The Arrangement 19 (The Ferro Family) Read Free Page A

buckle, and I hug my knees tighter, intending to bury my face.
    Sean’s voice makes me tip my head to the side.
    “Avery?”
    I blink once, slowly. Suddenly, the room shifts violently and my face lands hard against shards of glass on the floor. I try to shake it off and sit up, but I can’t. The room won’t stop spinning. I blink a few times, trying to focus my eyes and failing. Sean’s voice echoes as if he were far away.
    Constance's ring is the last thing I see before the world goes dark.

CHAPTER 4
    M y body prickles with goose bumps, but I can’t feel the night air. I move my hand through the thin layer of fog feeling nothing.
    I’m not outside. I’m alone, standing in the middle of a vacant room. There are no walls, only darkness. I don’t know where I am. My heart thumps harder in my chest, and I can’t breathe. There’s smoke. It’s everywhere, filling the room from top to bottom in thick, billowy black clouds.
    I scream out for Sean, but I have no voice. I try again, but the only sound is a blood-curdling scream. It seems like it will never end. I fall to my knees and press my face to the floor, covering my head. Tears streak my cheeks, but I can’t feel them. I don’t feel the heat of the room or the smoke, but it chokes me all the same.
    My body betrays me, and I slump to the floor like a rag doll, no longer able to move. It's like I’m trapped on tar paper, pinned in place. I open my mouth and inhale deeply, intending to scream as loud as I can, but the scream is silent.
    No one can hear me. I’ll die here, alone.
    I blink, trying to focus. Across from me, like a tiny sun in the darkness, something flashed. I blink away the smoke and swallow the pain, trying to see what it is. I reach out toward the light and find a familiar touch--Sean. He’s wearing his mother’s ring on his pinky. He reaches out toward me and takes my hand.
    “I’m sorry, Avery.” His words are a whisper. They carry through the smoke and touch my ears like a kiss.
    Fear courses through my veins. Is he giving up? We can’t die here! Sean’s grip on my hand loosens, so I tighten my fist. I try to yell,
    “NO! Don’t leave me! Sean!”
    I manage to pull my heavy body forward, enough to grip his hand firmly. I want to pull his hand to my cheek. I want to touch him, to hold him one last time.
    My stomach is in knots as fear pushes my pulse into the stroke zone. I say things, things that have no meaning and lift his heavy hand, pulling it toward me. I press the back of his palm to my cheek, and when I lower my mouth to his skin, I press my lips to his skin.
    When I open my eyes, I see what I’m holding--Sean’s severed arm, dripping with blood. A scream rakes through my body, bellowing out of my mouth.
    I shoot up, covered in sweat and wailing like a banshee.
    A hand firmly grabs me and silences my shriek. Sean’s warm breath brushes against my ear.
    “You’re all right. Avery, we need to be quiet. Vic’s men are still here.”
    I blink, confused. Slowly, I turn toward Sean, heart still pounding in my chest.
    “You’re alive.” Tears sting my eyes as I throw my arms around his neck. “Oh, God, Sean.”
    “You were dreaming. I’m right here,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
    He holds me for a moment; his touch normally chases away my nightmares, but this time it doesn’t. Those hands, those strong, sure hands will end up as lifeless as his mother’s hands. A lump the size of a tennis ball forms in my throat. I can’t imagine my world without him.
    This is my fault. All of it.
    Sean pulls back but holds onto my shoulders. He offers a small smile before pushing a lock of hair out of my eyes.
    “You’ve been through Hell today. If you didn’t have nightmares, I’d be worried. It’s okay, Avery.”
    My lips try to pull into a smile, but they quiver and fall. I’m going to lose him. If we keep going down this path, Sean will end up beneath six feet of dirt. I look away, not wanting him to see my