Supernatural Devices Read Online Free PDF Page A

together in my mind.” He looked at her. “With one or two exceptions, obviously.”
    Scarlett let that last part go. “You must be very bored with the world, then. Personally, I find that people are fascinating. There are so many things to observe about them. So many things that make them unique.”
    Cruces thought for a moment. “And maybe that is a greater gift than your sight. Or maybe you just have not seen as much as me yet.”
    Scarlett could not help laughing at that. “You speak as though you are fifty, rather than merely twenty.”
    “Yes, I probably do.”
    They walked on in silence for a little longer, heading through the West End. Here, there was far more to see, because it was not a space that went to sleep easily. The theaters that showed the works of Shaw or Wilde were open, as were the fashionable clubs around them. They weren’t as old or as respected as some of those in the very heart of the city, but that just meant that they attracted a more fashionable clientele.
    They weren’t what Scarlett was watching, though. Instead, her sight picked out those in the crowd whom the others there didn’t react to. The ones who were as unreal to most of the people there as the ghosts before would have been. There was a man dressed in a top hat and tails who moved like smoke between the assembled throng, while smaller figures, barely more than six inches high, darted around picking up dropped coins, and occasionally jostling people so that they ensured a steady supply of coins to collect.
    There were also cabs lined up outside the theaters, waiting to take the watching crowds home. As Scarlett watched, a woman wreathed in shadows she was sure weren’t visible to anyone else got into one. Idly, she wondered what, if anything, that meant. Just because she had possessed her gift all her life didn’t mean that she necessarily understood everything about it, even though she had tried to learn everything she could on the subject. She eyed the waiting cabs again.
    “I could get a hansom from here,” Scarlett suggested. “I would not want to put you to further trouble, Lord Darthmoor.”
    Cruces spread his hands. “It is no trouble to walk with a beautiful woman, and it really is just Cruces. Besides, you still haven’t asked me everything you want to know about what happened with myself and Cecilia.”
    Scarlett tried to force herself to focus. Cruces was right. She had a job to do, and an investigation to conduct. That meant getting as much information as possible from the young man walking with her.
    “Tell me about Cecilia,” she instructed.
    “What do you wish to know?” Cruces asked with another infuriating smile. “Exactly how cruel I was to her? Exactly what I did to deserve the loss of a powerful artifact?”
    Scarlett tried not to rise to the bait. “You aren’t going to let that go, are you?” Trying to be businesslike, she pressed on. “I was thinking of something more practical, like a description.”
    “Ah.” Cruces came to a halt outside one of the theaters. “Cecilia is about your age, perhaps a little shorter than you and with dark hair that she typically leaves unbound, but occasionally covers with a scarf. I have a sketch here, if it will help.”
    He produced a folded piece of paper from a pocket, handing it to Scarlett. On it was a pen and watercolor work depicting the head and shoulders of a beautiful young woman. Her features were sharply defined, just a tiny fraction from being harsh, but on her they looked merely delicate. Her eyes were large, and a brown so deep they were almost black.
    “Where did you get this?” Scarlett asked.
    “I painted it, of course.” Cruces said it like it was nothing.
    “I thought people were just a blur for you.”
    Cruces shrugged. “I can appreciate beauty as much as the next man. More perhaps. Though I assure you that Cecilia was only too willing to be sketched. This is all just a… misunderstanding.”
    Scarlett looked at the sketch “A