Maelstrom by Jordan L. Hawk Read Free Book Online Page A

florist tomorrow,” she said. “Or, even better, we’ll ask Miss
Parkhurst to do so, as you’ll be coming with me.”
    I’d assumed by “us” she’d met herself and
Iskander. “I am?”
    “Of course!”
    “But...oh, very well.” If it moved things
forward, I’d resign myself. “Will you give me the codex back
now?”
    “Yes, yes,” she said, turning the page.
“It’s very...oh.”
    She turned the volume so I could see as
well. Unlike the fantastical illustrations that had come before,
this creature was all too real. All too familiar.
    A ketoi.
    “Blast,” I said softly.
    “A family portrait?” Christine asked.
    I shot her a dark look. “This isn’t funny.”
The ketoi was beautifully rendered, from its lithe body to its
mouth full of shark teeth, to the stinging tentacles of its
hair.
    Filled with a sense of new urgency, I turned
a few more pages, revealing a progression of what looked like star
charts. An umbrae.
    A longer page folded into the codex, which
when extended showed a Mother of Shadows on one side and the
dweller in the deeps on the other.
    “What did Daphne say?” I asked. “She knew I
wasn’t human. She said she smelled the ocean in my blood.” I
flipped back to the ketoi.
    “There are other sources,”
Christine pointed out uneasily. “The Unaussprechlichen Kulten for one. Or
the knowledge may have belonged to Nitocris. It doesn’t mean this
is the book that taught Daphne how to...do whatever she
did.”
    “She called to the Outside, and Nitocris
answered.” I shook my head. “I don’t like this, Christine. I don’t
like this at all.”
    Miss Parkhurst tapped lightly on the door.
“Dr. Whyborne? Mr. Flaherty is here to see you.”
    “Send him in.” I gave
Christine a pointed look. “Do you see? Some people know to ask Miss
Parkhurst before they come barging in here.”
    “Why the devil should Griffin, of all
people, have to ask to see you?” she countered.
    Griffin stepped inside. My greeting died in
my throat, and the sober expression on his face brought me to my
feet. “Griffin? What happened?” A hopeful thought occurred to me.
“Did the motor car suffer some mechanical failure?”
    “What? No, of course not.” He’d removed his
hat, but kept it in hand, absently tapping it against his thigh.
“It’s the case I’m working on. There’s been a murder, and I
think...well. Is Iskander somewhere about?”
    “Indeed,” Christine said, rising to her
feet. “I’ll fetch him. He’s busy photographing some of the older
artifacts.”
    Griffin’s mouth pressed into a grim line.
“Tell him to bring his camera. And his knives.”

Chapter 11
    Griffin
     
    As the motor car would only seat two, we
paid a brief visit to Whyborne House at my request. A bit over two
hours later, a coachman drove us up the coast road north of
Widdershins in a spring wagon. Even though Niles had been out,
Fenton assured us that “Mr. Whyborne left instructions to treat any
request from you as if it came directly from him, Master Percival.”
As a result, Whyborne sulked most of the way out of
Widdershins.
    Once away from the town, the coast became a
lonely, bleak place. Stunted trees clung to the sea cliffs, their
branches bent by the constant winds. A line of poles bearing
telegraph and electrical wires marched alongside the road. Many
seemed to be in disrepair, and I wondered if the electrical company
abandoned their upkeep after Stormhaven Lunatic Asylum had been
destroyed. Crows and seagulls perched on the leaning poles,
watching with curiosity as we passed by.
    “You probably saw the newspaper accounts,” I
said to Christine and Iskander, who sat side-by-side across from
Whyborne and me. “But here are the facts.”
    I related the details of my case. “Last
night, Mr. Tubbs’s body was found at a farm up the coast,” I said.
“The farmer, one Mr. Robinson, thought he glimpsed lights in a
distant pasture as he prepared for bed. Taking up his shotgun, he
went to investigate.