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

Mallory shook her head.

“Then we walk, and quickly.”

Callum knew that his horse was going to be necessary but would just have to deal with how to get her onto it when they got there.

Before either of them could speak again, a guard dog suddenly began to bark.

“Time’s up.”

“What?”

Mallory felt sick and began to shake. The world swirled around her. She wanted to scream in fear. She wanted to run but had no idea which way she should go.

The shouts of men echoing the barking of the dogs was more than enough of a warning that they had been seen. It was horrifying.

“What do we do?” Mallory cried.

“Run.”

The speed in which Mallory was yanked into motion was startling. She had no choice but to do everything possible to race after Callum, whose longer legs and well booted feet were able to cover far more ground than hers could.

“I can’t. Callum. Stop. I can’t,” Mallory gasped several minutes later.

Her chest hurt. Her lungs burned. Her legs shook so much that she struggled to know how to put one foot before the other. Panic made her stumble. Fear made her eyes wide in the darkness, but nothing was more terrifying than the sight of several men racing after them on foot. To add to her terror, a dog was charging out ahead of the pack, covering the distance in half the time.

“Move.” Callum stepped in front of her, took aim, and stopped the animal in its tracks.

“Callum,” Mallory pleaded but she had no idea what she was asking for.

“Move,” was his only response.

Wildly, Mallory spun around only for the world to swim alarmingly. She knew she couldn’t go on any longer. Time was up. Her escape attempt had failed. Her body had run out of reserves. She couldn’t carry on, no matter how much she wanted to.

For a moment, all she could do was stare at this stranger, who had rather startlingly turned up out of nowhere and done his best to help her. Guilt immediately assailed her at the thought of what they might do to him if they caught him.

“You go on. If they catch you, they will kill you for trying to help me,” Mallory urged.

Callum knew then that he had been sent on a suicide mission. The chances of them escaping while being chased by such large numbers of men, horses, and gunfire were so remote that he wanted to laugh at the stupidity of his situation. Helplessness was not an emotion he was used to. He was a man who achieved things, made choices, lived life. He wasn’t used to having no options and, right now, Callum knew that he had no choice but to stand and fight – to the death if he had to.

“Callum, go. Make good your escape while you can. I can head them off,” Mallory urged again when he didn’t appear to have heard her.

She lifted her skirt in preparation to run across the field away from him, and lead the guards away, only for Callum to grab her arm and swing her around until she was standing on her tiptoes mere inches from his nose.

Callum glared at her with eyes that were hard and unrelenting.

“Damn you. We are not going to give up,” Callum hissed, giving her a swift shake. “Do you hear me? Neither of us are going to just surrender. We have not come too far to give up now.”

To prove that he would fight to the death, Callum lifted his gun, took aim, and shot the guard who was leading the chasers. In the background, he could see several guards mounting horses, but they were too far away for him to shoot. It wouldn’t be long until they got within range, though.

“Go. Move. Keep heading in that direction.”

Mallory opened her mouth to argue but Callum was distracted by the need to take more shots at the approaching men. Even she could see that it wasn’t doing much to deter them. The distance between them was narrowing with each passing moment.

Mallory knew she didn’t stand a chance of outrunning them, nor did Callum if he had to carry her. To her amazement, Callum took one more shot before he whirled around to face her.

“You are going to get free of them, Mallory,” he announced in a voice that was as fierce and harsh as his dark look.

With that, he ducked low and hefted her over his shoulder once more. This time, he stepped over the low stone wall running along the periphery of the field before resuming his run for both their lives.