He weaved through the water to her. There, right in front of him, was Neera, unmoving, her skin paper-pale, her lips blue, and no sound of her heart beating.
No... no...
Zavian's hands grabbed her, and he shook her. She didn't budge, not one movement, not a flutter of her eyelids. He carried her, and she was stiff.
Zavian lifted her out of the lake. He laid her on the grass, and he began to pump her chest, one hand over the other, waiting, hoping for her to sputter out water and sit up.
There was only so much loss granted during a lifetime, and his will not be twice, his will not be both the women that mattered the most in his life.
But Neera wasn't getting up. She still wasn't breathing.
His eyes clouded over, white and golden filling in with blood red. The rain continued with a vengeance. A low growl emitted from Zavian.
She can't be gone.
She cannot.
Neera cannot be taken away from him like Lilah.
