Chapter 43

  

Lightning struck as I stood in front of the wall of glass windows in Sanjay’s loft waiting for the guests to arrive. A storm was brewing in the East Bay, but hadn’t yet reached San Francisco.

“The storm will be great for the atmosphere at the séance,” Sanjay said, standing in front of the expansive window with me. We watched the dark clouds roll closer from the east as the sunlight faded over the San Francisco skyline before us.

Sanjay had changed into a tuxedo after lighting a series of candles he’d placed around the loft. He placed his bowler hat on his head and stood in the dim light of the window with his hands clasped behind his back, making me forget for a time what century I was in.

“I feel like I’m losing my mind,” I said. “I don’t understand what’s going on around us.”

Sanjay reached out and squeezed my hand. “I hope to get you some answers tonight.”

  

Tamarind was the first to arrive. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. She wore a burgundy bustled dress straight out of the Victorian era that pulled in her thick, boyish waist. Her hair was now black. It was pulled back and supplemented with a matching black bunch of fake curls that ran down her back. On her lips she wore a deep burgundy lipstick that matched her dress.

“M’lady,” Sanjay said, kissing her hand. Tamarind giggled.

Nadia arrived next, wearing the fox stole I’d seen her in the night before, but her dress tonight, like Tamarind’s, was from another time. A silver evening gown sparkled down to her toes with pointed silver tips poking out from beneath the dress.

Was I the only one who hadn’t thought of dressing up?

Sanjay handed cordial glasses of dark liquid to the two women.

Naveen arrived a few minutes before sunset. I introduced him to Sanjay, who he hadn’t previously met. He was dressed in a formal suit as usual, but nothing extra like Tamarind and Nadia.

“You look like hell, Jaya,” Naveen said. “Jet lag got to you? And what’s with the costumes?”

“I told you we’re having a séance.”

“I wonder what the dean will think of your interesting research methods, Jaya. Hardly the type of scholarly pursuit he’d approve of, I’m sure.”

I told myself to breathe. Naveen wasn’t here so I could impress him. I needed to learn more about what he knew, and Sanjay thought his presence tonight would help. “The dean likes results, doesn’t he?” I said.

Naveen handed Sanjay a box containing an eight-ball that predicts the future. “I brought this,” he said with a laugh.

“Is this going to work with an unbeliever?” Tamarind whispered to me.

Nadia remained uncharacteristically silent. Her eyes twinkled as she watched us spar. This show probably rivaled the performance she saw the previous night, at least in terms of drama. She swallowed the entirety of her small drink.

“The electricity in the air from the spirit world runs high at this time of day,” Sanjay said. “Don’t worry yourselves with these petty thoughts. They’ll soon pass.”

Sanjay was good. Even without the help of a stage and spotlight, he was a master performer.

“Introductions are in order,” Sanjay went on. “May I present a librarian of the first class, Tamarind Ortega, and the most fetching landlady this side of St. Petersburg, Nadia Lubov. Professor Naveen Krishnan, whom I had not had the pleasure of meeting until tonight. And you all know esteemed historian Jaya Jones, whose great-granduncle is the reason we’re all here tonight. We will be attempting to contact him and his associate, Spiritualist Samuel, who once owned an object that has recently come into my possession.”

A clap of thunder sounded. Tamarind jumped. The rest of us turned our heads toward the windows. The storm was approaching as quickly as the sun was fading.

“People assume that midnight is the best time to conduct a séance,” Sanjay said, his face dead serious, “because of the myth of it as ‘the witching hour.’ In truth it’s the turning points of the day—sunrise and sunset—when the forces are strongest. We must hurry.”

“No time for a second aperitif?” Nadia asked. “That would put us all more in the mood.”

Sanjay shot her a sharp look. “We need to be holding hands when the sun sets,” he said. “If you’ll follow me. Leave your bags and cell phones in the main room. You will not need them where we are going.”

He pushed open the sliding metal doors leading to the section of the loft that served as his practice studio. The doors formed one wall of the room, the glass wall of windows another, and two brick walls provided atmosphere along the other two sides. At least three-dozen candles flickered around the edges of the room.

In the center, two objects had been placed: Samuel’s spirit cabinet, and a simple round wooden table just big enough for four people to sit around. A single candle glowed in the center of the table.

Tamarind stopped short when she saw the setup. Her lips trembled. She must have been even more superstitious than I’d realized.

“The four of you,” Sanjay said, “will sit around the table and complete the circle.” He pushed shut the sliding door behind us, trapping us inside the candle-lit room.

“What about you?” Nadia asked.

“I must take another journey,” Sanjay said. “I will be inside the cabinet of fire.”