Nalini Singh - The Magical Christmas Cat

"You stay!" He jerked her to the corner and pushed her into the little alcove created by the fronds of several potted plants. He pushed her to the floor and pointed his finger to her pale face. "Stay till I come for you. Understand?"

She nodded quickly even as he turned away and began snapping orders to other guests, herding them quickly from the confronta­tion brewing at the ballroom's entrance and into the buffet room.

Why he hadn't pushed little Miss Haley McQuire into the more secure room, he couldn't explain. It was something about her eyes, that edge of fear, and the fact that she had entered after Bracken-more and Engalls more than anything else.

Or it could have been that niggle of insanity that he had been trying to ignore for months.

"Librarian Haley McQuire is secured in the far left corner of the ballroom, leave her in place," he spoke into the small mic that curved along his cheek as he helped secure the ballroom.

"She's a hazard in the ballroom," he was told, Rule's voice cold. "Get her with the others."

"Negative," he refused the order. "Something isn't right with that, Rule. I want her separated for her own safety."

He heard the tension in the line. "For now," Rule finally snapped.

Moments later, several things happened at once. A breed female enforcer distracted Dr. Ely Morrey, and Jonas jerked the gun from Ely.

"Move in on Brackenmore and Engalls," Rule ordered through the comm link. "Secure them and get ready to move them out."

Noble moved toward the two, staring back at them with cold, brutal determination. They were involved with whatever was go­ing on. Involved in trying to control and kill breeds. The bastards needed to die now, not later.

"Please come with me, Mr. Brackenmore, Mr. Engalls," he re­quested, his voice carefully bland, unemotional. He wanted to kill rather than react politely.

Those damned animal genetics. He could feel the blood he needed to spill for the threat this man represented to the breeds.

"What the hell is going on here?" Brackenmore blustered, as Noble gripped his arm and began to move him, his wife, and En­galls to the entrance, waiting for the final go-ahead from Rule to escort them from the estate.

"Director Wyatt will discuss this with you soon I'm certain." Noble flashed his canines in a tight, hard smile as he watched the other breeds filling the room, keeping a careful barrier between the guests and the clean-up of the situation that had just arisen.

Felines weren't the only ones in attendance. Noble watched as Wolf Gunnar, pack leader of the wolves, conferred with Del-Rey, pack leader of the coyotes, to direct their own security forces in concert with the felines'.

The pre-Thanksgiving party Sanctuary hosted every year had never been so exciting. Now if they could just make certain they kept the damned journalists contained.

"Noble, give Brackenmore and the others to Mordecai. I want you to contain your librarian and get her sequestered," Jonas said into the link seconds later. "We have a security report from surveil­lance that she may have been close to a meeting between Bracken­more, Engalls, and one of the lab assistants earlier in the hallway."

Noble's head jerked in her direction. He could still see the very edge of her skirt peeking out from where he had pushed her.

The Coyote breed, Mordecai, his face scarred, his icy blue eyes filled with death, took Brackenmore and the others, and Noble strode across the ballroom quickly.

Haley was still huddled there and stared back at him, her eyes wide and touched with courage and trepidation. He held his hand out to her and watched as she lifted hers, her fingers trembling as he gripped them.

"They're monsters," she whispered, and though her eyes were dry, sorrow filled them. "Noble, they're monsters."

The fine hairs along his body lifted in warning, but even worse, the spots along his shoulders began to tingle in foreboding. She knew something. In that moment he knew, she had seen or heard something that could possibly get her killed.

THREE WEEKS LATER

DECEMBER 7

The winter storm heading for the Virginia mountains is slated to pile on the snow. We're looking at up to ten inches possible before nightfall, with another ten to fifteen over the next two days. The moisture we're tracking . . ."

Haley turned off the television and stared at the black screen in satisfaction as she forced herself not to smile in glee at the thought of snow.

She tugged at the snug cuffs of her cheery red cotton blouse instead and turned to her assistant, Patricia.

Nearing fifty, but as spry as a woman fifteen years younger, Patricia looked displeased over the weather forecast. Dressed in dark brown tailored slacks and a matching sweater, Patricia had a smile that always brightened the darker hues of the clothing she wore.

"i'll never get out of that damned lane the county refuses to pave with that kind of accumulation," Patricia pouted, her brown eyes sorrowful. "I hate being stuck."

Haley frowned. Patricia's little sedan would never handle such a heavy snowfall, nor was it equipped with the same traction sensors and tires that Haley's four-wheel-drive truck had.

Living in town, Haley didn't worry as much about getting out as she did about the inconvenience of the snow itself. They hadn't had a storm like this move in for years, and the dump of fluffy white stuff almost had her rubbing her hands in glee.

But she knew Patricia, and her friend hated the snow, just as she hated the way it confined her in her little house outside of Buffalo Gap.

"Take my truck." Haley moved to the counter behind which she and Patricia worked and lifted her purse from the floor.

She pulled the car keys from the inside and tossed them to her friend.

"Are you serious?" Patricia stared back at her in surprise.

"They'll have the roads here in town clear before noon, and Sanc­tuary will make certain the main road is clear before then. All you'll have to worry about is getting out of that little hole you live in."

She almost shuddered. Patricia lived in one of the small hollows that dotted the mountain terrain. The mile-long track between her house and the main road was rough at all times. Filled with snow, it would be impossible for Patricia to navigate in her little car.

"You'll take my car then?" Patricia worried. "I'd hate to leave it just sitting in the parking lot." She gripped Haley's keys like a lifeline.

"The car will be fine for me until they get the snow cleared to your house." Haley shrugged, then stared back at Patricia wor­riedly. "But please be careful. I just bought her, and she's still un-scratched."

The pristine cherry red pickup had been her dream vehicle, with big tires, the standard shift—and the advanced electronics was her pride and joy.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of your baby." Patricia was almost as gleeful over driving the truck as Haley was over the coming snow.

Haley looked around the nearly deserted library. The two-story glass-and-metal building was incredibly beautiful. Donated by an effort between Sanctuary and several of its supporting companies, the building had the look and feel of beautiful wood, without the cost. Even the metal-and-steel shelves had that old-wood look, and housed the thousands of paperback and hardback books beauti­fully.

The electronic books were housed in the main data boards and e-readers were plentiful for those who needed to check them out if they didn't have their own. But it was the paper feel of the books that Haley cherished. The history and the bridge between the past and the present that always drew her.

The library was deserted this evening. The last college student had left more than an hour before, and no one else had come through the heavy glass doors.