Page 74 of Dreadful
“I’m okay. We’re okay.” I tug her to my chest and cling to her, ensuring she’s safe. She embraces me back just as strongly. “You’re okay.Grazie a Dio, you’re—”
A low, baleful moan from behind me jolts me out of my relief. Tallie’s arms tighten around my neck even as she pulls away to find where the cry came from. The blood drains from her face. Her expression contorts with agony right before she screams.
It pierces like a dagger into my ears and a knife to my heart. It rips and tears its way down my body like a jagged blade. It’s the kind of cry you feel in your bones, breaking you from the inside out irrevocably, and you instinctively know that you’ll never be able to be put back together again.
I cradle her in my arms, wishing I could shield her from whatever it is that’s breaking her heart. She fights me, but I refuse to let her go as I turn around.
My heart shatters for her, and my own pained groan lurches from my chest.
“No.”
Scene 21
IL MIO AMORE NON C’È PIÙ
Talia
How many times can life tear you to shreds before there’s nothing to sew back together?
Sever holds me in his arms, cradling me, comforting me. Only a second ago, my chest was light with relief that we were okay. Now my heart has shattered into shards sharper than the glass glittering in the dimming sunlight.
One of the only people who’s ever truly loved me is dying, soaking the pink pastel floor with crimson. The other is sobbing so hard over the love of his life that I’m afraid he’ll leave with him.
And it’s all my fault.
“Tallie,dolcezza, we have to go. They could come back.”
Sever’s plea snaps me out of my thoughts. I push aside the guilt that my vendetta, thatIcaused this and shake my head.
“Tallie—”
“No!” I scramble out of his arms and crawl over cracked and broken glass to get to mynonni.
Maybe he’s okay. Maybe I can stitch him up like I did Sever. Maybe—
But once I get there and see Gio cradling mynonnoTony, I can’t hide from the truth.
Blood blooms from Tony’s chest, like several dark red drops of dye on paper. His brown eyes blink rapidly as they try to focus on his husband.
“Amore m-mio.” Tony raises his hand to touch Gio’s face, but Gio shakes his head violently and continues in Italian.
“Don’t strain yourself. We’ll call the police. An ambulance will come and save you—”
Tony coughs, making the blood seep down his shirt faster. The fact that there’s no pain in his expression is both a relief and terrifying at the same time. Pain means you’re alive.
“We’ll get through this. We survived the Navy, didn’t we?” Gio tries to laugh, but his tears already flow freely down his cheeks.
Tony’s eyes search for me.
“I’m here,nonno.”
I huddle closer to grip his hand. It’s always been so strong before, holding mine to cross the street for school, teaching me how to knead dough, gripping Gio’s shoulder before giving him a kiss.
Now, I notice for the first time that his fingers are gnarled and bony. The flesh yields easily to my touch, like the muscles underneath no longer have the strength to resist the pressure. His skin is paper-thin, and I worry that I could rip it open with the slightest movement.
“I have loved you from the moment I saw you,” Tony whispers through blood-stained lips. “Both of you.”
Gio gently swipes the crimson off of his husband’s lips. “And you’ll keep loving us. All you have to do is hold on. Help will come, and you’ll be fine. Just hold on.”
