Page 52 of From London, With Love
It didn’t matter.
She was going to be too late.
Because she wasn’t the only one with a weapon, and her arm was shaking so badly she could barely aim the bloody thing.
The Coldrush guard lifted his own pistol, and she saw the queen’s eyes widen in horror as she realized what was happening.
Her muzzle flashed, and Gemma knew instantly that her bullet hadn’t flown true.
The Coldrush guard staggered, but his pistol retorted in echo to hers.
“No—”
A blur of movement slammed into the queen. Gemma tried to lunge forward, but her ears were still ringing, and it felt like she was moving through treacle.
Sir Gideon and the queen crashed to the ground just as Malloryn arrived, flying past Gemma and launching himself out of the saddle at the guard. They fell in a crashing mess, rolling head over heels.
Malloryn could handle it.
Then Obsidian was at her side. “Are you all right?” he demanded, trying to help her to stand straight.
“The queen,” she said breathlessly. She would never forgive herself if the queen died on her watch. How could she have been so stupid? As soon as she’d swept the perimeter and realized they were all alone out here in the park, she’d turned her back on the guard, lowering her vigilance for one precious second. Simply because she wanted the queen to have some privacy for her romantic rendezvous. She’d trusted a man she hadn’t personally vetted, when she knew someone wanted to kill the queen.
Obsidian nodded and sprinted toward the queen.
Gemma staggered after him, her head still spinning, though she had her pistol cocked and reloaded.
Sir Gideon lay slumped over the queen, his breath coming in ragged pants. Blood flavored the air, and the queen didn’t move.
“Is she hit?” Gemma demanded.
Obsidian hauled Sir Gideon off Her Majesty, his broad shoulders obscuring Gemma’s line of sight.
“Damn it, is she hurt?”
“No.” Obsidian looked up, his mouth tight. “It’s not her blood.”
And Gemma belatedly realized that the blur of movement had been the knight throwing himself at the monarch he loved.
“Oh, no,” she whispered.
“Gideon!” the queen screamed, scrambling upright and pushing Obsidian away. “Gideon!”
And that was when Gemma saw the bloodied mess of the man’s upper chest.
* * *
“Gideon! Gideon!”Alexandra slid to her knees beside him.
Blood poured from the wound in his shoulder. The breath wheezed out of him as he tried to move. A terrible, whistling sound that drove a chill through her veins like liquid lead.
Alexandra tore his coat open, ignoring the restraining hands that sought to pry her away. “Curse you, leave me be!”
“It’s not safe.” Malloryn. Appearing out of nowhere.
She looked into his cold, gray eyes. “Thenmakeit safe. I will not leave him.”
Malloryn’s cool gaze flickered to Gideon, and then he gave a curt nod. “Obsidian, set up a perimeter. Gemma, send for a surgeon. Immediately.”
