Page 55 of The Devil in Oxford
So Leonahadconfided in him, at least about her investigations. “And Leona? Do you not have a single care for her fate?”
Again, there was something there. The slightest twitch of a muscle at the edge of his mouth that betrayed him. I was close. Mention of Leona affected him. He must care. There must bemorethere. “She is worth dozens of him, but my hands are bound. Icannothelp her.” The words meant something. They had to. “But as I cautionedher, I shall caution you—stay clear of the Julius Harker matter. It will bring nothing but trouble upon us all.” He looked up at me with his unnervingly blue eyes.
The muscles in my jaw worked. “And Leona, shall I leave her alone to her fate too?”
Again, that twitch. Not even enough of a movement to be called a twitch. Was it fear? No. Never that. Not from one like him. The man may as well be carved from granite, but even granite can crack. “I doubt even God can help her now.”
IT WASN’T UNTILafter I left Professor Reaver’s office that the peculiar words he spoke at the beginning of our conversation struck me. He accused me ofstealingsomething from Harker’s museum. Something of value. And while I freely admitted that I had picked up a few things—namely that silly milpreve and the records—none of it was of any true consequence. I glanced over my shoulder toward his office, of half a mind to march straight back there and make him explain his baseless accusation, when I saw Leona’s colleague, Mary, standing at the far end of the hall. Her strained expression told me she’d overhead the conversation inside his office. She held my gaze for several seconds before tilting her chin in the direction of the stairs and then disappearing down them.
She wanted me to follow.
Putting Reaver aside, I hurried after her, down the stairs and straight into the musty reading room that she shared with Leona. I closed the door behind me to find her waiting, arms folded, and her spectacles hanging from her fingertips, the gold rims glinting bright against her dark blue shirt. “Did anyone follow you?”
I shook my head as she looked at the book still clutched in my arms.
“What’s that?”
I’d forgotten all about the book I’d scooped off Reaver’s floor.The one that had mysteriouslyflownfrom the shelf all on its own, though seeing as the author of said book was none other than Julius Harker himself, I suspected the book had been tossed in a fit of pique. Heat rose to my cheeks—I suppose I’d stolen something now. “It’s Reaver’s… I… I hadn’t meant to take it.”
She leaned forward and took the book from my arms, opening the front cover. “That’s curious…”
I leaned closer to her, reading the inscription over her shoulder.
TO MY DEAREST LEONA. J. H.
My blood ran cold in my veins.
She handed the book to me. “As you are her friend, I doubt she’d mind you keeping it safe for her.”
I wet my lips, nodding. “Have you heard from Leona since yesterday?”
Mary shook her head, worry lining her face. “No, and I heard the two of you arguing. You must be careful around him. Reaver has a frightful temper. A colder, more changeable man I’ve never met. I never understood why Leona was taken with him, though I think it was from their time together in Egypt.”
I paused, eyes wide. “What do you mean theirtimein Egypt?”
She paused, glancing at the door then back to me. “They knew each other before. It’s why Reaver insisted she work with him upon his arrival here.”
Thatwas new. “Do you know from where?”
“It was kept quiet. Everything is kept quiet when it comes to that one.” She tilted her head to the ceiling. She meant about Reaver. I’d noticed it too, the deference, the distance given to the man.
“Mary, Leona is missing. I worry it has something to do with Julius Harker’s death.”
Mary blanched, her hand rising to her chest in surprise.
“I told Reaver the same, but he was wholly unconcerned.”
“Unconcerned or overly concerned. The two sides of Frederick Reaver.” She swore softly before giving her head a shake. “What hasthat foolish girl gotten herself into?” She drummed her fingers on her waist. “She’s been acting strangely, but I’d bet my life it’s got something to do with the book. The one you asked her about. It has to be.”
I raised a brow. “TheRadix Maleficarum? The book that Julius Harker was interested in?”
Mary nodded. “She received a note about an hour after you left here.”
Fear pricked at my neck. “What sort of a note?”
She picked up a mostly burnt scrap of paper, handing it to me. “I don’t know. She left as soon as it caught fire.” Her chin tilted to a small silver bowl almost identical to the one I’d noticed in Treadway’s office. “I admit I pulled it away from the flames as soon as she walked out the door. She’s been worrying me as well…”
I drew in a sharp breath as I read the words: “‘wants theRadix…’”
