“I know you’ll understand, Gabriel. I did it because these women were stuck here in this hell of mortality. Those women were whores and drunks and strippers, and I elevated them because they showed potential, a good heart. I took them out of this world, out of their frail, weak human bodies, and have kept them with me, in a better place. I’ve given them immortality, and doesn’t everyone want that? And I’ll admit it, I was angry. You were such a mess, a sloppy drunk, wandering around in an opium haze feeling sorry for mortals and yourself, and yet you managed to steal my mistress. It was a perversion, and poor pathetic Anne needed to be saved. It hasn’t been easy to do this, you know, to maintain the focus, to keep Marguerite in line, for all these years. But I couldn’t be selfish.”

Wondering if the ringing in her ears meant she was actually going to faint, Sara took deep breaths and struggled to stay standing, to not make a sound that would let them know she was there. Then again, maybe they were already fully aware of her. She had no real understanding of what demons could and couldn’t do. But she didn’t want to go down, no matter how sick and twisted and disgusting Raphael’s words were. She needed to hear the truth, wanted to take it in and let it go, wanted to show him and herself that she could stand strong.

“So you put them under a demon sleep so they wouldn’t be aware, wouldn’t fight back, and killed them?”

“Yes. And you have me to thank for getting you acquitted for Anne’s murder. I put my neck out for you.”

“Marguerite defamed my character.”

Marguerite spoke over Raphael’s shoulder. “That’s because I was worried they would pin something on Raphael. Sorry. If it was you or him that had to hang, I had to choose you.”

“Why the same family?” Gabriel asked Raphael.

Raphael smiled, the corners of his mouth turning up fully in the light of the flashlight. “Because it’s like the same woman over and over . . . I keep waiting, expecting improvement, and they always disappoint me. They’re all the same. I thought Jessie’s mother might be worth leaving here, but then I discovered she was hooked on pain meds. They’re all the same . . . such a shame. Again, I thought maybe Sara was different. But then came the sleeping pills, the absinthe, having sex with a man she hardly knows . . .”