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

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

Callum puffed out his cheeks. Before he stood up, he took a moment to look down at the hand curled around his gun. It trembled ever so slightly and was so uncharacteristic of him that he realised then just how much Mallory had started to mean to him. He was shaken by just how close he had come to losing her. If his colleagues hadn’t arrived in time, God only knows if he would be alive still, despite the villagers hating Melrose as well.

Callum had no idea what that his deep connection to her meant yet; what he was supposed to do about it; but one thing he did know was that this battle had become personal.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Callum.”

Callum forced himself to his feet when he heard Will.

“What?”

The men: Niall, Phillip, Jasper, Harry, and Rhys, began to pick their way through the fallen men, checking each of the deceased to make sure they were beyond hurting anybody else. Guns were collected. Pockets were patted for knifes or any other weapon the fallen might use even while lying on the floor. Eventually, everyone gathered beside the last man but then turned to watch Callum gently help a terrified looking young woman to her feet. Even scared she was utterly beautiful with wide green eyes and a long main of flowing black hair.

“There goes another one,” Rhys murmured out of the corner of his mouth when he watched Callum tenderly capture Mallory’s hand in his and tug her out of the alley toward his colleagues.

Oliver threw him a grin before stepping forward and bowing.

“Miss? I apologise for the carnage, and our tardiness. We had a little problem in the woods that had to be cleared up before we could leave.”

Mallory, stunned that the man could be so polite amid so much bloody carnage, could do nothing more than nod. It was such a surreal situation to be in that words failed her. She wasn’t at all sure that any words seemed appropriate right now anyway.

“What about Melrose? Has anyone seen him?” Callum asked.

Rhys shook his head before stepping forward to introduce himself to Mallory.

“Excuse him. He isn’t much good with manners,” he murmured with a nod to Callum.

“We are not at a bloody ball, Rhys. You are going to want to mark her card next,” Callum grumbled with a disgusted snort.

Shaking his head, he tried to step back only to have his ankle grasped fiercely by the man who was lying at their feet. Mortally wounded, he was clearly struggling to fight for breath, but managed to find the words he wanted to say before death claimed him.

Mallory edged closer to Callum’s reassuring strength. It wasn’t lost on her that this was the man Callum had been talking to before the gunfire had ended the conversation.

Callum squatted down so he could hear what the man wheezed.

“The old tavern,” was all the man hissed before he gave in, heaved his last breath, and fell into eternal silence.

With a sigh, Callum eased to his feet and stood back.

“Where in the heck is that?” Rhys demanded.

“I saw something like it the road about two streets away. Well, it was an abandoned building that might have once been a tavern,” Niall shrugged.

“What do you think is there?” Callum almost hated to ask.

Oliver pursed his lips and shrugged. “I don’t like any of this.”

“Me neither,” Callum growled.

“I’ll go and take a quick look, shall I?” Will offered.

“Not without me, you won’t,” Phillip countered.

Together, the men went in search of the derelict tavern. Mallory watched them go with a deep-rooted sense of trepidation.