I turn around, swallowing down a moan of pain. I twisted around too fast and pulled at my wound. I bite my lip to redirect my attention to the new pain instead and started to count in my head.
1…2…3…
The pain passes as I realize my time is up. The anesthetics given to me are starting to wear off.
Adeline hasn’t uttered a word to defend herself, even though Dante is accusing her of betraying him.
“Then investigate the matter closely,” I say in a challenge, facing Dante again. “Who’s to say she’s a plant or not? Maybe you have a rat in your walls.”
It’s the same dream. The same dialogue; the same putrid smell of blood; the same end—with a bullet to my head—and then I wake up in cold sweat, breath heavy, and heart racing. I’m tired. So tired of this. Slowly, I rise to a sitting position, the action pulling on my wound. Wincing, I check the wound, it should be time to replace my dressing. But when I raise my shirt, surprise colors my face to see the fresh gauze covering the wound. It’s been replaced in my sleep? A low hum from beside me captures my attention.
“Let go,” I tell Dante out of frustration but it was a mistake. Barely a step forward and I’m already falling on my ass. I howl in pain. “Dammit!” cursing at the pain, I clutch at my wound as if physically holding it could somehow subside the pain. Dante is at my side in a flash, “Are you okay?” he asks but I don’t have any words for him. In the next moment, he has one arm wrapped around my waist with the other under my legs, bringing me up and carrying me down the stairs. There wasn’t even time to react! He lifted me and carried me out of the room like i
“Not quite. Again.” It’s been a full half-hour of this—learning how to fall properly. When I’d asked Dante to teach me how to fight, I expected to be knocked around on my ass, but I didn’t think that’d be the only thing I’d be doing. And for what seems like the hundredth time today, I fall. Again, I feel the sharp stinging pain in my back and my butt. Rolling over, I’m glad we’re in the gym and not outside in the training yard because the firm training mats give a bit of extra protection. Dante has managed to clear the center of the gym of any equipment and had training mats laid down. Without the mats, I’m sure I’d have cracked a bone or two by now.
Did I just do that? But within a split second, he’s jumped back up immediately. If not for Luca’s hollering in the background, I would have brushed it off as my imagination. “Did you see what I did?” Dante asks me, not even having broken a sweat since we started hours ago. “Fall on your upper back, chin down to avoid hitting your head.” His hand snaked around me to touch the exact place where I should aim my fall. I nod absentmindedly. To be honest, I couldn’t see what he did properly, and now he’s too close to me. His masculine scent is too overpowering that I can’t focus on what he’s saying. “…ember, the longer you’re on the ground, the less likely you can escape, let alone win.” He finishes and I mentally
“Is this really necessary?” referring to the guards. Since the attack, Dante has doubled my security. Apart from Killian, Daveed, and Adeline, there are another three guarding a bigger perimeter around me. “You said so yourself, I’m with you.” Dante smirks, hands idly finding their way into his pockets, but he doesn’t answer. “You ready?” “For what?” But Dante doesn’t need to answer. The moment the gigantic wooden double doors opened, I knew what he was asking.
I can’t help but moan in pain as I carefully lie on my back. Training had been rough today. After learning to fall properly, Dante’s finally letting me spar a bit with Adeline, but it only meant more falling. As careful as I can manage, I relax into the bed bringing my mother’s journal up to read it. Reading the journal has brought me comfort for the past couple of days. Once I had enough courage to open it, my mother’s words wrapped around me like a warm embrace. It’s like she’s beside me again. The first entry I read is much like the other entries. I could almost imagine her as she gushed about her travels. How beautiful the London countryside is. How she would love to take me and Bianca there on our next
It takes me less than five minutes to change out of my pajamas and into dark jeans and a black shirt. Hurriedly, I pull on the leather jacket Dante tossed me earlier. Putting my hair in a high ponytail, I rush to the closet to grab a baseball cap. Black, to match my ensemble, but a strong contrast against my blonde hair. “Hmm, it looks good on you,” Dante hums when I approach him. “Huh? What does?” Confusion paints my face, it’s not like I had done anything different with my clothes or my hair. Dante lets out a small chuckle, “The ring. It suits you.” Oh. After our blunder the
“Hang tight this is going to be a rough ride.” As if he needed to tell me what to do. I grab onto his waist as the bike’s tires burn through the asphalt. There’re so many questions swimming in my head, but the most pressing one is why are these people shooting at us? “Fuck!” Dante curses as one bullet whips past us, too close for comfort. Dante swerves hard just as another motorcycle whips past, the driver holding a gun trained on us. I feel Dante’s muscles tense against my body as he makes a sharp turn, taking us to a busier street using the traffic as cover. For a few seconds I can breathe easier, the gunshots seized and we’re given a moment’s r