Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)(71)

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“It’s bad. Two thousand people are trapped in Agricultural Hall.”

I gasped. “Two thousand?”

“Yeah. And the necromancer gave us a note—delivered by one of his corpses. We’ve still got the book hidden for now, but if we don’t hand it over soon, the necromancer is gonna let some of his Dead loose to feed on the hostages.”

My breath shot out. I swayed back, but Daniel lunged forward and caught me before I could fall. For a moment he held me, his arm looped around my waist and his eyes gazing hard into mine.

“Eleanor.” He swallowed and wet his lips, his eyes roving over my face. But then he pulled back and released me. “You shouldn’t be here. There’s nothing you can do.”

“No. I have to help.” I reached out and clutched at his sleeve. “Where’s Joseph? Jie?”

“Agricultural Hall. They’re trying to get through the lines of Dead.”

“Lines?”

“Yeah. The necromancer’s got hundreds of them in rows, like an army. They attack if you get too close, but otherwise they just stand there.”

“Have you seen the necromancer?” I wanted to ask if he’d seen Clarence, but I held my tongue. Now wasn’t the time.

He swung his head sharply. “No. His corpses do all the work for him.” With a yank, he freed his arm from my grasp and turned back to the table. “Whoever he is, he picked the perfect moment. He took us apart bit by bit, and now we can barely fight back.”

“Are you going to give up?” I demanded at his back.

“Hell no, Empress.”

“Are you going to give him the book?”

“Maybe. Probably.”

I wedged myself between him and the table. “What’s the plan?”

Through clenched teeth he said, “We’re going to try to save the hostages without givin’ him the book, but there are fires burning everywhere.” He threw a hand toward the window. “There are corpses crawling all over the place, Joseph is exhausted, and I’m havin’ to start all over with my pulse bombs.

“Worst of all, the necromancer is losing control of his army. Joseph says the spiritual energy that animates them is unraveling. If we hand over the book now, maybe the necromancer and his army will leave before it’s too late.”

“You mean before the whole army turns Hungry?”

“Yeah.”

“But the book—won’t it give the necromancer more strength?”

Daniel lifted one shoulder. “We’re going to hold off on handing it over as long as we can, but the Dead have all the power right now.”

I screwed my eyes shut and turned away. “Let me help, Daniel.”

“No.” He pressed his palms to his eyes. “Not after... not after the last time.”

“This time I’ll listen,” I pleaded. “I’ll do exactly what you tell me. I learned my lesson.”

He gripped the sides of my face and stared at me, his jaw set. “That’s not what I’m talking about. It’s your safety that bothers me.”

“The Devil take my safety!” I jerked away from him. “Tell me what to do!”

He eyed me for several breaths. Then he slowly nodded. “All right... I’ll send you to do my job—to retrieve the hidden book— but I can’t come with you. My first priority is to make pulse bombs—now. D’you know where George Washington’s camp trunk is?”

“Th-that’s in the Government Building.”

“Right, and the book is hidden in that trunk in the Government Building. So, you take that”—he pointed to a baseball bat leaning next to the lab door—“and go get the book. Then you take it to Joseph at Agricultural Hall.”

I pushed back my shoulders. “Yes.”

“And you run, Eleanor, d’you understand? Run as fast as you can until you reach the Government Building. And if you see a corpse, beat the hell out of its knees and then keep on running. If there are too many Dead for you to get through, then you come straight back to me. None of your stupid bravery, got it?”

“Yes.”

He reached across the table and plucked up the brass goggles. “Take these, and wear them any time you’re indoors.”

“Why?” Icy fear clutched at me. “Is the spirit here?”

“Could be. This is its kind of party, don’t you think? And if it can still jump between worlds, well... you need these to see it when it hides in the spirit realm.” He shoved the lenses into my hands. “We’ve been trying to learn all we can about that spirit, but we haven’t found a damn thing. For whatever reason, it hasn’t made any more appearances since Thursday. I reckon it’s waiting for the perfect moment.”

“The perfect moment for what?”

“For getting that grimoire.” He pointed to the goggles. “Put ’em on. Get to the book. And go to Joseph.”

I nodded and slipped on the goggles. “Thanks.” Then, before my mind and my fears could stop me, I raced from the lab.

I crept through Machinery Hall, clutching the baseball bat. The goggles were heavy on my nose and shrouded the exhibits in murky darkness. When I had entered, I had been too rushed, too desperate to notice that everything in the hall was different. No people spoke, no engines whirred.