Page 49 of How to Woo the Undead

“What tree?” Sebastian jutted in, stepping up to Aravis’ side.

“The tree with all the bodies in it. The one she was feeding their bodies to; it was in her yard.” Hyacinth tried to confess more, only to be dragged by both arms backward by Dahlia and Smith.

“Sebastian,” Aravis snarled, glaring at her maker.

“My boy, I promise you, that there are reasonable explanations for this.” Sebastian flapped a hand at Hyacinth dismissively.

“Areasonableexplanation for fifty victims? And those arejustthe ones I can identify. Those are just the ones I still haveevidenceof—Smith!” Aravis’ eyes jumped from Sebastian to the slender at Hyacinth’s side. A shadowy hand was pressed to her mouth, holding her voice in. She struggled against it.Just let me explain. Just let me tell him.She was tired of not telling people. Hyacinth wanted to scream. Open her mouth and expel all the things in her skull out into the air. Then she might finally feel like a person instead of a thing playing tug-o-war with a body she only had partial claim over.

Smith said nothing to her, instead slipping around her and speaking to Aravis. The hand on her mouth tightened like a vice. “Lord Commander, I know how this looks, but Sabine’s crimes cannot be charged to Hyacinth. She’s a completely different person. She falls under the Undead New Person’s legislation.She cannot be sought for the debts or crimes of the previous soul in that body.”

“Unless that person has committed more crimes.” Aravis shook his head with such a sharp jerk that it looked like he was resisting transforming. His face grew more hollow, like his bones were pressing against his skin. Aravis hunched at the shoulders, his body growing two inches bigger than what it had as he inhaled sharply through his nose. “I thought you were with me on this? I thought you wanted to help us find the killer.”

“My loyalty is always to Lord Rosemont and those within this manor.” Smith’s mouth grew into a cruel, toothy snarl as he spoke, tentacles writhing around him. He matched Aravis’s height, his limbs growing longer. “And Hyacinth has committed no crimes.”

“Except that she’s killed six people.” Aravis bared his teeth to Smith as he spoke.

The whole house went quiet and all eyes turned to her. Even the ghosts in the walls thatdidn’thaunt her. The ocular lenses from her maker’s mask flashed to her, and this time, it was a warning.Do not speak. Do not move.She sank back on her bare feet, distinctly aware of her lack of fingernails or the tender spot on the back of her skull. Hyacinth fisted the sides of her chemise, ignoring the tremble in her thighs.

“Remit her into my custody, Sebastian. I came here to ask you, as your friend, as your protegee, and as someone who cares for you. Who has always supported you. But she needs to face justice. She’s Old Fae, and the city gave her the benefit of the doubt but clearly shecannotbe trusted. You and I both know this. You more than most.” Aravis’ features softened, his tone breathless as he turned back toward Sebastian.

Her maker stared her down, leaving her stripped down to the bone. She felt like every inch of her melted away till he couldsee just the calcium holding her up and the ghost wrapped around every vein. Sabine may not have stood in front of him, but she knew that her ghost was there. Just underneath her skin. Hyacinth was possessed by a cruel, harmful woman. Regardless of how she came to be on that forest floor, she was not an innocent person. In fact, Hyacinth considered her worse than the cleric. His unwavering faith in something so rigid was nothing compared to the woman who slaughtered countless innocents.

Hyacinth didn’t have all the truth. She didn’t know where Sabine came from, or what she planned to do, or why she turned into the beast Hyacinth feared. But she didn’t want to stand here and pretend like everything was okay.

“And what evidence do you have of these crimes?” Sebastian spoke, his beak turned back to the fowlst looming in the foyer.

“Sebastian—”

“Do you have more than a cleric’s hearsay?” Sebastian added, folding his hands into the small of his back.

“You’re really defending someone you made mere days ago?” Aravis jabbed a claw in her direction. “She is dangerous.”

“To whom? The puritanical believers in a higher power that no more cares for them than a child with a magnifying glass and a boot? They are but ants, and yet their words should mean more than mine? I’ll remind you, Lord Blightwood, with whom this city relies on for its protection.” Sebastian moved only an inch and ripped open the front door.

“Sebastian, don’t do this,” Aravis warned. Hyacinth wanted to agree with him.She’ll kill again. She can’t stop herself. I…can’t stop her. Someone has to stop me!

“Hyacinth is a Rosemont, and will continue to reside here, under the protection of this manor. She is no longer under yourjurisdiction, Lord Commander,” Smith added, motioning for Aravis to leave the home with a sweeping motion of his arm. Aravis started toward the door. With a sharp flinch, he stopped in the middle of it and spun around.

“If you don’t let me take her, Sebastian, she’ll hurt more innocent people. She’ll probably hurt you. Old Fae like Sabine Moss are actual monsters, you know this! You’veseen what they can do. If you leave her in this house with you, you’re trapping all that in here. Please…Sebastian—”

“Please leave, my boy.” Sebastian cut him off. “I think you’ve made your point. So long as those clerics have ahold of your ear, you will not find cooperation from me. Youof all peopleknow the destruction of religious zealots who get to decide right from wrong.”

Aravis glanced back at her. For a moment, time stood still.No! Wait. Take me with you!Hyacinth lurched in her body, breaking through Dahlia’s grip and Smith’s muzzle for only a moment.

“She refers to the tree ashim!” Hyacinth blurted out, frenzy filling her veins like buzzing bees. “I think the tree meant something to her. Whoever he was, she’s trying to take care of him.”

Aravis was thrown from the house with a forceful push of magic and Hyacinth was dragged to the floor, bound and gaggled by several hands that reached out of the floor and walls.

“Little one,” Sebastian sighed, shaking his head. “You should not have done that.”

Hyacinth shifted on her knees, struggling against the hands that held her back. Narrowing her eyes on her maker, she stiffened as a familiar sound of someone descending the stairs brought her gaze up to the second floor. Austin stood at the top of the stairs with his eyebrows up on his head. “What’s going on?”

“Hyacinth tried to give herself to Aravis,” Dahlia huffed, flapping a hand in Hyacinth’s direction.

She jerked left and right until her wings burst free of the hands’ hold. Hyacinth bound into the air, floating over their heads. “Sabine is a monster! She needs to be stopped!”

“And we will,” Dahlia spat back. “But we can’t do that if they burn you at the stake.”