A voice cutthrough the white noise.
“—we’re losing him?—”
“—flatline—”
“—charge to two hundred?—”
“—clear—”
A shock ripped through my body.My entire vision exploded into light.Neve’s face flickered, then disappeared.
“No!”I snarled, lurching forward even though my limbs wouldn’t obey.“No—don’t take her—don’t take?—”
There was another jolt.A slam of electricity.I felt a ripping sensation like I was being torn between two worlds.
My pulse stuttered.It faded.It surged.
Neve’s voice echoed somewhere far away.
Atlas…
Her whisper threaded through the chaos like a lifeline.
Come back.Come back to me.
I fought.God, how I fought.
My lungs burned.My chest felt like it was caving in.My ribs hurt.My heartbeat flickered like a dying match.But I clawed upward anyway.I dragged myself toward the fading light of her voice.I broke through a void that was thick and suffocating, and gasped hard enough to tear my throat raw.
Machines screamed around me.Hands grabbed my shoulders.Someone yelled, “He’s back—he’s back!”
But I only heard one thing, and that was Neve’s voice as she screamed for my help.Neve needed me.
I opened my eyes to blinding lights, and a room full of facemasks.I was on an operating table.Barely alive, but I was breathing.
I sucked in a jagged breath, fighting against the straps, my voice shredded when it finally escaped:
“…Neve…”
Blackness closed in again.But this time?I wasn’t letting go.
45
Marcello
We gathered in the only sanctuary that mattered: the room where we’d placed Alessio’s body.
His body rested beneath a white sheet, impossibly still.The machine beside him sat dark and useless, never once required.And the silence in the room was so heavy it felt like it was roaring at me.
Raze stood in the corner, lean and impatient, tapping a metal lighter against his palm.His dark eyes flicked to me, then to Alessio, then back to me—waiting.
Gianni sat at the foot of the bed, face blank, jaw clenched, grief held in check by discipline.
I took the chair beside the bed, Alessio’s cold hand beneath mine, and lowered my head in silent prayer.
They say grief is supposed to come in waves.Soft ones.Slow ones.That’s bullshit.Because this felt like I was drowning in concrete.
I’d almost lost two brothers yesterday.Two.