Chapter 55

Alessio

I blink repeatedly to make sure I’m seeing things correctly, and I am. It really is Giovanni, even though his eyes are both blackened and bruised and his lips are completely busted. There’s also an open wound on his forehead that’s continuously bleeding.

I sink to my knees in front of him and hold his face in my hands. “Gio. Gio, can you hear me?”

“Help. . . .” he says in a daze, then his dark eyes focus on me. His whole body begins to tremble as he dissolves into tears. “Oh god . . . Master, is that really you?”

“Yes.” My chest constricts when I see him weeping. “Why are you here? Who did this to you?”

I raise my sword to cut off the ropes and free him from his restraints but he shakes his head and tries to put his hand on my knee. I see that his knuckle bones are showing from under his skin. Seeing it brings a chill down my spine, not because it’s not something I haven’t seen but because it’s Gio, who I have considered my best friend for the longest time.

“Gio, please let me