The Duchess (Outsider #2)

Chapter 61: Shot! Wounded!

For a fraction of a second, Dusk was too shocked to react, even as she fell to the ground under the weight of the body. Luckily, she did not topple over the railing into the water.

Then she screamed. "NO! NOOOO!! Julien! NO!"

Hearing her cry out Julien's name, the men stopped shooting and looked on in horror. Was it really the Crown Prince, Julien Lidwig?

Dusk started crying bitterly as she saw the lifeless body lying on her. It was not moving. She had fought with him that evening and now she would never get a chance to say she was sorry.

"I love you Julien! Wake up!" She cried out miserably.

She pulled her hand out from under his body and saw it was red with blood. She cried even more bitterly as she looked over his body. Then she noticed that her other hand did not have any blood on it. Only one had had blood...

Then she suddenly realised that there was no blood on his back where he was shot, but only on the front side. She did not study biology, but even to an untrained mind, it made no sense. Her mind went on alert. How can a man shot and killed by multiple bullets not have blood where he was shot!

She looked up sharply at the dozen men who were now standing, looking worried. They were even more worried now on seeing her red hand.

Meanwhile the body had shifted slightly, and Julien's face was lying against her thigh. She could now feel he was still breathing. Which should be impossible! What was happening?

Then in the fraction of the second while everything, even time, seemed to stand still, the 'dead body' moved...

Two guns appeared in Julien's hand even as he twisted slightly, and the guns fired back at the men, hitting them so accurately that Dusk could not believe it was even possible. At first, she was overjoyed that Julien was still alive. Then she wondered how he was still alive.

She considered for a moment whether she was inside a VR Game that she had forgetting about. And then she thought that perhaps it was a last-breath effort by Julien using the last of his strength to try and protect her from intruders.

But they were not intruders... They were Imperial Security!

Even as the men fell to the ground in pain (but didn't seem to be seriously hurt), Dusk wondered whether they were using fake bullets... But the blood on her hands was real. She could feel it!

Having shot everyone, Julien slumped back on the ground (or more correctly, on Dusk's legs actually), with his eyes closed and his chest unmoving.

"No Julien!!!" She shouted. "I love you. Don't do this! Don't die! Wake up! Please wake up, I will do anything for you!"

Even as her vision blurred with tears, she noticed one of Julien's eyes was open. He was looking at her... and his face showed a hint of amusement.

She stopped crying and looked at him sharply in anger. Was he, by any chance, not hurt and was only fooling her? She felt her anger bubbling inside her!

"Julien! You are alright?" She almost screamed.

The 'Dead Man' sprang to his feet and glared at the 12 Imperial Security Officers who were standing now, shamefaced. Only a few seconds had passed in the meanwhile (though Dusk had no idea how many) and she found that 6-7 A-SAPTs were hovering around the yacht.

A Bravadian Armed Forces Officer on a megaphone was ordering everyone on the yacht to stand down, lower their weapons and lie flat on the ground or risk being shot. Dusk looked up and was temporarily blinded by the floodlights from the A-SAPTs but then she could see multiple guns mounted on the A-SAPTs trained in their direction.