Page 120 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“Impetum!” Whitby yelled.

The statue swung forward, striking Arianna across the back of the head. Arianna cried out and staggered forward a few steps. The water was nearly halfway up their shins now, though, and Arianna stumbled and crashed to her knees, dropping the mezzaluna into the water.

Bastian took his chance.

He leapt at her, moving around to seize her from behind. He yanked one hand behind her back, his other hand clamped to the base of her skull, where blood oozed from the place the statue had struck her. The scent roved into Bastian’s nostrils, salty and sweet at the same time, and he tried to ignore it.

“Get off me!” Arianna screamed, her free hand stirring the rapidly rising water in fury. “You have to let me finish it! You have to let mesave him!”

Beside them, Enzo stepped back and lost his footing, going under the water. De Luca sloshed forward, putting his arm aroundEnzo and hauling him up. Enzo spluttered and gasped for air, soaked through.

“De Luca, get him out of here,” Bastian said, holding Arianna tight. Beside them, Matteo’s body had begun to float. He was on his back, rocking gently with the current, water splashing his face.

“No!” Arianna cried.

“What about you—” De Luca began, but Bastian cut him off.

“Just get Enzo out of here.”

De Luca’s eyes flashed with gratitude, and he nodded, helping Enzo across the cave. They waded clumsily through the water, then vanished through the opening back into the tunnels.

“NOOO!” Arianna shrieked, struggling to get free from Bastian, her hand submerged in the water.

“It isn’t nice, is it, love?” Bastian said. “Being overpowered? Fearing for your life?”

“The waiter!” Whitby cried from her perch on a rock.

Bastian saw that Matteo’s body had flipped, and he was now face down in the water. But Bastian couldn’t do anything to help him, not without releasing Arianna.

He watched as Whitby leapt from the rock into the air, and for a moment Bastian thought he was hallucinating. He was sure Whitby was flying. She hopped through the air toward the waiter, her feet appearing to land on invisible floating platforms that held her weight, propelling her forward.

Bastian’s mouth dropped open. “You can fly, darling.”

The cat stopped by Matteo, standing on the air. She nudged him with her paw, rolling him onto his back. When he didn’t respond, she swiped at his head, muttering in Latin as she smacked him a couple more times. Matteo jerked suddenly, coughed, and startled awake, splashing upright and staring around him in horror.

“Che cazzo?!”

“You’re all right, dear,” the cat told him. “You’re safe. Ish.”

Matteo scowled. “Get away from me, demon!”

“Gladly.”

The man glared at Bastian and Arianna, appearing confused and scared. Finally, he spat, “Fuck whatever this is,” and turned to wade out of the cave. He vanished through the opening that De Luca had used, and Bastian lost sight of him.

“No!” Arianna cried, thrashing about in the water. “I have to finish it!”

“Your reign of terror is over, dear,” Bastian told her. “I just have one more question. When exactly did you decide to frame me for your crimes? It can’t have been when you killed Luna; I had only just arrived in Vernazza when you took her life.”

Arianna stopped struggling. She twisted to glare at him, her eyes shining like dark mirrors, free of remorse.

“Vampires are always trying to claim this town,” she spat. “They covet beauty as if it will mask their aberration.” Her face was pinched with hatred. “The day after Luna, you came into the gelateria, smiling and joking, acting as if you werenormal—as if you had any right to be here. But Commissario Zappa saw through the facade. He understood your true nature. You’re a killer.”

“And you decided to help confirm that for him,” Bastian said, suppressing a prickle of contempt as he recalled just how close he had come to the True Death. “How clever of you.”

He almost wished he were angry, but all he felt for Arianna now was pity. She had given in to her darker impulses. She had succumbed to the monster within. She had failed where he had succeeded.

Bastian tightened his grip on her arm. It was time to put this to bed. “Now are you going to play nice or—”