How to Wake an Undead City

by Edwards, Hailey

  But I had no time for reunions. I checked Linus’s vitals, praying the goddess granted me one last miracle.

  “Hood,” I yelled. “Bring me a splinter from Woolly’s porch.”

  The gwyllgi tore off for the house while I stripped Linus down to his waist.

  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Hands shaking, I smeared my palms with fresh blood and used them to ink sigils over every inch of his exposed skin. “This is going to work, and then you and I are going to have a long talk about making your impervious sigil permanent,” I rambled as I inked him, fingers made clumsy with fear. “Just hold on.”

  “Here.” Hood leaned over me, placing the sliver of wood on my palm. “Is that enough?”

  “We’ll have to hope so.” There was nothing else I knew to do. Dame Marchand had worn a charm I bet matched Lacroix’s down to the number of Mom’s hairs used. Given their connections, I would wager she made both herself. “I’m sorry for this in advance.”

  I drove the splinter, a good two inches of it, into Linus’s upper arm, praying it would be enough to void the power of the goddess-touched artifact used to injure him.

  He didn’t even flinch.

  Leaning over him, I pressed my hands against his chest and shoved magic into the sigils until it filled him, overflowed him, and leaked from his pores in a soft glow that dissipated on the air.

  “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” I chanted, blocking out everything but him. “Come on, Linus.”

  A chilly hand closed over my wrist. “I’m…tired of…always being the…damsel.”

  Tears flooded my eyes and dripped off my chin to where the healing sigils had already begun flaking, their magic spent. Sniffling, I wiped my cheeks dry on the backs of my hands. “Do you think your mother will let you wear a hennin to the wedding?”

  A laugh, hardly more than an exhale, parted his lips. “You remembered.”

  “Yes, well, I tucked it away in the event I got quizzed on the material later.”

  Though I had trouble imagining the proper name of a pointy princess hat coming up in casual conversation—except with him.

  “Grier.” Proving he understood me better than anyone, he took one of the hands I had curled into his shirt and lifted it to the side of his throat. The scar Odette had given him bumped under my fingers, a reminder he had survived. “I’m still here.”

  “How do you feel about us investing in a literal ball and chain? Or just the chain?” Stupid tears made his outline wobble. “That’s what they call marriage, right?”

  “No chains.” He tunneled his fingers into my hair, the cool tips pressing against my scalp. “I promised I would never cage you, and I won’t start now.”

  “You’re not caging me,” I protested, sniffling. “I’m caging you.”

  “The fear that haunts you haunts me too, every time you take a risk, every time you embrace your gift. It terrifies me, what you’re capable of, because others will see only ways to exploit your talent and not what it costs you. But I stand by you, I support you, and I always will.”

  “Just not from an arm’s length away.” Hopeful, I made him a better offer. “Six feet?”

  “No.”

  “What if I let you wear the key as a necklace?”

  Had he attempted to shackle me to him, I would be insulted. No, I would be furious. I would hiss and scratch and claw my way free and never look back.

  Thankfully, Linus was less feral than I on that account. But then again, he hadn’t learned to fear the dark, the press of algae-coated walls, the dank flavor of air shared by a thousand souls trapped in the same…

  Gritting my teeth, I yanked myself back from those grim memories and breathed in the comforting scent of my future to clear away the past.

  Brushing long strands of hair away from his face, I couldn’t stop touching him. “Is it safe to move you?”

  “I think so.” He pushed up onto his elbows. “I’m dizzy but…” His eyes spun in their sockets before he shut them. “I should lie down.”

  “Yes, you should.” I caught him by the shoulders and eased him back. “We’ll get you upstairs and put to bed.” I kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his eyes, his chin, and then his mouth. “Maybe if you’re a good boy, I’ll even join you.”

  A smile crinkled his cheeks, but he was already fading.

  “What do we do with her?” Lethe stood over an unconscious Dame Marchand. “You’ve got plenty of acreage. I could make her disappear.”

  “I can make her disappear too.” I gestured Hood over to help with Linus. “Clem, round up a few sentinels to help you take her to the Lyceum. Put her in a cell. I’ll be in touch with the Grande Dame shortly to explain the situation.”

  And why the prisoner arrived resembling a leafy green burrito.

  “That’s it?” Lethe snarled. “You’re letting her off that easy?”

  “I’m not a Marchand, or a Lacroix. I’m not going to kill people to achieve my own ends. I’m a Woolworth, and that means we do this by the book. She goes to the Lyceum, she gets a trial, and—goddess willing—she’ll be sentenced to Atramentous.”

  Hello, Marchand-Woolworth blood feud.

  Eloise, who had gotten off scot-free for her crimes thus far, would be livid after this.

  “I still say it’s not enough,” she grumped.

  “Trust me.” A shiver coasted down my spine at the memory of how I had been treated. “It’s enough.”

  Fifteen

  Linus slept in my bed, tucked under three blankets, for hours. I sat in the chair I pulled from my desk and watched over him until my eyes burned with dryness. Only a solemn promise from Woolly to ping me if he woke convinced me to go downstairs with Lethe for a snack break in the kitchen.

  “Linus didn’t come back without freckles or laugh lines,” Lethe observed as she served me French toast from a takeout box. “You didn’t reset him the way you did with Boaz and me.”

  “I didn’t mean to reset either of you.” I took a banana from the bowl on the counter and sliced it thin over my stack. “Maybe it’s because he wasn’t as near death as you two?”

  “He almost died.” She watched me with interest then gave me a banana for hers while she hit the fridge. “This time and last time.”

  “He’s bonded to a wraith.” I accepted the bottle of caramel she passed me and squirted it over the top to make us bananas Foster French toast. “Maybe that’s the difference.”

  Lethe knew about Cletus, that he was actually a she, and that she was Maud. But with so many guests in the house, it was too dangerous to touch on those subjects.

  “Maybe.” Holding up a finger, she located the powdered sugar then dusted our plates. “Guess you’ll find out when you start your lessons.”

  “Guess so.” I cut a bite and savored the fruits of our labors.

  “Your lessons with your old tutor.”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “The tutor you’re now boinking.”

  A piece of fruit went down the wrong pipe, and I coughed until my chest hurt.

  Stroking a banana suggestively, she unpeeled it. “Gives new meaning to the phrase pop quiz, eh?”

  “Stop tormenting Grier.” Corbin limped into the kitchen and claimed the spot beside me since Lethe was too busy molesting fruit to sit still. He had showered and changed into clothes Hood loaned him, and all but the shadows in his eyes had improved. “Got any of that left?”

  “Take mine.” I pushed the half-eaten plate over to him and glowered at Lethe. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  “Crybaby,” she accused. “Want a bandage for your emotional boo-boo?”

  “You heard the news about your new vocation?” Ignoring her, I nudged my untouched glass of orange juice toward him as well. “Sorry I had to bargain on your behalf. The deal I cut was the best I could do.”

  When I brought Corbin’s intel on Lacroix before the Grande Dame, she offered amnesty for his crimes on the condition he served one hundred years as a sentinel with the option for promotion to
Elite status.

  “Being a sentinel won’t be so different from being a hunter. I’ll live in the barracks, take orders, go on missions.” He dug into my leftovers. “I’ll take that over prison any day.” He tapped his fork on the plate. “Besides, after what happened, Savannah needs all the help she can get. I’m happy to pitch in.”

  “When do you report for training?”

  “Next Friday.” He squished a banana slice into mash. “Mind if I stay until then?”

  “Not at all.” I touched his arm. “You’re my progeny. You’re always welcome here.”

  “Thanks.” He ducked his head. “Do you think I’ll get any siblings?”

  “You’re worried about the whole eternity thing?”

  “Yeah. A little.” He set down his fork. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  “Stick with the sentinels. Work your way up to Elite. You’ll always have a family at your back that way.” I hated to encourage Woolly, but this needed saying. “Pretty sure I’ll be procreating in the future. You can be Uncle Corbin. And then Great Uncle Corbin, so forth and so on.” I gave him a pat. “You’ll never have to be alone unless you decide that’s what you want.”

  “Thanks.” He laughed. “Again.”

  Oscar drifted through the ceiling to hover at Corbin’s shoulder. “You promised.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” He scraped his plate clean over the trash can then loaded it in the dishwasher. “I’ll set up the targets and show you how it’s done.”

  “Target?” Alarm zinged through me. “What are you two doing?”

  “Oscar asked me to show him how to fire a gun.” Corbin looked at me, all solemnity. “After everything that’s happened, he wants to learn how to protect his family and his home.”

  “And you thought it was a good idea to teach a poltergeist to fire a weapon, why?”

  “Oscar,” Corbin said calmly, “can you wait for me at the range?”

  “The range?” I squeaked. “When did we get one of those?”

  Clearly, I needed to spend less time unconscious. These people required constant adult supervision.

  After the ghost boy blasted off, Corbin waved me over to a cardboard box hidden behind the couch.

  “I asked Clem to source these for me.” He parted the flaps to reveal two clunky orange and blue plastic guns that shot foam darts. “Oscar felt helpless when Dame Marchand attacked you, and he hates that. He wants to stop bad people from hurting good people. This will empower him.” He shrugged. “Safely.”

  “Poor kid.” As I inspected the darts, I noticed targets folded in the bottom of the box. “I appreciate you doing this for him.”

  “I don’t mind.” He rolled a foam cylinder between his fingers. “He’s always going to be around too. One day, we might be all we have left.” He cast off that bleak thought and smiled. “I figure I ought to get on his good side.”

  I hadn’t thought of it quite like that, but he had a point. Unless Oscar crossed over, he would be here to watch over future generations of Woolworths and pal around with Corbin. I liked the idea of that. Very much.

  “I better go.” He lifted the box onto his hip. “I promise I won’t let him shoot an eye out.”

  “I appreciate that. Undead optometrists are harder to come by than you might think.”

  I watched him go then caught myself staring up the stairs. Woolly’s presence remained with Linus, so he must not have woken yet. But there was something I had been meaning to ask, so I hunted down Lethe, who was polishing off a stack of sausage she hadn’t offered to share.

  Picking at my nails, I hovered in the doorway. “Did a package arrive for me from Atlanta while I was sleeping?”

  “Yep.”

  A flutter of nerves made me regret what little I had eaten. “No one opened it, did they?”

  “No.” She licked her fingers clean. “I intercepted it myself. I thought it was my Vietnamese delivery, but no. The box was too small, and it smelled like twu wuv and not coconut rotisserie chicken with rice.”

  “Linus doesn’t know, does he?”

  Casually, she kept on stuffing her face. “He was with you, so no.”

  Relief coasted through me. “Where is it?”

  “In a hole I dug.” She relished my shock. “What? It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had no idea how long you would be out. Actually, you should be thanking me. Nowhere is safer than a good hole.”

  Unwilling to wander so far from Linus, I gave her a nudge. “Can you please go get it for me?”

  “Oh, sure. Send the pregnant lady out into the murder woods.”

  “You like both murdering and woods.”

  “I can’t argue with that logic.” She pushed away from the counter. “Give me ten.”

  I followed her onto the back porch and sat on the lowest step, sliding my feet through the cool grass.

  “You saved my bacon today,” I said, and hoped Savannah heard and understood.

  A single dandelion pushed through the dirt to blossom between my toes.

  I was taking that as a yes.

  Though I would have to chat with her about inviting weeds onto the lawn.

  Then again, maybe schooling an entity as large as an entire city wasn’t the brightest idea. I had been meaning to hire a gardener anyway.

  “Here you go.” Lethe tossed the box to me. “Original tape and everything. I buried it in a sandwich bag.”

  “I’m impressed.” I turned it over in my hands. “You didn’t even peek.”

  “I can be good, it’s just not as much fun as the alternative.” She admired the tips of her fingers as they lengthened into claws. “Well? I can only be so good for so long.”

  “Pushy.” I held out the box and let her swipe through the packing tape. “I want your honest opinion.”

  She snorted. “Like I ever give you anything else.”

  “Good point.” I opened the flaps and lifted out a ball of bubble wrap I carefully unwound to reveal a ring box nestled like the peanut center of an M&M. Cracking open the lid, I peered inside and didn’t feel the slightest twinge over how much its contents had cost me. “What do you think?”

  “Other than you could have bought me another house for that?” She whistled. “He’s going to love it.” She leaned closer. “What’s with that groove in the center?”

  Snapping the box shut, I winked at her. “You’ll see.”

  “Tease.”

  “Can I talk you into helping me make this a night he won’t forget?”

  “As long as it doesn’t involve the limbo, the mambo, or any other bos that require me to bend, shake, or lift my leg higher than my waist, sure.”

  After disposing of the shipping box in the trash can outside, I pocketed the ring and ran it upstairs. I ducked my head into my room to check on Linus, but he was sleeping peacefully, and Woolly chided me for bothering him. Taking her scolding on the chin, I scooted down the hall to the same unoccupied guestroom and reached under the bed to locate the last and most precious item.

  Legs crossed, I set to work on my project while keeping an ear out for Linus.

  * * *

  Six hours later, Linus was stirring, and I was as ready as I would ever be. I had resumed my vigil at his bedside, certain all my preparations were in order.

  “You didn’t have to sit with me.” He extended an arm, and I took his hand. “How long was I out?”

  “Thirteen hours, give or take.”

  “What did I miss?” He brought my hand to his chest and placed it over his heart. “Anything interesting?”

  “No.”

  “You’re…quiet.” The way his lips pursed made me think quiet was a copout. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m so nervous I could puke.” A smile seesawed on my mouth, and I reclaimed my hand before I got him all sweaty. “Are you hungry?” Hearing I was about to barf was sure to spark his appetite. Goddess, I was a hot mess. “Good.” I didn’t wait for him to demure. “I made food.”

  Startled pleasure brighten
ed his eyes. “You cooked?”

  “Don’t get too excited. It’s just the house specialty. Grilled cheese.”

  A childhood favorite Volkov had ruined for me, but I was reclaiming.

  “I’m sure I’ll love it.”

  “Be right back.” I dashed downstairs and shoved the sandwiches I made earlier into the toaster oven to reheat them. Then I cut them into small wedges and stacked them on a plate I garnished with parsley. It was tradition to eat them with milk when we were kids, so I poured us each a glass and arranged everything on an old silver serving tray I unearthed from the attic. Careful not to spill all my hard work, I padded up the stairs. “Here we go.”

  “This looks delicious.” He pushed upright and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Do you want me to eat at the desk?”

  “You’re not the kind of guy a girl kicks out of her bed over crumbs.” I set the food on my dresser since the plates had started rattling with my jitters. “But there’s something I need to do first.” I snapped my fingers, and nothing happened. “I said, there’s something I need to do first.”

  Head cocked, he arched an eyebrow. “I heard you the first time.”

  “Um, hold that thought.” I ducked into the hall. “Lethe.”

  “What?” The door to the hall bathroom swung open on her adjusting her elastic top pants. “I had to pee.”

  “Lethe.”

  “I’m ready, I’m ready.” She whipped out her cell. “Last time was practice. This time’s for real.”

  Inhaling until my lungs protested, I waltzed back into the room. “Where were we?”

  Uncertain, he guessed, “Cheese toast?”

  “Yes, that.” I raised my voice. “But there’s something I need to do first.”

  Nothing happened.

  Absolutely nothing.

  Hours of prep work and sneaking around and…nada.

  Linus waited a moment, reading into my expectation, before admitting, “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I.” I stormed out into the hall and caught Lethe cramming the cheese toast into her mouth when I had no idea how she had sneaked it out of the room without us noticing. “You’re fired. Go sit in your room and think about what you’ve done.”