She cried out, jumped on the spot as her heart leapt through her throat, and then snapped open her eyes, fully expecting to see the world melting away before her as her life came to an end…
There was no pain felt from the bullet. And at first, she did not see Lord Wolfe standing before her, just more forest, so that in a split second, she wondered if she had imagined it all. But thenshe came into herself properly, her vision adjusting, at which point she understood what had happened.
Lord Wolfe was on the ground before her, and on top of him was Alaric.
“Argh!” Lord Wolfe cried out as he struggled underneath Alaric’s mighty frame. “Unhand me!”
“Have you lost your mind!” Alaric had the man pinned to the ground, his arms held down, his legs kicking wildly as he bucked and writhed in an effort to free himself.
“Alaric!” Clara cried out in surprise.Is this real? Have I died and this is the afterlife? What is going on!
Alaric’s head snapped up when he heard his voice called. His expression was severe and hate-filled, but it softened when it fell on her. “Clara!” he cried. “Are you… did the bullet…” He looked her over quickly.
“I don’t…” She felt her body, knowing right away that the bullet had missed her. “No,” she said with relief. “It missed me.”
“Thank God.”
“How?” she exclaimed. “How are you here? What is going on!”
Alaric’s expression turned severe again, and he was back to glaring at his uncle. “I paid my uncle a visit this morning, demanding that he bring you to see me.”
“You…. you did?” Her heart began to flutter.
“And he told me he would,” Alaric growled. “Hepromised.But I could see that something was wrong.”
“I had no choice!” Lord Wolfe squealed from beneath Alaric. “You forced me to do this! Both of you! I had no choice!”
“You would kill my wife!” Alaric roared at him. “Why? To what end!”
“You know why!” Lord Wolfe snarled, coming into himself so that he had stopped fighting. He wore a look of severity, as if he hoped to glare Alaric into heeding his words. “I did not want to do this, Alaric. If it were up to me, I would have done as I promised – taken her away so she might be forgotten. You did this!”
“Do not dare blame me!”
“But it is you who is to blame!” he shouted back. “And you know it to be true! I could not risk the two of you staying together, for we both know how that ends. But you…” He turned his head and sneered at Clara. “You are both too stupid to see it. This marriage does not have a happy ending, no matter what you might think. I did the only thing I could – all I have ever done!”
Alaric shook his head. “You don’t know that…”
“I know it better than anyone,” he continued as if he were in the right. It made Clara feel sick, the conviction in his words, the belief that he knew them better than they did. “You came to me for a reason, Alaric. Not because you were scared. Not because you were having second thoughts. But because you know, deep down, what you are. Just as you know that if this marriage is left to run its course, it will end in tragedy.”
Alaric shook his head again, but his anger was fading. “It won’t.”
“Ha! Even you do not believe that.”
“I… this is different. Clara is not Helena.”
“It makes no difference,” he hissed. “I am doing as I must, so that you do not have to. This way, your hands are at least clean. Think of it as a mercy.”
“A… a mercy?”
“She needs to die, Alaric. It is the only way to save this family.” His voice softened, as did Alaric’s grip on him.Oh no…“I did not want her death to be on your hands. Not again. You must understand that I am doing this for you. Please…”
“No…”
“Yes,” he said. “Release me. Go home. Forget about this. Nobody needs to know but us.”
“Alaric…” Clara’s voice wavered when she saw in Alaric’s eyes a look that she recognized only too well. It was that constant battle that he had been fighting within himself since the day that they met. One that, by the looks of things, he was finally done fighting again.
Slowly, Alaric pushed himself off Lord Wolfe.
