Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 5)

“We need to decide what manoeuvres we are going to show Emmeline,” Oliver sighed.

Niall shook his head briskly. “No. You are going to decide what manoeuvres you are going to show Emmeline. You have been tasked with this, not me. I am not going to help you.”

“But this is a group investigation.”

“Yes, but you were given Miss Elkins to look after and look after her you shall,” Niall retorted.

“Anybody would think you lot want me to be the next one to fall into the parson’s trap,” Oliver grumbled.

Niall froze and turned to look at his friend a little more closely. His brows lifted when Oliver met his gaze. “It is like that already?”

“Have you seen her?” Oliver cried. “She is gorgeous. She is sweet, gentle, and intelligent. She is quick.” He didn’t think he meant intellectually either, although he knew she was no addle-brained female. Miss Emmeline Elkins was as sharp as a tack and stubborn when she had a mind to be. Oliver ran a weary hand down his face.

“You have a job to do, so do it,” Niall snorted. “You don’t have to marry the damned chit. Just give her a knife and show her how to use it without cutting her own throat. Maybe show her how to land a punch. Hopefully, with all the aggression, she won’t see you as any romantic hero. If she does, well, all I can say is another one bites the dust, eh?”

Oliver glared at him and lobbed an apple across the room. It slammed into the wall beside Niall’s head. “You won’t be so damned blazé when you are challenged by a bloody female.”

“You have only known her a day, for God’s sake. How badly can you have fallen? Don’t be so dramatic. She is only a female. She cannot be all that scary. It may be that she doesn’t see you in any romantic way, have you thought of that? Just because she is beautiful, doesn’t mean she would look at someone like you. I mean, look at you. You are rough and ready, and smell like horses. Most of the time you are almost feral, and you spend your days asleep and your nights awake and when you are awake you can be an ornery cuss. Don’t fret, I am sure what whatever stars she might have in her eyes right now, a day or two with you with knock it out of her.” Niall ducked and laughed when Oliver threw another apple across the room.

“Are you saying she is out of my league?” Oliver demanded loudly.

“Just saying,” Niall grinned. “You may think you are handsome, but you have all the charm of an outraged bullfrog. Give it a rest. She just happens to be the first female you have come across over the last several mon

ths who hasn’t run screaming at the sight of you, and who doesn’t want to smash you over the head with something heavy. Just because she smiled sweetly at you doesn’t mean she would rush you up the aisle. Give her a chance, eh? You have to really, because I am not helping you with her. On this occasion, you are well and truly on your own.” With that, Niall sailed out of the room, but swiftly before Oliver could throw any more apples.

Oliver watched him go and contemplated throwing another apple across the room just for the satisfaction of hearing it thump the door. Studying it carefully for a moment or two, Oliver picked it up and bit into it with a crunch. As he munched the succulent fruit, he found himself eyeing the clock and wondering if it was too late to go and see Emmeline’s property anyway, just to make sure she was safely locked in for the night. It wouldn’t hurt just to keep an eye on her, would it?

Before he could talk himself out of it, Oliver shoved out of his chair, grabbed his cloak and made his way out of the safe house. Rather than take his already tired horse, he tugged his cloak on and ambled out of the courtyard at the rear of the house. Within seconds, he was swallowed by the night.

He had left so suddenly and silently that when Niall re-entered the room seconds later, he paused and glanced around the kitchen warily in search of his friend. He shook his head, but knew it was best not to think too much about where Oliver might have gone. He suspected he already knew.

Oliver sucked in a huge breath and willed himself to calm down. He was annoyed that his friends had dropped him into his allotted task and refused to help him. Moreover, he was annoyed at his own lack of self-control when it came to Miss Emmeline Elkins. Caring about her, even on a professional level, was probably the worst thing he could ever do. He couldn’t lose sight of the fact that he could offer her all the assurances in the world, but when it truly came down to keeping her safe there was always going to be an element of failure; a danger that she might end up losing her life after all.

“I will give my life to protect her,” he murmured aloud, tipping his head back to look up at the stars. The forceful emotion behind those spoken words made them a devout promise unlike any he had ever experienced before. While he was alone, in the quiet of the still and empty night, Oliver contemplated what it might all mean.

He cared about his colleagues and would fight with them to protect them and keep everyone safe if he had to. He knew they would fight to the death for him in return. However, with Emmeline, things were considerably different. The emotion that drove his determination to protect her was so strong that Oliver struggled to put a name to it. Even though he walked along the narrow, winding path that was barely visible in the night sky, he felt propelled, driven almost, to move faster, partly to get to her house a little quicker but partly to try to outrun the feelings he knew he could never ignore.

“Damn,” he hissed through clenched teeth when, out of breath and exhausted, he eventually gave up and slowed his pace. He had practically jogged around the outskirts of the village to reach the rear garden of Emmeline’s property, which now stood in solitary gloom several feet away. Surprisingly, there was a light coming from within the house. Had Emmeline left it on because she was unnerved, or was she still up? Oliver contemplated edging closer but decided against it just in case she or that nosy neighbour of hers saw him. The last thing he wanted was for half the village to turn out and chase him off thinking he was the kidnapper or something.

As he stood in the darkness studying the house, Oliver allowed himself a few private moments to contemplate the woman inside a little more. She had far more capability of turning his life upside down than she realised and he would have liked, but it was already far too late to turn around and walk away. Even if he ignored his orders, which practically commanded he spend as much time with her as humanly possible, Oliver knew he could never cast Emmeline into the past along with the other people he met through his work with the Star Elite. He suspected that if he did move on, he would be forever haunted by her memory, and that was most disturbing because it was something he had never encountered before.

“I have always walked away and forgotten the women I come into contact with,” he whispered. “Why are you so sodding different?”

He wished he knew, but after several moments of quiet contemplation, Oliver turned around and began to make his way back toward the safe house. This time, though, he didn’t go through the woods. He walked to the end of the road and sauntered casually through the village. He could have been the only person alive in the whole world given how eerily devoid of life the village seemed. There wasn’t even a stray cat to howl its protest at his intrusion. But that situation didn’t last for long.

As if to warn him of impending doom, out of the eerie quiet came a low rumbling noise. Oliver squinted at the end of the street but couldn’t see a carriage, and he was certain that’s what made the noise. Casting a glance over his shoulder didn’t give him any clues as to who else was out and about at such an ungodly hour. Without hesitation, he darted into the darkest shadows of a small alley tucked away between two terraced houses and stood back to wait. Minutes ticked by. The rumbling sound stopped. A deathly silence ensued. Oliver’s nerves stretched taut as he waited and watched. Something was afoot, he knew it. His gut instinct was never wrong.

When nothing happened for several minutes, Oliver crept toward the entrance of the alley. He knew he was not alone out on the street. Someone else was also watching and waiting, but for what he had no idea. He wished now he had spent a little longer watching Emmeline’s house, if only to be sure she was safe. Had they found her? Rather than go back to the safe house, Oliver decided to double-back and go and check Emmeline’s property instead. With no movement out on the street, he stepped backward with the intention of using the gardens or yard of the property to circle around the village to return to Emmeline’s home.

Suddenly, the world went black. The coarse material of the bag that was dropped effortlessly over his head was thick and made breathing difficult. Oliver instinctively reached up to lift it off so he could breathe properly but the ends were held closed, encasing him in an impenetrable blackness that was overwhelming. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath when he was tossed over someone’s shoulder. It was then that he realised just how much danger he was in. Almost immediately, the world began to swirl around him, encouraged by the stench of what he knew was chloroform. Within seconds he was unconscious.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Emmeline yawned and blinked sleepily at the room she was in. A frown of confusion marred her brow as she stared at the cold and empty fireplace in the sitting room. All at once, her sleepiness vanished, and a flood of disappointment slammed into her as she recalled the endless hours that she had waited for Oliver to show up.

He hadn’t returned like he had said he would.

Her frown darkened when she glanced at the clock. She sighed and contemplated going to bed when a persistent hammering on the door broke the silence and made her jump. Her heart leapt into her throat. She jerked out of her chair and raced to the window, prising the lace curtain out of the way to peer outside. Her hopes were dashed when she saw two strangers on her doorstep. Dropping the curtain, she turned to face the room and tried to decide what to do. Should she answer it?