Lockwood & Co.: The Creeping Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page A

definitely belonged to her. I got a flash of what the secret room was like, back in her day. Lots of pots and herbs, weird books and charms. She was into some kind of nonsense sorcery, that’s for certain. This old head was one of her prized possessions, which is why her ghost is so attached to it.”
    “Fascinating.” Bland-faced Mr. Johnson made a note on his clipboard. “Well done, Carlyle.”
    “Thank you, sir. It was a joint effort. Everyone played their part.”
    Farnaby grunted sourly. “It’s certainly an unusual specimen. The sort of thing your boys at the institute would like, eh, Johnson? Want to take it home?”
    Mr. Johnson smiled thinly. “Sadly, that’s no longer possible under the new DEPRAC regulations. It will have to be destroyed. I’ll make a report that the premises are now clear. A notable success for your team, Farnaby, despite your lack of personal control.” He patted the supervisor on the shoulder, stepped out of the circle, and drifted off toward the doors.
    Mr. Farnaby sat in silence for a moment, brooding. When he spoke, it was to Ted, who was nervously standing near. “I blame you for this, Daley,” he said. “You were in charge of the team. You should have kept Miss Carlyle on a tighter leash. It’ll be five demerits for you.”
    Annoyance flared within me. I could sense Ted shrinking away. “Excuse me, sir,” I said. “The team achieved its objectives. Our actions were entirely correct.”
    “Not according to me,” Farnaby said. “And that’s all there is to it. We will begin packing up now.” He waved me away and made to take up his hip flask, but I stood my ground.
    “There was no time for me to consult you,” I went on. “I had to pinpoint the exact location of the Source before the Specter disappeared. It was the most efficient thing to do. And the team worked very effectively in the initial confrontation. They helped me locate the secret room, and Dave helped drive away the Specter. You were an agent once, sir; you remember how you have to make certain decisions on the ground. It’s good practice to trust your fellow operatives. Isn’t that right, Ted?”
    I looked around to find Ted some ways off, busily lugging a sack of iron toward the door in preparation for departure. I blinked at him. “Tina?” I asked. “Dave…?”
    But Tina was packing away some unused salt-bombs, Dave folding away the iron chains. They were silent, disconnected, intent on their work. They paid me no attention.
    I found myself suddenly cast into shadow. Farnaby’s stomach blocked the lantern light; with ponderous finality he was rising from his chair. His eyes were burned raisins at the best of times; now they had shrunk even more to become fragments of glass, black, malevolent, and glittering. I stepped back, my hand instinctively moving to my rapier.
    “I know where you worked before, Miss Carlyle,” Farnaby said. “I know
why
you act the way you do. It is a mystery to me why DEPRAC has never moved to shut down that ramshackle, disreputable little outfit. An agency run by children? The idea is absurd! It will end in disaster soon enough, mark my words. But, Miss Carlyle, you are not at Lockwood and Company anymore. Whenever you work at Rotwell, you will find it a
real
agency, where child agents know their place. And if you wish to be hired again, you will keep silent and in future do as you’re told. Do I make myself clear?”
    My lips were a tight white line. “Yes, sir.”
    “In the meantime, since you’re so keen to improve our efficiency, you can finish tonight’s job for me. As Mr. Johnson said, new DEPRAC rules demand that all Type Two Sources be destroyed immediately. There is a black market for precisely this kind of vile object, and we cannot take any chances.” He nudged the silver-glass box with his boot. “Here is the mummified head. Take it to Fittes furnaces and see that it is burned.”
    I gazed at him. “You want me to go to Clerkenwell? Now? It’s four