Page 24 of A Madness of Crows

He catches me as I reach the door, his arms caging me as he turns me around.

“Let me go.” My nails claw into his arms. I can’t breathe, the fear closing around my airway in a tight grip that makes dark spots float across my vision.

I can’tbreathe.

Day 1 – Stefano

Dangerous.

So fucking dangerous, as I chase her up those steps. My heart pounds in time with my footsteps as I reach for her, shaking and shuddering.

Every single reason why Ishouldn’techoes around my head.

Cat fights me when I spin her, nails digging into my arms as she twists her head to hide the tears I can see on her face. “Let me go.”

I’ve seen many, many people hyperventilate over the years. But none of them made my heart constrict like this. “Breathe.”

She gasps, her legs shaking beneath her until I have to hold her or let her fall. “Breathe, Cat.”

I ease us down on the top step, cradling and praying that nobody interrupts us. Carefully, I rub her back. “I need you to breathe.”

She shakes her head, her fingers grabbing at her throat. A pained moan sounds in her chest when her fingers brush over the brand.

I close my eyes, regret knotting my stomach.

Her body is boneless as I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer.

“I’m sorry.”

Her fingers tangle in my shirt, gripping it.

“I’m so sorry.” I whisper the words in her ear, rocking her as she fights for breath. “I’m so sorry, Cat.”

All these years.

Keeping my distance. Keepingsilent.

Never getting close enough to care.

Dangerous.

“Just breathe.” I’m on the verge of begging now. “This will not break you, Cat. You’re going to get out. This isnotforever. It’s just a chapter, and youwillget out.”

She shudders, but her breathing begins to steady. To turn from great, shuddering gasps into quieter pants.

“That’s it.” I keep running my hand over her back, my voice low. As soothing as I can make it. “This is not your life, Caterina Corvo.”

She does not fit here, in this twisted, hellish story. She doesn’t fit the space that Salvatore wants to force her into, as histoy. He wants to bend her until she breaks, until she willingly fits into that role, accepts it.

I can’t see that happening. And the alternative – what he might do if he can’t make that happen, can’tbreakher– fear turns my limbs to lead at those thoughts, so much so that I push them away.

I let my hand drop from her back as she calms, but I keep her there. Keep my arms around her as she focuses on breathing,both of us silent on that top step as the sounds from the dungeon echo up to us.

She shifts. “How do you stand it? It’s been a day, and I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

I rest my back against the door, wincing as my cuts sting. “I’ve had a long time to get used to it. And… I had the campus for a long time. I had to come back here regularly, but it helped.”

She sighs. “It felt like that for me too. Like it was home, and everything else was just something to be endured.”