Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

Oliver ran down the bank alongside them as they were swept down the Thames and through London. Eventually, Callum reappeared but Jasper was unable to get him and Molly close enough to the riverbank to catch the rope Callum threw them.

Molly knew she was hindering him. He was still holding her tightly but each time he tried to surge forward to catch the rope he was yanked back by her. She didn’t mean to hold him back. She just couldn’t move as swiftly as he did because of her skirt. She was helpless, and they both knew it.

I am going to drag him to his death as well. Molly knew it was fact.

“Let me go.” Molly began to kick and squirm against his hold, not least because she knew she had dragged him into the mess they now faced. He couldn’t do much of anything while clinging to her, and she couldn’t find the will to release him, but she knew she must, mostly because she couldn’t bear to have his death on her conscience.

“No. Stay with me,” Jasper argued.

“Let me go,” Molly protested.

She tried to prise his arm from around her only to find him tightening his grip so much she was plastered against him. Everything he was suddenly became her. Each breath he took revitalised them both. Every time he kicked, he kicked for them both. There was nothing either of them could do except part and both die. Together, they stayed strong. Eventually, they began to work together to fight the raging current and get close enough to the bank to try to grab the rope Callum threw them. When they missed, Jasper swore. He watched impatiently as his friend re-coiled the rope. By the time Callum had thrown it again, Jasper barely had the strength left to tug his arm free of the water and try to grab it.

“Damn, I have missed it again,” he snapped.

“Its hopeless,” Molly whispered.

“No. It isn’t,” Jasper retorted firmly. “It is never time to give up. Die trying but don’t ever give up.”

Molly wanted to find the strength to keep kicking but her legs simply wouldn’t move. She knew she was a dead weight against him. Over the last couple of minutes, she had been aware that Jasper had grown colder. The fine traces of warmth she had felt in him only a few moments ago had vanished completely. Now it was difficult to know who was the coldest. What Molly did know with more certainty than anything she had ever known or felt before in her life was that she was costing this man his life. She had to make him release her, no matter what it took.

“Don’t give up,” Jasper pleaded when he saw the look in her eye.

He knew the

second their eyes met that Molly wasn’t ready for an asylum. She was as sane and normal as he was. Whatever had gone wrong in her life, she knew exactly what it was, but was defeated by it for some reason only she could comprehend. He was also shockingly aware of the moment she made the decision to let go of him and surrender to the river’s demands.

“No!” Jasper made a grab for her when she pushed away from him.

“Get to the riverbank. You will survive,” Molly urged, her voice fading as she was dragged further away from him.

Molly had no choice but to lie back and stare blankly up at the sky overhead. She had no idea what had come over her or why she should contemplate doing such a thing as boldly facing death in this way. There was something so alive about the man who had jumped in after her that stood in stark contrast to just how dead she felt that made Molly realise that she couldn’t live with her conscience if she was responsible for killing him. She knew that giving him a chance at life was the right thing to do, even if it cost her hers.

In her youth, Molly had had hope, the promise of a brighter future, choices and a chance at happiness. Now, thanks to the greedy laziness of a distant relation, Molly knew her choices had vanished. Her brighter future had been taken off her and she had been cast cruelly into a life of servitude for a relation she didn’t really like very much. Edith refused to even treat her like a person. With Edith in her life, Molly knew her life, or choices, would never be her own. She would never achieve anything, go anywhere, do anything, or be anybody. If she did fight to get free of the water, where would she go? Back to the miserable single room in a grimy lodging house she hated and even that was a temporary arrangement because her funds were dangerously low. She was going to be lucky if she could afford to eat next week, and with no more work in the offering, there was little she could do to fix her problems.

Jasper watched her float away with a gnawing horror that struck him deep in his soul. He knew then that if he let her go then she would float away and he would lose her forever. The raging tide would suck her down. She would be free of whatever burden she carried, but he would be forever burdened by her demise. He couldn’t live with the dark stain on his soul that he would carry with him wherever he went if he didn’t save her.

She won’t be a part of my life either, Jasper thought desperately but with no idea why he should want this feminine stranger, however beautiful she was, to be a part of it.

He was mired in a world of thieves, liars, scoundrels, cut-throats and abusers who inhabited the parts of society the Star Elite fought daily. Molly didn’t belong in his world. Even so, Jasper knew deep inside that she could bring light to his world of darkness. She could bring something more than danger and death. She could bring a life, happiness, love, hope – if only she lived.

Renewed determination made him kick his way to the surface when he was dragged under once more. Thankfully, when he did break free of the water he saw Oliver a little further downstream in a small rowing boat. He was floating in the middle of the river directly in their path so that he could hoist them aboard when they drew near.

“Where is she?” Oliver called when he looked at Jasper and saw he was all alone.

“I don’t know.” Jasper swirled around in the water, kicking his feet to keep himself on the surface. When he couldn’t see her, pure terror struck him. He dived beneath the murky water but was encased in a darkness that was suffocating.

Jasper pushed free of the surface again and sucked in air and watched Callum climb over the railing and dive head-first into the water.

“Where is she?” Jasper asked Oliver.

“Over there.” Oliver pointed to something closer to the riverbank. Callum was already with her, pushing her toward Oliver. By the time Jasper reached the small boat, Molly was already aboard. Jasper, with little strength left, was tugged aboard and was swiftly followed by Callum. Together, Callum and Oliver then rowed everyone to the shore.

It took far too long to reach the shore as far as Jasper was concerned. He was shivering and so numb he struggled to breathe properly. Molly’s skin had gone a horrible shade of blue. He touched her and murmured her name, a little alarmed that she didn’t respond.

“Molly?” he persisted, shaking her shoulder.

The feel of her icy skin was worrying. Jasper had only ever felt someone that cold when their life had long since been extinguished. The thought of Molly dead was so disturbing that Jasper hauled her into his arms and cradled her against him as they returned to shore. He had no idea why he felt so compelled to do so but he promised himself right there and the that he would do everything he had to do to keep this woman, Molly, safe. He would do whatever it took to keep her free of the clutches of whoever and whatever had driven her to such extremes. When he found the person or persons responsible, he would make sure that they would never be able to ever do anything like this to anybody else – whatever it was.