Page 91 of Iron Roses

My arm drops.

My body falls limp.

My hand slaps the metal floor with a hollow echo.

I can’t cry. I’m too dry. But something inside me folds in on itself. Quiet. Shattering.

Giovanna’s hand doesn’t move. She only smiles—tired and knowing. Like she expected this.

And then—

A single tear slips down her cheek.

At the same time, one slides from my own.

We mirror each other.

For a heartbeat, it feels like a promise.

Then the light fades.

Her form dissolves, soft as breath, until there’s only the dark.

Only the cold.

Chapter Fifteen – Cassian

The fire’s nearly out.

A single log crumbles in the hearth. Ash folds inward. Smoke coils along the stone lip of the fireplace, too tired to rise. I sit with my hands open, empty.

Across the room, Lorenzo paces. The polished floor creaks under his boots. He’s on his third call in ten minutes—voice low, clipped. Every few steps, he checks the window, as if she might walk through it.

She won’t. He knows it. I know it.

The wind outside howls against the glass.

Then the front door bursts open.

Allegra stumbles into the living room, hair tangled, eyes too wide. She isn’t wearing a coat. Her blouse is soaked at the collar with sweat. She smells like rain and desperation.

Lorenzo turns to her, phone still in hand.

She breathing too fast. “He’s coming for her. Fausto—he’s going to take her. I just heard—I came straight here—” She stops, reading the room. Her face slackens.

Lorenzo lowers the phone. “You’re late.”

She shakes her head violently. “No. No. There’s still time—we can find her—we have to—”

Her gaze snaps to me.

I remain in the armchair, elbows on my knees. The sleeves of my shirt are rolled, forearms bare. Dried blood rings the creases of my knuckles. Not hers. Not mine.

“Why are you just sitting?” Allegra’s voice rises. “We need to find her. Now!”

I lift my head.

The mantle clock ticks behind her. She starts forward. Lorenzo steps between us.

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