My hand crashed against the door, keeping the elevator open as I frantically scanned the floor. “Please.”
There.
My little devil always exuded so much power that she took up an entire room with her fiery passion. I had to do a double-take at the form sprawled on the floor. Her fingers desperately clawed at the floor as if she was fighting for every inch. Behind her lay the lifeless form of Tommaso, crimson pooling beneath his body from the patches of blood littering his chest.
“Fuck.” I sucked in another breath and pulled my shirt up over my mouth and nose, hoping the feeble filtration would work long enough to get us both out of this hellish scene. Ignoring the itching dryness that clawed its way down my throat, I ducked beneath the worst of the smoke.
I could barely make out her small form through the thick black smoke now permeating the room, her lean, toned body slumping lifelessly to the marble.
My mind filled with curses as I closed the distance between us and gripped under her arms, pulling her still form across the marble floor. Every step I took was a battle, one I refused to lose.
I just got her back. I wouldn’t let her go again. Not like this. Not in such a permanent way.
“You’d better stay with me, Giana, or I’ll never forgive you,” I growled as I reached the elevator and smashed my fist against the button.
Thank fuck for private elevators. I almost worried Spade would have called it back down to the lobby, but I should’ve known better. I bit back my sigh of relief when the doors rolled open. Without wasting time, I pulled Giana in and hit the lobby button. The doors stuck for a moment, and I frantically tapped the door-closed button as I slumped to the floor beside my devil.
With trembling fingers, I checked for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. Her wheezing breaths filled her chest with air like she was fighting for every lungful in the hazy elevator. Thankfully, there was an air filtration unit in the small compartment as it steadily made its way back down. But it was working too slowly for me to relieve any of the panic holding me rigidly at her side, watching intently for any sign she might need help.
My focus was so glued to her chest, I almost missed the blood steadily seeping from her thigh, soaking into her pants. I whipped the shirt off my back and pressed it to the wound just as a ding chimed through the small space and the doors creaked open, revealing Sebastian and Sophia’s worried faces as they rushed in.
“We need another transport,” I wheezed out, every word scraping roughly against my throat. Spots of black clouded my vision, but I blinked them away, fighting against the pull of unconsciousness as we lifted Giana out of the elevator.
“Fuck.” Sebastian batted me away from Giana. “I have her. Can you walk?”
I jerked my head down tersely, fighting against the leaden weight trying to drag me back down to the floor. With Gianasecurely tucked into Sebastian’s arms, he strode to the same exit we had brought Merrick through only minutes ago. My legs moved sluggishly, every step pressing me closer and closer to the ground, like the devil himself was trying to suck me down to the depths of Hell in penance for escaping the inferno blazing on the floors above.
“Kellan.” The sound of my name wasn’t right, though. It didn’t carry the hypnotic, sultry tones of my little devil’s voice. Arms clasped around me, attempting to take my weight.
Sophia. It was Sophia’s red locks filling my vision as the world around me shrank to a pinpoint.
Giana was the only thing propelling my weakening body forward. Panic spiked my adrenaline and pushed me the last few feet to the door. The cool autumn air swept into the building; the flashing lights of the ambulances and fire engines filled my vision.
“Giana.” Her name slipped past my lips on a reverent sigh, like her name was a prayer to the universe to keep her safe.
Paramedics rushed toward us. Their hands grasping me and shifting me from Sophia’s grip was the last thing I registered as panic gripped my throat in its burning claws, cutting off my air supply along with the smoke coating my lungs. Despite myself, I gave in to the seductive lull of unconsciousness.
Chapter One
Giana
Beep…beep…beep.
The steady rhythm was the only sound that pierced through my unconscious as though it were my sole lifeline to the other side, to a world I knew before. Vague memories and voices clamored for my attention from the recesses of my mind, but as soon as I tried to grasp them, they faded away like a puff of black smoke, returning to the shadows once again.
I attempted to form a name, summon a face, but there was only a peace, a reassurance that settled over me, like I had done what I’d set out to achieve, as though my purpose was complete.
The abyss smiled back at me, cold and haunting, ready to welcome me into its icy embrace, but there was something that stopped me. The murmur of familiar tones that sometimespenetrated the emptiness, sending a pang of longing through my chest before they faded away again, replaced by only the steady beep.
Time slipped through my fingers like fine grains of sand. I had no idea how long I had been stuck like this, whether it had been hours or days.
But why did I care?
I shredded through the shadows that were closing in on me, threatening to cut off the air from my lungs.
My lungs—
Was I even breathing?
