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simply the fear of seeing the life leaving this young woman’s body? Her complexion paled to a sickly green now, and his heart gave another sideways, knifelike beat in his now flattened ribcage.
    No, no, no! Too late! She was gone! And a moment kept him from joining her and finally paying for Olivia’s death, although it killed him to take a young, innocent woman along with him. A woman whose only fault was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Life—what a bitch. Not that he’d miss it.
    But in the deep waters surrounding him, something happened. Again the chanting resumed as an electric shock traversed his body, like a momentary ripple of energy and fresh air filled his lungs. And the woman morphed into Olivia, her eyes wide open, silently begging him to save her. He tried to catch her in a desperate embrace, but she disappeared, and again the brunette materialized before him. With renewed vigor, he caught her mouth in his and gave her the breath he didn’t deserve to keep. Not for what he had done to Olivia.
    He breathed into her mouth, feeling revived not by the new air circulating in his lungs, but by his act of selflessness. If he’d lived uselessly for the past fourteen months, finally his last breath had a purpose. Shane ignored the pressure on his own lungs and kicked, following his bubbles up to the surface, the girl’s body undulating with his under the current as he pushed toward the flashes of sunlight from the world above.
     
    * * *
     
    Olivia opened her eyes to the dark, cold water and began to panic. A strange, electric-like pulse coursed through her limbs, so violent it shook her. She sank her toes into the muddy riverbed as her hair swished around her, but she wasn’t fighting for oxygen. She didn’t need to breathe. A soft, familiar chant filled her ears. Was she dreaming?
    Wake up. Wake up.
    A large hand tugged on her wrist. Shane! She knew he would jump in after her. He hauled her up, his mouth slanted across hers, blowing air into her mouth. She could finally breathe again!
    They broke the surface spluttering, and she clutched at him, the love of her life. The reason she had survived. He had saved her, and she now had another chance to love him the way he deserved to be loved—passionately, freely, no holding back. No messing it up again.
    He pushed her up onto the quay, his eyes never leaving her face as he positioned himself between her legs and pushed down on her chest, forcing his own breath down her throat, until she jerked forward as if a spasm had caught her.
    Shane pushed her onto her side and squeezed her diaphragm, and she spit up more water, gasping for breath. After long moments, she sat up, still wheezing, but alive, and froze.
    The sun beat hot on her skin when only a moment ago she shivered in the night air. How was this possible?
    “Are you hurt?” Shane demanded, startling her.
    “I’m okay,” she whispered with the little breath she had as she sought the eyes of the man she adored. But why was he glowering at her like that?
    “Someone took a shot at you. Someone with a damn good aim. I saw you keel over. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
    Olivia took in his disheveled hair, scruffy chin, and his bloodshot eyes. His coat was gone and so were several pounds. He seemed aged, as if years had elapsed since her capture. He had the same black hair that always stuck out in every direction no matter how long or short, and the same fiery, green eyes, against the same dark complexion. But a different attitude—a different stance. He looked war-torn, hardened, and acted like a stranger.
    She followed his gaze down to her chest and gasped. Her breasts were totally naked. She moved to cover herself, but he stopped her, his fingers around her wrists, his eyes riveted to her bare body, looking right through her. Shane had always seen deep inside her.
    Olivia tore her eyes from him to scan the quay and the buildings around her and caught sight of their reflection. Her heart