Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)(44)

“I cannot say.” Joseph smiled weakly. “I do not know how it worked, but squeezing your earring gave me a source of electricity, and I used it.”

Daniel knelt before us. “Quartz is piezoelectric. Mechanical stress creates an electric current.”

I reached up and stroked the amethysts. “Oh.” He made it sound so simple.

“Although,” he added, “I never expected that much power. How were you able to magnify it so much, Joseph?”

“I do not know,” Joseph said. “I was also surprised by the strength of the electric source.” He tapped his chin and gazed at me. “I wonder...”

“Empress, are you well?” Daniel peered at me with concern.

“Yes,” I answered, though I wasn’t sure that was true. I felt... fuzzy.

Daniel leaned toward me and placed a hand on my forehead. “You just got electrocuted. You should tell us if you don’t feel right.”

Jie stumbled up and plopped to the ground. A slur of unfamiliar words spouted from her lips, and I could tell by her ferocity that they were not meant kindly. Her knuckles bled, her clothes were shredded, and a ripe, red bruise swelled on the side of her face. Her dark eyes shone with fury. “I hope you sent that spirit back for good.”

Joseph shook his head. “I do not think so. It was strong, and I fear it will return.”

“What does it want?” I asked. “Why would it attack us here? Now?”

Joseph opened his hands. “I cannot say.”

“I can,” Daniel said. “I think it wants those Exhibition guides just like the other Dead that was here. It’s the only explanation I can conjure.” He quickly described the discovery we’d made just before the spirit’s arrival. When he finished the tale, Jie hopped up and strode off. She soon returned carrying the guidebooks to the Exhibition.

“I don’t get it,” she muttered, gazing at the volumes. “Can a spirit do much with these? Maybe it just wanted to kill us.”

“Wi,” Joseph said. “Or perhaps both. There is something about this spirit. I can sense its desire. Its power is wholly focused on some deep-seeded want—though what that want is, I cannot say.”

Daniel sniffed and scratched his nose. “Well, let’s take the books and look at ’em in the lab. Maybe we can figure out what all these Dead are after.”

“Perhaps we should leave a note.” My brain hazily insisted something about a subscription and checking out books.

“Eleanor.” Jie crouched beside me. “You don’t look right. We should get you home.”

“No, no.” I waved the comment aside. “I’m a mess... and I’ve lost my parasol. I haven’t the slightest idea where I put it. Mama will kill me, and we can’t spare the money to buy another.” I huffed a dramatic sigh. I felt a bit like I had at Allison’s birthday party, when I had drunk too much champagne. Blurry.

“Eleanor.” Jie scooted closer. “Stay awake.”

“Just a little nap,” I insisted.

My eyes fluttered shut, and I let my body slump. Right before I wandered into sleep, someone caught me. I hoped it was Daniel.

When I awoke, I found myself layered beneath blankets. It was my bed, my bedroom, though I couldn’t think how I’d gotten there.

My tongue felt fat and dry, like an overcooked slab of sausage. I kicked away the covers. They were soaked through with my sweat, and my nightgown clung to my skin.

Amber light shone through my window. Evening. My head hurt, and I wiggled my fingers and toes experimentally. My muscles felt as if someone had pummeled them.

I’d been electrocuted. That’s what Daniel had said. I shuddered. Bad enough the Spirit-Hunters had battled a spirit, but then they’d had to bring an unconscious lady home.

Merciful heavens, had they met Mama?

The door flew open, and the dragon herself sailed in. She settled on the edge of my bed, her face severe and her nostrils flaring. “Well, dear, no more Women’s Pavilion for you.”

“Huh?” I propped myself onto my elbows. These were not the first words I’d expected.

“I will not have my only daughter working and then fainting from the heat.”

The heat. A clever explanation.

Mama lifted her chin. A queen declaring her law. “It is utterly unacceptable for a lady of high society to lose consciousness in front of such crowds.”

“It’s not the Women’s Pavilion that made me overheat,” I muttered, “but all the petticoats—”

“Do not blame your clothes.” Her eyes thinned. “You have put yourself in a very improper position, and it will require the utmost delicacy to mend.” She sighed dramatically. “To be brought home by such ilk.”

“Wh-what do you mean? By what ilk?”

“A young man carried you home, Eleanor. A filthy young man. Do you realize the talk that could come from this?”

It must have been Daniel who had brought me home, for Joseph could never be called “filthy”. Good. I don’t want Joseph tarnishing his reputation with swooning girls. Daniel, at least, has no reputation to tarnish.

Mama rose and began pacing. Her feet pounded a slow rhythm that echoed miserably in my aching skull. I fell back onto the bed and draped an arm over my eyes.