CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

RAPHAEL’S VIEW POINT

The world seemed to stop when Annie dropped lifelessly to the floor. My head went blank and blood rushed to my ears, blocking out every sound that didn’t tell me Annie was alive. When I didn’t get a single signal after a few seconds, I was in complete denial. I found myself wondering how and why my instinct had let me down now when it had never done so before. I was about to run carelessly to hold her in my arms but it seemed God had been on my side. A man dropped down after her, blood spilling from the hole in his head. Reading the situation and realizing there was still hope, I felt my senses perk up again, a new confidence in myself being discovered. In that split moment before the man had come to sight, my life had flashed before my eyes. I had judged my every decision, except not marrying Giovanna. If the supposed death of my sister wasn’t enough reason to leave her, I knew I was fighting for the right cause.

I found myself grinning despite having killed a