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A flash of silver drew Sophia’s gaze to Jared’s right hand.
The knife he’d used to cut her bindings.
She lifted the gun. It was heavy in her hand. Aiming wasn’t possible—not with the tremors shaking her body. What if she hit Lachlan? She’d never even fired a gun before.
The men continued their deadly dance.
Sweat glistened on their skin. They didn’t speak or curse, their combat silent other than the sound of flesh hitting flesh and grunts when a blow hit its mark.
Jared thrust and slashed. Lachlan parried with kicks and blocks, but the effort to avoid Jared’s wicked blade showed in the flare of his nostrils and the trickle of sweat along his temple.
Finally, Lachlan got in a solid leg kick that drove the air from Jared’s lungs. He doubled overbut recovered quickly. He delivered a vicious kick to Lachlan’s left thigh that collapsed Lachlan’s leg.
Lachlan crumpled with a groan.
“How’s the old combat injury?” Jared taunted. He stood over Lachlan. The knife in his hand glinted in the overhead light.
Sophia’s heart stopped.Get up! Get up!She scrambled to her feet and raised the gun between sweaty palms.
A wave of dizziness assaulted her. She sucked in as much air as her frozen lungs would allow.Now!Shoot him.
Her finger crept to the trigger.
Lachlan struck out with his foot, connected with Jared’s knee, and sent him to the floor.
She’d lost her opportunity.
The men grappled. Lachlan’s face creased in pain, his lips peeling back to expose clenched teeth.
He was weakening. She could see it. When Jared flipped him on his back and straddled him, she shrieked. She couldn’t help it.
The tip of Jared’s blade grazed Lachlan’s neck. Droplets of crimson appeared.
Sophia pulled the trigger.
Her shoulders jerked at the recoil, and her ears rang from the deafening noise. Wood splintered from one of the ornate landscape frames on the opposite wall.
Both men froze, their heads turning in her direction.
Lachlan recovered first. He thrust his hips, flipping Jared to his back. He and Jared battled to control the knife.
Lachlan slowly forced the blade toward Jared. He raised his upper body and threw it down. The blade sunk partway into Jared’s chest.
Lachlan lifted, threw down his weight again. The knife sunk in the rest of the way, exposing only the hilt.
Sophia forgot to breathe.
Silence wrapped around the room.
Lachlan’s labored breaths grew loud to her ears.
Jared’s wheezing gasps.
The ticking of the clock.
The faint screech of sirens.
She glanced at the gun in her white-knuckled grip, then set it carefully on the floor.