A Blessed Song for Their Love by Olivia Haywood
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The world stopped turning as the shot rang out. Rosaline could no longer see anything around her with any clarity. The world was spinning in a nauseating slow motion that made her ill.
In a haze she heard a woman scream, and she looked desperately towards the door, praying that against all odds she would see Thomas walk out towards her. When all that came from the carriage was silence, she slumped against Diedrick and stopped fighting. Her world was collapsing as she let him drag her away, and she couldn’t bear the thought that she would never see Thomas again. Never touch him or kiss him or explore the love that had started to bloom between them against all odds.
A group of young men came running after Rosaline and Diederick.
“Stay back!” Diederick threatened them. “This has nothing to do with anyone else, she is a fugitive!”
The men hesitated but tried to form a circle around them so that Diederick had nowhere to escape.
His eyes were wild with anger as the men closed in, keeping a safe distance in case Diederick tried to harm Rosaline.
Behind them she saw people running towards the compartment where Thomas lay, and when what they were shouting finally pierced her consciousness she started to struggle again. One of the men was alive! She had to know if it was Thomas. She had to get to him.
There was a fire inside of her now that pushed her on. She needed to know that Thomas was safe. Raising her leg she stomped down on Diedericks foot with all the strength she could muster. The heel of her boot dug into soft flesh through the expensive leather.
Diederick yelped and let go of her as he reached down to access the damage to his foot. He grabbed at her wrist just as she tried to make a run for it.
Rosaline spun around and wildly threw a punch at his face, startling herself with the satisfying crunch when it managed to connect. Later she would remember the triumph she felt as his head bounced back and blood spurted over his cravat, but for now, all she could focus on was getting to Thomas.
As Diedrick went reeling back, the crowd of men caught him and pinned him to the floor, and Rosaline spun around, picked up her skirts and ran back to the compartment where Thomas had been struggling with the Marshal, her hair, completely undone from her struggles with Diedrick, flying loosely behind her.
The other passengers parted and allowed her to pass as she entered the compartment.
Rosaline froze and raised her hands to her mouth. She swayed against the wall as she stared at the scene in front of her, her stomach sinking as she saw the two men lying face down, neither of them moving.
She threw herself across the carriage to what she feared was Thomas’ dead body, but as she fell to her knees beside him she heard him groan and saw him raise his head and start to push himself up off the floor.
Uncaring of their audience, she flung her arms around his neck and peppered his face with tiny kisses, nearly knocking him back down in the process. She dug her face into his chest and sobbed in relief.
Thomas drew her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest. He pressed his face into her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I've got you now Rosaline. Everything is going to be okay.”