Page 564 of Reign

His eyes find mine through the darkness.

“I promised I would always come back for you, mi vida.” His breathing is uneven, but his voice remains steady. “Nothing was going to stop me.”

I throw my arms around him.

He winces.

The sound slices through me.

I pull back. “Where? Where are you hurt?”

My hands are wet.

For a second, I think it’s rain.

Then I smell the blood.

I turn on the phone’s flashlight.

The beam hits his jeans first.

A belt is pulled tightly around his thigh. Everything beneath it is soaked dark, blood running past his knee and disappearing into the dirt.

“Oh my God,” I exhale.

I move the light higher.

His shirt is wet too.

The fabric around his upper arm is nearly black.

“Oh my God. Luciano, you’re bleeding.”

“I know.”

“Don’t say that like this is normal!”

I set the phone on the ground with the light angled toward him. My hands hover uselessly over his body.

“What do I do? Tell me what you need.”

“Is Rafael coming?”

“Yes. He alerted Angelo and sent men back to secure the house. He said he was on his way.”

“Good.”

Blood slips from beneath the torn fabric around his upper arm.

I press my palm over it.

Luciano’s body jerks, he hisses through the pain.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“No.” His head falls back against the tree. “That’s good, princesa. Keep pressure there.”

“You’re losing so much blood.”