Kingdom Come Read Free Page A

you out of my sight.” He turned to the men behind him, keeping the gun aimed at Bud. "Take them. The bodyguard goes to the nearest hospital and the woman goes with me."
    "No!" Rory shrieked, clutching Kieran tightly. "I have to stay with him. I won't let you separate us."
    Corbin turned his attention to Rory, preparing to reply. Just as he did so, Bud saw his chance and lunged for the gun, receiving a butt in the face for his efforts. As he landed heavily in the sand, a marine trained his rifle on David before the man could move. With Bud wallowing just above unconsciousness and David effectively stopped, there was no one left between Corbin and Rory except Kieran.
    He knew he was dying. He had nothing left to lose by protecting the woman he loved. Somehow finding the strength to disengage himself from her tight embrace, he rose to one knee and faced the man who had plagued him like an evil curse for centuries, the one man who was responsible for all of his misery. The man who had been jealous of Kieran and the holy relic he possessed. The face Kieran remembered from eight hundred years ago, now reincarnated and standing in front of him. Even now, he was still trying to kill him.
    "You will not separate us, Simon," he said weakly, feeling Rory's hands on his shoulders. "The lady will come with me."
    Corbin stared at him, the odd sense of déjà vu plaguing him.  It happened every time he looked at the man, a sensation he was struggling to ignore.
    "Don't be a hero," he snarled. "From the look of you, you couldn't take a bullet wound."
    Kieran cocked an eyebrow, holding out his arms as if to embrace the world. "Is that what you wish? To kill me as you once attempted eight hundred years ago?" he shrugged his massive shoulders. "Then complete your task. Complete what you started. But know this; I have what I came for. I have the holy relic and my lady will see that is returned to England, as I vowed. There is nothing more you can do to me to cause me any greater pain, Simon. But you can cause the lady great pain and I will not permit it. If I am to go to this hospital, then she will go with me and you cannot stop her."
    Corbin aimed the gun at Kieran's head. "You have interfered for the last time," he said with malice. "I don't know who you are and I've no idea why you insist on calling me Simon. But if killing you is what it takes to accomplish my goal, then I shall. Now, I will ask this only once; will you go peaceably?"
    "With the lady at my side?"
    "No."
    "Then you have your answer."
    Corbin cocked an eyebrow. "Very well, hero. Have it your way."
    A gun went off. Rory screamed and screamed, her voice echoing violently off the rocks. But even as she continued screaming, she realized that Kieran had not been shot. He was still on one knee, his arms outstretched, watching Corbin fall face-first into the sand. Bud, David, Kieran and Rory all stared in astonishment as Darlow, the meek little British embassy man who was standing just behind Corbin, lowered the small caliber revolver in his left hand.
    Darlow felt the stunned gazes as he continued to look upon the man he had just killed. He was rather stunned himself; where he had once been allied with Corbin now, clearly, he was not. This crazy adventure that had all started when he had received a call at the Embassy in Istanbul stating that an English knight from the Third Crusade had been discovered by an American archaeologist had been the wildest ride he had ever taken. Wild and oddly supernatural.  He looked up from the body in the sand, his attention directed at Rory.
    "A man like Corbin only understands violence. I've known enough Corbins in my lifetime to know that. And I simply couldn't let him kill your knight in cold blood," his gaze found Kieran. Weakly, he shook his head. "I don't know why I believe you are who they say you are. But I do. How did you come back to life?"
    Kieran wavered dangerously, falling on his rump as Rory dropped to his side, supporting him.