Nalini Singh - The Magical Christmas Cat

It rocked the night. Like the wild lions that patrolled the bor­ders of Sanctuary. If the night was quiet, sometimes, you could hear them. And now, it sounded as though one had stepped into the city itself.

Her head jerked around, staring into the parking lot, watching as the flames flickered around it. And she saw him. All that wild black hair blowing back from his savage face. His lips were pulled back into a snarl as he pushed a police officer attempting to hold him back to the side.

Black-leather pants and heavy motorcycle boots. A leather jacket that he was unzipping as his gaze caught hers. He moved like the jaguar he was bred from, a hard, graceful shift of muscle, a ripple of danger.

"Noble." His name tore from her lips again as he snarled. The sight of it, the sound of it, should have been frightening. The flash of his canines, the hard edge to his black eyes, should have fright­ened her as much as it did the officers and bystanders.

She tried to make her legs move. Tried to run to him but they weren't functioning as they should. She stumbled again and heard his throttled growl a second before he jerked her into his arms.

Warmth covered her. She was only barely aware of his jacket go­ing around her shoulders, because he was holding her, jerking her against his chest and swinging her off her feet.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against him to block out the sounds, the sight, and the smell of the fire.

He smelled like the night. Like winter. Like the snow that was drifting around them. There was no death around him. There was nothing of the nightmare and chaos around her.

For the first time since the night had turned into hell, Haley finally felt safe.

"Chavin, be advised of reinforcements landing," the comm link crackled with the information as Noble buried his face in Haley's hair and held on to her. His arms tightened around her as he let himself rest against the hood of the sheriff's cruiser and let himself soak up the knowledge that she was alive.

As he held her, he was aware of the breed heli-jet landing on the other side of the parking lot, and of the sheriff moving closer to them.

His head jerked up as Sheriff Taggart pulled the edge of Noble's jacket over her shoulder. He flashed a feral snarl at him, the thought of the man touching her finally sending him past the limits of what little control he felt he possessed.

Taggart lifted his hands, his eyebrows arching.

"She was afraid the dead breed behind the library was you," the sheriff told him, his blue eyes knowing as he watched Noble.

Noble tensed and let go of Haley just enough to activate his communicator.

"Jonas?"

"I have you. We're on scene."

"There's a breed behind the library, apparently dead." Silence filled the line for long seconds. "Fuck. We had Jason covering her."

Jason was young, but fully trained. He wasn't inexperienced.

"I want her out of the open. I'm bringing her to the heli."

"Negative. We have vehicles coming in and a civilian in the heli. Transfer her to one of the secured SUVs."

Noble grimaced. No doubt, the first Leo was in the helijet, the breed who only a few knew was a breed, and an interfering bastard at the moment, had decided to check things out himself.

That meant there was no way to transfer Haley to Sanctuary. Not and preserve the secrecy of Leo's identity from her.

He listened through the link as Jonas sent Mordecai Savant and Mercury Warrant to check the body and prepare it for transfer.

"You guys are going to fuck with my investigation, rather than just helping me secure the scene, aren't you, Noble." Zane tucked his fingers in the belt of his jeans and rocked back on his heels. "You know that's not going to go over with me. Right?"

"Talk to Jonas about it," he snapped. "My concern is Haley right now, Taggart, and where she's concerned, then your best bet is just staying the hell out of my way."

He turned and carried her to the vehicles pulling into the outer edges of the parking lot. The library was pretty much lost. The books had fed the flames that had whipped through the windows as they burst. It was a wonder she was still alive and relatively un­harmed.

Relatively. He could smell her blood, her pain. He could feel her fear and her disbelief, and it was enraging him.

Clamping a firm hold on his control wasn't easy. As he carried her to the SUVs and slid with her into the backseat of the nearest one, he could feel that rage pumping through him.

Someone had dared to harm her. To attempt to kill her? The attempt was against her; otherwise, the young lion breed, Jason, wouldn't be dead, and her beautiful truck she so loved wouldn't be a hunk of twisted metal.

"They killed Patricia." Her head lifted from his shoulder as the door closed behind them. Her eyes, that dark ring of blue spreading into the gray, darkening them further.

He saw the pain and tears in her eyes. Noble let his arms tighten around her for long seconds as he watched Jonas stride to the SUV. Beside him, was the taller, broader form of the Leo, barely disguised in a hooded jacket, and his son Dane Vanderale. Evidently, neither of them were content to wait in the heli or at Sanctuary.

Behind them, the sheriff followed more slowly, his rugged face set in a scowl as breeds moved between them. That damned sheriff wasn't going to be content to let this go, he thought, as the oth­ers moved into the long seat across from Noble and Haley, and the doors closed behind them.

The combined stares of the three powerful men didn't bother Noble, but evidently, there was something about them that made Haley self-conscious.

Her head lifted, her expression flickering with wariness.

"Someone found out, didn't they?"

Haley stared back at Jonas Wyatt, knowing exactly what had happened. Brackenmore and Engalls had somehow learned that she would be testifying against them during the January hearing.

"We don't know that, Ms. McQuire," Jonas answered carefully, his expression carefully blank.

She moved, forcing herself from Noble's lap and sliding onto the seat beside him.

"She hasn't been seen by a medical professional, Jonas."

The younger of the other two men leaned forward. She knew him. The vice president of Vanderale Industries and beside him was the president, CEO, major shareholder, and whatever other title anyone had ever found to attach to him. Leo Vanderale.

And she had a feeling she knew why they were there.

She glanced out the front window to where the flames were fi­nally dying down within the library.

"All the books are ruined," she whispered, looking back to the elder Vanderale. "You were so kind, Mr. Vanderale, to help donate all those lovely books." Her breathing hitched. "I'm very sorry."

His head tilted just slightly, his amber eyes staring back at her curiously. "Why would you apologize to me, Miss McQuire?" he asked her.

She sniffed back her tears, aware of Noble brushing back the side of her hair to examine the gash she could feel against her temple.

"Because it was my fault. Someone killed Patricia and destroyed the library because of me."

"Ridiculous," Dane Vanderale snapped, a frown veeing his brows.

"My dear, the choices others make because of your kindness is not your responsibility." Leo sighed. "And Dane is right, you need to be attended to. You're bleeding, my dear." He turned to Jonas. "Have her taken to Sanctuary."

"That's not possible." Jonas shook his head sharply.

"And why would this be?" Leo's tone was dangerously smooth.

"Leo, you know exactly why." Jonas bit out. "Let's not air our disagreements in front of Ms. McQuire and see what we can do to help her out here."

There was a tension brewing in the vehicle now, wrapping around her, tightening her nerves to breaking point.