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the large arched windows that looked
out upon Wilton Crescent.
    "It seems likely since our recent problems
with demons and possessions have mostly come about from curses in
one form or another."
    Some curses, or incantations, could only be
spoken by a medium for them to work, and some needed a talisman or
object, but others could be uttered by anyone. Learning the words,
however, was another issue entirely.
    "George," I hedged, "you may not like what
I'm going to suggest, but do you think someone from the Society For
Supernatural Activity would have the know-how to do something like
this?"
    He looked down at me from halfway up the
ladder. "Someone like Price you mean?"
    "Yes." Leviticus Price was an eccentric
scholar connected to the man who'd released the shape-shifting
demon. He'd also proved evasive when we tried to ask him about
possession. I didn't like him. He made feel like I was little
better than something he'd scraped off the bottom of his shoe.
Perhaps I was biased by my dislike and forming unfair conclusions,
but so be it. We had to start somewhere.
    "It's possible." George tilted his head to
the side to read the book spines. "But I have the most extensive
library of all the members and he hasn't been here. Nor has anyone
else of late and I doubt our villain would find a text on ways to
disrupt the Otherworld anywhere else in London."
    "Perhaps he hasn't found the information in a
book at all."
    George peered down his nose at me. "Where
else would he find it? Who would be in possession of such obscure
knowledge and not write it down?"
    I shrugged, but the more I thought about it,
the more the idea took flight. All the books in George's library
were written in the last few centuries by Englishmen or translated
into English from foreign texts, but the authors must have gotten
the information from somewhere. So where? Who had told them about
the supernatural in the first place?
    "He was elected Grand Master, you know,"
George said, flicking through a heavy leather bound book.
    "Price? Grand Master of what?"
    "The Grand Master is head of the Society." He
shut the book, tucked it under his arm, and descended the ladder.
"I'm not sure how he managed it. He's not particularly well liked,
but he is extremely clever. Perhaps the general membership thought
he deserved to be leader since he's so devoted to the
supernatural."
    "Does it give him any special powers?"
    "Like flying or super-human strength?"
    "Very amusing."
    George's blue eyes twinkled behind his
glasses. "He chairs our meetings and has the final say on changes
to our charter."
    "That doesn't sound very interesting."
    A footman entered carrying
a tray with tea things. He set it down just as Mrs. Culvert
entered. "Ah, Miss Chambers, what a lovely surprise." Her tight smile
didn't reach her eyes, which were equally tight, pulled back at the
corners by her severe hairstyle. "How are you, my dear?"
    "Well, thank you."
    "And your family?"
    "My sister and aunt are also well," I said,
although Mrs. Culvert didn't seem to be listening to my answer.
    "Mother, don't you have a lunch appointment?"
George asked.
    "Yes, yes, all in good
time. I want to chat to Miss Chambers first. Such a sweet girl. Just like her
friend. What's her name again?"
    I wasn't looking at George but I could
practically hear his eyeballs rolling back in his head. "You know
her name is Adelaide Beaufort," he said, "and we can both see
through your poor attempt to disguise your interest."
    When I first met George, he would never have
spoken to his mother so boldly. I wasn't sure whether to be shocked
or to cheer him. Mrs. Culvert wasn't a particularly pleasant lady.
She didn't like me. When we'd first met, she didn't want me in her
house at all. Clearly I was unacceptable company for her son to
keep. Being a medium, dusky of skin, and not from Society, I wasn't
the sort of girl she wanted near her son in case we formed an
affection for one another. Fortunately it was her son's house and
he enjoyed my