Chapter Fifty-Eight
Gualtiero
Ella’s heart-wrenching sobs cut through the heavy fog settling over me. Everything feels distant, muted, as if the world is loosening its grip, ready to pull me under.
“Angel,” my soul cries out to her.
I’m so sorry.
The words never make it past my mind.
My body won’t respond. It’s useless, heavy, no longer mine to command.
This might be it.
If it is, at least I died protecting her.
She will cry. She’s already crying.
Fuck. I hate her tears.
I don’t want to be a dark cloud hanging over her life. I want to be her light. Her warmth. Her constant. Because that’s what she is to me.
She illuminates everything.
A thought cuts through the haze, sudden and merciless.
The life growing inside her. One I won’t get to meet.
The realization guts me, and I let it fade before it can take root. There’s no room for regret now.
Voices blur around me. Too many of them. I don’t care about any of them.
I need to hear hers.
I force my eyes open.
She’s there.
A blur of light and motion at first, then her face comes into focus.
My angel. My anchor. Always and forever.
“Angel,” I croak.
“Tiero, please. I love you. Don’t leave me. Please.”
Her voice reaches me as if through water, distorted and breaking, and it hurts more than anything else.
I don’t want to leave her.
But the darkness is pressing in, heavier now, tugging me down.
There’s warmth on my body. Hands. Pressure. Something holding me here, fighting to keep me anchored.
“Ella,” a familiar voice says gently. “You need to let him go.”
Rhia’s man. Dougal.
I trust him.
With effort, I shift my focus to him. He’s standing beside her.
My strength is draining fast, slipping away with every breath, but I need him to understand.
I need him to promise.
Gathering what little I have left, I force the words out, each one weaker than the last.“Keep… her… safe… Promise… me.”
Ella sobs, shaking her head.
“You’re not handing me over to someone else. You will fight for us. You hear me!”
My gaze stays locked on Dougal.
Waiting.
“I swear,” he says solemnly. His eyes don’t waver.
It’s enough.
The warmth leaves my body.
And I let the darkness take me.