Page 51 of Eternal Craving

Salvador was ripped from me, and the soldiers pulled his body to the edge of the courtyard. A sword landed near my feet. Everything felt surreal.

Standing now, my shirt soaked with sweat and Salvador’s blood, I judged my assailants carefully. If I took out one man at a time, I could survive this ordeal.

I took the first attacker by surprise, my weapon slashing his thigh. He collapsed, badly wounded. Turning awkwardly, facing the man behind me, I defended his lunge, metal clashing against metal. An aggressive thrust and I had the other one down. Now one man remained.

Two more soldiers stepped into the courtyard. A dreadful wave of futility caused my throat to constrict.

A perfect life waited for my return, and if I failed, Annabelle would be left vulnerable and my boys threatened.

Felipe smiled.

I was attacked from every angle. A blade cut into my side, knocking me off-balance, and I landed heavily on the ground. Dust sprayed up into my eyes. Through gritty vision, I saw my assailants gathering around me.

I sprang to my feet and leaped back, ensuring distance between us. Then I hurled my body forward, swiftly striking another man who swayed to my right. The tip of my weapon sliced his forearm. A sharp pain tore into my lower back, and another blade was thrust into my right shoulder. The pain made me light-headed.

Another fierce strike to the back of my head threw me forward. Face down, ignoring the torment of each breath, I tried to hold on. Desperate to save my sister and get back to my family, I fought to stay conscious – and lost.

I awoke later to the sound of laughter. Felipe stood nearby.

Bound to a large pillar positioned at the edge of the courtyard, I was unable to move. Sweat stung my eyes. My limbs were numb. A few torches provided some light, but not enough to see the edges of the courtyard.

The rapier I’d used lay a few feet away and beside it stood Ricardo. He waved his own sword in the air.

“I didn’t want you to miss this, Velde.” Felipe’s fingernails dug into my jaw, and he raised my chin. “The handling of fine weaponry runs in the family. Your nephew will be a great swordsman.” He motioned to Ricardo. “Provide your uncle with a demonstration.”

Through bleary eyes, I focused on the child’s sword and my chest muscles tightened, forcing air from my lungs. It was impossible to struggle.

“Straight through the heart, boy.” Felipe stepped aside. “Swift and sure.”

Ricardo hurtled toward me.

Stupefied, I watched the silver tip penetrate my stomach, and felt a searing, blinding agony as it reached my spine.

Somewhere far off, I heard a crowd cheering.

“I shall have words with your teachers, boy.” Felipe’s voice was distant. “Their lessons in anatomy are lacking.”

The inevitable strikes without mercy followed.

Feeling a terrible numbness, I forced my eyes open and saw my blood gushing down to stain the earth at my feet.

A small, abandoned boy lay bound again in the mausoleum.

I was laughing with Annabelle. I heard Eduardo and Jacob but couldn’t see them.

I craved one last embrace from them all.

The ghost of an Andalusian cantered, hooves soundless against the dusty earth. Yet clouds of ash rose in its wake as though stirred by something real. Its flanks shimmered, eyes gleaming hollow and ancient. What felt like my last breath snagged in my throat, as time unraveled in loops as it passed. Limbs feeling heavy as the world dimmed, colors bleeding together, vision blurring, sounds folding inward, like silence remembering a scream. The horse vanished into a void, leaving only the scent of forgetting.

Drifting close to death, fate’s spiraling momentum dragged me into a silent darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Quietness loomed in the deserted courtyard.

My tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth. I’d lost all sense of time. The scent of sweat mixed with blood permeated the air, and something else, too, something intoxicating.

“Do you choose life?” It was a woman’s voice, the sound like a soft purr.