The Spectral City by Leanna Renee Hieber

Author:Leanna Renee Hieber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2018-08-01T11:52:25+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The first thing Monday morning, Eve was in before her company, just to have some time to think and be alone and try to center herself. She was torn in two, trying to find two souls at once.

The echo of “Find me . . .” wouldn’t leave her mind. She had to do as that voice bid. In life and in death.

Eve did not, however, arrive before McDonnell.

“Gift for you, Madame,” McDonnell said with her recurring jab of exaggeration as Eve entered, making it quite clear she thought that Eve and her colleagues took themselves too seriously, or thought themselves beyond their station. Perhaps someday Eve could reach a breakthrough with this bitter pill of a woman, but her energy was too precious for that to be any time soon.

Eve walked to the unadorned table where a sorting tray sat against the wood-paneled wall. Next to it was a box. A small, unmarked, black box.

“Do you know who sent it?”

“As you can see, there’s no return address. The postman just dropped it off with the rest of the mail. It smells sharply though. As if it’s been run through some sort of process like some of these new associates tinker around with at crime scenes. Might blow up a building with untested chemistry if they’re not careful,” the matron grumbled. Whether it was fingerprinting or some women daring to wear pants, it had been clear from day one that matron McDonnell didn’t seem to like any controversial new idea, however practical or innovative.

“How ever will you survive the coming century,” Eve murmured. “Noted about the smell, I’ll open a window,” she replied, taking the box and the letters to her desk.

As she put her fingers to the lid of the box, a strong instinct urged her to proceed with caution, to brace herself.

However, gifts and anticipation notwithstanding, she had to stifle a scream when she opened it.

A finger. A cleanly severed finger lay within the box. Bloodless, cold, preserved with certain embalming fluid—therein lay the chemical stench to mask decay.

An accusatory digit pointing at her. Small. Delicate. A child’s finger? No, an adult. Maybe someone her age. It was roughly the size of her own.

She looked up to find that several of her ghostly operatives were hovering over her. Her stifled scream must have been audible to the spirits, panic drawing her closest associates to her side. Vera had her eyes closed. Zofia had a hand over her mouth.

“What do you make of this grim offering?” Eve asked the ghosts. “Do you think we know who this belongs to?”

Zofia vanished, unable to respond. Sometimes when she would get overwhelmed, she would fade. She never entirely went away, though after Maggie’s disappearance the girl’s fading made Eve more nervous than it had before. Often she’d come back with an insight or just return the next day fresh.

“Meant to scare you, surely,” Vera said, drawing her shawl between her fingers nervously. “Dios mio.”

Eve set her jaw and closed the lid again, inspecting the box.

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