Maureen peered down her nose at her companion. “Not a whim. I needed him away from here. He wasn’t acting like his normal friendly self. You can feel something coming from that way, can’t you?” She gestured down the hallway toward the back offices.
“Yes. Something we need to deal with.” Felicia narrowed her eyes before she nodded for Maureen to lead the way.
The two of them moved through the dimly lit hallway until itopened up into the vestibule where Raven usually sat outside the curator’s office, the office filing and printer room, and the small break room for the staff. They stopped next to the secretary’s desk and gazed at the curator’s office door.
“He’s still inside. I can feel him.”
“I can feel whatever he’s doing and it’s not good.” Felicia stepped forward and touched the doorknob. “Locked.” A twist of her ring later, she gestured to the door. “No longer locked. After you.”
Maureen gave her a look. “Thank you.”
The moment the door was open, Maureen knew that everything that was happening to the museum workers was the fault of the stone tablet and Harold. His usually messy office was even more of a disaster with most of the furniture pushed to the walls, clearing a spot in the middle where Harold Sperling sat cross-legged in the center of a drawn circle. Before him was the stone tablet and a couple of things collected from around the museum. A knife from the 1700s, a small woven basket from the Makah Indian tribe, and several large crystals from the geology exhibit. None of them should’ve been out of their cases.
Maureen and Felicia stared at the scene for a long minute, taking it in. Felicia clapped her hands a couple of times. Harold did not stir. He seemed to be asleep with his eyes open.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to knock him upside the head,” Maureen said as she reached for a small but heavy statue sitting on a pedestal just outside the doorway.
“Hold your horses.” Felicia shook her head. “One, you have no idea what kind of magical barrier is around him. Two, if I’m not mistaken, that’s actually a valuable piece of artwork. Three, we know where the entity is. You have no idea where it would go next. Into you? Into me? Use your head, woman.”
Glancing down at the statue in her hand, she knew it was just a reproduction ofSleeping Museby Constantin Brâncusi. The father of modern sculpture, his work was technically perfect, but not especially pretty. She returned it to the pedestal and stared back into the office, taking the scene in again.
They stood that way, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, for a few silent moments.
“I’ve seen enough,” Felicia said as she reached out to the open door and pulled it closed.
“What is it? It’s familiar, but...” Maureen shook her head. “I can’t grasp hold of it.”
“Whispers in the dark.”
“Meaning?”
Felicia looked troubled. “Just what I said. This is bad. Very bad. I don’t know the exact ritual he’s doing but we’ve got to stop him before he finishes it.”
“So you know what it is?”
“I’ve seen...heard... something about it. I thought it was rumors. Legends.” Felicia shook her head. “If he finishes, I think all of us will be having nightmares for a long time to come. In any case, all of it is bad news on burnt toast.”
“I can see that. Do you know what to do about it?”
The other woman thought for a long moment. She started to speak, then stopped herself several times before she finally asked, “Can you play a musical instrument?”
Maureen blew out a breath. “Ah... yes. Badly.”
“Can you follow a simple tune and keep it up while all hell breaks loose?”
She saw how serious Felicia was and turned her flippant answer into a short “Yes.”
“Good. The first thing we need to do is make sure everyone isout of the museum. The second is that we’re going to need a few things.” Felicia waved a hand at Maureen. “Go do your mind-clouding thing if there’s anyone else in the building.”
“There shouldn’t be.”
“Go check.Now.Then we’ll get to work.”
Maureen was partway down the hall when she stopped. “What are you going to do?”
“Pray.” The word fell from Felicia’s lips like a heavy stone hitting the ground.
Much to Maureen’s surprise, Raven was still in the museum. She stood in the women’s bathroom, staring at her face in the mirror. Her eyes were large, pupils dilated. She didn’t react to Maureen entering the lavatory.
