Charlotte remained on the roof until almost dawn, letting her rage burn out and leave her empty. She then went back downstairs and, despite her exhaustion, did not sleep. Instead, Charlotte meticulously cleaned the flat, washed dishes, put belongings in their places, and wiped her fingerprints from the silver-handled brush. The one thing she could not fix was Penny’s body, still curled on the bedroom floor, skin tight over bones.

Charlotte collapsed on the sofa and slept until dusk. Waking, she reached for the phone and called Ezra. After multiple rings, Ezra answered with the new name of his venue, White Thorn Black Roast, explaining it had changed with the times. The casual exchange faltered as Charlotte’s emotions overwhelmed her, and she began to cry.

Charlotte told Ezra everything that had happened with Penny. Ezra listened without platitudes. When Charlotte asked if she had done the wrong thing, Ezra replied with a cutting question about whether she was wrong for killing Penny or for loving her. He reminded her that he had once called her fears paranoid, but acknowledged that both of them had been wrong.

When Charlotte asked what she should do, Ezra told her to be alone, a directive that shattered her resolve. As she protested the difficulty, Ezra snapped that either the lives of the women Charlotte loved mattered more than her need for love, or they did not. His bluntness forced Charlotte to confront that her heart was what Sabine controlled and exploited.

Charlotte pressed Ezra about how he coped. Ezra said that humans live brief, fragile lives, and their kind either turns those they love or keeps their company without giving them their heart. He advised that Charlotte could take lovers to bed but not to heart if she wanted them to survive. When Charlotte asked if that wasn’t lonely, Ezra answered that loneliness does not have to be inevitable, because, like their kind, it must be invited in.