pine Avenue, three pm, Sunday.’ It’s signed, G.
” Joline turned the note over as if expecting there to be more.
There wasn’t. A shiver trickled down her spine at the thought of the evil scientist holding the piece of paper that was in her hands.
She dropped it on the table as if it were on fire.
“Who are ‘they?’” Anson asked. His green eyes searched the other diners as if trying to tell who else could be a spy for Grimm. Concern deepened the creases in Ariel’s forehead.
Joline felt herself tapping the table as she thought. They only saw the one man today. He brought the note with him, so there must have been others before today. As the clouds of her racing thoughts parted in her mind, the answer was clear. “The amphiptere!” she nearly shouted.
“The what?” Ariel and Anson asked in unison.
“The flying snake I was telling you about. The one I saw that day, when you were having a bad go of it and ended up at the tree I was reading in,” Joline tried to be vague, not wanting to share that Ariel was sobbing, in case she didn’t want her brother to know.
“I saw the amphiptere—the flying snake—after you left.”
“Are you sure?” Ariel asked, the worry deepening the creases on her forehead.
Joline nodded. She knew a flying snake was bizarre. “After you left, I noticed the grass moving, but it wasn’t consistent with the wind direction.”
“Grass, as in, not a field of wheat blowing in the breeze, but some low-to-the-ground forest-floor blades?” Anson asked, a tone of surprise in his voice. He raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, as if to say he doubted her. “You noticed that?”
“Blades tall enough to cover a snake, and, yeah, I did.” Joline caught herself glaring at him.
While she lacked confidence at times, she hated when others doubted her when she knew it was something she was good at.
“Porcupines may have poor eyesight, but I wear glasses and I make a point to be aware of my surroundings.” Being perceptive was a trait she hoped would help her to be a great agent one day.
When things didn’t fit, her attention honed in on it.
She supposed that’s what attracted her to Ariel.
She seemed different than the others at WANC.
Ariel must have kicked her brother under the table because he let out a yelp before leaning as far forward as the table would allow to rub his shin. Ariel grinned before turning her sharp gaze back to Joline. “As you were saying?” she asked playfully.
“I used my shifter abilities to smell the scent on the wind, but it didn’t make sense. I smelled snake and feathers—and not bird feathers, like you might expect, but something strange.”
“That’s an odd combination,” Ariel muttered.
“Exactly. That’s why I investigated further.
I thought my nose was playing tricks on me, though usually it’s spot on.
Porcupines may have poor eyesight, but we make up for that with our noses and ears.
” Joline tried to not get overly defensive when she felt someone was questioning her animal abilities, but she was proud to be a porcupine shifter.
She wanted others to know that while they weren’t natural predators, like the wolf shifters that gravitated towards the ‘Eh Team, they could still pack a punch.
Even if that was in the form of leaving behind the nasty souvenir of a handful of quills imbedded in someone.
“When I got closer, the creature flew away.”
“So, it was some weird looking bird? Not a snake?” Anson asked, while still rubbing the knot in his shin.
Joline shook her head. “No. It was a snake with wings. I looked it up and the closest name for the creature I could find was amphiptere. At least that’s what they call it in Europe. Some other countries call it by a different name.”
“You mean like Quetzacóatl, the feathered serpent god from Mesoamerica?” Anson asked.
Joline nodded, glad he was finally on the same page. “Exactly.”
Ariel chewed on a fingernail as she looked to the note on the table. “So either the man just now was the amphitheater—”
“Amphiptere,” Joline corrected with a short giggle. The word did sound ridiculous and made up.
“Right. Or that creature was another shifter sent to spy on me,” Ariel finished.
“There could be more than just them two, by the sound of it,” Anson mused. “The note said ‘they.’”
Joline shook with a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature of the diner.
It creeped her out to think about people keeping tabs on Ariel in the shadows.
She could understand why the agents may be watching her, but Grimm would only be sending his minions to spy for nefarious reasons.
That’s when she realized why the scent of the man who passed the note was so familiar.
“I think that man was the amphiptere. He smelled very similar to the strange creature.” Even though some shifters smelled different in their human form, Joline could usually tell what animal they transformed into thanks to her talented nose.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ariel finally said.
“What do you mean?” Joline asked, wondering what part didn’t add up.
Ariel’s brow furrowed. “When I stumbled upon you at the tree, I was talking about how Grimm betrayed me. Why would he think I’m still on his side? None of us have given him a reason to think that.”
“It’s a trap,” Joline agreed.
Anson gave them both a warning look. “That’s why you’re both staying out of this.
” Anson sighed as if the weight of their situation forced the air out of his lungs.
“You two will go back to WANC and pretend nothing out of the ordinary is going on. I’m going to take this note to Agents Stone and Sparks. ”