"Yes. The blood oath is broken."
The air conditioning on the private plane was freezing—the kind of cold that seeped into bones and settled there like a permanent guest.
I asked the attendant for a cashmere blanket and wrapped myself in it tightly, cocooning myself against the chill and everything I was leaving behind.
I leaned back in the leather seat.
Sleep came fast and heavy, dragging me under before I could fight it. I didn't hear the takeoff announcement. Didn't feel the moment the wheels left the ground and carried me away from Volpe territory forever.
Only one thought remained, drifting through the darkness like smoke.
Goodbye, Nico.
May you and your Massima rot together in the empire you built on my bones.
