I flinched. That part I remembered. The faces. The betrayal. The sound of their bows snapping.

"I fell, didn't I?" I asked.

"You did," he said. "But you didn't hit the ground."

"What?"

"You clung to a boulder just beneath the edge. Somehow, even after being shot like that, you didn't let go."

I stared at him. "But I passed out."

"You did. By the time we got to you, you'd lost so much blood. You were barely conscious."

"How… how did you even find me?"

"I had eyes on your phone. I'd been worried, Sera. I hadn't heard from you. Something felt wrong."

Tears spilled down my cheeks. "You saved me…"

He nodded, his own eyes turning glassy. "I thought I lost you. But you're still here."

I tried to lift my hand to touch him but winced again.

"Don't force it," he said gently. "You're hooked up to pain meds, blood transfusions. You're still healing."

I looked around slowly. "Where… are we?"

He smiled faintly. "Private jet. I had you moved from the cliffside straight to emergency care. This was faster. Safer."

"Marco…" My voice trailed off. "We grew up in a one-room apartment over the bakery on Mulberry Street. You used to run numbers for old Sal just so we could eat dinner. How in the world do you have a private jet now?"

He chuckled. "A lot's changed since we last saw each other."

"Ten years," I whispered. "It's been ten years."

"I know," he said, a shadow passing over his face. "We lost time."

We both went quiet for a moment.

My chest ached, both physically and emotionally.

Marco was my only family left. After Mom and Dad were killed in that fire, the one everybody in the neighborhood knew wasn't an accident, we had no one but each other.

He was only seventeen when I left. We had one fight, just one, and I disappeared into Enzo's world. Into the Montecarlo compound where no one from the old life could reach me.

And now… he was the one who pulled me out of the abyss. Literally.

"You look… good," I said softly.

"You look like hell," he joked.

I cracked a small smile. "Yeah… I feel like it too."

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair off my forehead. "I can't believe how strong you were. Holding onto a rock while bleeding out. That's something else."

I blinked. "I didn't even know I was that strong."

Marco looked serious. "You always were. You just forgot."

I swallowed hard.

"So," I said, shifting my eyes back to the ceiling. "You're successful now?"