He was lying flat on his back a few feet away, his body completely still. His arms were spread out to the sides like he'd been dropped from a great height. His chest wasn't moving. No rise and fall. Nothing.

Blood pooled beneath him-dark, thick, spreading slowly across the gray stone in a widening circle. It soaked into his torn shirt, staining the fabric black in places where it had already dried.

His eyes were closed.

His face was pale. Too pale. Like all the color had been drained from his skin, leaving behind something that looked more like a corpse than a man.

"No..."

The word slipped out before Kaida could stop it-quiet, broken, barely a whisper.

Her eyes widened as the realization crashed into her like a tidal wave.

He saved me.

Her mind replayed it in brutal, vivid detail.

The log flying through the air.

Viktor twisting mid-stride, turning his back toward the incoming projectile.

The sickening 'crack' as it slammed into his spine.

Him colliding with her, knocking her off her feet, all three of them tumbling through the air before crashing through that rotted tree and falling-

'He took the hit.'

'For me.'

Her breath hitched.

'He could have dodged. He could have let me take it. He could have-'

But he didn't.

And then underwater.

She'd been drowning. Choking. Her lungs screaming for air as water forced its way into her nose and throat. She'd thrashed, panicked, her limbs heavy and useless as the current dragged her deeper.

And he'd moved faster than anything she'd ever seen.

Inhuman speed. Like he wasn't swimming but 'teleporting' through the water, his body a blur as he grabbed her and Bella, holding them both against his chest while he fought the current with strength that shouldn't have been possible.

The tree root mask he'd created with his bare hands in seconds-molding it like clay while underwater, while they were both suffocating-pressing it over her face so she could breathe.

'He saved us.'

'He saved me.'

Her hands trembled as she pushed herself up onto her knees, water dripping from her soaked clothes onto the stone beneath her.

"Viktor..." His name came out strangled, raw.

She crawled forward-not walked, 'crawled'-her limbs shaking so badly she couldn't trust them to hold her weight. Her knees scraped against the rough stone, but she didn't feel it. Didn't care.

All she could see was him lying there.

Still.

Cold.

'Dead?'

"No, no, no-" The words spilled out in a frantic chant as she reached him, her hands hovering over his chest before finally pressing down.

His shirt was soaked through with blood and water. The fabric clung to his skin, revealing the unnatural angle of his ribs beneath. Broken. Multiple fractures. She could 'see' them-the way his chest dipped inward on the left side where bone had snapped under the force of impact.

Her fingers moved to his neck, searching desperately for a pulse.

'Please. Please be alive.'

There.

Faint. So faint she almost missed it.

But it was there.

A weak, thready pulse beneath her fingertips.

Relief flooded through her so violently her vision blurred. Tears-hot, unbidden-welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks before she could stop them.

"You idiot," she whispered, her voice cracking. "You stupid, reckless idiot."

Her hands moved to his shoulders, shaking him gently at first, then harder when he didn't respond.

"Viktor! Wake up! You can't-"

'I promised Mira I'd protect you.'

The thought hit her like a punch to the gut.

Mira's face flashed in her mind-those green eyes wide with fear and trust as she'd grabbed Kaida's hand in the carriage.

'"Promise me you won't let anything happen to him."'

And Kaida had promised.

She'd 'promised'.

But he was the one who protected her.

He was the one lying here broken and bleeding because he'd thrown his own body in front of danger to shield her from it.

'Why?'

Her jaw clenched as fresh tears streamed down her face, mixing with the water still dripping from her hair.

'Why did you do that?'

He had the ability to escape. She'd seen it-his speed in the water, his strength, his 'power'. He could have left them both behind and saved himself easily.

But he didn't.

He stayed.

He fought.

He 'broke himself' to keep them alive.

"You weren't supposed to-" Her voice broke completely, dissolving into a choked sob as her hands fisted in his soaked shirt. "I was supposed to protect you! That was my job! I promised her! I 'promised' Mira-!"

Her forehead dropped forward until it pressed against his chest-against the broken ribs and blood-soaked fabric-and she just 'wept'.

All the anger she'd carried toward him-the disgust, the resentment, the fury at his perverted behavior-it all crumbled under the weight of this one undeniable truth:

He'd sacrificed himself for her.

A trashy nobleman who groped women in public and spoke like a crude bastard had thrown away his own safety to protect 'her'-a woman who'd done nothing but insult him since they'd met.

'Why?'

"Viktor..." She lifted her head, her scarred face streaked with tears and twisted with anguish. Her hands moved to cup his face-cold, so cold beneath her palms. "Please wake up. Please. Don't you dare die on me. Don't you dare-"

A soft sound cut through her spiral.

A gasp.

Kaida's head whipped around.

Bella.

The cat-girl was lying a few feet away on the stone, flat on her stomach. Her silver hair was plastered to her face and neck, soaked through. Her small body trembled violently-whether from cold or shock, it was impossible to tell.

Her golden eyes were open now, wide and unfocused as they stared at Viktor's still form.

"S-Sir... Viktor..." Bella's voice was barely audible-a thin, broken whisper that sounded like it took every ounce of strength she had left to produce.

She moved.

Slowly. Painfully.

Her arms shook as she tried to push herself up off the ground. Her fingers scraped against the stone, nails breaking as she clawed for purchase. Her legs kicked weakly behind her, trying to gain traction.

But her body wouldn't cooperate.

She'd been paralyzed just minutes ago-her muscles locked up by whatever predator had marked her back in the canyon. The mark was fading now, but the aftereffects lingered like poison in her veins.

Every movement felt like dragging herself through quicksand.

"N-No..." The word came out as a whimper as tears started streaming down her face. "No, no, no-"

Memories flashed through her mind in rapid succession.

The bandage.

He'd bandaged her tail when she woke up from her nightmare—gently, carefully, like she was something precious instead of disposable property, just the same night she showed her identity as an assassin.

'"Does it hurt?"' he'd asked.

And she'd been so shocked she couldn't even answer because 'no one had ever asked her that before.'

He hadn't punished her for nearly getting Mira killed.

He'd given her food-'real food'-not scraps or leftovers but meals meant for people.

Those were emotions taking over her from the first day, and slowly confusion was the only thing she determined mixed in with her emotions.

Until today—

She felt strange emotions surge the moment the warmth of his palm rested on her head. The cold ears, she thought, had become numb to the warmth of his hand.

He'd patted her head like she 'mattered'.

"'My Bella..."'

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