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

“She is with us.”

“No, I am not,” Mallory cried. “I would never go willingly with the likes of you. You have no control over me

. You are a brute and a kidnapper.”

Mallory’s chest heaved with the force of her emotion. She was scared out of her wits but conversely it was that terror that brought her strength.

“Stay strong,” Callum breathed.

Mallory sucked in a breath and immediately straightened her spine, even though she wanted to slide off the horse and run, as far away and as quickly as her feet could carry her.

“Get out of our way,” Callum demanded.

In response, the guard cocked his gun.

“Get down off that horse or we will shoot you down,” another guard to their right ordered.

“Try it, and you will have to explain to your boss why you have taken to killing the person he wants found,” Mallory retorted.

“He wants you back. He didn’t say nothing about you being taken back alive,” the guard sneered.

“Kill me and he will never know what I have already told the authorities,” Mallory snapped.

The guard squinted at her, as if trying to gauge if she had the time to tell anybody what she had been put through.

“Get down. You are going to come with us.”

The guard cocked his gun and pointed it straight at her heart.

“Then shoot me because I would rather die than go anywhere with the likes of you.”

She screamed and ducked when a shower of splinters cascaded over her the second the bullet hit the tree closest to them. A large crack appeared in the thick bark inches from her head. Rather than be frightened into climbing down, Mallory glared at the gunman.

“You are a lousy shot,” she sneered.

Callum huffed a laugh. “Now now, my dear, not everyone can be a good shot.”

Callum saw the man’s gaze drop to Horace. Without hesitation, Callum lifted his gun and shot the man in the centre of his chest. The second he had taken the shot, Callum dragged Mallory off Horace. Dodging behind a tree, he slapped Horace’s backside and watched the horse charge down the path. Horace, in flight, stomped over the groaning man on the floor, who promptly fell silent beneath the weight of the horse’s hooves.

With Mallory tucked safely behind him, Callum shot another guard. Immediately, the forest exploded into a hail of gunfire that was deafening. Trees groaned and shattered beneath the force of the bullets. Men moaned as they were caught by the poorly aimed shots of their cohorts. Callum coldly picked off one man after another, until he had to move to be able to find more victims.

“Move,” he ordered when he needed to reload his gun again.

He quickly replaced the shot and nudged Mallory into the thickest bramble and quickly followed her. Thorns tugged at their clothing, but neither paid much attention as they half crawled, half slithered through the undergrowth. All about them, men stomped through the thicket in search of their quarry. Callum braced himself and shot anybody who appeared before him until the need to move arose again.

“Let’s go.”

“Which way?”

Mallory had no idea where they were. She had lost all sense of distance. Inside the woods, everything looked the same and it was so dark it was difficult to see much.

“To your right,” Callum whispered.

With nothing to indicate if he was right or wrong, Mallory began to crawl to her right. It was a little undignified to scurry along with her bottom in the air, but she managed to find another hiding place without having to go too far. She paused and waited for Callum to target several more guards.

“Stay down,” Callum growled. “But keep moving.”

Together, they crawled across the forest floor to a new location. The men were now searching but because of their bulk and numbers they couldn’t remain quiet. It was easy for Callum to find them, select a target, and fire. Callum peered around a bush and took one man down, two, then another. Again, and again, he fired.