Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard Page A

have come here with false or overblown tales. But we’re not here to take on their family’s two hundred-year-old haunting—we’re here to stop a necromancer.”
    â€œBut I don’t have a haunting! I have a missing brother and—”
    â€œAnd we don’t have time.” Daniel’s lips curled up, challenging me to argue.
    Joseph intervened. “Miss Fitt, what Daniel says is true. We are extremely busy. This necromancer first raised the Dead in New York, and the police called us in several weeks ago. Several opium addicts were found, well... let us just say they were in a rather gruesome state.”
    â€œThere’s no need to censor yourself.” I sat up straighter. “I can handle the details. I grew up with stories of the Dead like everyone else.”
    Daniel choked out a laugh. “Go on then, Joseph. You heard the lady. Might as well tell her the men were decapitated sacrifices.”
    Joseph sighed. “Daniel, you have the manners and tact of a gorilla.”
    â€œHa.” Daniel shot me a wide grin. I spun my gaze to my shoes. The ruffian.
    â€œContinue, please,” I mumbled.
    â€œWell, the manner of their deaths”—Joseph flourished a gloved hand toward his head—“suggested the men were killed as a sacrifice for power. The fact that the corpses were also found as reanimated corpses proved it was the work of a necromancer. But then as suddenly as the bodies had begun appearing, they stopped.
    â€œOr so we thought. We soon heard about a Philadelphia man found dead but walking, and judging by the similarity in... well, the similarity in sacrificial methods, we knew our necromancer had moved. Here.”
    Daniel picked up the story, “People can handle one or two walking Dead—just burn ’em or blast ’em to smithereens—but a whole cemetery’s worth? And a necromancer decapitating the living? Not too many chaps are comfortable dealing with that .
    â€œSo we offered our services to the Exhibition board. Most folks with Joseph’s skills”—he cocked his head toward the Creole—“don’t leave New Orleans.”
    â€œNo,” Joseph said, “they do not.” For a moment his face sagged, but in an instant the expression passed and he gave me a curt nod. “Thus far the Dead have only harassed the Exhibition, and fortunately, these corpses have only been moderately dangerous. The rest of Philadelphia is untouched.”
    â€œBut it won’t stay that way.” Daniel slumped against the table, shoving his hands in his pockets.
    â€œNo.” Joseph’s lips thinned. “And though the board has hired us, it is a constant battle to prove the investment is worthwhile. The members cannot see the danger of the situation, and there are politics involved. We have only been hired for show—to soothe visitors’ nerves.
    â€œNonetheless, we have a job to do. We must first protect the Exhibition, and in our available time, we must train the Exhibition patrolmen to fight the Dead. Fire will not do in a place that ignites easily.” He waved his hands toward the Main Building, which could be seen through the window. “But most important of all, we must stop this necromancer.
    â€œAnd so, Miss Fitt, if the corpses and the spirit are not directly threatening you, then I see no reason we should strain ourselves further.”
    â€œNo threat!” I jumped to my feet. “What of my brother? They have him!”
    Daniel scoffed. “There’s no proof of that.”
    â€œWhat about the spirit? It was evil .” My voice came out loud and filled all the space in the tiny lab. “I know it—it touched me!”
    â€œMiss Fitt.” Joseph stood stiff and straight, his jaw clenched. “There are many spirits free in Philadelphia. Hauntings happen all the time, and most are harmless. My job is here, where the most danger exists for the most