Hollow Dolls by MarcyKate Connolly

Author:MarcyKate Connolly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-11-08T22:05:04+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

We prop Euna up near the door to the stairs, safely away from the edge of the roof. She is too tall for us to carry down ourselves, and we’re too terrified of the body walker to split up.

We hurry down the stairs, shouting for someone, anyone to come and help. When we reach the next level down, we are met with a librarian rubbing her eyes. She probably dozed off in the stacks.

“My goodness, what is the matter?” she says.

“Euna is on the roof!” Sebastian cries.

“She was attacked by a body walker, and she needs help. Please, hurry,” I say.

The woman wastes no time. “Find the doctor. Her name is Olga. Her quarters are on the third floor. Her suite is the fourth door on the right from the stairs. I’ll see to Euna until she arrives.”

Sebastian and I hurry away, and when we reach the third floor, we count the doors until we reach the fourth one, then knock as if our lives depend upon it. We’re scared that Euna’s does.

We know how it feels to be used by a body walker. Hollowed out, exhausted. Like something inside you is off-kilter, and you have no idea how to set it right again.

A bleary-eyed woman answers the door, wrapping a robe around her wiry frame. “What is it, dears?” she asks. “Is someone hurt?”

“Yes. Euna needs help. She’s on the roof.”

Her eyes widen, all trace of sleepiness slipping away. “Let me grab my bag.”

Other librarians begin to open their doors to see what’s going on. Even Devynne and her insatiable curiosity peek out into the hall. But Olga takes me and Sebastian firmly by the elbows. “Take me to her, and tell me what happened.”

“We were looking for her earlier this evening. We wanted to thank her for her hospitality,” I say.

“But we couldn’t find her,” Sebastian adds.

“We searched everywhere and didn’t find a trace of her until we reached the roof,” I say.

Olga frowns. “Did she tell you what she was doing all the way up there?”

I shake my head. “She couldn’t. A body walker had taken her over. I don’t know why they would have brought her all the way up there, but—”

Olga stops and faces me. “Hold on. A body walker? That’s a rare talent and quite an accusation. What makes you so certain?”

I wrap my arms around my middle, and Sebastian instinctively places a hand on my back. “I’m Simone, a mind reader. Both of us”—I gesture to Sebastian—“were in Lady Aisling’s garden. She used the body walker’s talent on us. I’d recognize it anywhere. But mostly because I could see Euna’s body, but not hear her thoughts. Not until the body walker let her go.”

“That’s when she collapsed,” Sebastian says.

Olga briskly picks up the pace again. “Then I suppose you would know,” she muses. “I have never treated someone who has had their mind used in such a manner. It’s a good thing we have a team of researchers here who might be able to help if she doesn’t recover quickly.

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