Page 21 of Little Sparrow

Quicker than I anticipated, he backhands me, and I fall to the floor, the sharp sting on my cheek surprising me. My ears ringing as I touch where his ring had cut me. A tiny amount of blood tints my fingertips; it’s strange that it didn’t hurt. I smile instead but quickly covered it. In all my time here, I never expected him to hit me. He has never shown me any violence. I won’t give up Dante. Even more so, he had helped his mother escape this house.But why?

“I saw nothing related to the drugs, nothing important for business.” Sofia’s face relaxes a fraction when my eyes flicker over to her. She showed me more than she had wanted to. No one ever realises the extent of my power. Leo pushes me to show it, but I never will. He still kidnapped me, I’ll never completely trust him.

My face stays passive as two guards come in to drag me out. The amulet takes my strength, and fighting back against two large men with guns seems like a stupid idea. I hope Sofia knows I’ll keep Dante a secret. It is a shame that I know she will die tonight because I didn’t collect her soul. Leo will make it painful. He wouldn’t be a Don if he let anyone go. That’s what he tells me. Truthfully, I still don’t know much about the mafia. A lot of the time, they still speak in Italian. I hadn’t learned it properly yet, only picked up a few words. They always speak so fast.

Two guards are dragging me by each arm past the room I had been given over a year ago. The amulet draining my strength means I’m just a normal girl and can’t fight them off right now.

I’m thrown into the smaller room tonight as punishment. The key turns in the lock—my original prison. I bang my fists against the door, shouting at them that I shouldn’t be in here, but they don’t answer. They are there; I can hear them. They just ignore me instead. The memories of Dante came to my mind as I flopped myself onto the thin mattress, staring up at the ceiling as the springs dig into my back. I had seen little about him from her memories in recent years, and it’s like she doesn’t see him much anymore. I already had stayed in her mind long enough to cause a lasting effect of hallucinations. If Leo doesn’t kill her, she will do it herself from the trauma.

Chapter eighteen

Dante

Napoli, Italy

TheyfoundMatteodead.He had been delivered on our doorstep this morning while I was preparing to find my mother. He hadn’t been tortured, but it looked like something had literally scared him to death. His mouth was wide open from screaming, blackened around his eyes and greying skin. He had no binding marks on his wrists, as though they didn’t need to tie him down. The eyes are completely white in contrast to the shadows underneath, and it’s as though there is nothing inside him anymore. I’ll never get the image from my head. Uncle Tomasso had to pull me away.

I have to cover my mouth and nose; the stench is worse. It was as though he had been dead for weeks, although I had spoken with him just days ago, and he was fine. Having mentioned speaking to my father's friend Franco about a drug deal, I didn’t want to hear anything about my father's business, so I shut him down. Fuck.

They know we are building connections with Sicily, so they went after him. Whoever did this must have my mother. They knew each other well—close friends.

I believed no one about my father’s weapon being as deadly as he used to speak about until I saw the body. What type of weapon does that to someone?What am I missing?

I storm out of my bedroom, annoyed at myself. The memories of my first kill flash through my mind again. We have rules. Don’t touch women or children. That memory plagues me regularly. My father made me break that rule. Now I only kill men in self-defence or if they go after my mother. My skills have been useful at times; I have killed, but I still hate it. Doing what needs to be done.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. Karalina calls again, desperate to come to my bed. There’s only so much I can take with her. Ever since the marriage proposal was suggested, she’s stuck to me like fucking superglue. Non-stop calls, surprise visits, begging to make love or even kiss her. Maybe someone else will take her instead. I don’t get the chance to think that through any further because I’m dragged into another room. I’m in a dream. No, another nightmare.

The thin mattress is on a low single-sized bed, covered in stains, and a chain along the floor connects to the wall it lies beside. It’s dark and damp, only enough light to see how filthy it is in here, but I know this room. It’s at my father’s estate. One that hasn’t been used in a long time. I lift the chain, and it’s heavy with a double lock. The small mirror has a crack across my reflection. But no signs of a fight being put up. What the fuck is he keeping here?

This dream feels a lot like one of Roses, but I can’t see her anywhere. There is mumbling outside the door, and I can’t hear the words. I press my ear up against the door to listen, knowing it would be locked, but laughing echoes through the halls and when I hear my mother’s name mentioned. My mind numbs. I know she is at my father’s now. I’ll have to get her.

After I’ve saved her, I’ll question them about Rose. They have to know where she is if she knows about this room. She has been here, or she still is, a prisoner. After two years of nothing and now I’m here. I have to save her too. Fuck, if only I had never left.

The door-shaped mist is on the far wall. Not white anymore. It’s not far, so I reach it quickly. I try to put my hand through, but it feels rock hard to me. She is watching me right now. Rose is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. No matter where I walk, she is with me. “Rose? I know you’re here. You can come out.” My voice echoes in the small space. She does not respond, and the room stays empty. That should have been obvious.

I need to wake myself up, panic rising inside me as I never really learned how to escape whatever this is. It’s been too long, I start to sweat while banging against the walls. No one can hear me because it’s not real. I fucked this up. There’s nothing I can do. Dropping to my knees, I clutch my head. “Get me out of here!” I yell.

My body jolts as I rise from the floor. She let me go. “Are you okay?” Karalina’s voice comes from above me, her ponytail swinging down into my face as she leans over me. How did she get in?

“Get the fuck out,” I tell her between each breath I’m forcing my body to take as I pull myself up. She laughs, but I don’t. “What?” she questions, her head tilting as though waiting for an answer. For me to change my mind and give in to her once more like I usually do. Rose is alive. This is the first proof since our last dream. That one dream just changed everything.

My tone turns serious. “I said get the fuck out of here. You were only my mistress, and now we are finished.” Her giggles stop. She gathers her bag from beside me before storming out the door and slamming it, muttering something that sounded like ‘this isn’t over’—making the pictures on the wall rattle.

Forcing myself off the floor, I clench my jaw as I search around my house. Something doesn’t feel right. Each door I slam open in search of whoever else is here, but I can’t find anyone. It’s like a presence is here, a ghost.

I pack a bag, shoving different clothes into it before grabbing my car keys from the floor where I had fallen. My phone is in my pocket, and I double check my gun is loaded before I set it in my shoulder holster. I’m going to my father’s.

Chapter nineteen

Rose

Calabria, Italy

Dantelookssodifferent.He looks angrier. I watch him from the shadows in my realm, where I can hide from him. He doesn’t even need to dream anymore; I can just pull him under.

He might come for us now that he knows where his mother and I are being kept. Well, he will come for her. He has no reason to find me anymore. He would have mostly forgotten about me by now; it’s been too long. My power would be memorable, but any lingering feelings I imagine are gone.

I can’t hold Dante in the dream for long, no matter how badly I want to keep him there and meet again. His muscles are bigger, worry clear on his face as his eyebrows pinch together. Two years. That’s all it had been to change that much. I thought as a human, he might still look the same, but he looks like a God about to pull his wrath down upon the world to save those he cares for. I hope I’m one of those.

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