How to Live an Undead Lie (The Beginner's Guide to Necromancy Book 5)

by Hailey Edwards

  After he left, I hauled myself into a chair I angled toward Cletus, head throbbing with my heartbeat.

  “You’ve got to stop ambushing me. I could have hurt myself if I hit the table on the way down. Let’s make a rule that you don’t show me Corbin’s messages unless Linus is here to play witness, okay?”

  The wraith bobbed once in acknowledgment then spread its hands, waiting.

  “Corbin,” I addressed Cletus the way he always did. “We’re coming for you. Just hold on a little longer.”

  Cletus groaned softly then vanished to relay his message.

  Lacroix must not be used to dealing with someone who could form their own opinions and who held their own beliefs. He wasn’t winning over Corbin. He was alienating him. While he might be used to whispering conversion in someone’s ear, he would have to yell a lot louder before Corbin went deaf to the cries of the humans they toyed with away from the Society’s prying eyes.

  There was nothing for it. We had to get Corbin out of there before Lacroix provoked him into a fight he couldn’t win.

  Light taps on the door announced Linus had arrived, and I climbed the stairs to greet him.

  “How did it go?” I massaged my scalp. “Will the Elite help with our gwyllgi infestation?”

  “Yes.” He frowned at me. “There’s no pack in Savannah, so they can be rousted for causing a disturbance.” He touched my wrist. “Headache?”

  “Cletus sucked me into the void. No one was here to catch me this time, so I bumped my head on the floor when I nailed the landing.”

  Concern caused darkness to pool in his eyes. “Want me to take a look?”

  “Let’s do this in the kitchen.” I entered the hall. “I’m fresh out of focus for tonight.”

  He cupped my elbow and guided me onto my usual stool. “Are you sure you don’t have a concussion?”

  “I didn’t fall that hard.” I patted the spot next to me until he sat. “Did Cletus check in with you this time?”

  “No.” He twisted until our knees brushed. “You’ll have to fill me in on what your wraith reported.”

  Tempted to laugh at the jab, I posed a theoretical instead. “Do you think Cletus knows?”

  “That he’s Maud?” Linus scratched his thumbnail along one of the veins in the marble. “He must retain some knowledge of his former life. It’s obvious he cares for you, and he has habits that remind me of her. But it’s hard to say. Whoever he is now, he’s not her anymore. He’s someone else. Something else.”

  “Oddly enough, that makes me feel better.” I covered his hand with mine, smiling to realize there was no difference in temperature between his skin and the stone. “I wouldn’t want her trapped in that form, aware of her diminished capacity.”

  Linus watched me trace the length of his fingers. “What did he show you this time?”

  While I filled in Linus, I noticed the volume rising outside and nudged Woolly to muffle the noise before it disturbed Lethe. Assuming she wasn’t hanging out the window, yelling obscenities at the gathering. Again. That would explain the increase in volume, actually.

  “How about you?” I tapped the knuckle on his pointer finger. “How did it go with Boaz?”

  “He left Adelaide to watch over Amelie while he reports in. I doubt he would have gone if the gwyllgi weren’t setting up camp so close to the carriage house.”

  “He’s worried they might come for us with torches and pitchforks.”

  “His sister is confined to the structure. She would be trapped if the pack embraced extreme measures to flush out Lethe.”

  Dread licked along my insides at the thought. “A fire at the carriage house could spread to Woolly.”

  Wards or no wards, Woolly would be at risk. We had never tested her against something as mundane as fire.

  “It will never come to that,” Linus assured me.

  “How can you be sure?” I got to my feet and started pacing. “It’s been wet lately but—”

  A black cloak draped his shoulders, and he gazed at me with eternity in his eyes. “I will slay them all before I let them harm you or Woolly. You’ve lost enough. You won’t lose her too.”

  Wrapping my arms around myself, I dipped my chin. “I wish the gwyllgi would see reason and leave.”

  “Their instincts are screaming at them. They won’t move except by force or until the imagined debt is paid. The fight disrupted the pack hierarchy. They’ll be dangerous—Hood and Lethe too—until a new order is established.”

  A shiver twitched in my shoulders, and I turned as Cletus swept into the room.

  “I thought you had gone back to Corbin.” I smiled. “Did you want to see Linus before you left?”

  The wraith shot out its arms, clamped onto my shoulders, and dunked me in the pool of shadows beneath its cowl.

  Chills raced up my arms and through my body. Teeth chattering, I searched the dark for the message he must be carrying, but there was nothing. And then…there was light.

  An empty ballroom. Corpses strewn across the floor. Humans. Dozens of them. Drained to empty shells.

  I sucked in a gasp, breathing in more of that faint rosewater scent that screamed Maud, then the vision overtook me again.

  “You have been reporting my movements to the Grande Dame.” Lacroix struck Corbin across the cheek. The resounding crack made me wince. Judging by the purpling bruises on his face, it wasn’t the first time. “How much of what you have seen have you told her? Confess, and I will show mercy.”

  “I don’t report to the Grande Dame,” Corbin spat. “You’re paranoid.”

  “Lies,” Lacroix hissed.

  “Believe what you want, you will anyway.”

  “We must strike before the Society moves against us,” Lacroix decided, then motioned a slender vampire to join him. “Rally our clansmen.” He clasped her on the shoulder. “We move tonight.”

  “As you wish, Master.” She pivoted on her heel, facing Cletus, who must have been hovering in a shadowed doorway, and I swallowed a gasp of recognition. “What are our orders concerning your granddaughter?”

  “Bring Grier to me.” He pointed a warning finger at her. “Do not harm her.”

  “What about Scion Lawson?”

  “Kill him.” He bared his fangs. “His corrupting influence has been the root of all this.”

  The vampire tasked with rallying the clan passed beneath Cletus, and our gazes almost clashed.

  “Set your strongest wards around Woolworth House,” she whispered. “The city won’t last the night.”

  The vision swirled away, and I came aware with Linus supporting me.

  “Get back to Corbin.” I swatted at the wraith. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

  Linus drew me closer. “Grier?”

  Jaw tight, I gazed up at him. “We have to extract Corbin before Lacroix kills him.”

  Eyebrows climbing his forehead, I recalled for once he was the one waiting for an update.

  “They spotted Cletus.” I clawed at him to regain my balance. “Lacroix is mobilizing his clan.”

  Linus swore under his breath. “Do you have any idea where they plan on striking?”

  “No.” I propped my legs under me. “But I know someone who might.” I wobbled to the stool and sat. “I saw Becky. She’s posing as a vampire. She infiltrated the clan.”

  Linus’s expression cleared when he understood. “Boaz’s partner.”

  “She faked her way into the manor where I was being held by posing as a newly turned vampire. Her backstory painted her as a doctor in her previous life. She saw me once, to patch me up after I cut my foot on a piece of ceramic. She’s the one who kept urging me to take in the fresh air in the gardens out front. My keeper, Lena, grew suspicious of her and asked her to go. I never saw her in that role again.” Thinking back on her appearance in the vision, I admitted, “She looked the same. As Dr. Heath, she was already established within the clan. She must not have burned that identity in case she needed it in the future.”


  “We need to go to the Lyceum.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Mother. She must rally the council and the remaining masters.”

  “Gathering all the biggest targets in one confined area is making it easy for Lacroix, don’t you think?”

  “Not if we use the video conference suite.” He spared me half a glance, his lips curving. “The others will remain safe in their homes. We’ll be the only ones at risk.”

  Video conference suite sounded far too modern for the Lyceum. Its addition must be his civilizing influence. Half the dames and matrons probably required tutors to navigate the system. Or hired tech wizards to cheat the learning curve.

  “I’ll get Hood.” I could have called him for a pickup, but I needed to grab my bag. I didn’t want to be caught unprepared if the vampires beat us to the Lyceum. “Be right back.”

  He wasn’t listening. His entire attention centered on his phone, on the warning he was conveying to his mother.

  Upstairs, I knocked on Lethe’s door. “Hood?”

  He came to the door barefoot with a book in his hand. “Everything okay?”

  “Not exactly.” I filled him in on the vampire situation. “We need a ride to the Lyceum.”

  “I’m going with you.” Lethe poked her head around the door. “I’m not letting you face that alone.”

  Hood ground his teeth so hard I worried they might snap under the pressure. “Give us a minute.”

  After nudging Lethe back, he shut the door. Their growled conversation grew heated, and I left them to battle it out while I gathered my kit from my room. I hesitated only a moment before reclaiming the goddess-touched artifact I had never returned to the basement and shoving it down the front of my bra. I made a pit stop in Linus’s room to pick up his bag, in case he needed it, then headed downstairs.

  Linus waited at the front door, phone pressed to his ear, arguing with someone in another language.

  I raised my eyebrows, but I don’t know why I was surprised to glimpse yet another of his facets.

  Loaded for bear, I told Woolly to guard the fort then bounced off the door when she slammed it in my face.

  “Fiddlesticks.” I checked my nose to see if it was broken. She did have a history of violent assault via wood panel. “That hurt.”

  The locks snicked into place, and she curtained the windows to darken the room.

  “We have to go to the Lyceum.” I rested my hand, thankfully not bloodied, on the wall. “People will die if we don’t help.”

  The lights flickered as her resolve faltered, but she refused to bend.

  “What’s goin’ on?” Oscar appeared at my side and rested his head on my shoulder. “Why’s she mad?”

  “She doesn’t want me to leave. She worries I’ll get hurt.”

  “Will you?” The ghost boy turned his bottomless black eyes on me. “Get hurt?”

  “I’ll do my best not to come home with more holes in me than I’ve already got.”

  Linus made a choking sound, but I was sure he would be fine.

  That appeased Oscar, who drifted over and laid his hand over mine where I touched the wall. “You gotta let her go, Woolly.”

  The old house groaned around us, refusing to budge on her stance.

  “I would be dead if she hadn’t saved me. Really dead. Gone forever.” He mashed his cheek against the wall. “You have to let Grier go so she can save other people who need her.”

  Slowly, the locks turned, and the door swung open.

  “Thanks, girl.” I patted Oscar on the back and cast him a conspiratorial wink. “Keep an eye on Oscar while we’re gone.”

  On cue, Oscar faded a few shades, and Woolly swaddled him in her consciousness.

  “Thanks, kid,” I mouthed, and he grinned in response before she whisked him back to his room.

  Yep. Definitely a bad influence.

  Before Woolly thought better of it, I stepped onto the porch with Linus flanking me. We made our way to the driveway, and my eyes rounded at the number of gwyllgi congregating on the property. The number had swelled even more since yesterday.

  We didn’t have to wait long for our ride to roll up to the curb, and I counted all three gwyllgi present. Shane passed on the ride, claiming he wanted to scout ahead. I wasn’t sure if that was code for get out of Dodge or if he meant the offer, and I didn’t press. I did not want land on the bad side of a fae.

  Hood glanced back at me. “The Lyceum, you said?”

  “Yep,” I confirmed. “Drive like there’s not a baby on board.”

  Lethe reached across the console and rested her hand on his thigh. She slid her hand down to his knee, in a slow glide that made me blush. As I was averting my gaze, I saw her slam his foot down on the gas pedal with a maniacal spark in her eyes.

  “I was wrong,” I cried when the back of my skull bounced off the window. “There’s a baby on board. A big one. Maybe more than one.”

  Lethe just cackled and pressed Hood’s leg harder.

  Sixteen

  The drive to city hall was anticlimactic. Normal amount of traffic. Normal amounts of humans on the streets. Normal amounts of everything. All that changed after Linus and I entered the video conference suite at the Lyceum.

  An entire wall was dedicated to what looked like fifty-inch televisions. Each family didn’t get its own screen. They shared in groups of six, cutting down on the number of devices required to make it all work and the trauma they experienced when stepping into this century. Bringing humans back to life as vampires? Plausible. Teleconferencing? Clearly witchcraft. That meant a few matriarchs had to travel to whichever neighbor was hosting the video meeting this time, but no more than a few miles. As usual, the dames lorded over the uppermost level while the matrons held court beneath them, and the vampires occupied the lowest tier.

  Dames and matrons roared over the din in a feeble attempt to be heard above their neighbors, both in the room with them and in the collective. Underscoring the insanity was the grating sound of vampire incisors scraping. Their agitation gave me chills.

  The Grande Dame was the first to mark our arrival, the only person physically in the room with us, and she swept her gaze over Linus, barely breathing until she assured herself he was whole. I earned a cursory glance, but the stilted show of concern was all the attention she paid me.

  Guess she was still miffed about her son siding with another woman over her.

  “Linus, darling.” Ice crackled in her voice as it filled the room. “I have gathered the council as you requested. Now be a dear and tell us what this is all about.”

  Clearly, she was annoyed with him too. She knew the reason why we were here. She wouldn’t have gathered everyone otherwise. Feigning ignorance gave her leeway to act as shocked and horrified as the rest of the gathering. Or, if the mood soured, just as retaliatory for us having wasted her time.

  “We received word tonight that Gaspard Lacroix has mobilized his clan,” he said. “He plans to attack the Society.”

  Gasps poured through the speakers, and a few dames rose from their seats, flapping their arms like chickens with their heads cut off, an illusion aided by their headless figures on the screen, before a glare from the Grande Dame seated them.

  “He chafes beneath Society rule,” he continued. “He has all but dismantled the Undead Coalition to clear a path for his vision for a new governing body for vampires.”

  “We must leave,” a dame shouted from her spot between two matrons, one of which must have been hosting her. “If what he says is true, we must return to our homes.”

  “What about our families?” a matron shouted. “We must warn them.”

  “That is why I requested your presence,” he intoned. “It was critical that you all understand the scope of the threat.”

  “What do you mean?” The Grande Dame played her role to perfection. “What haven’t you told us?”

  “Lacroix is a powerful Last Seed, an ancient. He will be using compulsion to lead the attack. You won’t be able to reason with these
vampires. Even if you know them, they are not themselves. They will not listen.”

  Sharp intakes of breath ricocheted across the screens as true panic set in.

  “All of the city’s Elite will be on the streets tonight, as well as every available sentinel. I’ve called in requests for aid from the surrounding cities and put them on alert.” He panned his gaze across the various screens. “Go home if you’re not already there. Bar your doors. Hide your families. Call the Lyceum if you’re attacked, and help will come.”

  At that point, not even dirty looks from the Grande Dame kept people in their seats. They fled to their own homes and families, leaving us with a view of empty chairs, some toppled over in their haste to exit.

  “Might I have a word?” The Grande Dame hadn’t budged from her position. “In my chambers?”

  “Of course.” Linus inclined his head. “We’ll be right there.”

  Until he mentioned it, I hadn’t gotten the hint it was a solo invitation. Forcing the issue that he was with me might do more harm than good in the long run, but we had no time for bruised egos.

  “You must be certain of this information,” she said after the door to her office closed behind us.

  “We are,” Linus confirmed, ignoring the single chair in front of her desk.

  As much as I wanted to believe, especially under these circumstances, she wasn’t so petty as to send in an underling to remove one of her chairs prior to my arrival as a direct insult to me, this was the Grande Dame. I hadn’t seen her birth certificate or anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn Petty was her middle name.

  Smirking at the empty chair, she sat. “Do you have anything besides Corbin’s warning to support your claims?”

  “The wraith showed me a vision of Lacroix giving the order.” I stared her down. “He ordered a woman who appeared to be one of his lieutenants to rally their clansmen.” I watched her carefully for signs she was in the know. “When she turned, I recognized her. Becky Heath, Boaz Pritchard’s partner. She’s an Elite and a Low Society necromancer. She must be using the same magical augmentation as before to pass as a vampire. That means the Elite can corroborate our story.”