Page 128 of Matteo
Nausea clogged my throat, and the sensation of drowning pulled me under. I felt like throwing up when a strong hand curled around my throat. I felt something sticky and warm on my skin and brought my hand to cover his. They brushed over Matteo’s knuckles and I lowered my gaze to find crimson stains on my fingers.
The blood I drew with the gun I shot.
Closing my eyes, I willed it all away. If I kept them closed, this scene would vanish and I’d wake up.
There were words spoken, shouted, but my ears were deaf to it all. The only thing I registered was the ringing in my ears.
“Arianna…”
Slap.I blinked at the light force against my cheek.
“Snap out of it, Arianna!”
I stared at Matteo through blurred vision, unable to get out of this stupor.
“Blood… I… did it…”
I dragged wheezing breaths into my lungs—lungs that I could’ve sworn were failing.
“It’s just a graze.” He grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me with enough force that my head flopped like I was a rag doll. “Look at me!”
The sound of glass shattering yanked me out of my stupor and I watched in horror as fire engulfed the beautiful room. Broken glass reflected orange as the fire crept closer to us.
“We have to get out of here,” Matteo growled, and air rushed into my oxygen-starved lungs at the realization that I didn’t hurt him that badly.
“You’re not dead,” I croaked, my eyes burning from the smoke.
He smiled, although it was nothing like the one I loved so much. “Not even death could keep me from you, Ari.”
Matteo yanked me by my arm, forcing me onto wobbly feet, and we ran toward the glass wall, the only side of the planetarium not on fire where our clothes lay discarded. Matteo picked up the shirt, wrapped it around his unharmed arm, and then punched it through the glass.
Grass and forest stretched in front of us, a safe haven from the violent flames, and fresh air hit me as I dragged a deep, desperate breath into my lungs.
Matteo
We leaped forward just as another glass panel shattered behind us. I gripped her hand in mine, running barefoot until we were a safe distance away at the forest’s edge.
The fire roared, its flames lighting up the sky, as screams and shouts traveled through the air, fast approaching. It didn’t take long for sirens to echo in the distance.
Arianna whirled around, her blue eyes staring at the scene, not comprehending. Her mouth opened and closed, her silent questions somehow more deafening than anything else.
Nikola’s shadow appeared, a scratch marring his cheek.
“What the fuck happened to you?” I asked.
“Hannah is even crazier than me,” he growled. “She poured gasoline all around the planetarium. Had to fight her tooth and nail for the fucking match.”
Arianna’s breathing turned to jerky gasps and she paled. “H-Hannah?”
She was a fucking dead woman. I’d tear her limb from limb. Make her scream. How fucking dare she set that place on fire with her sister inside?
Yes, Arianna shot me, but she didn’t mean to kill me. Emotions were running high in the heat of the moment. And if I was being honest with myself, I was asking for it; it was only a matter of time before she snapped.
But Hannah… all signs pointed to her intention. She wanted Arianna dead.
“Are you sure it was her?” I demanded, my voice a stark calm compared to my raging insides.
Nikola shrugged.
