Maybe it was always supposed to end like this. In a cold, honorless death. Incomplete.
That dark and frozen oblivion called to him. It would be so easy…
No.
He refused to let it have her.
And freedom was near.
Though he’d removed as many of the larger pieces as he could, the hole had still managed to freeze over—driven by someotherworldly force trying to entomb them. But it only took him slamming into it with the top of his helmet to break it up. Once he’d pushed Vessa through and onto solid ground, he climbed out himself.
Without hesitation, he tore his helmet off. The freezing air was warmer compared to the glacial ocean but still stung as it met his bare skin.Vessa. He crawled closer to her. She was so cold. So… lifeless. Her lips were blue, her skin gray. That glow that lived within her was gone.
She wasn’tbreathing.
She couldn’t die. Not like this.
While gently lifting her chin with numb fingers, he tried to control his body’s shaking. He leaned in and fit his mouth over hers. His fangs were bothersome things, getting in the way, and he was afraid they would mar her skin, but as soon as he got a decent seal, he breathed into her.
Her chest rose. Relief flooded him.
With the second breath, her body twitched.
“Come on,” he rumbled as he placed his fist on the center of her chest and pressed down hard. Once. Twice. But there was no response.
With each try, Kedar grew more concerned. Had the death gods decided to take her for themselves? Was this the price he must pay?
“Vessa,” he growled, “don’t you fucking dare give in.” Because this wasn’t how it was supposed to end. This wasn’t how the greatest Seken warrior he’d ever met died.
On the tenth attempt, her body convulsed.
He turned her on her side just in time for her lungs to expel the water. A quick body scan showed that everything was functioning again. But barely. She was stilldying.
Picking her up, he cradled her against his chest. Cold water dripped from him, landing on her cheek. Her chest rose withshallow breaths. He’d never seen her like this. Never seen her look as small and helpless as she did right then. He didn’t like it. Couldn’t reason it. She’d always been loud and bold. Fearless. He was more than two span taller than her, but she was the one who could move mountains.
Nevskol. He could even feel the death gods closing in.
But the only way they would get her was if he gave her to them himself.
He grabbed his helmet and rose with her. “Hold on, Ves. We’re going to get you warm,” he vowed.
Vessa’s eyes blinked open at his words, her gaze slowly focusing.
On his unmasked face.
“Kedar?” she rasped.
Something in the way she said his name made his hearts ache. As if she were happy it was him. Like she’d waited a lifetime to see his face. The past seven cycles were nothing. Only the thousands of moments they had shared before that fateful, shameful night.
“You came… for me.” She lifted her hand toward his face. It was a torturous eternity, a mere moment. Her fingertips brushed over the scar below his eye, her cold palm rested against his cheek.
“Vessa,” he rumbled as he stared into her half-lidded gaze. There was no barrier, no lens. His face hadn’t been touched in so long, and never like this. Like she had witnessed every wretched part of him and still claimed him. Like she was the one who had earned the right to—his mate. This was forbidden. He should have put his helmet on the moment he finished giving her breath. He should put it onnow. But honor and ancient law had no place here. Not when she searched his gaze like it held everything she ever lost. Not here where the foggy puffs of their breath mixed in the space between them.
“Violet eyes with stars,” she mumbled, a hint of a smile on her lips. “Beautiful.”
Her hand fell away as her eyes fluttered shut again.
But her touch and voice lingered long after.
