“No,” she murmured. “No.I’m not leaving you. Maybe I can—”
Saturnino held out his hand for the Nightflame. “This is not your problem, it’s mine, and what matters to me is your safety.”
Ravenna reluctantly gave him the bundle, when what she really wanted to do was wrench it back, hold on, scream, fight.
“I have been looking for a way to break this spell for decades, Ravenna,” Saturnino said, his voice low and raw. “You know what the cost has been. People have lost their lives. I won’t let it cost you yours.” He exhaled sharply, like forcing air through battered lungs. “Let me do this one pure thing. Just once. For someone who I—” He broke off, throat working furiously.
Ravenna’s heart pounded.
Say it, she thought.Please. Please, say it.
But instead, he dipped into his pockets, pulling out a slim bag, coins clinking within; he tried to hand it to her. “Take this. I can hold them off until you’re far from Florence.”
“I can’t,” Ravenna managed. This was happening too fast, their conversation derailing and spinning out of control. Her control. It seemed incredible to her that there wasn’t a solution. A way forward.
Together.
When she still refused to take the money, Saturnino reached for the hidden pocket in her gown and widened the opening with two fingers. Ravenna stared, dumbstruck, as he dropped the bag inside.
“Promise me,” he repeated, more urgent. “Promise me you’ll go straight home.”
She lifted her head, staring at him in obvious disbelief. “It can’t end this way.”
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and cradled the side of her face with his hand, blissfully warm. “We were always going to end this way.”
Ravenna’s hands shook. “I’m never going to see you again, am I?”
“No,” he said. “Because if I do, it would mean that I have failed you. That would destroy me in a way I hope never to find out. Your promise, Ravenna.”
“I promise,” she said in a broken whisper. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down to her. She pressed her lips to his and poured all her heartache into the kiss. Every complicated,devastating, human feeling. All that Ravenna had to give. Saturnino lifted her against him, holding her tight, one arm banded around her. His body trembled against hers as he tasted everything she offered. Sweetness, despair, hope. He slid his mouth to her cheek, pressed a soft, reverent kiss to it.
He shuddered, his grip tightening around her like he’d never let her go.
But Ravenna knew that he would.
Slowly, he brought her back down, her toes touching the floor, their bodies separating like a tapestry coming undone.
“You’re worth everything. All that I am and more than I deserve,” Saturnino whispered into her ear. He let out a shaky breath. “I am named for the god of time, and yet I have no control over the time I have left. The greatest irony of my life. If I could wish for one thing, it’d be to spend an eternity by your side.” She tried to kiss him again, but he stepped away, putting distance between them. The look on his face almost killed her.
A bittersweet smile, hollowed eyes, a brave nod.
“Go, Ravenna,” he whispered. “Do it now while I can still let you leave.”
She took a step toward him, and he immediately backed up, his eyes flaring. A hint of his usual impatient exasperation crossed his face. “Go,” he repeated, this time more coldly.
Ravenna turned away, fighting a sob.
Somehow she managed not to look back.
Imelda de Pazzi
The frescoes on the palazzo walls were a blur as she ran to her bedroom on the upper floor. The rush of her own breath roared in her ears, the soles of her shoes slapping against the stone. She rounded a corner too quickly, nearly colliding with another servant. Imelda didn’t slow down, not even to apologize. Her life with the Luni famiglia was finally over, damn whatever else happened. With every step she took she felt a tug at her heart.
Pietro.
She’d left him behind.
But she couldn’t turn back now. When he woke, he’d come looking for her. She’d leave him a note letting him know where she’d gone. Because for the first time in a year, she was going home, finally. Her father would have to take her back after this.
