To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

Callum pointed toward the fields.

Mallory studied the open fields he wanted to take her into and felt sick. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to run across them.

At least I know now why the guard keeps studying them.

“We can

not run across this before the guard sees us,” Mallory gasped as she followed the stranger toward the gate and looked at the huge field beyond.

“I can’t do this,” she moaned. “We will be seen.”

“You have to at least try.”

There was such firmness in the stranger’s voice that Mallory paused.

“I don’t think I can,” she persisted.

Callum glared at her. “You can either go across that field, or into that house, it is your choice. Either way could lead to your death. One way can lead to your freedom if you hurry and try to reach the other side. What do you want to do? Tell me now because this is my life at risk now as well. I should like to know if I am placing it in danger for no bloody reason.”

“I have to get free, but I don’t know you.”

“I am here, aren’t I?” Callum growled. “I saved you from being caught just now, didn’t I?”

“But who are you?”

“Do we have to go into this now? Does it really matter? You have a chance at freedom. Are you going to stand here dithering or are you going to run for it?”

Mallory sighed.

“I can let you go back into the house if you would like me to, but you will die,” Callum warned her when he sensed her hesitation.

Mallory gasped when she heard someone murmuring. Whirling around, she stared into the darkness with wide eyes.

Callum cursed when he heard the patrol heading toward them once more.

“We have to get moving. The longer you are out here the colder you are going to get and the more risk there is that we are going to be caught. Hurry up. We can talk later. I will answer your questions. For now, do you think you can make it across that field?”

Mallory contemplated the open space. Slowly, she shook her head. When she looked at him this time there were tears in her eyes.

“I don’t think I can,” she breathed.

Callum didn’t doubt that she was being honest. She was shivering so badly he was truly concerned for her welfare. Without saying another word, he bent over and rammed his shoulder into her waist, tossing her over his shoulder as he stood back up. It was startling to feel how light she was. She was so slim her bones dug into his shoulder, but her slenderness was no less disturbing than her lack of protest when she found herself upside down over his shoulder being carried off into the night.

“Just stay quiet.”

Callum knew his night had just got a hell of a lot harder. It was going to be difficult to stave off attack with a woman on his shoulder not least because she blocked his view of their surroundings. Moreover, his footsteps were heavier given he was carrying the weight of two people, but there was nothing he could do about either problem. Mallory had to be rescued.

And rescued she will be.

“Where are we going?”

“Shut up.”

Mallory duly lapsed into silence. With nothing to focus on, she studied the ground several feet beneath her. Her cheeks flushed when she discovered her eyes were on the same level as this stranger’s backside. Determined not to gaze at it, she tipped her head up at an uncomfortable angle and looked at the area they were leaving behind instead.

“Are you all right?” Callum grunted, a little concerned at just how limp she was.

Mallory looked at the distance he had managed to create between them and the barn so quickly. She knew that they wouldn’t have gone half as far if she had tried to walk.