A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2)(63)

Acid churned into my throat. Daniel jerked away from me.

“What the devil are you doing here?” Oliver shouted, almost upon us. His features were masked with fury.

Daniel pushed in front of me. “Who the hell are you?”

Oliver ignored him, staring at me over Daniel’s shoulder. “I’ve been waiting around for you for hours, El! Then I come here, and what do I find?”

Daniel whirled around to me. “Do you know this man?”

“I-I . . .”

“Of course she knows me,” Oliver spat. “I’m her—”

“Hush,” I hissed. Panic beat wildly in my chest. “You’re drunk!”

Daniel recoiled. “So you do know him. Is he your beau?”

Oliver opened his mouth, but I shot him a fierce glare. “Don’t, Ollie.”

“Ollie?” Daniel repeated, somehow standing up even taller. “From the letters?”

“Yes,” Oliver said at the same instant I cried, “No!”

“You were her brother’s friend,” Daniel said, his eyes on Oliver. “And I . . . I’ve seen you somewhere before. . . . At the hotel—that’s it, isn’t it? You’ve been in the hotel.” He turned to me, his eyes creased with pain. “He is your beau. How else can you explain this?”

“Please,” I begged. “It isn’t like that at all.”

“God, I’ve been an idiot. ” He retreated two steps, his head shaking. “A new hand, a new man. I don’t know who you are anymore.”

“Yes, you do!”

“No, Miss Fitt.” He wrenched his top hat low over his face. “You’re not . . . you’re not who I thought you were.”

There was so much venom in his voice—venom I didn’t deserve—that all I could do was stare. He was the one who had changed. Not me. Why couldn’t he—or Jie—see that?

But I never had a chance to tell him. Before I could speak, he pivoted sharply and strode off—

away from the square, away from Oliver, and away from me.

I immediately rounded on the demon. “How could you do this to me? You stupid drunk!”

“El, I—”

“Don’t,” I shouted. “Do not speak to me. Do not come near me. Don’t even look at me.” I stomped away, but I only made it several steps before looking back. “Is this what you wanted all along? For me to have no one but you?”

“No. Of course not.” His eye shone, but with emotion or gin, I couldn’t say. “I was waiting for you, El. Waiting for you to . . . to come . . . and I followed our bond here, so—”

“I do not care,” I said softly. “Two of my friends are gone, and it’s all because of you.”

And with fury and shame pounding in my ears, I twisted around and left.

Chapter Fifteen

On my way back to the Hotel Le Meurice, I stopped by a post office. A telegram from Allison, a note from Mary—anything from home would have been welcome. I just wanted to know I wasn’t alone.

But I was alone. There were no messages for me.

So I trudged to the hotel and was soon clambering up the main steps. On the second floor, I slowed and glanced into the lab. The door was ajar, the white curtains drawn back, and Joseph was within, focused on a stack of papers.

As if he sensed me, his gaze flicked up. A furrow dug into his brow. He beckoned to me.

And I realized with crushing relief that Jie had not yet told him about Oliver. You should tell him, my conscience whispered. But I knew I would not. He was the only Spirit-Hunter left who did not hate me . . . and I wanted to cling to that for as long as I could. Who knew how much time I had before I was on my own—left to face Marcus by myself?

So, with a fortifying breath, I stepped to the doorway and poked my head in. “I thought you were away.”

“My business ended early. Perhaps now would be a good time to train.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It is very important that you learn to fight your magic.”

“Right.” I slunk in—but almost instantly stopped again. Four waist-high, pine crates stood in a row beneath the windows.

“Daniel’s latest inventions,” Joseph explained. “Yet you have not seen our other . . . decoration. ”

He flourished a hand to the far-right table. Atop it lay a man-shaped mound beneath a white sheet.

“The butler?” I asked.

“Wi. ”

Despite being an incredibly morbid reaction, the corpse’s presence made me smile. Madame

Marineaux must have remembered, even if I had not.

Joseph hurried to the body, waving for me to follow. I gathered up my skirts and warily approached, the faint stench of carrion drifting into my nose. He waved to the corpse’s head. “So far, the ears and eyes are the only regions I have found that are desecrated.”

“You inspected the whole body?”

“Not yet. I cleaned one of the ear wounds. I thought perhaps I would uncover a ritualistic way in which the organ had been removed—some special incision I could find referenced in my books.” He ran a gloved hand along his jaw. “But I found nothing.”

“May I?”

At Joseph’s nod, I gulped in clean air and yanked back the sheet. Up close and a day older, the butler managed to look even worse than he had before. Though his mouth was clamped shut, the waxy skin around his lips had stretched to the point of ripping—presumably from chomping so desperately.