Page 41 of Blood Heir

A knot forms deep in my gut. My throat tightens before I force the word out. “No.”

Vittoria leans back, exhaling slowly. The dim light from the chandelier above catches on the pearls hanging from her ears, her fingers drumming softly on the armrest.

“Good,” she finally says. “Keep it that way—for now. This might be how we finally get everything we wanted.”

I shift slightly in my seat, keeping my breathing steady. “I can’t control her memory, Aunt.”

Her head snaps toward me, sharp as a blade. “Serevin Aurelio Accardi,” she says, every syllable cold, slicing through the thick air. “Where do your loyalties lie?”

My jaw locks. My eyes meet hers. “With the family. With the Accardi Syndicata.”

She watches me for a beat longer, eyes narrowing. “You say that, but you’re swayed by her. I see it in your eyes.” Her voice lowers into something darker. “Don’t forget what she is. She’s a traitor. A threat to this family. A threat to you.”

I don’t reply. My hands tighten where they rest.

Vittoria’s voice sharpens further. “And when she remembers what happened that day, she will not hesitate to finish what she started.”

The words hit me like ice. And suddenly, I’m no longer in this room.

The storm screams around me, the rooftop slick beneath my feet. My dress shoes slip against the stone as I run, breath ragged in my throat, cold rain stinging my face. The sky above cracks open with flashes of white lightning, lighting up her silhouette on the ledge.

Fioretta.

Her frame is small and trembling in the downpour, soaked through. Her hair sticks to her face in heavy strands, her body heaving with each breath.

I call out her name, but my voice is almost drowned by the wind. My steps are frantic, heart hammering so loud it rattles my ribs.

“Please!” My voice breaks as I step closer. “We can fix this!”

Her head turns slightly, her face ghost-pale in the storm light, eyes filled with something that guts me—terror, heartbreak, fury. Tears run freely down her cheeks, mixing with the rain.

“No. No, we can’t.” Her voice cracks like glass under strain.

I take another step, my hands extended, fingers shaking. “We can! Please—”

But she’s already slipping back, inching toward the edge, her feet finding less and less space to stand.

“Goodbye.”

She leans back.

“No!” I roar, sprinting forward, every muscle in my body screaming.

And then—

Arms wrap around my chest from behind, locking me in place.

Cassian.

His grip is iron, pinning me back as my feet skid uselessly on the wet stone.

“Let me go!” I scream, twisting in his arms. “Cassian, let me go!”

“She’s fine, Serevin!” Cassian yells back, his voice loud enough to cut through the howling wind. “We planned for this!”

I freeze for half a second, struggling to breathe. My chest rises and falls in panicked bursts.

“Look,” Cassian says, nodding his head past me. “Look!”

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