Shadow of the Sun (Timeless #1)

Chapter 4: Necklace

An alluring, statuesque woman with long, brown hair positioned herself on the other side of the box. She was perfectly fitted in a black suit, showing off her every curve, but her casual stance let me know she had no clue she was in the presence of an angel. Unless it had all just been in my imagination: the angels and the dark creature, all things I had invented in my delirium. Maybe I'd eaten hallucinogenic mushrooms. Maybe I wasn't even really at work.

"Hi. I'm Agent Austin, but you can call me Karen," the woman said with a companionable inflection. "I'm with the FBI." She held out her hand. She had a charisma about her I was sure made every woman envious.

"Dr. Moretti." I shook her hand. "You can call me Gabriella." I half-smiled, still unsure of how I felt about everything. There was an overwhelming impression of compassion about this woman, and I immediately liked her compared to "Call Me Jeff."

"Gabriella." She tested my name on her tongue. "That's a striking name." She returned my smile. Even her teeth were white and straight. Maybe she was an angel too. Why not? If I really was on some mushroom-induced trip, she could be whoever I wanted her to be.

"Thank you." I stared down at the angel. I was afraid if I ripped my eyes away from him for too long, he would vanish. I wondered why I had been so anxious to get away earlier when I felt so peaceful in their presence now. Every second I spent next to this box the more I wanted to touch the man inside.

"Are you the one who specializes in supernatural beings?" Karen asked, clearly intrigued by my profession. I didn't hold it against her; many people were curious, though most just looked at me as if I had lost all my marbles.

"I guess you could put it that way." I pursed my lips. "Really, though, this is the most mysterious thing to happen here. One time there was an uproar about vampire bones, but, you know, it was just in everyone's head." Normally I wouldn't talk this much to anyone about my profession. I was practically babbling. Keeping so many secrets could be difficult, but I didn't have to here.

Karen looked at me, eager and delighted. "So that myth is squashed?" She sighed, as if she wished the stories were all true. Maybe she was one of those people who dreamed a vampire would bite her.

Someone in her earpiece caught her attention. She looked up from the angel and pressed a finger to her ear. I followed her gaze. My eyes met with none other than Jeff's, who stood at the far side of the Fishbowl. When Jeff realized I was looking his direction, his eyes burned into mine. Behind the sunglasses was that familiar blaze. Sinister somehow.

"Dammit," Karen muttered. "I'll be right back." She circled around the box toward Jeff.

My attention turned back to the angel. He looked peaceful, blind to all the fuss going on about him. A lab worker waltzed up and stared at me without saying a word.

"Yes?" I finally asked after several long, silent seconds.

"Director Halistor told me to prepare the bodies for shipping," the boy said timidly. He continued to look at me and finally raised his eyebrows. His eyes roamed down my arm to where my fingers curled around the box.

"Right," I said. "Darren's the boss."

"Huh?"

"Sorry. Director Halistor," I corrected. Darren absolutely hated his last name. There was a story behind it that he'd never told me. Only his lower subordinates called him Director Halistor. Sometimes it even took me a second or two to register whom my employees were talking about when they called him that. Secretly, I knew they also called him Hook Foot. It had something to do with fishing.

Backing away from the angel, my heart ached. It was hard to move away now that I had gotten so close. I scrutinized the room while the box was nailed shut. Karen and Special Agent you-can-call-me-Jeff were still talking rapidly to each other. Their whispered discussion was intense, and several times Jeff shot a glare my direction, targeting my forehead as if he were shooting laser beams through my skull. I had to resist the urge to recoil from the glower. Had I done something to piss him off? My eyes kept darting in their direction, stealing glances, unable to suppress paranoia. Karen incessantly rubbed her mouth and neck in noticeable exasperation; she even seemed a bit indignant.