Page 57 of How to Woo the Undead

“Pardon?” She crouched down to be on eye level with him. Greggory looked like a sapphire glittering in the fireplace light. His large eyes squinted at her in confusion. She matched it with her own baffled squint.

“Pretend I didn’t say that,” he murmured, nodding his head slightly. He twisted from the shelves and motioned at the large armchairs near the fireplace. “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“Why do you think I’m here for a book?” she inquired. After standing back up, she followed him to the massive bear skin rug at the base of the fireplace. He jumped up into one of the chairs and she sank into the one near enough to it. There was a small table between the two with a pair of wire spectacles, an empty teacup, and a small vial and clear liquid.Ah, the eyedrops.The fire did warm her intensely. And her eyes were getting a little dry.

“Why else would you be here?” Greggory shrugged.

“To ask you questions,” Hyacinth countered.

His mouth split his face in half with a giant grin. “You are! About what?”

Hyacinth motioned at herself first. He cocked his head, which took most of his body to the right. She sighed then motioned again as she spoke, “I need to know about Old Fae.”

“Oh! Oh!” He popped right out of the chair, scrambling around it toward the shelves. She took the opportunity to uncap the vial of eyedrops.Well, wait.She sniffed it first, ensuring it smelled like the squonk tears. Turning her gaze up to the vaulted ceiling of the library, she dropped one dollop in eacheye. Just as before, it was slightly thick and made her blink rapidly.

Then the tears started. Hyacinth sighed with relief as she let the tears flow while the squonk serum worked its magic. It sank deep into every crevasse till she was sat back, eyes closed and ignored the rivers pouring down her cheeks.

“I’ve got quite a few discovery journals that date way back till before Lord Rosemont was even created. They’re fascinating. Old Fae were one of few species who were natural suppliers of arcana. No one can even date back to their creation, but wecandistinctly date when New Fae, or modern-day Fae, started to leave the Dream Realms. Thus, turning Old Fae into a unique folkloric god like status—why are you crying?”

Hyacinth, without opening her eyes, held up the vials and grinned. “Squonk.”

“Ah! Okay, the fire is kind of hot. I can turn it down if you want?”

“No!” Her eyes snapped open, twisting to face the tiny blue man with a large stack of leather-bound journals. “No, thank you. I like the light. My eyes just get really dry a lot.”

The lights must stay on.She couldn’t suffer another attack by Sabine right then. Her mind was too weary. She was too exhausted. Her heart wasn’t in it enough. If Sabine tried to grab her, would she even try to fight her?

“Well, then, what would you like to know?” Greggory spread the books out along the ottoman. His face was split in half by an eager grin as he bounced on his clawed toes.

“Everything, if you can.”

Greggory clapped before letting out a bubbly hiss, “Most excellent! We’ll begin with the first written description of an Old Fae! It’s called the tale of Mother Goose.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Austin

“Austin…haveyoubeensewingall night?” Agatha ripped open the curtains, making Austin jolt out of his hunched slumber and topple straight to the ground. Two ghouls shrieked, scrambling head over ass out of the room. Lying on the ground, he stared up at the ceiling groggily. His eyes were dehydrated, same as his mouth. He didn’t dare sit up in fear of hearing all the bones in his body popping at the same time. Instead, he shifted his head to stare at Agatha. She floated by the windows, giggling at him.

“Maybe,” he confessed.

“What have you been up to, big guy?” she teased, floating down to the floor near him. He rolled onto his side, groaning at the crack in his back. Agatha tutted and shook her head. “You goofball.”

“I wanted to make her something. Then I wanted to make sure Snuffles had a matching bowtie. Then I figured I might as well use the same fabric to make myself a shirt. But why stop at a shirt, when you taught me to make suit pants, so I started…”

“And just forgot to stop?” Agatha tilted her head to the side playfully. The sly smirk on her lips said she knewexactlyhow he felt.

“Yeah,” he exhaled, rubbing the back of his head tiredly.

“You know, instead of holing up in the office all night, you could have just asked for my help?”

“I wanted to do it.” He shrugged with one shoulder. Finally pushing an arm against the ground, he climbed up to a seated position. “I wanted to make her something.”

“You already did.” Agatha shivered with a grimace. “That unsettling teddy bear.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty fluffy,” Austin chuckled. He pulled himself up to his feet and turned to the table to study his work. He’d almost finished his suit vest. Her dress just needed to be pressed. And Snuffles’ bowtie was done. It actually made him feel proud. “I want to take her dancing. Make her feel like a princess out of a fairytale instead of a person in a ghost story. Take her mind off things.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea!” Agatha gasped.But then again, Aggie needs no reason for a ballgown.Floating up, she came to the table, inspecting his work with her fingers tapping against her chin. She hummed as she bobbed about. Fingers plucking at panels in the dress, then at his pants. With a giant smile, she nodded at him.