Because until Olivia was home, nothing in his world would be right again. He’d hunt down every last member of this damned fraternity. A lone assassin out for blood. A stone-faced?—
“Gabriel.” Gentry appeared behind him, using his given name for the first time in years. “Come inside before you catch your death. You heard what Mrs Hodge said. We need to find the evidence. It’s the only way to save Olivia’s life.”
He turned, wiping rain from his face, knowing Gentry was right.
But something pulled at him.
An impulse he couldn’t ignore.
“Give me a minute.”
He didn’t need a minute.
He heard his name carried on the breeze.
Then he saw her, just a flicker in the corner of his eye,gripping the raised hood of her grey cloak to shield against the rain. Her hair was loose, fiery strands whipping in the wind like flames.
Olivia?
She was home.
But she was moving, ambling across the lawn.
Away from the path.
Away from the house.
Away from him.
Had she been drugged? Injured? Returned under their noses to serve the fraternity’s next wicked plan?
“Olivia? Olivia!”
He was running, sprinting through the rain, calling her name to lure her back, afraid she couldn’t hear him.
She stopped. A statue for a second. Then she turned and headed towards the small copse of trees, moving like a puppet through someone else’s nightmare.
She stopped again. Dazed. Disoriented. He couldn’t tell.
What the devil was wrong with her?
“Run, Gabriel!”
A sharp crack pierced the morning air. Pistol fire, not thunder. The shot came from the cluster of trees.
He fell to his knees, instinct taking over.
Olivia didn’t. She jerked from the impact but didn’t scream, just collapsed hard onto the wet ground, limbs slackening, the grey cloak spreading around her like a shroud.
He froze. Pain tore through him, as if the bullet had struck his own chest.
“No! Olivia … No!”
Gentry was suddenly there, grabbing his arm, forcing him to his feet, dragging him forward. “She’s still breathing. Move.”
They reached her in seconds. Gabriel sank down, rain soaking through his trousers as he turned her gently onto her back.
He stilled, disbelief knotting in his gut.
