At a final tsk of Eliza’s teeth, a red-eyed, giant skeletal horse assembled itself from the piles of random human bones that had been left upon the ground before us. She leapt atop its spine with astonishing agility, and it wheeled away and clattered into the distance while Leander and I were still exchanging startled, wide-eyed glances.

“Disreputable youth indeed.” Leander blew out his breath. “Let’s hope that doesn’t rebound on us.”

Dad certainly wouldn’t thank me for inviting home one of the Countess’s old amours, but I was too tired to kick myself for that mistake now. Instead, I asked Leander, “Can you do her trick with horses, too?”

His eyes narrowed in necromantic disdain. “Mia, really. Do you even have to ask?”

We were astride our own uncomfortably bony steeds moments later and sliding into the safety of our hired carriage less than fifteen minutes afterwards. The driver flicked his reins as I sank onto my cushioned seat with a groan, and the living horses took off at a trot. As my folded-up bustle pressed uncomfortably into the seat behind me, I pushed at the mass of it irritably with one hand. “I am melting down this nonsense the very minute I get home! It’s not as if I’ll ever wear this gown again.”

“I always liked your working coveralls.” Leander hadn’t turned on the carriage lamp, and the curtains were pulled; I couldn’t make out his face in the darkness anymore. His voice was perfectly even as he asked, “Where would you like to be dropped off for your meeting?”

“…Meeting?” I frowned, giving up on maneuvering the bustle into comfort and accepting that I would simply have to perch straight-backed on my seat, despite feeling half-asleep already. “What do you mean?”

“With Ruby’s father.” Had Leander’s tone taken on an edge? I couldn’t quite tell through my blanketing fog of exhaustion. “You said earlier that you wouldn’t travel back with me—and just now, you said you’d see him very soon. You’d apparently given him directions, so I assumed you must have arranged a particular place to meet him once the two of us have had our promised talk.”

“Oh!” I gave a half-laugh. “No, that’s not it at all. I gave him and the others directions to our neighborhood. You know how many empty houses and patches of land we have spread all around us! This group isn’t afraid of living near unnatural neighbors, so…”

“So he’ll be your new neighbor.” There was a definite snap in Leander’s tone now.