A Spinster's Awakening (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 2)

“Just go and fetch help. We need to find out where she has gone,” Angus growled.

Without moving, Jasper let out a long, low whistle. Suddenly, Niall and Phillip stepped out of the shadows and began to make their way toward him.

“Damned if I know which way she went,” Angus growled when he had finished explaining to them.

“She hasn’t gone up the road,” Phillip assured him.

“Nor has she gone across the road.”

All the men turned toward the dark woods beside them.

“Damn it all to Hell,” Angus snarled. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “We need to split up.”

“We need to be quiet,” Jasper growled. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find her.”

Together, the men fanned out and began to search the woods.

Angus, for the first time in his entire adult life, was completely distracted from his job by a female; a stubborn, alluring, decidedly feminine, reckless female whom he suspected was going to haunt him for a very long time to come.

Charity stood in the shelter of the trees and watched the hooded figure disappear into the woods across the field. She wanted to follow but knew she would be just as visible as he had been. What he was doing going over there at this time of night was intriguing. So much so, she was positively bursting with curiosity. Unfortunately, there was no way of getting across the field without putting herself in danger, and alerting Mr Horvat that she was on to him. With nothing else to do, and confident in the knowledge that the only danger to her was nearly half a mile away, Charity settled her shoulders against the tree behind her and settled back to watch and wait.

She had no idea what she was looking for, or why she was waiting for him to return, but something compelled her to wait where she was, to see how long Mr H

orvat would be gone, and if he returned with anything in his hand which might indicate what on earth he was doing out and about so late at night.

Angus struggled to contain his rising fear the longer he searched. His head ached, his fingers were sore from having been clenched into tight fists of fury for so long, and he was tired. More importantly, he was incensed by his need to find Charity safe; at how much her safety mattered to him on a purely personal level. The feelings that pummelled him had nothing to do with his work, his job, his entire life. His need to be assured of her safety was purely a private problem, something that mattered to him – the man, not him, the undercover operative for the Star Elite.

It was annoying just how easily, and so very, very quickly Charity had thrown his usually ordered existence into chaos. He was a man, who lived in a man’s world fighting criminals, challenged danger at every quarter, who went where he wanted when he wanted, and didn’t have to account to anybody – except for his boss - for his actions. To be turned inside out so easily by an air-headed female, whose wayward streak was designed to drive a man out of his mind at the blink of a feminine eyelid, was enough to make him want to beat his head against one of the solid tree-trunks.

He wished he had the strength to cast her to the Devil, turn around and head off to bed without a backward look, and not give a damn what happened to her. He wished he could. But he wasn’t that kind of man. Not only was she one of the citizens he had spent his life inadvertently trying to protect from cut-throat criminals and the seedy underbelly of society that threatened people in their own homes, but he had been raised to look after the females of the world; the people less able to fight to protect themselves. To abandon Charity to the likes of the kidnapper, who would do God knows what to her once she had been snatched, was enough to make him white with rage. He would tear the very woods apart if she didn’t re-appear.

Thankfully, he and his colleagues didn’t have to go far before Angus’s attention was captured by the very faint snapping of a twig. At the same time, Aaron materialised beside him and pointed toward a dark shadow standing silently beside a thick tree. Even from a distance, Angus could see the pale material of Charity’s dress.

“I will deal with her,” he breathed into Aaron’s ear.

“What is she looking for?” Aaron asked.

“I don’t know,” Angus growled. “But I damned well will find out.”

Rather than stomp up to her like he wanted, he studied the woods she was staring intently at. He had little doubt that was where the man had gone, but what was she waiting for? Why wasn’t she going home where she was safe? The more he contemplated her stupidity, the angrier he became. Eventually, he had no choice but to creep up behind her.

Charity was bored. Fed up, bored, cold, scared, and starting to feel completely foolish for racing off like she had. After all, Mr Horvat might just be heading off to meet an illicit liaison or something. Whatever he was doing, it was late, she was tired, and she would get nowhere standing where she was.

Before she could turn around, though, she was suddenly painfully aware that she was not alone. Her eyes widened. Her gasp was loud in the silence of the night, but she didn’t get the chance to scream. Fear locked all protest in her throat. She spun around but couldn’t see anything. She knew she had heard movement, though, and could still sense someone out in the woods with her. Panicked, her gaze flickered around the dark and empty woods.

“Hello?” she whispered, then winced at just how foolish she had been.

Don’t be stupid enough to alert the man to where you are, a dark voice warned her.

“Angus?” she whispered. Her fear grew when Angus didn’t reply.

The urge to flee was strong. Rather than move, Charity remained still and silent. Her heart thundered heavily in her ears. Amid a rising sea of panic, she struggled to decide what to do. The urge to run to safety eventually got the better of her. Without even stopping to think, Charity bolted for the road, and the safety of home.

Angus watched her go. Rather than stay where he was and let her return home unhindered, he tugged the hood up on his cloak and set to work. He felt an eel for deliberately scaring her but had to do whatever was necessary to ensure she didn’t behave so foolishly again. Thankfully, Jasper appeared to feel the same way. He too positively surged toward her out of the shadows, making sure he was visible; as a sinister, dark shape that appeared macabrely out of the darkness.

Angus watched Charity flinch when she saw him and race off in the opposite direction. When she stumbled, Angus beckoned to Jasper to back off a little, only to surge forward himself, an equally dark, dangerous, faceless figure in black.

Charity glanced up when she sensed movement on the path behind her. All she could see was a dark shadow heading her way. A scream locked in her throat. Instinctively, the need to protect herself became palpable. Her fingers, already on the littered floor of the woods, clasped tightly around a thick branch. When the dark figure glided silently closer, Charity vaulted to her feet and took a wild swing at him with her heavy weapon.