BLADE OF INNOCENCE, Highlander the TV series fan fiction

Excerpt from Chapter 16 of the fan novel now available on Wattpad:

            A scraping sound over his head made Duncan turn, raising his sword, imagining another blade sweeping down at his neck.

            "Mine," Immerman growled.  Fire flared in the darkness of the stairwell leading up to the third floor.

            Duncan staggered at a blow high in his chest, near his shoulder.  As he fell, then he felt the fiery bite of the bullet. He clutched his sword, but his arm was useless.

            "Does it burn, MacLeod?" Immerman purred from the shadows.  A single footstep dragged on the steps.  "Does it eat into you, like betrayal? Like love sullied and innocence destroyed?"

            "I never betrayed you, Karl."

            "Liar!"

            Another bullet screamed through the darkness. Duncan tried to roll, but it caught him in the ribs.  He choked as blood spurted through his lungs.  Blackness deeper than the shadowed hall swirled around him.

            Duncan fought it.  He spat blood and pulled himself up against the wall and tried to get to his knees.

            "Face me honorably, Karl.  Sword to sword.  Or are you afraid you aren't up to it?"

            There was a fine line between irritating Immerman so he lost some of his elegant control, and goading the man into savage fury.  The longer Duncan could keep Immerman talking and not attacking him, the more time he had to regenerate.

            "Oh, I won't take your head here, MacLeod. Not yet. That wouldn't be satisfying at all."

            Duncan choked and spat up more blood.  He couldn't seem to get enough breath.  Fire raced through his body in waves, pulsing with every beat of his heart.