Page 84 of How to Woo the Undead

Austinimmediatelyyowled, “Ow! Melody! He hit me!”

“Boys,” she warned, “play nice.”

“Impossible. Austin cheats.” Smith jabbed a thumb at Austin with a harrumph.

“Do not!” Austin scoffed.

“You bite!” Smith accused.

“Biting’s not cheating when you electrocute everything!” Austin shoved Smith.

“I only fry your eyebrows off when you stab me with those tusks!” Smith pushed back.

Austin roared with laughter as Smith and he proceeded to slap at each other. Melody was cackling at the counter, holding her stomach with her head knocking back against the cabinets. Smith had his long tongue pinched between his teeth in concentration as the pair dueled it out cat style.Slap-slap-slap-slap.

“Austin!”

He jerked upright, stopping to stare at the banshee exploding into existence in the kitchen. Smith snickered as he leapt up and got one last slap upside Austin’s head in. Austin lurched as if to chase the slender down, but Smith disappeared into a cloud ofsparks. Plus, Agatha jutted in front of him, eyes glowing read and claws out, “Austin!”

“Aggie?!” he yelped, grimacing.

“What have I told you about leaving the faucet running in the tub! You could ruin the carpet and the flooring. And I find you down here rough housing with Smith? Why were you even running the tub to begin with!”

“I…” Austin trailed off. His heart skipped a beat. Eyes wide, the next few words trickled out of him in fear. “I wasn’t taking a bath.”

“Then who was?” Agatha crossed her hands over her chest.

“Hyacinth.” The sound of her name escaped him like the last breath of air in his rotten lungs. Austin bulldozed through Agatha and down the hall. His feet thundered against the ground. The whole house shivered as he raced up the steps. He didn’t even stop to open the door. It flew off the hinges as he skidded through a half inch of water on the bedroom floor. He slammed into the bathroom doorframe that dented in. Austin stared at the claw foot tub full of steaming bathwater.

No Hyacinth in it.

His only clue was the open window with water droplets trailing over it. Time slowed down as he crept toward it, almost hoping to find her in the grass below. Begging her to be stuck on top of the boulder or trapped in a bundle of vines just outside the window. But when he leaned over the ledge, he spotted the front gate wide open.

“Austin? Where’s Hyacinth?” Agatha’s trembling voice brought tears to his eyes as he shattered the window frame in his hands.

“Sabine took her,” he growled. Turning on his heel, he charged for the door. “Wake Lord and Lady Rosemont. Sabine means to take her to the tree.”

“She can’t do that!” Smith barked from the bedroom door. “They locked her out. She shouldn’t be able to get in the city. If we hurry, we can catch her.”

“And then we burn that tree.” Austin snatched the matches off the side table as Smith and he charged out the door. Melody and Agatha rushed to wake the Lord and Lady of the house from their regeneration. And Austin hoped beyond hope…that he’d find Sabine scratching at the shield of King’s Fall like a dog at the back door.

Chapter Forty-Three:

Sabine

Firstthingfirst,sheneeded protection from the elements. Her flesh wasn’t as supple as it was before. The Lich had poisoned her veins with his magic. Her blood did not taste of her normal sweetness. Sabine chalked a lot of that up to that horrible creature Hyacinth was sleeping with.Austin. Just his name made her snarl with disgust. He’d fed her vegetables and sweets. Shared apples and plum wine and other things that did not fill an Old Fae like Sabine with power. She needed the gristle. She needed the blood. Screams. Death. Chaos. Dismay. Anything to feel her tether still to the dream realms, to her old home.

She started with tree bark, coating her skin in it like a long-sleeved suit. From ankle to wrist, it wrapped around her and strengthened her defenses. Then she used long leaves and petals for flourishes; thorns for weapons. Her magic was stronger than ever. Whatever that body thief did to strengthen her bones with the grove worked. Sabine could feel every tree. Every bird that took flight, every lizard that crawled down her tree trunks—she could sense it all. Like her body sent out pulses of magic, and her eyes filled the woods.

If she fed her tree bodies now, it would magnify herself ten-fold. She could rip through King’s Fall and leave it desiccated again. Drain them into the trees and let nature take back thecity. Their faces would make lovely decoration for the new saplings. Their bones great fertilizer for the soil.

She stepped up to the shield, watching the ripples of red that warned her.Keep out!It said. Sabine grinned from ear to ear as she put her fingernails to the surface of the shield.You fools.Hyacinth strengthened the bond with the trees, allowing her to tear through the shield like moss. She stepped through the tattered hole that continued to spread. Her magic ate away at the shield, snuffing out the necromantic magic.

Slinking toward the city, she followed the sounds of life.

Life…in her forest?

People laughing, joking, merry making…in her grove?