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.
