Ravenna gasped. “No!”
Her brother’s aim was true. The arrow struck Saturnino in his shoulder; he let out a muted roar, wrenching the arrow free. Pain distorted his features, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. He took a shaky step, but another arrow came for him. Then another. The last hit catapulted Saturnino off his feet, launching him over the railing of the bridge and down into the icy waters of the Arno River.
Ravenna didn’t think. She sprinted to the spot where Saturnino had disappeared, her brother yelling at her to stop, to ask what the hell she thought she was doing—
She reached the ledge where he’d gone over and looked down.
“Saturnino!” she bellowed.
The water had already swallowed him whole. Only a faint ripple across the river’s surface told her where he’d vanished. She gripped the ledge and hauled herself up and over, the skirt of her gown gathering at her knees, revealing her stocking-clad legs. She flung off her shoes; one dropped below her and was carried off by the current. The wind tore at her hair, howled in her ear.
Antonio ran to his sister. He reached for her, frantic and desperate, but Ravenna twisted away. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sorella,” he said, sounding like the brother she once knew. Young, up to his ears in mischief. “Another immortal comes, stop this—”
Ravenna launched herself forward.
The air rushed around her for a split second before she hit the river.The cold snatched at her breath, and Ravenna inhaled sharply and then dipped into the cold arms of the Arno. Instinct took over, and she kicked her legs, sweeping her arms out wide as she swam for the bottom. Her eyes burned as she searched for Saturnino, for a glimpse of the color red.
The water swirled around her in a murky haze.
Panic crept over her as the seconds ticked by.
Ravenna turned. Her gown billowed around her, and she impatiently pushed at the fabric. A blur of movement caught her eye: a flash of a sleeve steeped in a deep red.
Saturnino.
He was below her, standing upright, attempting towalk,his hands navigating the water as if he were balancing on a tightrope. The arrows protruded from his chest; silver-blue blood swirled around him like shimmering spilled ink. Ravenna kicked her legs again, reaching him moments later; the air caught in her chest, yearning for release.
She was running out of breath.
She fought against it, telling herself that this river was no different from the lake by the locanda. Her haven away from the demands of her family, her chores, the pile of stone in her studio. She knew how to stay underwater, how to trap her breath for several minutes before she needed to swim to the surface.
Her heart raced. She knew that if she gave in to her panic, the remaining air in her lungs would burn faster. Ravenna reached Saturnino and grasped his pale hand. She flinched, his skin painfully cold against hers.
Saturnino blinked at her, his mouth parting in astonishment. In the depths of his eyes, a raw emotion glimmered back at her, undefinable and potent. Ravenna gently closed his lips and then slipped her hands around his waist, kicking hard against the ground. She frowned; he was heavier than she anticipated. Precious air shot out of her nose from the effort of pulling him up.
Saturnino made a protesting gesture, telling her to go, to leave him.
Ravenna tightened her hold around his waist, and his dark brows slammed together. He shook his head at her, furious, glowering, but she ignored him. Ravenna gritted her teeth and tried pulling him up again, but this time he pointed ahead of him, to the sloping ground that led up and out of the river.
His idea was ludicrous; surely it was better to swim up to the surface?
Saturnino took her hands and positioned her in front of him. Ravenna brushed her arms around his neck. He stared at her, his dark green eyes intent on hers.I’m the one who is immortal, his look seemed to say.Trust me.
More air escaped from Ravenna, through her nose, through her gritted teeth. Saturnino untangled himself from her and pushed her upward. She resisted but he glared at her, shoving her up and away. Ravenna kicked and swam up to the river’s surface. Frustration curled around her. If she was running out of air, then so was he.
Ravenna cleared the water’s surface, gasping. She inhaled sharply, coughed, and inhaled again, this time more calmly, then went back down into the deep, swimming hard. A sense of urgency was in every one of her strokes.
Ravenna was almost there when Saturnino’s body jerked wildly, his lips open in a silent scream. His lungs were filling up with water. Ravenna swam faster, her legs burning from the effort as she fought hard against the current. She reached him as his body pitched forward, as if he were a pillar of stone collapsing. His eyes were unseeing, blank. Ravenna cried out, bubbles shooting out of her mouth.
Saturnino had drowned.
Ravenna grabbed the sides of his face, refusing to let him tumble down into the earth, refusing to let him go. She angled her lips, readying to pass air back into his mouth. He didn’t respond. She wanted to beat his chest, she wanted to howl at him to come back. The water pressed down on her, and she was straining under the weight of her failure to save him. Her muscles ached.
A curious despair gripped her.
But then Saturnino’s eyes flew open.
