Page 86 of Obsession & Oath

Carmen, swaying like a marionette with cut strings. Carmen, her lips parting in shock, in pain. Carmen, crumpling to the cold, filthy warehouse floor, red blooming across her chest.

No.

No, this wasn’t supposed to happen.

A mistake. I made a mistake. I never should have brought her here. Never should have let them take her from Montecroce, from the warmth of the Italian sun, from me.

The war. The Prince’s Guild. The goddamn exchange—none of it is worth this. None of it is worthher.

Not when she could die for it.

Carmen was supposed tolive.Carmen was a creature designed tolive.

Carmen, laughing over espresso in the markets. Carmen, twirling in a summer dress Evelina had made just for her. Carmen, bathed in golden light, stretching out in my bed like she belonged there.

Carmen, safe.

Carmen, mine.

I stagger forward, propelled by something primal, something unstoppable. I have to get to her.I have to.

Hands clamp down on me.

“Dante!” Rocco’s voice, sharp as a blade. “We have to go!”

No. No. No.

I fight against him, but he’s stronger than he looks, dragging me back as gunfire explodes around us.

I can’t reach her.

I can’t save her.

A fresh wave of horror crashes over me as the Cartel closes in, their hands onher, pulling her away. She doesn’t move.

My mind rejects it, my entire beingrejectsit.

I would burn the world down to keep her safe. I would tear apart anyone who tried to take her from me.

And yet, I am powerless.

A fucking coward beingdraggedaway while she bleeds on the ground.

Rocco yanks me toward the exit. Teo is covering our retreat. Leon keeps barking orders. The warehouse blurs, my vision tunneling in on the last image of her I might ever see?—

Carmen, limp in the arms of her father’s men, disappearing into the dark.

Chapter24

Carmen

The first thing I feel when I wake up is the sharp throb in my head, the kind that pounds like a drum, steady and relentless.

I blink my eyes open, wincing at the light, and then the cool, sterile scent of a hospital room hits me.

For a second, I can’t quite place where I am. The walls are a familiar shade of ivory, and the bed I’m lying on is plush and luxurious, too soft for a hospital.

Then it hits like a freight train. This is the Rubio mansion. I’m home.

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