Page 118 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

Sofia di Vernazza, the saint who healed Vernazza.

Arianna’s cheeks colored with pride. “Blood was the only thing that could save Enzo. Blood acquired in Sofia’s name, bearing her symbol, can be used to bring a loved one back from the brink of death.”

Bastian couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Arianna thought an old legend could save Enzo? She must be crazy to believe it, but then again, love could undo even the sanest of minds. It appeared that her love for Enzo had driven Arianna to do terrible things.

Blood acquired in Sofia’s name, bearing her symbol…

“Hersymbol?” he asked. “How is the infinity symbol Sofia’s?”

“The snakes,” Whitby said, her gaze trained on the statue. “Look at the way they’re coiled.”

Bastian looked, unsure what Whitby was trying to tell him, but as he moved around to get a better view, he saw it. The way the snakes intertwined formed a shape.

An infinity symbol.

“What the hell,” Bastian murmured. Now that he had seen it, he couldn’tunseeit. It had been right there the whole time, hidden in plain sight.

“Before it was appropriated by vampire allies,” Arianna said, her voice cold, “the infinity symbol belonged to Sofia. Forcenturies it was a mark of her strength and resilience. Her love and dedication to healing those in desperate need of help.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” De Luca growled, glaring at Arianna. “That’s what we believed at school, askids.”

“We used to speak her name so she would come to us and heal our pains,” Arianna said.

De Luca threw his arms wide. “But it wasn’treal. Sofia didn’t heal us! She’s just a story!”

Arianna shook her head, clenching the mezzaluna tightly in her fist. “You’re wrong. Sofia has come to me before. You remember when I broke my leg. I was five and I came off my bike, fractured my tibia. Youmustremember. My grandmother called upon Sofia to heal me, and within a week, my leg was back to normal. She performed a miracle.”

“It can’t have been broken,” Bastian said.

“You were just a child,” De Luca insisted. “You’re misremembering what happened.”

Arianna scowled, baring her teeth. “You want more proof? Just look at Enzo. He’s better than he has been in months, all thanks to her. I called to her, beseeched her for help, and she answered. Sheanswered!”

De Luca was pale with disbelief. He was breathing hard, his heart beating loud in Bastian’s ears.

“You were content to just let him die,” Arianna spat at the inspector. “Every time I visited, he was a little worse than the time before. A month ago, we were able to talk and share happy memories. A week ago, he couldn’t speak anymore. He was barely conscious. That was when I knew I had to do something. I had to help him. His time was running out, and it was my responsibility to do what you were too cowardly to do, because Ilovehim, and I won’t sit by and wait for him to die.”

“Blood,” Bastian said, peering at the woman. “You said blood was the only thing that could save Enzo.”

“Blood acquired in Sofia’s name,” she said. “Blessed by her divinity and imbibed by the one in need.”

“Imbibed…” De Luca looked like he was struggling to breathe. He was trembling, his whole body shaking, and when he spoke, his voice was an angry rumble: “You fed himblood?”

“It wasn’t difficult,” Arianna said coolly. “You’re never home. It was easy to slip up to his room with his tonic, and he was sothirsty. His body knew what it needed to make him better.”

Bastian felt a pang of rage at the thought of Enzo drinking Luna’s blood. And Emilio’s. Salvador’s. He couldn’t believe how blind they had been; how easy they had made it for Arianna to carry out her dark work. Bastian, De Luca, and Whitby had spent the past few days running around town trying to find the killer, and all the while, she was at De Luca’s home, in Enzo’s room, feeding him the “blessed” blood.

“You were in his room last night,” Bastian said, recalling the creak he’d heard through the floorboards—the one that drew him to Enzo’s bedroom in the first place. “You were the one moving around in there.”

Arianna almost looked proud. “Somebody had to be with him.”

Bastian’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess, you hid under the bed when we came into the room. Or was it in the closet? Perhaps clinging to the windowsill by your fingernails?”

The woman’s mouth pursed, unamused. “He was so thirsty, I had to be close by to feed him what he needed.”

De Luca cried out in horror. “How could you do that to him? He wouldn’t want this! He wouldn’t want youkillingfor him!”