Page 114 of High Stakes and Soulmates
“Ezio… Ezio… Please,” Arturo cries.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” I lie. They’re all such horrible lies.
“How cute,” Louis says as he starts toward me. “Such a bittersweet ending.”
Suddenly, a wolf is rushing at him. I don’t even know where it came from, but it rips him back. He snarls as he flings it right off the ship while another moves toward him, but he’s so fucking fast. He’s so fast and brutal.
“No, please, don’t die. Please don’t die,” I sob, holding Arturo to me. He’s staring up at the sky, no life left in those beautiful eyes of his. I slowly lower his body to the ground before I look over at the monster smirking down at me. “I’m going to killyou! I’m going to kill you!” I scream while I rush at him. He’s so casual as he drops a man’s body to the deck, like there’s no moment of this where he’s even concerned.
“Please, stop making me laugh.” He grabs me and slams me against a wall. He smashes my head into it so hard that my world goes dark before he flings me at Arturo’s body. “Just lie down and die together.”
I fall down into Arturo’s blood as pain and devastation drive me. I see a blade on Arturo’s side and pull it. Louis kicks me so hard, I feel bones break when I hit down on my back. I reach out with my broken hand and touch Arturo’s fingertips while the rain beats down on us like even the sky is crying. I know that I’m not going to make it through this, but I just want to destroy this man before I die. A sob escapes me as I realize that Arturo’s fingers will never wrap around my own again. All because of that monster.
I push myself up, and since Louis is preoccupied with a wolf, I swing the blade fast, trying to cut his head off like Arturo had told me, but he’s so fucking fast that I barely cut him before he has turned around and driven my very own blade into my side. He throws me again while another wolf rushes him. I slam into Valley’s legs and wrap an arm around her knee as I try to use her to get up. I need to kill him. I need to…
I watch while a man as fast as him tears him back. A monster just like him… a monster that Louis rips apart like he is nothing.
My eyes drop down to the man I love more than anything. The man whose smile I’m never going to see again. I love him. I love him so much. How could he ever possibly think that I could move on without him? How could I even keep living without him?
Pain tears through my chest, and I’m not even sure I know how to breathe without him.
But I can hear his words and remember the promise I made to him that I would keep going without him, I would keep living without him…
And I know I can’t. I know that it was a lie… but I will live long enough to kill this man. Yet I know that I can’t succeed right now. No… not when I’m this weak.
Desperately, I crawl over to Arturo and pick up his cold hand. I kiss his fingers as a sob rips through me. “I love you. I love you so much… I promise that I’m going to end your nightmare. And then I’m going to find you in the afterlife or the next life. I’m going to give you the love you deserve. So please wait for me.”
Someone screams when they slam into me, driving me away from Arturo. I want to crawl back to him. I want to keep holding him. I’m not even sure I can find it in myself to live without him. But it’s like he’s pushing me toward Valley. It’s like he knew his words would be the only thing that would get me up, that would keep me moving.
I drag myself to the horse and painfully pull myself onto her back. And it’s as though I don’t even need to tell her that if we stay here we’re going to die. She rushes across the deck and leaps over the railing, taking the plunge into the ocean below. I don’t know if I hit my head on her or if it’s the water, but the moment we hit, darkness swallows me up.
“You alive?”
I jerk awake as I realize the world is moving around me. I’m confused where I am; all I know is that sunlight is shining down on me and there are two kids riding ponies next to me.
“I told you he was alive,” the one kid comments as I realize he’d been poking me with a stick.
“We should have robbed him while he was asleep,” the other says before they both giggle and hurry off.
Slowly, I lift my head as I discover that I’m on top of Valley, who is walking. I have no idea where she’s walking to. I have no idea how we even got here… but somehow… I’m still alive.
I twist to look back at the port, but I don’t see any water around me. Instead, all I feel is the sun shining down on me like it has no fucking idea how awful I feel. I try to get off Valley, but my foot must have been wedged in the stirrup because I fall off her and hit the ground. She stops, startled. I pull my foot free before I roll onto my stomach and scream. I dig my hand into the ground while I scream and scream.
My world has been absolutely ripped apart. Everyone I love was gone in a single day. I used to hate my life. I used to wonder what was even there to drive me forward, but I never realized how much I could love life and how much it would hurt when it was all ripped away.
I can’t seem to find breath as I curl in on myself while sobs tear through me. I know that I have two options. Either I can die here… or I can become strong enough to slaughter that monster. I can tear him apart and make him regret ever looking at me. Make him regret what he did to me and my sweet, sweet Arturo.
I’m panting when I roll up onto my knees. My entire body feels numb as I decide that I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him, no matter what it takes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CYRUS
Present
My ears are ringing when I slam into the ground, thrown back from the blast that tore down Ezio. Someone has hold of my ankles while I’m dragged across the dirt as dust and debris settle around me.
“Ezio!” I scream, but I can’t even hear my own voice over the ringing. What the fuck just happened?
