Angel's Mafia (gxg) ✓

XXV | Old Graves

WHEN I TOLD EVERYONE I'D BE GOING OFF THE GRID to study, I didn't imagine I'd be here. Digging up a century-old grave. In the middle of the night.

But that's exactly what I'm doing. I kick my shovel into the dirt and wipe the sweat from my forehead with a gloved hand. Our only source of light is a lantern on the ground. Any more would draw unwanted attention.

My next dig clanks against something. Something hard.

Excitedly, I call out, "We hit it!"

Except it turns out to be just a rock.

Ten minutes later, Dominic scrapes away dust from what really is the coffin. It's wooden, rotted, but it's there. As they start to haul it out, Angel passes me water, and I gulp it down. Water never tasted so good.

Once the casket is out, I pause. A hush goes over the crew. What will we find inside? A mountain of jewels? Wealth beyond imagine?

The lid creaks as I pull it open, and I gasp open-mouthed at what I find inside.

Bones.

Just bones.

And barely bones, too. They're decayed, grey and yellow and rotted. I can see the skull, the ribcage, the heart . . . it's disappointing.

As if things could get any worse, I notice some movement. And realize the entire thing is infested with maggots.

"Shit!" I say, kicking the coffin. Bugs spill out the sides. "I swore it would be here!"

I don't say what everyone is thinking. That I was wrong.

If the Jewels aren't with Yvette Herald . . . where are they?

"It's fine," Angel says. "Cade. It's fine."

It's not, though.

"If they're not here . . . where are they?" I wonder aloud. That's when a gunshot rings out, as loud as an explosion in the quiet of the cemetery.

I don't see who goes down, but I hear the scream of pain. Someone was shot.

"The Genoveses," Angel says, and I know without looking she is pale. Afraid. We are defenseless, save for shovels and some dead woman. "They found us."

"Oh, shit," I breathe. Dominic swears and pulls out a small handgun. It won't be enough, not for this fight. We'll be slaughtered. Our only hope is running away, but Alessandro was shot. We can't leave him behind.

Except Angel barks at everyone to go. Including me. Dominic leads the others away as more gunshots ring out into the night. What are you doing? I want to ask.

"Cade! What the hell are you doing? Run!"

Then I realize what I missed before.

Bones, I saw bones. Ribcage, skull . . . how did I see a heart? That should have rotted. I grab the lantern and dive towards the casket, swarmed with maggots.

Uncaring, desperate, I crack the bones until I see a red gleam. A heart. A heart.

"It's the ruby!" I scream. "The ruby is here! It was here all along! That means . . ." It means I was right, at least about one thing. Maurizio was alive long enough to put the ruby in Yvette's chest, probably some metaphor for a false heart.

So he faked his death, and he hid the ruby here. A clue, maybe.

A bullet whizzes past me, so close I can feel the heat on my cheek.

I grab the ruby with both hands and pull it free. Bones crack and shake. The lantern shatters as I drop it, and we are plunged into darkness. I hear Alessandro's heavy, raspy breathing.

"Go, Cade!" Angel shouts, furious. "What the fuck are you doing? Che cazzo fai? "

More gunshots ring out. The others are long gone, back in the safety of the van we took to get here.

"We have to go, now!" Angel says.

I gesture wildly to a moaning Alessandro. "We can't just leave him!"

"Go," he says, his breath hard and labored. "Go, it's okay. I'll be fine."

From the week I've been with Angel, I know the Genoveses will take him hostage. And they'll beat him as bad as Angel did Dante. No, I refuse to leave him here, but Angel hesitates. I don't know if she can see me, but I know she can feel I've made up my mind.

"Grab one shoulder and I'll grab the other," she orders, and we lift up Alessandro to his feet. He weighs more than I can handle, and my side of his body sags to the ground, but Angel seems strong enough for both of us. We half-drag, half-run towards where our van is parked.

Another bullet races forward, and I hear a muffled scream as Alessandro gets shot a second. Oh, shit. Shit, no. This isn't good.

We stumble towards the parking lot, but I can't take it anymore. My chest feels as though it's about to split, and I collapse to my knees, the gravel sharp against my skin. When Alessandro is hit a third time, it's too much.

Angel lowers him to the ground. The guns are miraculously silent. Maybe they ran out of bullets, but somehow, I doubt that.

In the darkness of the parking lot, I hear Alessandro sobbing. He's a good guy. He doesn't deserve this, I think. His tears of pain soften as Angel pulls him into her arms. It's not romantic, but it is intimate. He's family to her, and I can see the agony in her eyes as he rasps out, "Dillo a mia madre e che le voglio bene, okay? E di 'a Rosie che non avevo intenzione di ferirla. La amo. Dillo a lei. Per favore."

I can't help the tears that fall.

Alessandro takes his last breath, and somehow, without Angel saying anything, I know he is dead. He died in our arms. I look at her, and she is only half-visible in the light. There is no sign of tears, but I know she is pain. I know how much this death has hurt her.

I know what we have to do now, but Angel makes the hard decision for both of us. It's too risky to carry him into the van, and so we leave him there, and we don't look back. Angel whispers something in Italian, and I think it means, We'll come back for you.

Dominic slides the door open to the van and we take off into the night.

>>>>

So . . . this is a sad chapter. But they're closer now to finding the Jewels. I know Alessandro wasn't a critical part of the storyline, but Angel and Cade's reactions are what make them human. I think I needed to show that.

From the moon and back,
Sarai