I can’t wait. Every nanosecond I’m wasting puts all of us in danger. Yukta is like a madman, heartbroken and irrational.
“Come on, Yukta,” I calmly draw her attention to me, keeping my hands raised. “Her friends’ husbands are on their way. You’ll miss your chance.”
“Please no,” Iris sobs, the woeful sounds splitting me open. “Don’t hurt him. You’re making a mistake.”
Yukta laughs, staring at Iris with narrowed eyes, basking in her misery. “Doesn’t feel so good when the love of your life is in danger, does it?” With a determined set to her jaw, she aims the gun at my chest. “An eye for an eye, Iris. Say goodbye.”
She pulls the trigger.
Everything happens in slow motion.
The bullet flies through the air, knocking me backward. I look down as my hands wrap around something soft.
It’s Iris.
Time stops as I roar, “NO!”
Both of us crash to the ground. Her small body jolts violently in my arms as a second bullet ricochets, hitting her in the stomach. Her lips make a choking noise, sucking in air, and her eyelashes flutter in pain.
No! No! No!
This can’t be happening.
Wake me up, please!
Twisting, I lay my body over hers and cup her face in my palms. “Iris! Baby, what did you do?”
Somewhere in the background, I hear a loud bang, then a crash. Multiple footfalls running down the hall. Somebody shouts and fights.
While my world comes to a standstill.
Wetness sinks into my shirt. I lift slightly, trailing my blurry gaze lower. A crimson river flows through Iris’s pale white top. Her entire front is painted red.
“No, Rainbow,” I cry out. “Stay with me, baby. Please. Please.”
Tearing her top in the middle, I frantically look for the source of the bleeding. My military training kicks in. There’s a hole in her chest and another on her lower body. I press on the wound on her chest with one palm, while pressing the other lower.
It’s not enough.
She keeps bleeding through my fingers.
“Ki-Kian,” she whimpers, gasping.
I meet her gaze, her face turning pale by the minute as she struggles to keep her eyelids open. “Don’t you dare die on me, Iris.”
A shadow falls over us as somebody drops to their knees. A set of hands pushes mine aside from her chest, taking over in applying pressure. “Let me help, Kian. The ambulance is on its way.”
I recognize Dash’s deep voice.
“You’re going to be fine, Rainbow,” I whisper to her.
She smiles, sad and beautiful. “Y-youuu’ree saf-fe.”
“Don’t talk. Just stay awake for me.”
“Let’s get her downstairs. If the ambulance isn’t here, Nova will drive us,” urges Dash. “Come on, man.”
“Get me a cloth,” I bark. “She’s bleeding too fast.”
