Maybe it wasn’t real. Maybe it was the Devil himself, whispering in my ear, trying to make me quit?

Give up.

No!

“You’re not allowed to die,” I choked out, pushing even harder in desperation. “You made a promise, and I won’t let you go back on your word.” Another sob tore through me. “So no, dammit. You’re. Not. Leaving. Us.”

55. Constantine

Chapter 55

Constantine

A violent pain filled my chest, shattering the lightweight feeling of peace that had surrounded me. I jolted forward, coughing up water.

“Constantine!”

“. . . he’s . . . oh my God!”

“Dad? Dad!”

Voices swirled around me, overlapping, jumbled. Words slipped in and out of my mind as I choked on the water still lodged in my lungs, my body sluggish to respond.

“Constantine.” Juliette. That was her. I was sure of it.

I turned my head, gasping for air. Sharp, ragged intakes as I tried to figure out where I was and what had happened. My body was still trembling.

I’d just been somewhere else. Far away from here. Much warmer, more colorful, and with so much light.

“Juliette,” I rasped, my throat raw from the water.

Hands were everywhere, trying to help me sit, but I couldn’t quite make out who was around me. Everything blurred together, my senses still lagging behind reality.

“You were dead,” someone whispered. “It’s a miracle.” Was that Izzy?

Izzy’s here? Why is she here?

“Dad.”

At my son’s voice, I fought to focus, pushing through the fog.

“I’m here,” I managed, searching blindly until I found his hand. I heard sobs of relief around me. “I’m here,” I repeated, trying to squeeze his fingers. “And I love you, too. I love you both.”

“You heard me?” he cried out. “But you were . . .?”

I was what? Someone helped me try to sit again, wrapping something around me. A dry shirt? Blanket?

I blinked against the harsh brightness, my vision struggling to adjust. Around me, people were crowded on the rocks, their faces still blurred at the edges of my awareness. Sirens wailed somewhere off in the distance. Not good.

“The countdown . . . time . . . how much left?” I mumbled, still half out of it.

“Emilia bought us some time with the police, but we need to get you out of here before they arrive. We have a Zodiac ready to take you to the yacht. It’s close by.”

Was that Hudson?

“Is everyone okay?” I forced out, only to collapse back, my body too weak to hold itself upright. “Did any of us die?”

“Just you, man. Just you.” Alessandro? “And don’t you ever do it again.”

I closed my eyes, still shaking. Pain tore through my chest and up my back.

Everything after that became hazy flashes of movement, voices drifting in and out, until I realized we were on the yacht, and I was in the bedroom below deck.