A Summoning of Souls. Leanna Renee Hieber
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Название: A Summoning of Souls
Автор: Leanna Renee Hieber
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Историческая фантастика
Серия: A Spectral City Novel
isbn: 9781635730609
isbn:
Despite being the leader of her own department, Eve couldn’t help feeling untrained and out of her depth.
Clara gestured up the lane. “Care for lunch? Our Sikh friends from the embassy were just visiting, and our kitchen is still benefiting from their generosity and knowledge. My energy work has become increasingly sensitive to eating meat of any kind; I can taste the death itself, so I’m grateful for vegetarian recipes. I’m trying to learn as many as I can.”
Eve’s stomach roiled, not the least of which at the casual mention of tasting death. “I’m sure I should eat, but I’ve no appetite for it.”
Gran put one arm around Eve and reached toward Clara, grabbing the woman’s thin hand. “Could I beg you and Rupert to come teach the girls how better to shield themselves?”
“Yes.” Clara nodded. “A critical lesson. Your girls have what it takes, but you must be stronger. And Rupert’s the very best in this regard.”
Eve was surprised to hear Clara’s husband’s name. As far as Eve knew, he didn’t usually involve himself in the paranormal; he kept to the business of embassies and ambassadors.
“Yes, Rupert too,” Clara added, as if reading Eve’s mind. Maybe she had. “Didn’t you know he’s a mesmerist?” Clara’s tone implied Eve should have known better. “Go on to the train. The light is brightening and that isn’t good for either of our eyes. I’ll talk with Rupert. Tonight will be best. There’s no time to waste in matters like these.”
“Agreed.” Gran gestured to the glade. “This dear place should be warded too, if you wouldn’t mind, Clara. I worry for the thin barrier between worlds beyond if there isn’t something helping it stay strong from our side and on our behalf.”
“Indeed. I’ll send Rupert to ward the arch. I’d best not be near the thin veil myself, but I agree it should be protected from disruption by darker energies.”
Eve turned at a nearby sound. A delivery truck. Two workers in suspenders and shirtsleeves, caps low over their sweaty faces, with a large wooden spool on the side of the road ahead, were filling dirt over a line in shallow ground.
“What’s that about?” Eve asked.
Clara shrugged. “Another telephone line up the lane? It’s growing exponentially: technology, the sprawl of the city. Won’t be quiet here much longer.…” Clara’s smile looked forced as she clapped her gloved hands. “Well then, go and ready your girls for our visit!”
With a whirl of golden fabric, Clara strolled off toward a line of bright maples in the end of their autumn splendor. Beyond those red and golden leaves lay the Bishops’ home and a striking view of the Hudson River.
New York City loomed further down the line, and Eve knew she had to get back to protect it, whether it knew it needed her help or not.
Chapter Two
“I’m paying for a private compartment,” Gran stated, patting Eve’s shoulder and stepping up to a uniformed conductor. After she had a few quiet words with him, he gestured toward a compartmentalized car. Gran put her arm around Eve and walked her further up the platform. “The hem of your nightdress is hanging out from under your coat, and I just don’t want people to think the worst of you, dear.”
“Again…” Eve muttered. Another sleepwalking episode, another layer of distrust to add to her roster of recent mishaps.
“Your precinct colleagues are still resting and relaxing at my home as you left them,” Gran continued, letting Eve step up the train car steps ahead of her. “We’ll go there first. You will prepare them for tonight’s lesson, which should be done at your collective home, to maximize the protective impact.”
“Yes, Gran, thank you.” Eve accepted her help to the compartment and sunk onto a cushioned bench. Gran slid the wooden doors with etched-glass flourishes closed and took a seat opposite.
Gran had the gentlest, most sensible way of explaining the next course of action. Eve might be the leader of the recently founded Ghost Precinct, but when Gran decided to give orders, Eve knew better than to disobey. Even if Gran might not have been granted the ability to see and hear spirits in the same constant, consistent way Eve was, her instincts were preternatural, her resources vast, and her experience lifelong.
As the train began rolling south, Eve stared out the curtained window and closed her eyes, the flash of bright sun through trees making her dizzy. Clara was right; it was prime light for a migraine if she wasn’t careful.
She wished more than anything that when she got back, Jacob Horowitz would be awaiting her in Gran’s parlor. Just seeing his handsome face, all striking angles until he offered a radiant smile, put her at ease. He was such a comfort. Her mind and heart reached out for him.
“Would you like me to call for the detective, then, your sweetheart?” Gran asked casually.
Eve’s eyes shot open to behold Gran staring at her with maternal warmth. That was the trouble with being close to talented psychics: keeping secrets was difficult.
“Good God, was my mind really that loud about it?”
“Yes, sorry, I thought you’d actually spoken it.” Gran laughed. “I didn’t mean to be presumptuous—”
“Actually then, yes.” Eve sighed. “When we return, once I’ve spoken to the girls, I should invite him for the lesson. He should know I sleepwalked again. I will need all my close associates to help me be responsible for my own whereabouts. How embarrassing.”
“May I ask a question that I believe will affect your protections?”
“Yes…”
“Is he still courting you as a ruse to keep your and his parents from arranging unwanted marriages? Or have you indeed stopped fooling yourself that you don’t care for him?” Gran asked. Eve sat back against the cushion of the carriage, frowning. “Again,” Gran continued, “I don’t mean to be presumptuous. What you say will remain confidential between us. But if your heart is tied to his, it may be used against you. We need to be aware of any vulnerability that may be exploited.”
Eve blinked. Her breath caught in her throat. “He…would be used against me?”
“Much as I was used against you,” Gran said gravely, referencing the abduction at the beginning of this whole, entwined, and complicated case. “I don’t want to worry you, but I can’t ignore my instincts. He needs to look out for himself as much as for you.”
Eve sighed. It was almost too much to bear. When she and Gran had first dreamed up the Ghost Precinct, back when a seemingly unrelated sequence of details that several ghosts were fixated on—clothes, appointments, ledgers, property—ended up leading to the resolution of two unsolved murder cases, the spirit world had made their usefulness clear. All she had to do was listen, the spirits said, and their worlds would better balance the scales of justice.
That she and her loved ones could become embroiled in danger, the target of violence and deception, hadn’t occurred to her. The awesome weight of responsibility fell heavy on shoulders that were too young to feel so weary.
She let СКАЧАТЬ