Page 57 of Untouchable

Picking up the duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder, Alessandro quickly wraps me up into his arms. He holds me for a few moments silently, as if knowing that I need his touch to ground me, to wrap my head around everything that has happened in the last 10 minutes. He always knows what I need, most of the time before even I do. He pulls back and places a gentle kiss on my lips before looking down at me.

“We gotta run, Bella.”

Looking up to the stairs I see smoke beginning to leak through the cracks, slowly filling the tunnel. I nod and grab his hand tightly as we begin to run. At least this time I have shoes on.

Chapter Twenty Five

Seraphina

As we keep running through the tunnel, I stumble here or there from random rocks and holes. It would be great if we had more than a cellphone light, but beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose. Obviously, I can’t see much but occasionally I do see what looks like wood beams holding up the rock walls and the ceiling. A horrific thought of this old tunnel giving way flitters into my mind and drives me to run faster.

“How long is this tunnel?” I pant, struggling to get a clean breath of air since more smoke has since leaked into the tunnel muddying the already questionable air quality.

“A couple of miles, but we are going to stop at the next hatch.”

I nod as I try to steady my breathing and stretch out my legs in long strides. I have never been one to be all into history and stuff, but I have to admit, if I wasn’t running for my life, this place would probably be pretty cool. It has got to be well over 100 years old which blows my mind to think about how it is still structurally sound.Shit. I mean, I hope it is still structurally sound.

We run for a little longer when Alessandro skids to a stop. It takes me a moment to slow myself down but when I do, I see that he is already climbing another wooden ladder leading up to the earth above us. Alessandro slowly pushes on it and when the daylight comes flooding in, it is a hatch door just like the one in the house, but this one looks to be in the middle of the woods.

Alessandro’s head pops up just barely and swivels wildly to scout out our surroundings before he climbs all the way out and gives me his hand. I climb up the ladder a few steps until I can reach him. When I do, he grips me tightly and hauls me out of the tunnel effortlessly. I end up landing on top of his chest with a very ungraceful thud. We both stay there for a few moments, our chests heaving, attempting to catch our breath.

The feel of fresh air filling my burning lungs is so relieving that I greedily inhale every bit I can get. Once my heart rate steadies, I blow out a deep breath.

“Where are we?” I murmur into his chest as my eyes look around the sparsely wooded area around us.

“I’d say a little over a mile east of the house.”

Alessandro begins to sit up, keeping me firmly in his arms. I try to move over to sit on my own, but he doesn’t allow it, tightening his hold on me. I give him a weak smile before leaning my head against his chest.

“Now what?” I ask.

He is quiet for a few moments before he blows out a breath. “Fuck. I don’t know.”

My eyebrows shoot up to the sky. Well, that wasn’t very reassuring. He grips the back of my neck with one of his hands and lifts my head to claim a kiss. I tilt my head back willingly, letting him take whatever he needs. Once our lip’s part, he drops his forehead against mine and lets out a shaky breath.

“I will keep you safe, Seraphina. No matter what it takes, no one will lay a finger on you. I swear.”

I nod and give him what I hope is an encouraging smile. “I know.”

He gives me a brief kiss on my nose before standing up. Alessandro offers me his hand and after I stand, he begins looking around us. His forehead is wrinkled as he seems to be in deep thought. I watch him silently, twisting my hands nervously. I can’t believe that Aiden was behind all of this, I can’t believe that I trusted him, that I was going to marry him. Why is he doing all of this in the first place though?

“Alessandro?” I say, suddenly panicked.

“Hmm?”

“If Aiden wanted to have us killed, what is to stop him from killing our families? You know, the people that are with him right this second?”

A look of understanding flashes on his face before concern takes over.

“Shit. We gotta get to a phone,” he says as he grabs my hand and starts walking towards what looks like the road.

“Why can’t we use the one we have?”

Alessandro pulls out the phone from his pocket and crushes it under his foot until it is nothing but cheap plastic and broken glass bits mixed together on the forest floor.

“We are dead. Or at least that is what Aiden is about to hear when whoever was at the house sees two burned bodies. They will think that we killed ourselves.”

“How very Romeo & Juliet of us,” I mutter sarcastically, my head swiveling as we step out of the tree line and begin walking down the road.

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