Page 99 of She Haunts Me Still

“She won’t be there; she’s been on some kind of wellness retreat since move-in day.” Mallory curses under her breath as Penelope’s voicemail beeps. “Aunt Penelope, it’s me. I need to talk to you. It’s an emergency. It’s about my mom. About—” She swallows. “About everything. I know what you did.Call me.”

She stands, pacing.

“A wellness retreat?” Saskia echoes.

“I think it’s a lie,” Mallory says, voice hardening. “She’s been going on these ‘retreats’ forever. I bet she’s been on Mercy Island every time.”

“Let’s go find out,” Saskia urges. “There must be a ferry or a water taxi or—”

“There’snothing.” Mallory paces faster. “There’s a ferry to Prudence Island butnotMercy. I’ve lived in Rhode Island my entire life. Mercy is rocks and forest. No residents.”

“But Golden said Penelope wasfromMercy Island.” Saskia shakes her head. “If she’s a witch, does that mean the stories are true? That real witches settled there fleeing the Salem trials? Did Penelope ever sayanything about this?”

“Not a single word.” Mallory pushes her hands through her hair again. “Fuck. Opening night is next Friday; Ezra’s dad’s gala isnextFriday. We’re almost out of time.”

Saskia frowns. “Why do you keep calling it a gala? I mean, I knowVictor’sbeen calling it a gala, but that must be a cover, right?”

Mallory sits again, defeated. “Of course it’s a cover.”

She doesn’t have to say it to know they’re thinking thesame thing. There’s no fancy party planned, no celebration in store. It’s a countdown to Mallory’s death, a gleeful ceremony of a life cut short. She shudders to think what they have planned for her.

“What about Ezra?” Saskia says. “He has to be in on it, too.”

“No.” Mallory shakes her head. “Hehateshis father. He’s so desperate to get away from him. I doubt he’s aware of the full extent of what his father is planning. Ezra wouldn’t go along with some plot to…kill me.” She hates the way she phrases it. Like she can only hope she’s right. “But I do think he might be able to help us.”

Saskia leans back against the window. “Mal. Come on.”

She turns. “We have to. We need to figure out what the link is between Jacob, the demon, and Ezra’s father’s…club. We’re out of options.”

“That’s not true.” Saskia’s expression hardens. “We can do this on our own. We’ll find Penelope. We’ll get to the bottom of what happened with the spell. We’ll figure out how to cure your bloodlust, we’ll—”

“But what if we can’t?” Mallory asks, turning to her. “Saskia, if I got to your dorm two minutes later, you’d be dead.” She searches her gaze. “And I feel okay right now, but what about when it comes back? What if I needmoreblood next time? What if—” She swallows, trying to push away the thought but it slips in anyway. “What if I hurt you?”

Saskia chews her lip.

“Trust me,” Mallory says.

“Ido,” Saskia replies. “I just don’t understand howyoucan trusthim.”

“Maybe I don’t. Maybe I’m just trusting myself.”

Saskia hesitates.

“Hell Week starts tomorrow with the cue-to-cue,” Mallory pushes on. “Let’s talk to Ezra after. He can’t ignore us if we’re both—”

“Mal.”

They whirl, and Mallory sighs at the sight of Raf walking toward her, headphones around his neck.

“Hey, Raf,” she says, “I know we were supposed to run lines, I just—”

“We need to talk,” he interrupts.

“Can it wait?” Mallory asks. “We’re kind of in the middle of—”

“No.” He crosses his arms over his denim jacket. “I’ve been trying to stay out of whatever’s going on between you and Arden, but this is too much. I don’t understand why you haven’t gone to visit her in the hospital. It would mean so much to her if you—”

“What?” Mallory interrupts. “Raf, I was there all night. I saw her thismorning.”