Page 113 of Death at a Highland Wedding

“Duncan?” I croak.

It can’t be. I’m hallucinating. He’s asleep—

No, the light in the bedroom. That’s why it caught my eye. It was his room.

I take one staggering step. Then my legs give out, and I crash to the ground.

“Mallory!”

Gray’s voice pierces the fog. I haven’t passed out, but I’m dangerously close, struggling to get my eyes open, struggling to speak. His arms are around me, and then he’s lifting me, shouting for help as he runs toward the house.

“No,” I croak. “Müller.”

He slows, and I sway in his arms. “Müller did this?”

“Behind me. Passed out, I think. Might wake up. Escape.”

A strangled sound, more gasp than laugh. “That is the last thing you need to worry about.”

“Gotta stop him. Not dead.”

Gray’s voice is tight and hoarse. “If he did this, then he may well wish he were.”

A shout comes from the direction of the stable. A groom. Gray quickly tells him that Müller is passed out on the road and to get help to restrain him.

I keep sliding close to unconsciousness and then forcing myself back.

“Needs medical attention,” I say. “Cut his neck.”

“He will get it after you. If he gets it at all.”

“Duncan…”

A low muttering. He’s walking fast, carrying me, and as I jostle, pain rips through my back.

Shit.

“Shot,” I say. “Shot me. In the back.”

He stops so abruptly, I nearly fly from his arms. He manages to keep his hold and lowers me to the ground. He puts me down in a sitting position, but I start to fall, and he lowers me gingerly onto my stomach. Then he sucks in breath, and there’s a rip of fabric.

I’m wearing a corset, of course. But he doesn’t try to remove it. His fingers move over the spot, and he exhales. Is that relief? I’m too woozy to focus. Everything feels surreal. Even the pain from his fingers probing the wound barely registers.

Shock. I’m going into shock.

He says something I don’t quite catch. Ribs? That the bullet passed through my ribs? No, he sounds too relieved for that. Did it hit my rib? Is the breathing pain only from the impact?

I dimly feel him turn me over, lifting me to sit again, but the darkness threatens. I want to sleep. Suddenly, all I want to do is sleep.

Time stutters, and the next thing I know, I’m propped against a wall and Gray is crouched beside me, his fingers on my jaw.

“Mallory,” he says, his voice sharp with panic. “Stay with me.”

He said the bullet hit my rib, right? So I’m okay. Just let me sleep.

Another time jump, and now Duncan’s in front of me, hands cupping my cheeks, his face so close to mine, I can feel his breath, warm on my lips. My eyelids flutter open to see his dark eyes bright with panic. I want to tell him I’m fine, but I can’t form words. My eyelids flag.

“Mallory,please.Stay here.”