Page 198 of Phantom Mine

His breaths, already weak and unsteady, grow further apart. Shallower and raspier, until my heart jumps into my throat waiting for the next one.

I’m hearing him die, I realize.

I’m watching the life drain out of him, right before my eyes.

He’sdying.

In front of me.

Because of me.

Forme.

"L—lea..ve…”

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. NO.

I lay back down beside him. My hand dives into the strands of his hair and I cup the back of his head lovingly.

“Then I’m staying here with you.”

Matteo’s eyes spring open, fueled by a rush of outrage. His blood vessels are shot, the green of his irises heightened by the blood red around them.

“Get out of here, Valentina,” he says, angry now.

I grip his face, adamantly declaring, “Not without you.”

His eyes squeeze shut once more. This time, I know the pain has nothing to do with his back.

A thunderouscrackerupts around us. Further down the hall, near the top of the stairs we just came from, another beam tumbles to the ground.

The entire structure is coming apart before our eyes. It won’t be long until the roof collapses.

“You talked about your grief…so beautifully when you told me about…Adriana.” I drag my gaze down to meet Matteo’s. “My grief, if I lost you? N-nothing beautiful about that,” he stutters. “Please go,cara.” His eyes squeeze open in agony. “Don’t make me watch you die.”

His gaze is resigned, like he’s reconciled himself to his fate. There’s a haze in his eyes that tells me he’s using up the very last reserves of his energy to talk to me.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“I am afraid.” His palm twitches. He inches one hand forward a miniscule amount before dropping it back down to the ground. I reach for it and knit our fingers together. “I’m afraid…you’re not going to make it out. That you’ll...die.”

There’s real fear in his eyes, except it isn’t for himself.

It’s for me.

Everything he’s ever done since we met has been for me.

“Remember your promise,” he rasps thinly, eyes closing once more. “Kiss me.”

“Rememberyourpromise, Matteo,” I plead, pushing at his cheek to wake him up. “You said you’d get us out of here.Us. You promised you would.”

“Kiss me.”

“No!” I cry, shaking him again. “You don’t get to sacrifice yourself to save me, and then make me leave you behind. You don’t get to do that to me, Matteo,” I sob, every word painful on my lips and in my chest.

I sit back into my heels, watching the scene unfolding before me helplessly, overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all.

Small, flaming pieces of foam fall from the burning ceiling, landing all around us. It looks like it’s raining fire. The visual is both stunning and terrifying.

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