Page 152 of Dangerous King
"No," I gasp, gripping his sleeve. "The others—Sabine, she was just here, where…"
"Keep her still, Sartori," a cranky voice advises as I try to make sense of what is happening. The wedding. I'm married! Enrico.
"Are you okay?" I ask, trying to lift my arm to clear a smudge on his face, but my arm doesn't budge.
"Dammit, I said hold herstill," the man repeats.
"You've been hurt, Piccolina. I need you to hold still," Enrico whispers in my ear.
Terror rises like a tide. Memories of a loud boom. Memories of me flying through the air. And then: Sabine!
"Sabine, where is she?"
"We'll find her," Enrico tries to soothe me, but now the memories are coming back, brutal and clear.
"A bomb, oh my God, there was a bomb."
"Shh, Cat. We'll find Sabine, I'll?—"
Adrenaline floods me, "No, listen to me, Enrico. There was a bomb in the cake. Sabine, she cut the cake."
He stares at me like I've lost my mind, and going over my words, I realize it sounds… outlandish. My eyes beseech him, "Please, trust me. There was a bomb in the cake. And Sabine… I think she's gone."
"I'm sorry, Cat." His lips brush my forehead.
"Alright, this will hold until we get to the hospital, pick her up carefully," the voice by my side says. When I look down, I see an older man who looks like everyone's favorite uncle. Right now, his wispy white hair is filled with soot and blood, and the left lens of his glasses has a spiderweb crack, but he smiles at me.
Enrico moves to do just that, but I stop him, "Wait, wait!"
I still can't move one arm, but the other works fine, and I use it to grab Enrico's shirt collar. "Wait, listen to me."
"Alright, Cat, I'm listening." The worry in his eyes only partially leaves him, but he seems to realize that I'm not hallucinating, nor am I delirious. "Sabine met with Ledyanoy Prizrak. He's here."
He unknots my fingers from his shirt and brings them to his lips. "We know, Piccolina. You don't have to worry. Ledyanoy Prizrak is our prisoner. But I need to take you to the hospital now, you've been hurt."
I can't think about that now, my mind is full of Sabine's last moments. Funny, I've always heard that explosions and banging your head will cause amnesia that covers at least the last few moments before. Not for me, though. It seems the opposite. Everything from the moment Sabine picked up the knife is seared into my memory.
"Izzy?"
"She took Ledyanoy Prizrak down," Enrico tells me, not without pride in his voice.
His words elicit a small smile from me: "Good for her."
But the moment doesn't last long, "The others? Mamma, Papa? Your parents? My brothers?"
"We'll find them, Cat. I promise, but we need to take you to the hospital now."
I shake my head. "You need to go. Find them. Make sure they're okay."
His eyes snap to mine. "Not a fucking chance."
"Enrico—"
He leans close, so close I can feel the fury radiating off him in waves. "Don't waste breath telling me to leave you. I'm not going anywhere."
I try again, weaker this time. "Please. If they're hurt?—"
"I'llfindthem," another voice says, deep and unshakable.
