Saints and Sinners, Ch. 5

She didn't see him as she staggered from the gates. She didn't see him until it was too late.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her into an alleyway as she fought against him. She yelped as the pistol was slammed into her ribcage, knocking the wind from her lungs. He pressed her up against the wall with the arm clutching the pistol, the mouth of which he placed under her chin as his forearm held her in place. She let out a sob as his weight crushed against her.

"That's it, cry for me," Gavreau snarled, his hand tearing her dress at its shoulder.

"Get away from her!" yelled a voice, cold with fury.

Gavreau suddenly pulled her in front of him using her as a human shield. Adam stood at the mouth of the alley, pistol primed, searching for a shot. Gavreau pressed his pistol into Christine's side, its mouth pressing hard against her ribcage. His other hand was on her neck and chest, keeping her in front of him. She felt his foul breath on her neck and shuddered.

"Let her go!" Adam shouted, his voice echoing into the street. A few people had gathered. One took off, running in the direction of the Garrison.

"I've had just about enough of you getting in my way!" roared Gavreau, turning his pistol to aim now at Adam.

"Let her go and we can settle this as men, with honour, in a duel," he said.

Gavreau sneered. "Like men? You're hardly a man, simpering after this whore like a lost puppy! You're a fool. A man knows that he needs to take what he wants."

"Let her go," Adam repeated, "and we can handle this with honour," he said, and he lowered his pistol, trying to defuse the situation.

Gavreau howled in laughter. "You'd fight me? To the death? You'd sacrifice yourself, for her? Why?" he sneered as he pressed the pistol barrel harshly into her ribcage once more, so she shuddered in pain.

"Because I'm in love with her," said Adam, pain and defeat clear in his voice as he locked eyes with Christine. She looked back at him, trying to keep the fear and pain from showing in her eyes.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I am," sneered Gavreau as he turned the pistol and fired it at Adam.

"No!" screamed Christine, as she pushed back at him, and grasping the dagger that was hidden in her skirts, she plunged it upwards, burying it to the hilt in the evil man's chest.

She watched as the panic replaced the surprise in Gavreau's eyes. "You deserve this," she hissed as she pulled the blade free and the man fell face forward to the ground, his body twitching in its final moments.

"Adam!" she shouted, "Adam!" In an instant she had flown to his side.

Red was blossoming from the entry wound low on his right side. She immediately began to apply pressure to the wound. He was losing blood quickly. She tore the hem from her skirt and wadded it up beneath him where she could feel the exit wound also seeping blood.

"Hold on! Hold on!" she whispered to him urgently. "I've got you!" she wiped his hair from his forehead, leaving a streak of blood on his brow.

She held his eye contact, her hands still desperately trying to stem the blood. He raised a bloodstained hand, which gently tangled in her dark hair that had spilled over the shoulder of her torn dress and slowly lowered it as he lost consciousness.

"Adam!" she shouted, trying to rouse him.

"Christine!" she heard her name being shouted and the clatter of boots on cobblestone.

"Aramis!" she cried as he flung himself down at her side. "You have to help him! Please! You have to save him!" she cried desperately.

Aramis gave her a pained look and replaced her hands with his on the wound. Etienne was on the other side and with Porthos' help, they rolled Adam onto a stretcher and took off for the garrison.

She felt, rather than saw, strong hands lift her from the ground.

"Are you alright?" she heard D'Artagnan whisper into her ear as he carried her from the carnage of the scene.

"You were right. I should have told him," she whispered, closing her eyes and blocking out the world as she lay her head on his shoulder. "This is all my fault."

oOo