Fallen Hero (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 3)

Aaron vaulted out of bed without even giving himself the opportunity to blink sleepily. He bolted for the door only to realise he hadn’t got a stitch on. With a curse, he staggered around for a few moments while he viciously tugged his breeches on, and yanked the door open with such violence it ricocheted like gunfire around the house. Minutes later, he slammed to a stop outside of the study door with his gun in his hand.

“What?” he demanded of Oliver, who was already in the room with Elspeth.

Elspeth was staring blankly at the window, her face as pale as the moon outside. She lifted a shaking hand at the window, but without uttering a word, slithered to the floor in a dead faint.

“What in the Hell?” Aaron dropped his gun and lunged across the room to catch her before she hit her head against the solid stone of the fireplace. Cursing virulently, he slowly lowered her to the floor.

“It looks like she was terrified into a dead faint,” Oliver muttered.

Jasper lifted the window and peered outside, his frown heavy. He swore when his gaze dropped to the ground beneath the window.

“Wait a minute.” Jasper hurried out of the room, oblivious to the fact that his chest and feet were bare. Minutes later, he was back.

“Someone was out there. There are boot marks in the soil,” he warned them.

Quickly, he closed the shutters. Everyone then turned their attention to the still unconscious woman before the fireplace.

“Elspeth?” Aaron murmured. He gently lifted her into his arms. “Elspeth?”

Elspeth moaned when she woke up. She didn’t want to leave the comfort and warmth of the place she was in. It protected her from something that was hidden just out of sight; something that had shocked her to her core and left her stunned, horrified, and confused all at once. But Aaron’s voice persistently calling her name compelled her to fight off the darkness and blink her eyes open.

“Thank God,” he breathed when he saw her regain consciousness.

Elspeth’s gaze flew to the now shuttered window. Tears stung her eyes. All she could do for a moment was blink tearfully for several moments while she tried to make sense of what she had seen.

“Where are you going?” Aaron asked when she wriggled out of his embrace.

Rather than answer, Elspeth awkwardly pushed to her feet, hurried over to the window and slid the shutter open so she could look outside.

“What did you see?” Aaron’s voice was harsh.

He was full of fury toward Frederick and Voss whom he suspected had startled her by staring at her through the window. For a woman all alone in a room, being made aware of a dark shadowy figure encased in a cloak only a few feet away must have been a terrifying experience. Still, Aaron struggled to comprehend why it should upset Elspeth enough to make her faint.

“I don’t think I believe it myself,” she whispered.

Aaron wandered over to her. “What? Who was it?”

Elspeth looked at him with fearful eyes. “Thomas,” she whispered. “It was definitely Thomas peering through the window. He was wet, as though it had just been raining.”

“It has been raining,” Jasper warned.

His gaze met Aaron’s. Aaron struggled to contain his emotions and worked hard to keep his gaze impassive as he studied her.

“You are not normally taken to flights of fancy,” he said. “But are you sure it was him? It wasn’t just a figment of your imagination? Were you asleep?”

“Yes, but I knew I wasn’t alone. Something woke me. I felt someone watching me. When I stood up, I whirled around and saw him with his face pressed against the glass. It was definitely Thomas.” Elspeth cried openly such was the raw pain that coursed through her. “Why? Why would he do something like lead me to believe he was dead? How heinous could anybody be?”

“We don’t know if it was him yet, or someone you thought looked like him,” Jasper warned.

“We have to search the garden,” Oliver declared firmly. He turned to Aaron. “We will go. You stay here with Elspeth.”

The men left the room. Aaron turned to Elspeth and led her over to the chaise before the fire. Once there, he took a seat beside her and chafed her hands, not least because he had to do something with the energy that raced through him. He wanted to run in several different directions at the same time such was the state of his chaotic thoughts. What he did instead was force himself to remain perfectly still and calm. He had to gather facts that would lead them to a more logical conclusion, he was sure of it. It just wasn’t practical or reasonable to think Thomas might still be alive.

“Tell me, Elspeth? Did you see Thomas when he was brought back to the village?” Aaron asked quietly.

Elspeth jerked and looked at him. Slowly, she shook her head.

Aaron cursed. “Why not?”