Page 43 of Saved By A God
The fortress is gone.
Mom and Dad.
Adriano, Christiano, Georgi, and Augusto.
Gianna.
The fight lasts all of five seconds.
A sweet chemical scent floods my lungs, and I jerk my head from side to side, trying not to breathe, but panic steals the air from me. My chest burns, and I gasp, which is the worst mistake I could make.
The smell invades my senses, thick and sweet, stirring a wave of nausea deep in my gut while an ungodly fear crashes through me.
Don’t pass out, Rosie.
Whimpering, I cling to consciousness with all my might, but the strength drains from my muscles, and my thoughts begin to blur.
You have to warn everyone.
I keep fighting, or at least, I think I do. My arms don’t feel connected to my body anymore, and the roar of the engine fades in and out around me.
Enzo.
Voices blur, muffled and distant, as if they’re speaking from beneath water. “Easy, Rosie. Stop fighting. You’re only making it worse.”
Tears burn behind my eyes because being taken is the worst possible thing that could happen to me.
I can’t let this happen.
I can’t disappear.
Fighting to remain awake, I squirm and hit blindly at anything within reach, but consciousness keeps slipping away and time warps around me.
“I’m coming,” I hear Enzo say.
“No,” I mumble. “Don’t.”
“I’ll always come.”
“Enzo,” I groan.
“Shh…” The voice sounds all wrong, and I try to shrink away from it. “Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
Darkness swallows me.
When I resurface, the SUV takes a turn so sharp that I fall against someone. Arms lock around me, but they feel wrong. Too hard. Unfamiliar.
“Dad,” I croak.
Something is pressed to my mouth again, and as the chemicals flood my system, I drift back into the darkness.
The next time I surface, heavy sluggishness weighs down every part of me and nausea rolls through my stomach.
It feels like I’m being carried, and for a blessed moment, I think it’s Enzo, and I’ve overworked myself again.
“Don’t be angry with me,” I mumble.
Then a strange scent gets through to me. Sweat, gunpowder, and soot.
