Anne gags and wipes her lips with the back of her hand. “What the fuck is happening?”
“I told you what Beresford is,” Mama says, brushing back her hair. “He is a soul-eater and a shapeshifter.”
“Matagot,” Anne rasps.
“Well, it so happens that a matagot, in addition to devouring souls, can put a soul into an empty body once in their lifetime. It can’t be their own soul, of course, and it must be one they recently swallowed. The Barrow-Man, the wight—he had no soul. There was space for one inside him.”
Anne is shaking, her eyes frantic. I crouch beside her, gripping her hand, tears flowing down my cheeks.
“Anne, there was no other way to beat him,” I whisper. “No other way for all of us to survive this, to end it. If we’d had more time, if there had been any other way, any weapon or spell—”
“What did you do?” she says faintly.
The wight walks forward. His face and body are just as beautiful, just as unearthly, but his gait and his expression are wildly different.
“They asked me if I would do it,” he says. “If I would be the soul they put into this body. It was the only way to save you. And I love you, so naturally I said yes.”
“Henry?” falters Anne. Then she turns to glare at Beresford. “You swallowed Henry’s soul and put it into the wight’s body?”
“I did.” Beresford gets to his feet, brushing off his clothes.
“But you can undo it, right? You can put Henry back into his own body.”
“No, my love,” Mama says gently. “He can’t. The transfer can’t be reversed. And even if it could be done, that would reawaken the wight, and we would have the same problem all over again. Henry will need to live in this body now.”
“It’s just as well,” Henry says. “You never liked my old one much, anyway.”
Anne shoots me a vicious look. “Youtoldhim?”
“Don’t be angry with her,” Henry interposes. “I could tell. And I understand. I wasn’t lucky enough to be born with a handsome face.”
“Your face was growing on me,” Anne says. “With a little more time—”
“We didn’t have more time.” Henry’s tone is firm. “I had a choice. Either do this, or let your sister and her husband be taken and tortured. You heard what the wight said, Anne. He would have done horrible things to Sybil. I saved you both, and I gave up my old self to do it.”
“Your father will think you’ve disappeared like the others,” she says through a sob. “He’ll blame Sybil.”
“We’ll bring his body to his father,” Beresford assures her.
“My death may very well end his life.” Henry’s voice is soft and sorrowful. “But it will be easier to accept than the truth. And he would want me to be happy.”
“Happy?” Anne chokes out.
Henry looks at her with his unearthly white eyes. “I know this is strange. You’ll need time to adjust to this face and this body, especially after what the Barrow-Man did to you. I’ll need time, too. But eventually, perhaps, we can find happiness. After all, I’m the same person inside.”
“We can all adjust back at home,” my mother interjects. “Let’s get out of here while we still can.”
“Before we leave, there is something I must do,” Beresford says. “There are cages along some of these halls. If any victims of the wight remain there, I must free them.”
“Meanwhile, I’m going to raid the wight’s treasure room,” says Henry cheerfully. “I know where it is, because his memories are all mixed in with mine. Rather unsettling, to say the least. Still, might as well take what we can, eh?”
“I’ll help you,” I offer.
Mama stays with Anne while Henry and I gather some of the wight’s treasure—mostly gold and silver plates, goblets, and bowls, along with some velvet cases containing very fine gems. In his new form, Henry is shockingly strong, able to carry twoenormous, overstuffed bags full of loot as we head back toward the Barrow exit.
Anne and Mama fall in behind us. Anne is wrapped in Beresford’s cloak, wearing a pair of boots they must have found elsewhere in the wight’s lair. The boots are made of a shimmery, scaly sort of leather, with ornate silver buckles.
A moment later, Beresford joins us, escorted by a couple dozen hybrid creatures.
