Page 119 of She Haunts Me Still

Ezra nods. “Jacob learned what was happening overseas, that people were digging up relatives who died from tuberculosis and burning their hearts if they contained blood. They believed the lingering blood to be a sign of evil, even though it was likely old blood just settling in the circulatory system. It’s science. The blood stops circulating, but it’s stilltherein your body. It gets pulled down by gravity, collecting in chambers or other organs, making itlookfresh. It can last for hours—days, even. For Jacob, it was the perfect setup to get what he needed. And no town had as many documented exhumations as Shoreview, Rhode Island. So, he moved here. Ingratiated himself with the community. Led dozens of exhumations and discarded the bodies—until he found the next example of a perfect heart.”

“Lily’sheart.”

“Jacob let Lily’s family believe her heart was destroyed inthe fire before offering it to the Blood Angel to drink from,” Ezra says. “It worked, but the awakening triggered a tether, tying the angel to every woman in Lily’s bloodline for over a hundred years. The book refers to seven as the holy number. So there had to be seven generations of offerings. Our congregation didn’t have to lift a finger; the blood wasn’t exactly onourhands. The angel collected the hearts himself in a temporary, fleeting form. He’d access each woman’s free will—infiltrate their minds through the tether. The compulsion to self-sacrifice would eventually become too great to resist. At a certain point, they’dwantto offer their hearts for his consumption. Hisdevourment. And on the seventh offering, the angel would finally be able to achieve permanent physical form. No longer needing a host to survive in our world. And our congregation would be rewarded further—”

“Because the group’s leader would achieve immortality,” Mallory finishes. “You. And then what? The rest of the cult will be blessed and flourish in proximity to a god? You’ll grant them miracles?”

Ezra raises his eyebrows. “You’re smart.” He crosses his arms. “So was your mother. She found a spell to transfer the self-offering compulsion to someone else so it wouldn’t happen to you.”

“Saskia.” She shakes her head. “WhySaskia? She has nothing to do with any of this.”

Ezra holds her stare. “I can’t answer that. But we learned that the transfer spell had been done because it weakened the angel. Drinking from Saskia’s heart would be useless to him, even if she offered it herself. I’ve tried to appease him—giving him my own blood. Animal blood. Birds, rabbits. It’s not enough. It’s never enough. He’s been craving what’s beenpromised to him.You. It’s your heart—and only yours—that can give the angel true freedom.” Ezra’s face is etched in pain as he adds, “My father ordered me to set things right.”

Mallory opens her mouth to press him further, but a terrible, chilling thought occurs first.

“The letter I got, inviting me to apply to Shore, offering me a scholarship,” she says. “The letterSaskiagot. Didyousend them? Did youpayour tuition? To ensure we’d both be here, so you could put this plan into motion?”

When Ezra’s response is only silence, a flame lights up inside her.

“This entire time, I’ve been a mark,” Mallory seethes. “You tricked me into handing over my trauma. My grief. You made me laugh. You made me feel seen. Youmadeloveto me. And the whole time, youknewyou were going to kill me? From the second we met?” Her voice drops to a whisper. “Even before that?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” Ezra steps toward her. “I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, but I did. Idid. I knewright awaythat I wasn’t going to be able to go through with it.”

“I don’t believe you,” she spits. “That Latin phrase you had me say all those nights?Redeo vita mea tibi. What does it really mean?”

He flattens his mouth in a line, nostrils flaring.

Knowing he just got caught in another lie.

Mallory narrows her eyes. “What does itmean,Ezra?”

“It means: ‘I return my life to you.’ ”

Silence widens between them. A quiet, fresh fury takes hold. “You never intended to help me find Lily—it was all a ruse. This whole time, you were just trying to re-tether meto your demon. To bind me to something that would kill me.” She shakes her head. “But your little games of death allowed Lily to make contact more clearly. She’s been trying to warn me for years. Aboutyou.”

“I told you to stop saying the Latin,” Ezra replies. “Why do you think I told you to stop?”

“You let me say itdozensof times!” she snaps. “What, do you want a medal for deciding it’s probably a bad idea to kill the girl you want to fuck?”

“It wasneverjust about that.” Ezra’s eyes flash. “The night we met, I got this feeling, like I couldn’t breathe. Like we were the same somehow. And when you told me about your past—god, I thought we weremeantfor each other. Soulmates. Destiny. Romeo and Juliet, life imitating fucking art. I knew you would be the one to understand me.”

Soulmates. But his words don’t spark anything delicate. He can’t reach that part of her anymore.

“Iwouldhave understood!” Mallory marches toward him, arching on her tiptoes. Wanting him to taste every breath of her smoldering rage. “If you’d told me anything real! Are you aware that I’ve been sick since you bit me? I’ve been cravingblood.”

“Thatwasn’tme and you know it,” he insists. “Like I said, the transfer weakened the angel. It made him hungrier, and you’re the only thing that can sate him. He used my body as a vessel to hold him over until he gets what he truly needs—don’t you see that?”

“All I can see is that you’rederanged,” Mallory fumes. “You’re not the victim here, Ezra. Did you know what would happen to me after I got bit?”

“Yes, but I thought…” He pushes a hand through hishair. Grasping at last straws. “I would have taken care of you. I would have let you drink from me. Anytime you wanted.”

She presses her fingers to her temples. “Oh mygod—”

“I’m sorry, Jules. I’m so fucking sorry.” Ezra tries to hold her, but she twists away.

“You’re sorry? I trusted you, and you never said a word about any of this!”

“I didn’t tell you,” he pleads, “becausehedidn’t want me to. The angel. Whenever I even thought about saying it, I would have visions of horrible things happening to you.” Ezra snarls in disgust. “Seemedoing horrible things to you. And the more I started falling for you, the worse it became. I’ve seen you die—so many times.” His jaw knots at the corners. “You have to understand something, Jules. This angel, demon, Our Lord—whatever you want to call him. He’s kind to me and my family until he isn’t. When he’s inside me,usingme, I don’t trust myself. That’s why I wanted you to leave that day. I knew he would make me hurt you.”