Chapter Seven — The First Lie #2
barely surviving its own infection.
Avery moved closer to the edge unconsciously.
Wind lifted strands of black hair around her face.
“It looks different from above,” she whispered.
Vinny leaned against the stone railing beside her carefully.
“Most things do.”
The city lights reflected gold-green in his hazel eyes.
God.
He looked tired tonight.
Not physically.
Soul-deep tired.
Avery’s chest tightened painfully.
“Why did you bring me here?”
Silence stretched between them.
Far below, ventilation sirens wailed through distant streets.
Finally—
“Because I wanted one memory with you that didn’t feel like hiding.”
The words hollowed something inside her instantly.
Avery looked away toward the skyline before he could see too much on her face.
“You talk like you’re leaving.”
Vinny didn’t answer immediately.
That terrified her more than anything else could have.
Then quietly:
“What if I am?”
Avery turned toward him sharply.
The wind howled through the broken cathedral glass around them while the poisoned city
glowed beneath like the mouth of hell.
And for the first time since meeting him—
she realized Vinny Moretti might already know he was dying.
Vinny didn’t answer her question.
Not really.
He just leaned back against the cathedral railing, eyes drifting toward the poisoned skyline
below as wind tore through the broken arches around them.
“What if I am?”
The words stayed lodged beneath Avery’s ribs like splinters.
“You can’t say things like that and then go quiet,” she whispered.
Vinny’s mouth curved faintly.
“I absolutely can. I’m rich.”
“Vinny.”
That finally pulled his eyes back toward her.
The amusement faded slightly when he saw her expression.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not of him.
For him.
Something softened painfully in his face.
“Ave…”
“You’re hiding something.”
“Yes.”
The honesty startled her enough she blinked.
Vinny huffed a quiet laugh at her reaction.
“You asked directly this time.”
“That doesn’t make this better.”
“No,” he admitted softly. “Probably not.”
The wind lifted strands of black hair across Avery’s face while cathedral bells echoed
somewhere distant through the fog.
Below them, Poison City glowed like infected veins beneath skin.
Alive.
Dying.
Both.
Avery wrapped her coat tighter around herself.
“How long have you known?”
Vinny looked away again immediately.
Too long, then.
Her chest tightened.
“You should’ve told me.”
“And said what exactly?” His voice remained calm, but exhaustion roughened the edges
now. “Hey, Avery, good news. The poison girl is poisoning me. Very shocking development.”
Pain flashed hot through her instantly.
“Don’t.”
Vinny’s expression shifted the second the word left her mouth.
Regret.
Immediate.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.”
“Avery.”
She stepped backward from the railing.
“This whole time…” Her throat burned. “You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“That isn’t better.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
The wind screamed harder through the shattered cathedral windows as Avery tried to
steady her breathing.
Everything suddenly felt wrong.
Every smile.
Every joke.
Every flower.
Had he only stayed because he knew he was already dying?
The thought hollowed her out.
“Ave.”
She hated how gently he said her name.
Like she was something breakable instead of dangerous.
Vinny pushed away from the railing slowly.
“Avery, look at me.”
“No.”
“Ave.”
“No.”
He stopped moving then.
Careful again.
Always careful with her emotions in ways she didn’t deserve.
“I lied because I knew what you’d do.”
She laughed bitterly.
“What? Panic?”
“You’d leave.”
The certainty in his voice stunned her silent.
Vinny looked exhausted suddenly.
Not physically.
Emotionally stripped raw.
“You think I don’t know you by now?” he asked quietly. “You would’ve disappeared the
second you realized this was getting worse.”
Avery said nothing.
Because he was right.
God.
He was right.
She would’ve run.
Not because she didn’t love him.
Because she did.
Too much.
“Avery,” he said softly, “you’ve spent your whole life convincing yourself love is lethal.”
“It is.”
“Not always.”
“For me it is.”
Vinny’s jaw tightened slightly.
Then, before she could react—
he pulled off one glove.
Bare skin exposed instantly to the cold cathedral air.
Avery’s pulse stopped.
“Vinny.”
His eyes locked onto hers completely.
“You know what I think?”
Her voice came out barely audible.
“You’re insane.”
A faint smile touched his mouth.
“Probably.”
Then slowly—
deliberately—
Vinny reached toward her face.
Avery froze.
Every nerve in her body screamed instantly.
Too close.
Too dangerous.
His bare fingertips hovered beside her jaw.
One inch away.
Half an inch.
“Avery.”
His voice sounded wrecked now.
Soft in a way that hurt.
“You’re the only thing in this city that’s ever felt real to me.”
Her breathing shattered.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“Why?”
“Because I can’t survive hearing things like that.”
Something broke open visibly in his expression at those words.
Not heartbreak.
Recognition.
Like he finally understood exactly how terrified she truly was.
The wind carried incense smoke through the cathedral ruins around them while green city
light flickered across Vinny’s face.
Then—
he lowered his hand.
Didn’t touch her.
Never touched her.
But somehow the restraint hurt worse.
Vinny slipped the glove back on slowly.
“There,” he said quietly. “See?”
Avery stared at him.
“What?”
“I listened.”
The gentleness of it nearly destroyed her.
Because nobody had ever treated her fear kindly before.
People feared her.
Avoided her.
Hated her.
Vinny was the only person who looked at her terror and handled it carefully.
And Avery suddenly realized with horrifying clarity—
she was going to lose him.