E’s POV


    “E?” Liam’s eyes went wide, and my blood turned to ice. “It’s really you?”


    Oh, no. What had I just done?


    “… No, I didn’t mean…” I felt like I was going to be sick. “I was just… I was making a joke. A stupid joke. Because you said I looked like her and I thought it would be funny to- ”


    “Stop.” Liam grabbed my wrists and searched my face with sudden sober intensity, “You’re not joking. I can see it now. <b>It’s </b>you. It’s really you. I thought you looked simr, but I hardly dared to believe it…”


    “Liam, please” <fn5e73> Fresh chapters posted on f?ndnovel</fn5e73>


    “How is this possible?” He was still holding my wrists<b>, </b>still staring at me like I was a ghoste to life. Which<b>, </b>I supposed, I was. “You died. I went to your funeral. I threw dirt on your casket<b>.</b>”


    “Not here,” I managed to choke out. “We can’t talk about this here.”


    Liam nced around the dimly lit hallway. A few other drunk patrons were milling about near the bar’s entrance, but no one was paying attention to us. Still, he nodded and released my wrists.


    With a trembling hand, I led him out the rear exit into the alley behind the bar. The consequences of what I’d just done had immediately sobered me as if I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol.


    Now, it was just the tears blurring my vision and the horror making my heart pound.


    I’d condemned my best friend to death because of my stupidity.


    Because I couldn’t listen to Lilith and keep my distance.


    The moment the door shut behind us, I turned to Liam<b>, </b>my mouth opening and closing wordlessly. Where did I even start? How did I exin something that soundedpletely insane?


    <b>“</b>I died,” I finally said. “I died during childbirth, and then… then I woke up. In a different body. This body.” I gestured at myself. “It’s a curse on my family. Everyone who dies gets one chance toe back, but we can’t tell anyone from our old life who we really are. If we do…”


    My jaw clenched. “People die.”


    Liam stared at me. I couldn’t read his expression in the dim light from the streemp, but his shoulders had gone rigid.


    “I know you think I’m lying or crazy, but it’s true,” I went on. “I already condemned an innocent farmer because I told him before I knew the truth. My mother also said she told people about her curse when she was first reborn-”


    “Your mother?” Liam’s brow furrowed.


    I nodded vigorously. “Yes. She’s affected by the curse, too–Lilith.” I shook my head<b>, </b>not wanting to get into the details right now. “Five people died before she figured out what was going on. Five, Liam.”


    “E-”


    “I shouldn’t have told <b>you</b>!” My hands fisted in my hair, panic wing its way up my throat. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I knew better, but I was drunk and you were going to kiss me and I just… I couldn’t…”


    “<b>Breathe</b>.” Liam stepped closer and put his hands on my shoulders. “Just breathe.”


    But <b>I </b>couldn’t breathe. How could I breathe when I knew that Liam was going to die?


    He was going to die because I was selfish and reckless and couldn’t keep my mouth shut.


    “You don’t believe me,” I managed to gasp out. “I can see it on your face. You think I’m insane.”


    “I don’t know what to think.” Liam’s grip on my shoulders tightened slightly. “But I need you to prove it. If you’re really E, tell me something only she would know. Something we never told anyone else.”


    I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, trying to think through the haze of panic.


    <b>“</b>When we were eight,” I said after a moment, “we snuck out of the Stormhollow estate during the summer solstice celebration. We went to the creek and you dared me to swim across even though the current was strong. I made it halfway before I got scared and you had to jump in and help me back to shore.”


    Liam’s face didn’t change.


    “We sat on the bank afterward and you told me that you were afraid of disappointing your father. You made me promise not to tell anyone. And I didn’t. Not even when your father asked me directly.”


    Something shifted in his expression. His hands fell from my shoulders.


    Liam let out a shaky breath. And then, before I could say anything else, he pulled me into his arms and held me so tightly <b>I </b>could barely breathe.


    “It’s really you,” he whispered against my hair. “Goddess, E. It’s really you.”


    A sound of distress slipped out of me, and suddenly, I was crying. I let myself sink into his embrace for just a moment. I let myself feel the warmth of his arms around me, the familiar scent of his cologne, the steady beat of his heart against my cheek.