Page 1 of His to Take

CHAPTER 1

Dr. Naomi Vaughn

Natural History Museum of New Englandia

Doctor of Historical Studies

Year 2672

Oh. My.God.

This.Thiswas a truly unexpected find.

I was almost afraid to reach out and touch the thin plastic that had kept the creamy white, lacy fabric pristine and safe for centuries.

How had something like this survived for more than five hundred years? It should be nothing more than a disintegrating pile of threads, but here it was, right in front of me, fully intact. Perfect.

More important, though, how had it come to be in my office and not whisked away from the eyes of all of society by The New Englandia High Council of Preservation and Governance?

When the handwritten cargo manifest arrived on my desk this morning, it had hardly been legible. It had been written in pencil, probably by some lazy intern that had been too preoccupied to get a pen, and several places had been rubbed off. All I knew was that the contents were artifacts that were carbon dated to somewhere around the time just before the worldwide cyberwar that had changed life here on Earth as we knew it. Not wanting to spend too much time deciphering it, I’d swept it aside and had turned back to more pressing work with the full intention of going back to it later. I hadn’t gotten around to it before there was a knock on my door and a shout from someone outside saying I had a delivery.

Dammit. No time to prep.

When the massive crate had been rolled into my office, I’d raised an eyebrow.

Bigger than I expected, really.

After the delivery man left, I dug through the papers on my desk, searching for the detailed log that had somehow gotten buried. I narrowed my eyes as I tried once again to read it.

There was only one word that caught my eye.

Bridal.

My heart started to pound. I glanced at the door, making sure I was alone.

It was a forbidden word in my city state. To be honest, this shipment probably would have been halted, searched, anddestroyed before I could catalog any of it if even a single person had gotten wind of what it contained. Whatever was inside that crate would never be able to be displayed or studied in the museum, and if anyone found out I had any of it in my possession, getting fired would be the least of my worries.

I’d be lucky if I survived the night.

There were stories about those who supported the ways of the old world. Some said that they just disappeared and were never heard from again. Some were apprehended by the governing council. Some wound up dead.

I swallowed heavily.

The smart thing to do would be to pretend it had never existed, to send the shipment back to where it came from before anyone got hurt.

But… I kind of wanted to see what was inside before I did that.

This was truly a piece of history. Almost everything even remotely like it had been lost long ago. I wanted to understand it. It was a part of what made me who I was, and this kind of forbidden knowledge fascinated me. I’d made a whole career out of it.

Looking over my shoulder, feeling wary, I got the almost palpable sensation that someone was watching me, even though there was no one there. Startled to realize that my door was still open, I stepped over carefully to peek out into the hallway, checking for anyone who might have witnessed the delivery. I breathed a sigh of relief to find it deserted and quietly eased the door shut, turning the lock as well. Finally, I closed the blinds, giving myself complete privacy. A shiver wormed its way up my spine.

I glanced back at the large crate, walking hesitantly toward it. I gripped the sides and turned it away from the door, grateful that it was still on the rolling cart on which it had arrived. If anyone walked in, at least they wouldn’t be able to immediately see into the crate. It was late enough in the day that most of the museum staff would be clocking out soon. There weren’t many employees that stayed late on a regular basis other than me. The only true regular was my co-worker Corinne, and even then, I usually stayed later than she did.

Apart from the security team that monitored the grounds twenty-four/seven, I was always one of the last to leave. Most of the guards knew my face by now and hardly gave me a second glance when I left the building.

With a deep breath, I summoned all the courage I could manage, and finally turned back to the crate, allowing myself to really look at the contents for the first time. I held my breath as I took hold of the plastic garment bag that lay on top.

It was heavier than I’d expected. With a soft gasp, I lifted the gown from the crate. Thoroughly stunned, I held it there in front of me for a long moment, just staring at it. My brain felt like it had short-circuited. Was this just a figment of my imagination? Was it time for another cup of coffee?

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