Page 122 of She Haunts Me Still

The elevator slams to a halt.

“No,no.” Mallory lurches for the gate. Despair plummets inside her at the realization that the elevator has stopped in the middle of the shaft, the floor a couple feet above her head. She slowly looks at Ezra.

“I can’t reach it,” she whispers.

For a second, she thinks he’ll help her. But he merely stares in a chilling standoff, as if absorbing the fact that she’s now trapped with him. As if he’s clocking it as victory.

“Please,” Mallory adds, voice shaking, “just let me go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” His tone is eerily quiet. “Jules, it’s time to come with me.”

Before Mallory can change her mind, she tugs the silver knife loose from her jacket and swings, slashing his shoulderthrough his cloak. A strained hissing sound releases from him as he presses his hand to the wound. Swallowing her fear, Mallory tucks the knife away and wedges her boot on the railing, hoisting herself up to grab the lip of the floor. Ezra is quick to snatch her nightgown, but the fabric tears like paper in his heavy fist. He grabs her leg this time, blood-slick fingers digging into her upper thigh.

And ice-cold terror consumes her as she marks the sharpness of claws sinking into her bare skin. No—not claws.Talons.

She doesn’t dare look down. Doesn’t dare think about what he’ll do if he manages to pull her into the darkened chamber. Instead, she unleashes a scream and kicks wildly. She thrashes and flails until her boots connect with Ezra’s chest and finally scurries up and up and up into the wardrobe. She flies through the sacristy, onto the candle-lined altar—

Where she skids to an immediate halt.

She whips her head around.

The chapel is empty, but—

A strange sound vibrates in her ears, rattling her teeth. Rustling.

Like the flapping of wings.

Slowly, with fresh fear taking hold, she looks up. Dozens of ravens are perched in the rafters. Confusion whirs in her brain. They were men before, weren’t they? But now—

She doesn’t have time to finish the question. Doesn’t have time to think, to make sense of any of it.

Because the birds descend as one, swooping straight for her. And Mallory’s scream rips through the chapel anew.

35

Beaks peck at her skin. Wings tangle in her hair. Hooked feet claw at her eyes.

Mallory screams and screams, hands flailing. The candles shudder and the walls groan. She’s going to die. Flesh torn to ribbons by a flock of furious birds. They’ll find her mangled body here on Sunday, just in time for morning service. She almost laughs at the thought. But instead, she unleashes a cry into the shadows, thrashing her hands into plump bellies, snatching fistfuls of feathers. She runs blindly down the altar steps, stumbling once, twice, prepared to sprint for—

Stars shatter behind her eyes as she collides with Ezra, who has silently emerged from the elevator. There’s nothing she can do about the way they crash, spilling onto the stairs in a cluster of limbs, just as the frantic flapping of wings shudders to a halt. A thick, ominous silence replaces the keening screech.

Gone. The ravens are gone.

But Ezra isn’t. He’s right there, caging her against the steps. Frantically, she presses her hands to her face, checking for cuts. But her skin is soft and clear.

“Where did—where did they go?” she demands, teeth chattering.

“I sent them away. They listen to me.” Ezra strokes her hair. “It’s just us now.”

“No—no.” Mallory tries to sit up, but a blazing pain shoots through her spine. She digs in her pocket for the silver knife, brandishing it with shaking hands. Ezra tips his head, amusement glittering in his green eyes.

A shade darker than they should be.

“You’re safe with me,” Ezra says. “I promise. Let me show you.”

Before she can respond, Ezra brings a bloodstained hand to her neck. His fingers drift along her throat, landing on her puncture wounds. Caressing them softly—just enough to return that traitorous warmth to her stomach.

“There’s darkness in you, too,” Ezra says, noticing. His voice has the tinge of a growl to it. Like it’s overlapping with the demon’s. “We’re the same.”