Page 44 of The Don's Eternal Vows

"You think you can save her?" A disembodied voice hisses. "You'll both be damned."

I grit my teeth, forcing out a bitter laugh. "We've been damned since she died. This changes nothing."

My eyes lock onto the world outside, its exit a beacon of hope and salvation. My pace quickens, driven by the urgency of Genoveva's cries and the need to escape this hellish place.

"Gianni!" Genoveva screams, her voice closer now. "I can't bear it! Please!"

I break into a run, my heart pounding in sync with each step. "Hold on, amore!" I shout back, my voice raw. "We're almost there. Remember Capri? The cliffs, the sea? Focus on that!"

The memory of her sun-kissed skin and laughing eyes fuels me, propelling me forward. The exit grows larger, promising freedom, but the distance feels insurmountable.

"I can't... I can't remember," she sobs, her words tearing at my soul.

I push harder, my lungs burning. "Then I'll remind you," I pant. "Every day for the rest of our lives. Just hold on!"

The threshold looms before me, so close I can almost taste the freedom beyond.

"Gianni, please!" Genoveva's voice cracks, raw with desperation. "Don't leave me here!"

And then, she screams. A blood-curdling scream. “They’re dragging me Gianni,” she cries. “My skin…”

It's as though her scream reverberates through my very bones, igniting a fire fueled by fear and desperation. The weight of her words crashes over me like a tidal wave, threatening to pull me under the currents of doubt and despair.

I pause, near turning back. I take a half step back, so very weak that I wonder if I should turn back. What if Hades is testing me entirely in another way? What if he’s testing to see if my love is strong enough to save her when I must not?

But then, over the screams, I hear a whisper in my head. “Stay strong, Gianni,” I hear her haunt me.“This is the only way to save me. If you turn back, we’re doomed.”

I don’t turn back. I pause, knowing she’s watching over me, following me. I know it in my soul, even though she screams at me otherwise. In my greatest moment of weakness, I listen to my heart over my head.

“Gianniii…” her scream echoes through the walls.

It’s only a game,I tell myself. I step forward, the door out right within my reach.

The icy tendrils of souls wrap around my arms and legs, yanking me backward with brutal force. Panic surges through me as I gasp for air.

"No!" I cry out, my voice barely a whisper against the howling wind. My muscles strain as I fight against the spectral grip, each movement a battle.

"You'll never escape," a soul hisses in my ear, its voice like nails on a chalkboard. "Give up.”

I clench my jaw, grinding my teeth against the onslaught of whispers lies—all lies. I focus on Genoveva, on the warmth of her touch. She is my anchor in this storm of despair.

"Weak," another voice taunts. "Pathetic. You think she truly cares for you?"

"I am not weak," I snarl, wrenching my arm free from a grasping hand. "And I will not be defeated by the likes of you."

With each step forward, hope flickers brighter in my chest. Our future shines bright. I will not let these souls drag me back into darkness.

I stumble, my foot catching on an unseen obstacle. The souls seize their chance, yanking me backward with renewed vigor. Their spectral forms swirl around me like a tempest, a vortex of icy fingers and haunting wails.

My heart thunders in my chest, each frantic beat a defiant cry against the underworld's grasp. I gasp, struggling to breathe as panic claws at my throat.

"Genoveva! Fight them," I try to call out, but my voice is lost in the din.

A memory flashes through my mind—sunlight dappling through leaves, her laughter ringing clear as bells. The warmth of that moment crashes over me, igniting a fierce determination in my bones.

"You don't belong in the light," Genoveva’s voice hisses in my ear. "Stay here, in the shadows where you've always lived."

My eyes lock onto the exit, refusing to waver. I focus on the promise of our reunion, on holding her in my arms again. The thought of her fragmented soul, her fading warmth, spurs me on.

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