Page 57 of She Haunts Me Still

Her mouth goes dry at his words, and she settles back against the couch. A glow widens in her ribs at the way he’s staring at her in the blood-soaked shadows, like she’s something he’s been looking for. Something he’s found.

Something he’s now terrified to lose.

Ezra doesn’t have to say it for her to know what he’s thinking.

You’re mine.

14

Sometime in the night, Mallory wakes in Ezra’s bed to a series of whispers.

She turns toward Ezra, still asleep. His dorm is freezing again, icy air pooling around her. Mallory sits up, clutching the comforter against her bare skin before carefully scanning the room. Desk, messy with books. Bureau, tidy. Back door, shut. Hall door—

Ajar.

Mallory’s skin prickles. A flickering light spills into Ezra’s dorm and overlapping voices drift through the air, like a hushed conversation is taking place in the common room.

Before she loses her nerve, Mallory wraps herself in the loose sheet and tiptoes toward the doorway. Her legs feel like jelly after everything she and Ezra did when they got back to his room, and she blushes at the reminder.

Fingers stiff with cold, she grabs the doorknob, prepared to secure the lock, but halts when she catches sight of the corridor.

Gone is the narrow hall with its dark floorboards and maroon runner. Instead, Mallory peers into an ornate sitting room, furnished with emerald velour couches,floor-to-ceiling windows, and soft lamps. She steps through, and when she looks back over her shoulder, Ezra’s bed seems far away, like a ship disappearing over the horizon.

“What’s happening?” Mallory whispers, words fogging the air. She must be dreaming. “Wake up, wake up—”

“This ispreposterous.”

Startled, Mallory turns back to the couch, where two people are now sitting: a pretty young woman wearing a deep purple dress and a handsome man in a dark suit and tall hat. The woman has sable curls that tumble down her back; the man is about ten years older with gold hair and a beard.

“Rebecca, please,” the man huffs. He stands, pacing. “Think of Rose. Lily would want us to make sure this doesn’t happen to her, too.”

Mallory’s eyes widen at the names of Lily and her daughter, and she stares at the dark-haired woman with renewed understanding. Noticing her slightly upturned nose, the full shape of her mouth. Almost identical to her own.

She’d bet money Rebecca is Lily’s sister.

Which makes her Mallory’s relative, too.

Something tightens inside her at the thought, like an invisible string looping through time to secure Mallory to this grieving stranger. Rebecca, who also knows what it’s like to bury a family member and live the rest of her life with something missing.

Rebecca sighs, fingers pressed to her forehead. “I won’t hear another word of this, Tobias.”Lily’s husband. “You tell Jacob to leave Lily’s grave alone—or I’ll tell him myself.”

“Jacob?” Mallory echoes. She’s not come across that name before.

“Jacobcaresabout this family,” Tobias counters. “He’s trying to help us. Do you want me to be infected next? Do you want little Rose to die?”

“Listen to yourself!” Rebecca springs to her feet. “Jacob cares about nothing except money and power. He’s creating an absolute frenzy, convincing people to dig up graves for no reason other than it serveshim. It’s superstition, Tobias. Nothing more.”

“Superstition? How do you explain what happened to the Wilkshires, then?” Tobias takes a step toward her. “Bram Wilkshire died of consumption, but his corpse wasn’t properly dealt with, and then a short while later, all the Wilkshire boys—one after another—dead.”

Rebecca’s jaw moves around like she’s grinding her teeth. Her frustration feels familiar. It’s the mounting anger of a woman desperate to be heard.

“Tobias,” Rebecca clips. “Consumption is adisease. It’scontagious. Bram Wilkshire’s sons caught it from him. There’s nothing more to it, no folktales, no legends. Just a terrible tragedy. It’s not because of a”—she lowers her voice—“it’s not because Bram turned into avampireand left his grave to feed on his children. Or whatever nonsense Jacob is peddling.”

“Nonsense?” Tobias steps closer, tone darkening. “This isreal,and it will happen tomyfamily next if precautions aren’t taken. This isn’t up for discussion. Tomorrow, at midnight, Jacob is leading the exhumation ceremony, and Lily’s heart will be properly inspected. If there’s blood found, itmustbe burned.” He glares, undeterred by Rebecca’s furious expression. “I will be there with Rose. Whether you join is up to you.”

“Let me be clear,” Rebecca says, voice terrifyingly quiet. “We’re talking about my sister—mydeadsister. Someone must stand up for her since she’s not around to do it herself.” She gathers her skirts. “No one touches her grave.”

As Rebecca glides toward the doorway in a numbing breeze, she stops and looks directly at Mallory, pale eyes gleaming. Mallory sinks against the wall, but Rebecca only draws closer. When she speaks, her voice is a scrape.