Page 18 of How to Woo the Undead

“Hey! Look at that,” Dahlia breathed, making Hyacinth straighten and blink at her.

“What?” She spun around to catch whatever it was that surprised the lady of the manor.

“Your wings.” Dahlia stepped forward and Hyacinth stopped to glance over her shoulder at them. They moved forward and backward, no longer an awkward flutter. The bones, shaved into the thin frames, iridescent like crystal panes in the sun. Following them to the floor, she saw the rainbows they created. Dahlia inspected them from an arm’s length, “They’re healing nicely.”

“I hope I can fly soon.”

“I might be slightly jealous, I’d love if my powers manifested in flight or teleportation.” Dahlia smiled warmly. With a sigh, she glanced around the kitchen. “Well...so much for my pastry buddy.”

“I can help!” Hyacinth blurted out without a second thought.

“Yeah?” Dahlia quirked a brow up at her.

“If going outside is a bad idea, which is sounds like it due to the killer part, making pastries sounds fun.” Hyacinth shrugged.I don’t know what fun is yet, but making pastries has got to be like knitting.

“That’s a valid point. Pastries it is. How good are you at shaping people out of dough?” Dahlia pulled out two chairs and motioned for Hyacinth to sit beside her.

“I won’t know until we try.” Hyacinth flashed Dahlia a smile that she hoped came off as excited. Dahlia returned a smile that was far more genuine before she nodded at the sink. Turning to wash her hands, Hyacinth tried to ignore the funny feeling building in her stomach about getting to do pastries with Dahlia...like a family would.Because we’re family.

Chapter Ten:

Austin

Austinstaredatthebody parts, Sebastian to his right, Kevin to his left, and Greggory stood on the medical slab with the giant book held high above his head. A piece of ear fell off the cover and plopped down onto the flat steel.

Thirty seconds prior, the four had been inspecting the parts separately. Well, Sebastian and Austin were inspecting them. Kevin was offering commentary, Carl was sleeping on the frozen experiment table, and Greggory was taking notes. Then something moved. Greggory smashed it with the book, then stiffened as everyone looked to him with concern.

The body parts immediately began to tremble again.

“How!” Sebastian hissed excitedly behind his mask. Austin scooped Greggory off the table, while Kevin pulled out his garden trowel from his scalp.

“Ahh, I’ve heard of this! Body parts coming back together. It’s a zombie thing!” Kevin yelped, waggling the dirt encrusted weapon at the moving parts.

“No, it’s not,” Greggory scoffed from Austin’s shoulders.

“Yeah-huh!”

“Kevin, my dear boy,” Sebastian sighed, straightening. “You are a zombie. And you’ve never recollected yourself.”

“Oh,” Kevin hummed thoughtfully. “You’ve got a point, my lord.”

Austin chimed in with a grimace, “My lord…I think…I think it’s…”

But he couldn’t get it out. Not as they all took a step back from the table in unison, the parts clicking together with a hard snap.

“There’s no blood to facilitate its recovery. What a marvelous mystery but uncomforting as I do not believe we have all the parts,” Sebastian spoke, stalking around the table with one fist under his chin, the other tucked behind him. Austin already had a cleaver in one hand, primed and ready to chop the thing apart.

It regrouped rapidly, the parts zipping across the table like magnets. Unfortunately, therewereparts missing. And where the parts were missing, a gap was left. Pieces on opposite sides of that gap lined up. It wasn’t until half a body was back together on the slab, that Austin realized their victim was a human.Humans can’t regenerate.

While looking through the holes, the vines grew. They slithered out of the dead flesh like snakes from their dens, slowly and strategically. Weaving together, plum and ruby thorns broke through the dark emerald growth. Droplets of ichor fell from the body parts as the plants grew from piece to piece, replacing the missing chunks.Including the head.

“Remarkable!” Sebastian gasped. “We are dealing with Old Fae magic. Boys, gather round. Greggory, continue to take notes. This is an old ritual I haven’t observed in over a lifetime! A dryad, if you will.”

Austin placed Greggory safely on a different slab while he slunk to the other side of the table. He wasn’t chancing it; fancydiscovery or not, he kept the cleaver at the ready. “Sir, what’s a dryad?”

“Oh, a fantastic question. In this case, our dryad is a creation, they’re a summons made entirely of biodegradable material. They can become sentient if given the right materials, but they’re mostly just thralls. Typically, they’re Fae who aremadefrom nature. You don’t often encounter them beyond the dream realms as they tend to create their own habitats. Though, they’ve been known to wander from time to time. Smith noted once a gathering of dryads in the Endless Woods, but this…this is a statistical wonder.”

“How so?” Austin furrowed his brows as the creature twisted its head toward him. Austin leveled his cleaver at it, squinting sharply. “No funny business.”