Page 89 of Mail-Order Viscountess

Her heart seized.

For one frozen instant, nothing changed. Jake tightened around her, his body going rigid.

Then the world exploded into chaos.

Gunfire erupted from every direction—the sharp cracks echoing off the rocky outcroppings, making it impossible to tell where the shots originated. Men shouted. Horses screamed and reared.

The sorrel beneath her lurched sideways, and Kate’s stomach dropped as the animal’s hindquarters slid on ice.

Jake’s arms released her—reaching for his rifle or trying to control the panicked horse, she couldn’t tell which.

She did the only thing she could. Sank as low against the horse’s neck as the ropes would allow, making herself as small a target as possible.

Another volley of shots. Closer now. The man to her right—Henry—cried out and toppled from his saddle, hitting the snow-packed trail with a sickening thud.

“Scatter!” Gray Beard’s voice bellowed above the chaos. “Get to the trees!”

The horses bolted in different directions, some carrying riders, others fleeing with empty saddles as men dove for cover. Jake fought to control the sorrel, sawing at the reins, but the terrified animal had the bit between its teeth.

They careened down the trail at a dead run, branches whipping past Kate’s face. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed herself flat, praying the ropes would hold. Praying she wouldn’t be scraped off by a low-hanging limb.

Jake cursed and finally managed to slow their horse, then turn it.

“Nobody shoot!” he bellowed. “We’ve got the woman! We got Balfour’s wife!”

The gunfire paused, leaving an eerie quiet in its wake.

Kate’s breath came in ragged gasps around the gag.

Then cold metal pressed against her temple.

She froze. Didn’t dare even breathe.

“That’s right!” His voice rang louder now. “Anyone takes another shot, she dies first!”

Silence. Even the horses had gone still, their sides heaving, eyes rolling white.

She had to think. Had to do something. She couldn’t let her new family give up anything to save her.

She had no weapons. No way to free her hands. No way to escape.

But she had one thing Jake didn’t expect.

She had a family she wasn’t afraid to die for.

Kate threw her weight backward with every ounce of strength she possessed—slamming her head into Jake’s face with a crack that shot all the way down her spine.

He howled, his grip loosening. The horse reared. The gunfire around them started again, fiercer than before.

Kate felt herself sliding—falling—the world tilting sideways as Jake lost his hold on her completely.

Her hands were still bound to the saddle though. Keeping her from leaving the animal completely. Her feet hit the ground at the same time the horse’s did. The animal lurched, shying sideways, away from Jake crawling in the snow. Away from her at its side.

She scrambled to keep up with the sorrel. Could she grab the reins? Anything to stop the horse. Or maybe she could climb back on the saddle.

Being dragged by a panicked, bolting horse would be an awful way to die.

The horse wheeled, and her body swung out like a pendulum, her boots scrabbling for purchase on the icy ground. Pain exploded through her shoulders as the ropes yanked against her wrists.