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" ‘The Harlot, the Whore of Babylon, was adorned in gold and jewels and worldly treasures, and she did look upon the glory of the Beast in all his raiment and cried out, for now her eyes were opened and she knew the wickedness of the world which h blood and sacrifice And the Beast took her eyes and cast the Harlot Adorned upon the eternal sea within the Mark This was the fifth offering’ "

"That from the Bible?"

"Not any Bible I’ve read" Will drew in his notebook and jotted down notes

Evie pointed to a series of sy the botton to her ears

Will turned the paper sideways and back "Not sure yet Sigils of souess Terrence, I’d like to ask you some questions Privately, if you please"

The men moved away to a windy spot down the pier to talk Evie looked again at the girl’s body, focusing on her shoes They ater-daed and worn, but Evie could tell they were special, probably the girl’s best pair One rhinestone buckle renity and Evie wanted to right it She tried to clip it back on, but it wouldn’t stick

"Oh, please," she whispered, near tears

With renewed deterhtly The object opened its secrets so quickly that Evie had no ti, like a fil yelloallpaper Furnace Butcher’s apron A lock turning The brand Blue eyes ri--a jaunty little tune horribly out of place, like a lullaby on a battlefield And then her head was filled with screaered to the edge of the pier and vomited up her pie frohed "No place for a girl," one said So her a handkerchief

"Thank you," she said, mortified

"You’re welcome," Jericho said and let her clean up in peace

On the river, a ferry cut the gray water into undulating peaks that rippled out into s and tried to make sense of what she’d just seen Those horrible pictures in her head were probably clues But how could she possibly tell anyone how she’d come to know them? What if they didn’t believe her? What if they did believe her and htmare? She couldn’t face that No one had to know about what she’d seen Uncle Will would sort this out There was no need for her to say anything