Page 135 of She Haunts Me Still

The force almost knocks her over, but Mallory steadies herself, folding around Saskia’s narrow frame. Mallory clings and clings to her.Did it work? Is it over?

But then Saskia whispers, “I heard you,” and Mallory’s heart skips.

“I was so far away, so tired,” Saskia adds. “Everything was dark and cold. I almost gave up. But then I heard your voice. I heard what you said. I heardyou.”

Mallory’s eyes widen as she realizes.

“I love you, too, Mal.” Saskia grips her tighter, pressing their foreheads together. “I think I’ve loved you my whole life.”

Out of words, Mallory simply fuses her lips to Saskia’s. A kiss drenched in relief for the girl she’s known a moment, the girl she’s known forever, the girl who taught her how to be brave.

Hers.

Saskia seems to understand because she kisses Mallory back just as feverishly. Like she’s memorizing every breath, holding on to the rare magic of a second chance.

As they break apart, Mallory’s gaze snags on another wisp of white. One hovering close to the smattering of pine trees in the distance.

A woman in a pale dress with long dark hair.

Lily.

She stands there with her bloodstained chest and charred skin, but there’s no fury in her gaze this time. No hunger for revenge. For once, she looks satisfied, calm, peaceful. Like a woman who’s taken back what’s hers.

A woman who was believed.

Mallory blinks, and then she’s gone. An echo of grief, a whisper of the past. A ghost, finally free.

“Let’s go inside,” Penelope suggests, walking toward her and Saskia. “You can stay here tonight. Lucy will make up a room for you.”

Mallory raises her gaze to her aunt. Distantly wondering if she could ever think of her as family again.

Penelope steps closer, lowering her voice.

“There is more to say, and there will be room for us totalk about everything, Mallory,” she says. “If you want to. For now, celebrate each other. Celebrate the gift of time.”

Mallory nods, extending her hand to Saskia. She takes it, and her palm is a familiar thing. A hope. A promise.

And, distantly, a question.

Of what happens to a person who’s cheated death twice.

But for now, there’s only them. This hidden island, a billowing fire. And the flickering porch light up ahead, like a beacon, leading them toward what’s tocome.

Act V

Ash

A thousand times good night.

A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.

—William Shakespeare,Romeo andJuliet

39

The dressing room is dark, but there aren’t any shadows lurking in corners tonight.

Mallory turns on the light and glances at her reflection. Her graduation robe hangs over a simple black dress, and her chestnut hair skims her shoulders in waves. She looks like a woman with a future, a woman who knows who she’ll become.