Chapter 57

Alessio

I blink rapidly to see if I'm indeed seeing things correctly, and I am. Evelyn is gone and so is Rafael. I know I should run and find Chiara, as was my original plan, but Nero is in my arms, bleeding out after saving my life.

He looks up at me, and it seems that he knows what's going on in my mind. There's sadness in his eyes, but there's a deeper emotion too. Defeat. The knowledge that he would never come first, and the acceptance that he shouldn't.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, setting him down on the ground and trying hard not to keep my emotions appear. "I'm so sorry. . . ."

"Don't apologize about anything, you have to go," he says, his voice breaking. "Chiara . . . She's in the basement of my cabin. You need to find her."

The sorrow that I initially felt all vanish. I stare down at him, finally realizing his words. "What?"

“I was trying to find out who she is . . . what she is.” Nero raises his hand and tries to hold my shoulder but he’s too weak to do it. “Alessio, Chiara is n