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

by Hailey Edwards

  A flash of temper heated her tone. “I am aware the Elite have launched their own investigation.”

  The truth smacked me upside the head, and I laughed in her face before I could strangle the sound.

  “They already had their operative primed.” Kudos to her, she made an excellent vampire in my opinion. “Becky has an established identity within Lacroix’s organization as Dr. Heath. She infiltrated them once, and she did it again.”

  Lucky for me, she couldn’t shoot lasers from her eyeballs.

  “That’s why,” I continued, “after you viewed the recording from the ball, you sent Corbin to me. You wanted your own mole, and you knew I would take responsibility for him. It was a perfect fit. Lacroix would indulge me, I would protect Corbin, and we would report on Lacroix in exchange for your forgiveness.” A cold smile curved my lips. “You’re a master at knowing which screws to twist to get what you want, but you know that. You wouldn’t be Grande Dame if you weren’t manipulative.”

  “I am not an enemy you want to have, Grier.”

  “Nor am I,” Linus said softly. “You’re meant to be the invisible hand moving pieces behind the scenes, but you forgot to wipe off your fingerprints this time.”

  A cunning light sparked in her eyes, one I might blame on pride under other circumstances. “What is it you want from me?”

  “A clean slate.” He rested his hand at the small of my back. “You pardon Grier for her part in your scheme and any fallout that results from Corbin Theroux aligning with Lacroix.”

  “And you pardon Corbin,” I chimed in. “This isn’t the life he wanted, but he can find new purpose with the right guidance. He’s an advocate for human rights, and his voice deserves to be heard. He could be instrumental in restructuring the Undead Coalition with modern ideals after Lacroix has been dealt with.”

  The Grande Dame didn’t look at me or otherwise acknowledge my existence.

  “Corbin has put his immortal existence in danger to gather information that might save lives.” Linus took up the fight when it became obvious the Grande Dame had no intention of discussing terms with me. “His freedom can be contingent on monitoring for an agreed-upon period of time to ensure he doesn’t slide back into old habits, but I believe he’s earned a chance to see what he can make of his new life.”

  “Very well.” She drummed her fingernails on her desktop. “I will forgive Grier for her part in Corbin Theroux evading recapture. I will also pardon him, if he consents to one hundred years of service as a sentinel with the option for promotion to Elite.” Before I could protest, she continued. “The sentinels will give him a sense of purpose, and they will afford him the camaraderie he lacks without his hunter brethren. He must acclimate to our world and his place in it by living in the barracks for the first twenty-five years in order to foster goodwill among his detractors.”

  There were no vampire Elite. Even the position of sentinel would ostracize him, like he needed any help standing out.

  “We can’t accept that deal on his behalf,” I protested. “He has a right to—”

  “He is a fugitive and a murderer. He has no rights that I recognize.”

  Jaw set, I bit my tongue to avoid fanning the flames of an argument that would consume me.

  “There’s one more condition.” The Grande Dame rose. “I want Linus to marry Dame Austen’s daughter, Flora. It’s a good match. She comes from good stock, and she’s witty.” She toyed with the pendant hung around her neck. “Linus will also be returning to Atlanta at the end of the month. He has duties to his city and a career he has been neglecting. Flora will meet him there. I’ll consent to a fifty-year engagement, a generous offer considering her age, but I expect a marriage and grandchildren at the end of that period.”

  Austen. Austen. Austen.

  Flipping the surname over in my head, I almost laughed when I recalled who she meant. Flora. The older woman. About ten years Linus’s senior. She toasted me at the ball when I rescued Linus from his gaggle of eligible bachelorettes.

  She might fill a pool with Dom Pérignon for me to swim in after she caught wind of this.

  Darkness pooled in the corners of the room, pulsing with Linus’s heartbeat. “No.”

  “Defy me on this,” she warned coldly, “and I will strip you of your title and your inheritance.”

  “I told you once already,” he said, “and I won’t repeat myself.”

  I won’t be parted from Grier.

  That’s what he had promised me, and he meant every word.

  The Grande Dame’s ultimatum transported me back to the ballroom, to our first dance, to what I told him.

  It doesn’t have to mean forever to still mean something.

  Forever was potential without realization—unless you seized the moment and lived your life to the fullest.

  For the sake of my pride, I really, really hoped Linus was ready to be seized.

  I was finished dealing in stolen futures. I wanted to embrace the possibilities. Hands and heart wide open.

  “He can’t marry Dame Austen’s daughter—or anyone else.” Scrounging up my courage, I met his eyes while I bumbled through the rest. “He’s already engaged.” I couldn’t tear my gaze from his, too afraid I would miss his true reaction and glimpse only a manufactured one. “To me.”

  The breath punched from Linus’s lungs, his exhale a high-pitched whistle through his nose.

  Across from us, the Grande Dame’s knees buckled, and she sat down hard.

  “You have the marriage contract?” Her jaw hung open. “How?” She looked to Linus. “You’ve seen it?”

  “I have.” The edge of his lips twitched. “It’s authentic.”

  Fuming, she snapped her teeth together. “You’re—you’re—happy about this?”

  “Grier Woolworth has just claimed me as her fiancé before the Grande Dame of the Society for Post-Life Management. Her declaration is binding and serves as an official announcement of our intentions to be wed.” A genuine smile cracked his façade, and the real Linus seeped through. “You ought to be thrilled. This is exactly what you wanted for me, and it’s exactly what Maud wanted for Grier.”

  Nostrils flared, she protested, “That was before.”

  “Grier and I were different people then.” He shook his head. “It wouldn’t have worked.”

  “We had to get broken before we fit together,” I added.

  Corny, yes. Necessary, also yes. Honeymoon period, remember?

  “Go.” The Grande Dame swiveled her chair until its back faced us. “Now.”

  Linus cupped my elbow and led me down the empty hallway to the elevator.

  Our footsteps echoed, but I couldn’t hear much over the roaring in my ears.

  I had claimed Linus. In front of the Grande Dame. In front of his mother. And I hadn’t asked first.

  “Linus…”

  Guiding me into the booth and boxing me into a corner, he cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs caressing my cheeks, and stared down at me. “Tell me you meant it.”

  “I shouldn’t have sprung this on you. There’s still Atlanta to consider, and your job, and your life, and I didn’t even ask first. I just blurted it out, and you can’t take back a declaration like that.” A bit of the sparkle left his eyes, and I grew desperate to earn it back. “There was no dinner, no candlelight, no roses.” I palmed my forehead. “I don’t even have a ring for you.”

  “I don’t need those things,” he said softly.

  “You deserve those things.” Sinking onto my knees before him, I gathered his hands in mine. “I botched the first half, but I can do this much right.” Sweat turned my palms slippery, and I had trouble holding on thanks to the tremors in my fingers. “Linus Andreas Lawson, will you marry me?”

  Black swirls eddied across the surface of his skin. “You only ever had to ask.”

  “Is that a yes?” I reached in my pocket and came up with a bread tie, a knife, and a gum wrapper. “I need to be certain before I put a not-ring on it.”
r />   “Yes.”

  “Good.” Dizziness swept through me, making me lightheaded. “Then hold still so I don’t stab you.”

  After I pulled the bread tie from my pocket, I wrapped it around his finger and twisted the end closed.

  “It’s not much,” I started.

  “I’ll cherish it always,” he said, smiling as he turned over his hand, admiring the twist like I had given him the Hope Diamond.

  Coming from the same man who had kept the packet of oatmeal I once tossed him in lieu of an apple, I might have to wait until he fell asleep then slip the ring off him when I was ready to replace it with the real deal.

  Metal hit my back, and my breath whooshed over my lips. For a heartbeat, I didn’t understand why my knees no longer touched the floor.

  Linus had pinned me in the corner, his hands beneath my thighs, his hips wedged between mine.

  “I will make you happy,” he promised. “You won’t regret choosing me.”

  Not for the first time, my heart cracked in two for this man who had no idea of his worth.

  “I’m the lucky one.” I linked my arms behind his neck and my ankles at his spine. “You have nothing to prove.” I tangled my fingers in his hair and drew his face down to mine. “Not to me.”

  I tasted my name on his lips and sighed into his mouth. His grip tightened, turning possessive, and I arched my spine, not caring one whit if I was putting on a show for the cameras.

  An ear-splitting wolf whistle was my first clue the doors had opened, the digitized click of a camera shutter on a cellphone the second.

  “This is going to look amazing on your bridal shower invitations.” Lethe kept clicking. “Sure, most of your guests will die of shock over the audacity of two Society titans having the gall to fall in love, but they’ll get over it. Or they’ll die clutching their pearls. Either way, I’m good.”

  “We didn’t tell you we were engaged,” I pointed out as we exited the booth.

  “You done in there?” she called to a door labeled Security then turned to me. “You’ll thank me later.”

  “Oh goddess.” I slumped against Linus. “This won’t end well.”

  Hood emerged with his finger speared through a CD he set spinning with a flick of his wrist.

  “Got it.” He presented it to me. “Happy engagement.”

  “Is this…?” I tried to swallow, but my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. “My proposal?”

  “Yes,” Lethe trilled. “I teared up, and it wasn’t just the hormones.” She walked over and punched my shoulder. “You did great. I had no idea I was practice. I would have made you sweat if I had known you had this planned, or at least asked for more donuts.” To Linus, she said, “Welcome to the pack.”

  “Thank you,” he said, drawing me against his chest while I struggled not to die of embarrassment. “Did you make a copy, or is this the original?”

  “It’s the original,” Hood confirmed. “It was broadcast live to the security room, but those personnel have evacuated. No one saw, except us, and that’s the only recording.”

  “Good.” Linus took the disc from my hand and snapped it in two, tucking both halves in his back pocket. “I prefer the memory to the recording.”

  “You’re no fun.” Lethe huffed at Linus then glared at Hood. “That was really the only copy?”

  “Sorry.” Hood spread his hands. “Just following orders.”

  Shane burst into the lobby, his blue-black hair plaited down his back. “We need to move.”

  Turning from Linus, I faced him. “What now?”

  “Vampires,” he breathed. “Hundreds of them.”

  Guess we had been right about where Lacroix would strike first.

  Lucky us, we were standing on ground zero.

  Seventeen

  We fanned out on the sidewalk, watching the slow advance of what could have passed for one heck of a massive ghost tour or other sightseeing group. Except for the fangs. Sharpened incisors were out on display, despite us being in downtown, in full view of any humans who might be out for a late-night stroll through the squares.

  “The Grande Dame—” I rocked back toward the lobby, but Linus caught my arm.

  “She’ll use the tunnel to escape if it looks like the Lyceum will fall.” He measured the distance from the oncoming horde and us. “We have to leave before that’s no longer an option. We must get behind the wards at Woolworth House until we devise a plan of action.”

  “We’ll be trapped if we do that.” I searched his face for indications he planned on duct taping me to a stool in the kitchen until the danger passed, but I found only grim resolve, the certainty he knew better than to ask me to stay behind. “We have to get Amelie, and Adelaide if she’s still there, inside Woolworth House. We need to warn the gwyllgi too. After that, you and I are going out there, we’re finding Lacroix, and we’re putting an end to this.”

  “Count us in too,” Lethe said. “We can’t harm him, but the others aren’t protected.”

  “Let’s hash this out on the way.” Hood reeled open the van door. “Get in.”

  After he ushered us into our seats, all except for Shane, who promised to meet us back at Woolworth House, Hood mowed a path through any vampires too slow to yield the road.

  “The Grande Dame would have been more vulnerable at her home or during transit,” I mused. “The updated Lyceum security will be a much harder nut for Lacroix to crack.”

  “The Lyceum is more than a building,” Linus countered, “it’s a symbol. The seat of Society power. If it falls, it will strike a blow to the morale of necromancers everywhere.”

  Hood stomped on the gas, with no help from Lethe this time. “Then shouldn’t we stay and fight?”

  “There are, at most, a dozen people in the Lyceum. The population of Savannah is around a hundred and fifty thousand.” Linus watched as city hall grew smaller behind us. “We were wrong about the scope of Lacroix’s coup. He might be marching on the Lyceum, but he’s doing it in clear view of humans.” His troubled gaze met mine. “The fact the Elite and the sentinels never made it to defend the Lyceum tells me they’re fighting elsewhere in the city.”

  “Lacroix wants Savannah,” I realized. “That would explain why he recruited in such numbers, and why he disbanded the Undead Coalition first. The Society is insular. With him controlling the majority of the vampires, he has seized our only allies. We’re on our own.”

  “Not your only allies,” Lethe corrected. “You have us, and we can call on the pack.”

  A tremulous hope welled in me. “Will your mother sacrifice her people to save ours?”

  “No,” Hood answered ahead of her. “Lethe would have to stage a coup and seize control of the pack or form her own.”

  “You can’t risk that in your condition.” I reached into the front passenger seat and jabbed her in the shoulder. “Do you hear me? You’re not putting your child at risk for this. It’s not your fight.”

  “You’re family.” She twisted around until she faced me. “I get that yours has left you hanging in the past, and I hate that. I wish I could undo what was done to you, all of it, but I can’t. All I can do is show you what it means to be pack and promise you that you will never be alone as long as Hood or Midas or I are drawing breath. Our teeth and claws are yours, just like you’ve proven your blood and magic are ours.”

  Stupid tears overflowed my cheeks. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me yet.” She chuckled. “Do you have any idea how much it costs to feed a gwyllgi pack?”

  “I’m willing to offset the costs,” Linus offered, grinning. “It’s the least I can do for my future in-laws.”

  More tears wet my cheeks at his easy smile, and I unfastened my seat belt so I could plop down on his lap and bury my face in his neck. “I should have proposed on Abercorn.”

  After he confessed he wanted me to honor the marriage contract, I should have said yes. I should have asked him, so he could say yes. I should have—

  “You
weren’t ready.” He stroked his hands up and down my back, soothing me. “You needed more time.”

  “I used to believe I had all the time in the world, but now I understand that’s a youthful illusion.” I let my lips trail over his skin as I spoke. “Atramentous aged me. I spent an eternity there. The bright-eyed teen they incarcerated had waited and waited and waited for her life to start.” For Boaz to wake up one morning and tell me he loved me and not some other girl. “But she died in her cell, alone, without doing much living at all.” I darted out my tongue to taste him, and he shivered. “I’m not that Grier. I’m tired of waiting. I’m done sitting on my hands. I’m not wasting a minute of my second chance on second-guesses. I want to live, and I want you to teach me how.”

  “We can figure it out,” he said, a shiver in his limbs. “Together.”

  The private moment slipped through our fingers when Hood turned down my street.

  “We’ve got movement ahead,” Lethe called. “Hard to tell if it’s friendly or fangy.”

  “We’re going to put you out at the gate.” Hood slowed. “We’ll meet you inside.”

  Linus and I were out before Hood rolled to a complete stop, and he burned rubber to escape unmolested.

  Thankfully, the milling crowd was all gwyllgi. No vampires in sight. Not sure I would call them friendly, but they weren’t…well… Actually, they were kind of fangy. But they weren’t with Lacroix, and that’s all that mattered now.

  We jogged to the carriage house and banged on the door. Nearly a full minute later, it swung open to reveal Amelie in pajamas with her hair matted from tossing and turning on her pillow.

  “Hey.” She rubbed her eyes. “Adelaide and Boaz just left if you’re looking for them.”

  “Vampires are attacking Savannah,” I blurted, guiding her back into the living room.

  “What?”

  “Boaz didn’t call to warn you?”

  “He was mother henning me. I muted my phone so I could sleep.”

  “Linus is going to strip the wards from the carriage house, and we’re going to walk you over to Woolworth House. You’re going to stay there and help defend her while Linus and I see what we can do to help the city.”