Page 69 of The Little Shop of Curiosities, The Music Box Part 2

I shrug, almost displacing him once more. “I need to start going over some of the case files Hadley gave me. You?”

“Packing online orders for the store mostly. I do have a couple of appointments with customers later this afternoon, but…”

“But?”

He sighs. “I really should find the time to deal with some of the cursed objects in the safe. They’re piling up a little. I usually don’t have this many, but there’s been a bit of an uptick of them lately.”

“And that’s unusual?”

He frowns. “Now that you mention it, I suppose it is. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t give it much thought. I’d put the increased volume of items down to the fact that London’s a bigger and older city than I’m used to living in, but if I factor in the increase of people developing paranormal abilities, I don’t think we can afford to chalk it up to coincidence. At least, not until we know for certain.”

This time it’s me who’s frowning. “Well, how big an increase are we talking?”

“Since I started curse-breaking over the last, I don’t know, five…six years? The average is about four to eight objects a year.”

“And now?”

“In the past six months, I’ve accumulated over twenty-seven cursed objects, all waiting for me in storage until I have the time to figure out their individual curses and find a way to neutralise them.”

“Twenty-seven?”

He nods. “It’s why I had to buy that huge safe. Not only are there more of them, but they’re also more powerful than anything I’ve previously dealt with, which is why it’s taking me longer to break them.”

“Fuck, Prickles.”

He exhales sharply. “I know. I feel stupid for not putting it together sooner. But like I said, I originally just thought it was tied to living in a much older and larger city. I mean, it’s London. There’s naturally a well of ancient power here beneath the surface, trapped between centuries of history. Although⁠—”

I reach up and smooth the wrinkle between his brows. “What?”

“The music box.”

“What about it?”

He licks his lips, his eyes distant. “It’s different from the others.”

“Different how?”

“It has a distinctive…signature, for want of a better word. I’ve heard its song several times now, and I shouldn’t be able to, not while I’m upstairs in the flat and the music box is locked away in a thick metal safe a floor below me. But it’s not just that I hear it. It⁠—”

“Makes your blood run cold?” I finish for him, and his gaze sharpens. “You forget, I’ve heard it too.”

“It makes me wary of touching it. I guess that’s why I’ve put it off for the last couple of months, which is stupid. Cursed objects have never bothered me before. Not like this one.”

“It’s not stupid, especially if it’s as dangerous as you think it is.”

“I guess. Maybe I should get Grumps take on it. After all, he’s the one I learned curse-breaking from.”

“Is he really?”

He nods again. “He’s retired now, which is why I took over and made it part of my business. But I don’t know. Although I wouldn’t call him frail, not to his face anyway, I’m not sure I want him exposed to the music box until I have a better understanding of what it’s supposed to do.”

“It’s secure in the safe though, isn’t it?” I ask.

“Yes. I’m the only one with the combination to open it.”

“And it’s not like it’s a ticking time bomb?”

He shakes his head. “It’s not time-sensitive. Most curses don’t work that way. It’s designed to activate the moment a person touches it with their bare hands, which is why I used the gloves when I handled it. As long as it’s locked away, it shouldn’t be able to do any damage.”