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

Callum turned to face forward.

“Just make sure we have plenty of shot,” Callum growled.

With that, the men lapsed into silence.

The ride seemed to be endless. At no point during the hour-long journey to the safe house did Sir Hugo twitch or even blink. Even staring at him, Mallory was barely able to see if his chest was still moving. She knew that he could pass away at any moment and she might not know it. Consequently, she took to resting her hand against his heart to feel for that steady, reassuring thump called life.

“Thank God for that,” she breathed when Callum guided the cart into a long, winding driveway.

A tall, sprawling house sat waiting for them, as aged and quaint as the village it sat beside.

“How wonderful,” Mallory breathed as she studied it.

The low-lying thatch above the crooked front door gave the building a quaint charm that made her smile. It was evident that the house had been built many years ago. It had withstood plague and famine yet still offered shelter and protection to those who needed it, which was just as well because it needed to shelter people who had a war to fight now.

Throughout the journey, Callum had remained stoically silent. Mallory had wanted to talk to him but couldn’t find any topic of conversation that was appropriate given what had happened to Sir Hugo. How could one engage in idle chit-chat when a man’s life hung in the balance, and when they were likely to be attacked at any given moment? What did one talk about?

Because she couldn’t talk, and nobody else seemed inclined to, tension

had not just formed over them, but strengthened with each passing mile. Mallory had become more and more on edge until she started to wonder if it was possible to break beneath its heavy weight.

“He is still alive,” she murmured when the carriage rumbled to a stop outside the back door of the house and Callum moved to the back of the cart.

At first, only one man came to the door to greet them. When he realised that the men had brought an injured man with them, he ventured outside to see who it was. He blinked when he saw Sir Hugo, then looked at his colleagues for assurance that it was truly him. The man then disappeared back inside the house without saying a word. Seconds later, he came back outside with several more men who all raced toward the cart.

“The doctor is here,” one of the men announced with a nod to a small black carriage that had just turned into the end of the driveway. Beside it were Phillip and Will.

“Let’s get him inside,” Oliver growled.

All Mallory could do was stay still while the men slid Sir Hugo out of the cart. Rather than follow the men inside with their burden, Callum lifted his hands to Mallory, and helped her jump down.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

Mallory looked down at her bloodied hands. “I have had better days but can only count my blessings.”

Callum offered her a half-hearted smile and turned her toward the safe house. Although he was certain nobody had followed them, they could be fooled into relaxing.

“Go on inside. I am going to see to the horses,” Callum said.

Mallory studied the house but didn’t move.

“I don’t want to go in there just yet,” she admitted without thinking.

Callum smiled. “They won’t bite.”

“I know but they need to settle Sir Hugo. I will just be in the way.”

Callum didn’t object when she followed him across the yard to the stables instead. In a way, he could understand her reluctance to go inside, especially seeing as it was a house full of strangers.

“The men are all here to make sure nothing happens to you or Sir Hugo. They won’t hurt you,” Callum said as he began to unbridle the horses.

“I know, but they have things to do, and I just need a few minutes before I go in there. So much has happened, and so quickly, it is difficult to think that this time yesterday I was hanging out washing in the freezing cold wind wondering if I would rather be dead.”

Mallory clamped her mouth closed when she realised just how much she had just revealed.

“You are free now. They won’t kidnap you again,” Callum assured her.

Dusk was falling and began to encase them both in long shadows. Although she usually hated the dark, tonight she welcomed it not least because Callum had a startling capacity to see rather too much. It wasn’t just that, Mallory needed to think, about what had happened, what she wanted from the future, and how she felt about Callum.