Page 61 of How to Woo the Undead

Hyacinth frowned, twisting more till she was straddling his lap once more. Arms dangling over his shoulder, she forced him to fully look her in the eye. “Austin, the only burden here is me.”

“What!” he squawked. “You’re not a burden.”

She tilted her head an inch to the right and speared him with an incredulous look. “I’m possessed by a ghost who wants to kill people.”

“Everyone has quirks.” Austin shrugged. “Kevin eats brains! And we don’t judge him for that.”

She squinted at him.You know that’s not the same.Austin sat back against the back of the tub for a long time. Hyacinth stillfeltlike a burden.Dangerous.But, seeing him smile, his hands finding her sides in the warm water just to hold her close? That made it easier. Seeing his face brighten as he tugged? Like it were a suggestion that she could kiss him and he’d like nothing more? She melted against his lips. Their kiss made all her muscles dissolve into mush and her bones disintegrate. She leaned all her weight against him. His hands roamed her back. One tangled in her knotted hair, the other flat against her spine.

Maybe she’snotas much of a burden as she thought…not if he kissed her like that.

She broke the kiss to rasp against his lips, “If I was made for you, why did you avoid me at first?”

He wheezed, “Because the first thing you saw when you woke was me and you screamed in terror.”

Hyacinth straightened, glaring down at him. “What?”

“You opened your eyes, saw me, and screamed.” he repeated, eyebrows knitted down on his face in confusion.

“I didn’t see you. I mean, I kind of did…but Austin, that’s not why I screamed. Is that why you didn’t want me to see you? You thought I was scared of you?” She felt a lick of fury climb up her chest as she stared at him.

“Why would you scream if you weren’t scared?” he huffed right back at her.

“I. Like. Screaming!” she snapped, pushing off his chest to sit back on her calves. “I constantly want to scream but everyone’s always scared of screaming. What is so wrong with wanting to scream? It’sneverscreaming time and I’m really kind of tired of not being able to just scream!”

When she stopped, she found Austin studying her. After a moment, he pulled up the loofa and applied more soap to it. “I’ll see what I can do about more screaming time.”

She groaned, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.They’re so itchy.“Thank you, Austin, but you don’t—”

Austin pulled her fists from her eyes, kissing her knuckles. Then he put the loofa back in her hand and nodded at her body. “Scrub up; it’s dinner time and I can hear Agatha in the bedroom. We can’t do any screaming time inside the house. It’llscare the ghouls and Moonpie, but…I’ll see what I can do. Plus, I gotta get some squonk tears for you.”

Austin pulled her face close to kiss her forehead before he fished himself out of the bath. She followed him with her gaze as he pulled a large towel around him.

Did you really think I was scared of you that whole time? Silly boy.She couldn’t help another bubble of laughter floating up through her chest as he returned to the side of the tub. He left another kiss to her brow before rushing out of the room.I love the way you smile.She leaned against the edge of the tub dreamily. Agatha floated down into the doorway, grinning like a cat with a mouse in her paw.

“What’sscreaming time?” Agatha wiggled her eyebrows at Hyacinth.

“Time for screaming.” Hyacinth shrugged, returning to scrubbing off her body.

“I really should have seen that coming,” Agatha snickered, floating further into the bathroom. “You ready to dance?”

“Dance?”

“Oh…oh, you’re in for a wonderful surprise!”

HyacinthsquealedasAustintwirled her for the fourth time. Her feet were tangled up like willow branches in a rainstorm. Then Lord Rosemont cut in as he had before, spinning her around in a circle, the pair laughing as she stepped up onto his shoes to keep from tripping over him. As they turned aroundanother bend, she took a hold of Smith by the arms. His gloves pressed into the sides of her dress as he tugged her into another turn. Panting for air, she let the slender lead, much as she had everyone else. It was a ballroom of swirling fabric and clicking shoes. There was music somewhere but all she could hear was the sound of everyone having a good time. Smith hoisted her up for one of the lifts and she shrieked in delight once more. The second her shoes touched the floor again, she wheezed, “I need water.”

“Allow me.” Austin reappeared at her side, trading Agatha for Hyacinth. She twisted into his arms and let him spin her out of the dancing crowd. A dizzy giggle floated out of her as she stumbled backward to the large table at the edge of the ballroom. Austin put a hand at the small over back, holding her up as he grabbed one of the many cups they pre-poured with water. Moonpie was banished to her own table where Dahlia gave the undead feline a flight of wine glasses full of water to ensure she didn’t put her fuzzy muzzle in everyone else’s. Carl slept under the table full of food, keeping it warm with his dancing flames. The only animal not designated a space was Snuffles. He sat under Moonpie’s table, watching as the cat knocked over the glasses only to have them magically righted. Havershum refused to let the bunny be loose in the house, so to ease his worries, they brought him in to dance.Not that I mind having my buddy nearby.

Hyacinth found her footing once more as she took up a cool glass of water and tossed it back. She took a moment to straighten out her skirt. Agatha told her that Austin made it for her. It was a soft lavender-colored satin, that flowed out from her hips. The ruffled sleeve chemise under the corset made her think of flowers. It was puffy and drapey over her arm, little ribbons dripped with hyacinth flowers around her arms. She felt like a fairy in it, the kind Greggory showed her yesterday in the books. The ones from old tales.

She still hadn’t wrapped her head around Old Fae. Was she a monster? Or was she just a person that others were scared of…if Sabine wasn’t in the picture, she’d think they were all being ridiculous. Hyacinth wasn’t any of those things, she was just Hyacinth. And every day she learned more about what that entailed but for what all she knew, she wasn’t scary.

It was the world that was scary.

“This is so fun!” She panted for air. “Why do we not dance every day?”

“We would get nothing done,” Austin chuckled, sipping his water slowly. “You are okay? The heels do not hurt your feet.”