Page 31 of Clash of Sin and Secret

“Zane!” My voice is hoarse, barely cutting through the noise of the surrounding chaos.

“Zane! Where the fuck are you?” I catch sight of him sprawled on the ground and my knees buckle. Staggering forward, I scramble to get to him.

If his head is intact, he’ll survive.

If he’s whole, he’ll thrive.

The Vasari bloodline is legendary. Francesco was an original Fondatori King. The power and strength of our race is strong in him.

Every moment it takes for me to get to him feels like an eternity.

Debris shifts beneath me, threatening to drag me down. My clothes are on fire, the synthetic fabrics burning my body everywhere at once.

The pain is incredible, but nothing compared to the pain I felt when I thought Zane was dead.

A heavy weight crashes down on my back and knocks me to my knees. The building is collapsing in on itself and won’t be standing much longer.

I twist to push off the weight of a structural metal beam and close the final distance to Zane.

My knees hit the concrete floor as I collapse over him and take a moment to feel the sturdiness of his body beneath mine.

“You’re all right. I’ve got you.” I haul him up against me despite the pain coursing through every part of my body. The side entrance we came through is gone, but so is half the back wall.

“C’mon,gemæcca.We gotta get out of here.”

It’s certainly not the slickest rescue, but never count a vampire down until its head is gone. There are other ways a vampire can die, obviously, but none that will claim either of us tonight.

The air outside the garage is still hot, but nothing like the heat of being engulfed in flames, and the sudden drop in temperature makes me shiver.

The outside world is reeling from the blast, sirens wailing in the distance like banshees closing in on us.

“Where are Link and Dante?” Zane gasps out, pushing away from me.

“Dante is gone. I have no fucking idea where Link is.”

“We need to get him.”

“You need to stop fighting me!” Anger surges through as adrenaline pumps in my veins. “I need a fucking minute, Z! Okay? I thought I fucking lost you.”

My voice cracks at the end of that sentence. “You’re my fucking ride or die and I thought you might be gone forever!”

Zane sags against me. His usual bright green gaze is clouded with pain and resignation. He reaches up and cups my jaw, the look on his face a raw vulnerability that makes my chest ache. “I love you too, Viking.”

Those words burn brighter than any fire ever could—cutting through the fear and grief of the last ten minutes and leaving only raw truth behind.

I drop my forehead to his, our hearts hammering in sync despite everything crashing down around us.

He loves me.

I’ve felt it. I’ve hoped for it. But he’s never said it—not before tonight.

I meet his lips with mine and though they taste of blood and soot, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except for him being alive and him loving me. The rest of the world can sort itself out.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m trapped in there and you two are out here making out?” We turn to meet the dazed fury of Link as he staggers out from the burning building. “And where the fuck is Dante?”

Scottie

“Close your eyes,” Jack instructs, his voice carrying the weight of decades of experience. “Focus on your breath.”

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