Read Online Eidolon by Jordan L. Hawk - Free Book Online Page B

I couldn’t forget, even if I wanted. How many nights did I
still jolt awake, my former partner Glenn’s screams echoing in my ears?
    “I don’t know what you mean,” I said past the thickness in
my throat.
    “Why did you come here? To Widdershins, I mean?”
    The devil? “A whim. I wished to find a place to start my own
business, and here seemed as good a place as any.”
    She laughed softly, like an adult amused by the ramblings of
a child. “You’re wrong. This town has a way of collecting things. Whatever whim
you believe drew you here, I assure you, it was not of your doing.”
    I sat frozen, wanting to argue. Or to say of course there
was a purpose for my being here. A higher purpose than she suggested, a greater
providence, which had brought me to Widdershins in time to help put an end to
an evil necromancer last December. But the words stuck in my throat.
    She made a dismissive gesture. “None of which is of any
consequence to this discussion. The talisman can wait, yes, but at a great
cost. One I do not believe your conscience is of the type to bear.”
    It was possible Miss Lester was simply delusional. I looked
again to the calendar, then to the clock, whose hands already approached noon.
“Do you have any idea where your cousin might be hiding while he awaits your
answer?”
    “From what little I know of him, he would not lower himself
to the tenements, but could not afford to rent one of the better houses.”
    It narrowed things a bit. I might ask among my various
contacts. Surely, it wouldn’t take too long to find him. How many strangers from
Boston could be renting houses in Widdershins at one time, after all?
    With luck, the case would prove simple, and I’d have the talisman
back in Miss Lester’s possession well before sundown. I wouldn’t have to risk
the very real possibility she wasn’t mad, and the talisman did indeed carry
with it some awful curse. Not to mention, I could charge her twice my ordinary
fee for the rush.
    And I would still have plenty of time to dress for dinner
and surprise Whyborne with his perfect evening.
    “Very well,” I said. “Let us speak of my fee.”
     
    II
     
    Of course, nothing is ever so easy.
    I made a return trip to Kryer and Panova, whose clerk
identified the ransom note’s stationery as having come from their rivals across
town. But it had taken some time and a few bribes to various contacts to discover
what houses in the area were for rent and which housed a man matching the
description of Miss Lester’s cousin.
    I considered going straight to the house and either
confronting him, or waiting until he left for dinner, as he’d apparently hired
no servants, and breaking in. But I couldn’t be certain if the talisman truly
had an occult nature, as Miss Lester believed, or was simply an odd family
heirloom, as the thief presumably thought.
    Several hours later, I hurried up the grand marble stairs
leading to the front entrance of the Nathaniel R. Ladysmith Museum. The
damnably short winter day had already begun to wane, the shadows gradually
lengthening around me. If foul magic were involved, I wanted only one man at my
back to confront it: Dr. Percival Endicott Whyborne, comparative philologist at
the museum. And my lover, so having him with me would mean we’d be more likely
to make our dinner reservation.
    There was still time. Plenty of time. We wouldn’t be able to
exchange our clothes for something more formal, but we’d still dine at Le
Calmar. I’d brought the theater tickets with me, as well as the card, so there
would be no need to stop at the house.
    Everything would be as perfect as he deserved.
    I passed through the museum entrance, receiving a wave from
the ticket-taker, who recognized me by now. Mr. Rockwell, the rather
incompetent head of security, stared past, pretending not to recognize me. He’d
treated Whyborne cruelly at least once, and I longed to find the bastard alone
in a dark alley late at night.
    I let myself through