Read Online The Admiral's Heart by Danelle Harmon - Free Book Online

and nearly took his head off. He went over backward, clawing at
his throat, his dying breath a terrible, rasping gurgle.
    And then Gareth saw one of the two children
running toward him, obviously thinking he was the only safety left
in this world gone mad.
    "Billy! ” the mother was screaming.
“Billy, no, get back! ”
    The last highwayman spun around. Wild-eyed
and desperate, he saw the fleeing child, saw that his two friends
were dead, and, as though to avenge a night gone wrong, brought his
pistol up, training it on the little boy's back.
    “ Billeeeeeeee!”
    Gareth lunged to his feet, threw himself at
the child, and tumbled him to the ground, shielding him with his
body. The pistol exploded at close range, deafening him, a
white-hot lance of fire ripping through his ribs as he rolled over
and over through grass and weeds and nettles, the child still in
his arms.
    He came to rest upon his back, the wet weeds
beneath him, blood gushing hotly from his side. He lay still,
blinking up at the trees, the rain falling gently upon his
throbbing cheek.
    His fading mind echoed his earlier words. Well done, good fellow! Well done . . .
    The child sprang up and ran, sobbing, back
to his mother.
    And for Lord Gareth de Montforte, all went
dark . . .
     
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