Shades of Sins (New York Sinner Series Book 2)

42| Agony

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Agony

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Yes, this chapter is in Ana's POV again.

Chapter 42: Agony (Anastasia's POV)

I felt numb. All the noise around me seemed to have dulled to a sharp ringing in my ears. The pool of dread slowly growing in my stomach seemed to have exploded. I stopped breathing. I thought my heart stopped altogether. 

"No, no, no," I mumbled quietly under my breath, still trying to steady Dante. I lost all focus when I felt his blood on my hands, and I wasn't aware of my own surroundings anymore. I couldn't recollect myself, nor could I remember where everybody was or what I should have been doing. 

All I could think about was the possibility of losing Dante; I felt pure panic. 

My knees gave out along with Dante's, and when he lost his balance, I couldn't even hold him up. There was a huge lump in my throat, making it hard to talk, a huge weight sitting over my chest, making it hard to breathe. 

"Anastasia, go," he said softly, still clutching his abdomen tightly, the blood continuously seeping through. 

My knees hit the floor as Dante started to collapse, and I barely managed to catch him just enough to soften his landing. "Y-you keep bleeding. It won't stop," I stuttered, clutching his abdomen. "I have to call someone," I said, frantically searching for anyone to help. 

Easing his head into my lap, I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand as I felt a hot tear trickle down. "Let me call someone," I repeated, glancing over toward the entrance. 

His grip on my wrist was firm yet somehow tender enough to feel like a silent plea. He winced as he shifted slightly and met my gaze. "You need to go," he groaned, his eyes tearing up slightly. Whether it was from the pain or something else, I wasn't sure. 

"Please don't say that," I cried, the tears falling freely by then. 

For a moment, when he fell into my arms, when his blood began seeping through my dress, when he stumbled and lost all his strength, I felt like I was six years old again. 

I felt like I was watching someone I loved, someone I cared about more than anything in this world, slowly losing their life right in front of my eyes, and even though it was because of me, there was nothing I could do. It was like my entire body went stiff and froze. 

But unlike then, I wasn't tied down by my ankles, but by the time my instincts kicked in, he was already on the floor, losing an incomprehensible amount of blood. 

His words were stronger, his tone harsher this time when he said, "Anastasia, get up and go. You need to run." 

"But you're—" 

"Get away from me," he said through heavy gasps and coughs. 

"I can't leave you like this," I cried harder, struggling to keep his bullet wound compressed with all the bleeding.