Page 212 of The Devil's Thorn
There was something in his tone I couldn’t quite place. Not suspicion. Not even curiosity. Just… patience. As if he was sifting through a pile of ashes for something he hadn’t seen in years.
I looked back out at the skyline. A breeze swept my hair to the side, strands brushing across my cheek. “No,” I said, quietly at first. “She never talked about that.”
He didn’t say anything, but I could feel him watching.
“She always warned me not to stay near people who could drag me into danger,” I added, glancing back at him. “She said…they come with pretty faces and charming smiles, but they bring ruin. She never named anyone. Just—her words. Warnings.”
His jaw shifted slightly. “Smart woman.”
“Maybe too smart,” I muttered.
We both stared ahead. The city blinked in silence.
“She kept me close for most of my life,” I continued. “And after she died, it was like… all those warnings never stopped echoing. I didn’t even know what I was listening for. But I kept hearing her voice.”
“And now?” he asked, voice low.
I hesitated. “Now I think I’ve stopped listening to her as much.”
That made him glance at me again. Not surprised. Just… knowing. “Danger doesn’t always come with a warning,” he said.
“No,” I agreed. “Sometimes, it comes with a name.” Our eyes met. The tension pulsed between us—slow and rhythmic, like a bruise beneath the surface.
“Is that what I am to you?” he asked. “A name your mother warned you about?”
I gave him a slow, careful look. “No,” I said. “You’re something else entirely.”
He didn’t ask what. And I didn’t offer it. Not while the storm still felt far too quiet.
The silence stretched again, thick with everything we hadn’t said. Naples flickered below, golden and alive, but it was nothing compared to the quiet in Rafael’s eyes.
Then his voice cut through it—low, direct. “If someone stood behind me right now,” he said, “gun raised, finger on the trigger… would you kill them before they could pull it?”
The question landed like a stone in my stomach. I didn’t move. Didn’t blink. His words swirled around me like smoke—coating everything, setting my nerves alight. Slowly, I turned to him. He was watching me, as always. But not in the way heusually did—this wasn’t hunger, wasn’t teasing curiosity. This was something else. A question that came from deep beneath the surface.
Would I?
My fingers twitched at my sides. “Is this a test?” I asked, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.
He didn’t answer. Just waited.
My throat felt tight. The pendant around my neck suddenly heavy. “I haven’t killed before,” I said. “You know that.”
He nodded once.
“But killing to protect you?” I hesitated. “I think the part of me that’s still angry at you would hesitate.”
His mouth curled just slightly—an unreadable expression.
“But,” I added, stepping toward him, “I’d do it.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“If someone was behind you right now, about to end your life… I wouldn’t let them,” I said. “Even if I wanted to throttle you myself.”
A dry chuckle escaped him. “Good to know.”
I exhaled and looked away, the city blurring beneath my gaze. “You really think that’s what I am to you?” I muttered. “Something you have to test, over and over again?”
