Chapter 25: Eden

Chapter 25: Eden
The flicker of a shadow.

The soft sound.

A tap.

I crawled to the window. My body screamed with every movement. My knees throbbed. My head ached. But I moved.

Taped to the glass was a torn piece of paper.

Get under the bed.

That’s all it said.

No signature.

No warning.

Just those words.

I didn’t stop to think.

I pushed myself to my feet, ran to the bed, and slid underneath.

Dust filled my throat.

The floor was cold.

I curled up tight and waited.

The silence was long.

Too long.

Then—chaos.

A crash.

Gunshots. Close. Muffled.

A scream—maybe two.

Then boots.

Pounding. Nearer. Closer.

The door burst open.

“Eden!”

That voice.

Gio.

I rolled out just as he dropped to his knees beside me, eyes wild.

“There you are,” he breathed. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t ask how.

I didn’t ask why.

I just ran.

We tore through the halls—through smoke and blood and shattered glass.

The house groaned around us.

Fire licked the ceiling.

Elio was behind the wheel. The car door flew open. We dove in. He hit the gas.

I turned once. Just once.

The house was burning.

Orange. Wild. Consuming.

But they weren’t dead. I knew that.

Sergio and Angelo weren’t stupid. They’d run.

They’d be back.

But not tonight.

Tonight, I was free.

Salvatore had come.

He really came.

And even though I didn’t trust myself, didn’t trust the future, didn’t even trust him yet—

I knew this.

For the first time in a month—

I wasn’t alone.