“Otherwise, none of the 108 members of your Lawson Family will live through this night!”
I spoke firmly, but Vivian struck me across the face.
“Courting death, are you? How dare you curse the Lawson Family?”
“Do you believe I won’t make sure you never see the sun again?”
Vivian raised her hand, ready to send me to the grave, but the man beside her stopped her.
“Miss, the old lady just passed. We shouldn’t stain the house with blood.”
“Besides, why bother dealing with a fool yourself? Let the nuns I invited baptize him. Maybe then he’ll stop spouting nonsense.”
Vivian’s fury softened a little. Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him on the cheek. “Noah is truly my darling. Even his words are so clever.”
“Then let’s do as you say. Let the nuns baptize her and drive away the foul air!”
Noah Cole reached for my clothes, but I stepped back at once.
“This is a vestment. Don’t touch it!”
He sneered, ignoring me.
“Vestment? It’s just rags stitched together.”
“You fool, I’m helping you.”
“Mother Teresa is a registered senior nun. She’ll surely cast out the evil in you and restore your senses.”
“You might even serve in the Lawson Family, wear proper uniforms, and enjoy fine meals. Isn’t that better than rotting away in this backwater?”
But I do not want to be a servant of the Lawson Family.
I am the village guardian. Only I can keep Lawson Residence safe.
If I leave, the entire village will fall!
I shoved Noah aside and tried to enter the Lawson residence.
Though I used little strength, he toppled down the stairs.
Vivian, alarmed, rushed to help him, glaring at me with eyes that burned to tear me apart.
“You wretch! You dare spurn my kindness?”
“Strip him!”
Several strong men rushed forward, forcing me to the ground.
I fought back, but they ripped away my clothes. My vestments and talismans were shredded into pieces.
I folded my arms across my chest to hide myself, yet Noah still caught sight of the pus-filled sores across my body and cried out in disgust. “What’s that? Revolting…”
“Charles Lawson, it’s said that fools in the countryside live wretchedly. They’ll even bed old women just to get a meal, and end up diseased with no cure.”
“Look at the boils all over him. Could he have caught something from those women?”
Vivian’s gaze fell on me.
One glance, and she vomited in revulsion.
“A rotten cucumber like you. Letting you near her would only disturb my great-grandmother’s spirit!”
“No need for baptism. Just drag him out and bury him!”
But I raised my voice. “This is the price I pay to send Lawson Residencers on!”
“They bear heavy sins. Without me calling the names and carrying the coffin, calamity will strike! Even their descendants will suffer!”
“Crows circle your roof—it’s the sign of spirits demanding revenge! I must call the names and carry the coffin before midnight to send Mrs. Lawson away!”
“It’s less than twenty minutes to midnight. Let me in—there’s still time!”
As soon as I finished, a murder of crows wheeled over the Lawson mansion, refusing to disperse.
Their shrill cries pierced the still night, and for the first time, a trace of hesitation flickered in Vivian’s eyes.
