Laudanum? What—?! “I took a direct hit from a raj’s saber.” He pointed at his neck and the scar there, tracing a path from his throat down his chest, indicating the length of the wound. Pushing off the wall, he leaned back into her and began slowly climbing the stairs again. “I should have died. I wanted to die at times, the pain was so intense. But I had Susan waiting for me, depending on me, and so I took laudanum instead. Anything to live.”
