And now he was lying there dying because he'd protected her-a worthless slave who didn't deserve protection from anyone, let alone someone like him.

"Sir Viktor!" Her voice cracked as she finally managed to drag herself forward a few inches. Her arms gave out immediately afterward, and she collapsed back onto the stone with a pained gasp.

But she didn't stop trying.

She couldn't stop.

Her fingers dug into the stone again as she pulled herself forward another inch. Then another. Each movement sent fresh waves of agony through her battered body-her muscles screaming in protest-but she ignored it all.

All that mattered was reaching him.

"Please..." Tears dripped from her chin onto the stone beneath her as she crawled. "Please wake up... Sir Viktor... please..."

The tree root mask he'd made for her was still clutched in one trembling hand-wet and crumpled but intact. She'd ripped it off her face the moment they'd surfaced because she needed to 'see', needed to know if he was okay.

And now...

Now he wasn't okay.

He wasn't okay at all.

Her vision blurred as fresh sobs wracked through her small frame. She could see Kaida kneeling beside him now, shaking him desperately while tears streamed down the red-haired woman's face too.

Bella finally reached them-collapsing beside Viktor's other side with a choked gasp as her strength gave out completely.

Her small hands found his arm-cold beneath her touch-and she gripped it tightly with both hands like holding on might somehow keep him tethered to life.

"Don't die..." The words spilled out between sobs as she pressed her forehead against his shoulder-against the blood-soaked fabric covering broken bones beneath."Please don't die... You can't die..."

'You're the only person who's ever been kind to me.'

'You're the only one who treated me like I'm human.'

'Please.'

Kaida's hands moved frantically now-checking his pulse again, pressing against his chest to see if ribs were just broken or if they'd punctured something vital inside him-but every movement only confirmed what they both already knew:

He was dying.

Slowly but surely bleeding out onto cold stone while two women who owed him their lives knelt beside him helpless and broken themselves.

"Viktor!" Kaida shook him harder now-desperation bleeding into every syllable of his name as more tears carved tracks through the grime on her scarred face."Wake up! You have to wake up! Mira's waiting for you! Your wives are waiting! You can't-"

Her voice shattered completely as a sob tore free from her throat-raw and guttural and 'wrong' coming from someone who never cried-who never showed weakness-who never 'broke'-

But she was breaking now.

They both were.

Two women kneeling beside a dying man who'd sacrificed everything to save them-and all they could do was weep and beg him not to leave while his blood pooled beneath them all like an accusation written in crimson across gray stone:

'You couldn't save him.'

Kaida's jaw clenched so hard her teeth ached.

She felt the sob building in her throat—hot, suffocating, threatening to tear her apart from the inside—but she 'crushed' it down with brutal force.

'No.'

'Not yet.'

'He's not dead.'

She wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, smearing blood and grime across her scarred cheek, and her red eyes hardened into something sharp and focused.

"The hell he's dead," she growled, her voice raw but steady.

Bella looked up at her, golden eyes wide and streaming with tears, her small body still trembling violently.

"Bella!" Kaida's voice cracked like a whip. "Listen to me!"

The cat-girl flinched, her ears flattening against her skull.

"Push his belly!" Kaida commanded, already moving. Her hands found Viktor's jaw, tilting his head back to open his airway. "Get the water out of his lungs! Now!"

"I—I can't—" Bella's voice was barely a whisper, choked with sobs.

"'DO IT!'" Kaida roared.

Bella's hands shot forward, pressing down on Viktor's stomach with shaking palms. Water sputtered from his lips—not much, but some. His chest didn't rise. Didn't fall.

'He's not breathing.'

Kaida's fingers moved to his mouth, prying his lips apart. Cold. Too cold. She could see water still pooling at the back of his throat.

'Shit. Shit. Shit.'

"Remove his clothes!" Kaida barked at Bella, not looking away from Viktor's face. "I need to see his wounds!"

Bella scrambled down toward his torso, her small hands fumbling with the buttons of his blood-soaked shirt. Her fingers were shaking so badly she could barely work the fabric free, but she forced herself to move—ripping the shirt open when the buttons wouldn't cooperate, exposing his bare chest.

The sight made her stomach lurch.

His ribs were broken—visibly broken. The left side of his chest dipped inward unnaturally, the skin already bruising dark purple and black. Blood seeped from shallow cuts where bone fragments had pressed too close to the surface.

"Oh gods..." Bella's voice cracked as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

But Kaida wasn't looking at his chest.

She was already leaning forward, her hands cupping Viktor's face as she tilted his head back further, pinched his nose shut, and sealed her lips over his.

She breathed.

Hard. Deep. Forcing air into his lungs.

His chest rose slightly beneath Bella's trembling hands.

Kaida pulled back, gasping, then leaned in again.

Another breath.

Another.

Her mind was racing, panic clawing at the edges of her focus, but she shoved it down and kept moving. Kept 'trying'.

'Please. Please work. Please—'

"Remove his pants too!" Kaida rasped between breaths, her voice muffled against Viktor's mouth. "Check for internal bleeding!"

Bella's hands moved lower, fumbling with his belt buckle. Her vision was blurred with tears, her fingers slipping on the wet leather, but she finally got it loose and yanked his pants down past his hips.

She wasn't thinking about modesty.

Wasn't thinking about anything except the possibility that he might be bleeding out somewhere they couldn't see.

Kaida sealed her lips over Viktor's again, breathing into him, willing him to 'live'.

"Please wake up," she whispered against his mouth, her voice breaking. "Please. Don't you fucking dare die on me. Don't you—"

She pressed her lips to his again, harder this time, pouring everything she had into that breath—all her desperation, all her fear, all her 'rage' at the universe for putting her in this position where she had to watch someone who'd saved her die in front of her while she was helpless to stop it.

Her hands fisted in his wet hair, holding him steady as she breathed into him again and again and—

And then she felt it.

A twitch.

His lips moved beneath hers.

Kaida froze.

Her eyes flew open, wide and disbelieving, as she felt Viktor's mouth 'respond'—not passively accepting her breath, but 'moving', pressing back against hers with sudden, deliberate pressure.

And then his tongue slid into her mouth.

Kaida's mind went blank.

'What—'

His hand shot up, fingers tangling in her red hair, gripping the back of her head and pulling her 'closer' as his tongue explored her mouth with lazy, deliberate strokes.

He was 'kissing' her.

Not dying.

'Kissing.'

Her eyes went impossibly wide, her entire body locking up in shock as her brain tried to catch up with what was happening.

And then the anger hit.

She bit down.

'Hard.'

"'AGHHH!'" Viktor's voice exploded from his throat—a pained roar mixed with a growl as he jerked back, one hand flying to his mouth. "What the 'fuck'—"

Kaida's fist flew forward, slamming into his shoulder with enough force to rock him backward.

"YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!" she screamed, her face flushed crimson—whether from fury or embarrassment, it was impossible to tell. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE 'DYING'!"

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