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CRISTINA
My ears are ringing. My face is plastered to the cold stone of the terrace, and the weight of Severio’s body pressed against my back makes it hard to breathe. My compressed lungs struggle to get air.
Like a fish out of water, I gasp, and my throat hurts from screaming.
The ringing in my ears makes it hard to hear. I can’t figure out what happened. During the ritual, I slapped Severio for pretending he drank the poison. Then I refused to kill either of them. But then something appeared in the sky, and the next thing I knew, Severio tackled me while I screamed against the background of a barrage of bullets raining down on us.
Something warm is trickling down my leg.
My blood?
His blood?
A man’s boot appears in my line of view. There’s blood on it. Not knowing who this is and not hearing anything at the moment, I remain quiet under Severio.
“All clear,” the man says. I think it’s Gordon.
“Are you hit?” Severio asks.
I wait for Gordon to answer.
“Cristina?” Severio barks, and something about the urgency of his voice makes me snap out of my shock.
“No.” I clear my throat when it comes out scratchy. I try to speak again, but it seems I’ve lost my voice.
Severio snarls like an animal and pushes up on his elbows. His hands sweep over my body, prodding the place where I felt the warmth. It must be blood.
“She’s bleeding,” Gordon says.
Itisblood.
“Nah, that’s mine,” Severio answers.
“Where are you hit?” Gordon asks.
Severio scoots over, dragging his left leg, leaving a trail of blood behind. He leans against the railing, and Gordon kneels next to him. He pulls out a knife, and rips open Severio’s pants. Blood gushes out of Severio’s thigh, and I start to cry.
They’re great big ugly tears, and snot’s coming out of my nose and mixing with the debris I’m lying in that I can’t seem to get up from.
Gordon puts pressure on Severio’s wound.
More blood comes from Severio’s leg. I should get up and help, but my body’s locked, my mind unable to unlock it and move me. It’s as if I’m paralyzed. Am I? The moment the thought enters my head, I hitch a breath, my mouth opening.
I look up and catch Severio’s blue-eyed gaze. He’s shockingly calm.
“You’re okay,” he says to me, even though he’s the one being treated. “Keep your eyes on me,” he says. It’s a command if I ever heard one. “Don’t look around.”
“Okay,” I manage to choke out.
“Severio!” a man shouts from downstairs. “I’m coming up! Severio, answer me!”
Severio curses and extends a hand. “Come to me.” He turns his head toward the villa’s entry, and I register fear on his face. Who is coming up? Oh my God, they’re coming to finish us off.
I try to get up, but can’t because my body isn’t ready, my mind still trying to recover from shock.
I get up on my hands and knees and almost collapse like a newborn calf. “I can’t stand.” I cry harder, pleading with Severio to leave me on the floor.
“Crawl to me.” He tries to get to me, but Gordon pushes him back with a firm hand over Severio’s chest.
