Nalini Singh - The Magical Christmas Cat

"She's obviously in danger because of her courage in coming to you about what she saw and heard," Leo pointed out imperiously. "She should be taken to Sanctuary."

"No one is asking me," Haley pointed out, watching as the two Vanderale men glared back at Jonas.

"I don't think they believe you should have an opinion." Dane leaned back in his seat with a grin.

Haley ignored him, glancing to Noble instead as he spoke into the mic that curved around his tough, angled cheek bone.

"We need to get her to a secured site, one way or the other," Noble growled. "She's bleeding, Jonas, and she's scared out of her damned mind. Sitting here glaring at her isn't helping the situa­tion."

"And you think taking her to Sanctuary will?"

"No," Noble snapped. "Her home will be easier to control. I want a team under my command, men I choose. I want the area declared off-limits to any other breeds, and I want full security pro­tocols placed around it."

Jonas stared back at him blandly. "Those are a lot of wants for an enforcer," he said softly. "A low-ranking one at that, Noble. You've barely been within the hierarchy a year now."

"And I was invited in," Noble reminded him. "I didn't apply."

Haley blinked as Jonas grunted. She felt light-headed, uncer­tain. She lifted her hand to her temple, where the pain seemed worse, and touched dampness. Drawing it back, she saw her own blood.

"Choose your team," Jonas suddenly stated. "We'll cover you until they get there." He pulled the mic wand to his cheek. "Lawe, Rule, pull everyone to Haley McQuire's home. I need a medical at­tendant and the sheriff to follow."

Immediately, three of the breeds standing outside were sliding into the front of the SUV limo. The engine started, and the vehicle was pulling out as the snow began to fall faster.

Haley stared at her bloodstained fingers before lifting her eyes to Noble. "I'm bleeding," she whispered.

"Not bad." He laid a folded gauze pad that Dane handed him from a first-aid box he had acquired from beneath one of the seats over the wound. "Everything's okay, Haley."

"It's not okay," she whispered, staring into his dark eyes, his sav­age face. "Everything's not okay anymore, Noble."

Haley's little brick house was strung with multicolored Christmas lights outside. In the front yard sat two wire deer covered in white lights. The two conical evergreen trees at each side of the front of the house were well lit, and there was a large fir wreath on the door.

Inside the large living room, across from the fireplace was a six-foot Christmas tree that glowed with lights reflecting every color in the rainbow. An angel perched at the top, a small light in her folded hands, her wings spread, a serene expression on her face.

The fireplace was laid with fresh logs and ready to light, and four stockings dangled, two on each corner of the mantel.

A television screen hung on one wall, a coffee table between it and the couch, and two chairs sat to the side.

It was a large, simple room. It led into a large kitchen and a smaller dining room. There were two bedrooms down a short hall, each with an attached bath, and a cramped attic above.

The house seemed to reflect her. Gently wel-coming, a sense of restrained excitement filling it with all the Christmas decorations. As though someone here truly believed in the Santa nonsense.

Noble stood in the entrance to the kitchen, his eyes narrowed as a female breed, Shiloh Gage, checked Haley's injuries where she sat in the living room. Shiloh was the closest thing they had to a medic outside Sanctuary's labs. But with Dr. Morrey still recovering from the attempt to destroy her with the drugs Brackenmore and Engalls had tried to develop, that left only the council scientist, Amburg, whom Jonas had kidnapped months before, to treat injuries. And Noble knew he would rip Amburg's throat out before he allowed that bastard to touch Haley.

"I think I'm okay." Haley had her head turned as Shiloh treated the narrow gash at her temple.

The once-white blouse Haley had worn was torn and stained with blood. There were scratches on her arm, one of which looked deep. Her hands were red, almost blistered. The dark pants she wore were in the same condition as the blouse. Her bright red hair was mussed around her face, singed in places and darkened with her blood.

"You're fine." Shiloh patted her knee kindly, her round face filled with sympathy as she lifted a piece of gauze and taped it to Haley's temple. "You'll be good as new in a few days."

Shiloh pulled the surgical gloves from her hands and dropped them into the small waste can that sat beside her. Rising, she ad­justed her black uniform pants and turned back to Noble.

Dressed in the enforcer uniform, her dark auburn hair secured in a French braid, Shiloh looked more like a playful teenager than a full-grown, fully trained breed enforcer.

"I need to clean up." Haley came to her feet, and Noble barely caught himself before jumping for her.

She swayed a bit, and he had to force himself to remain in place as she moved to the hallway.

"You should rest a bit more, Haley," Shiloh warned her, follow­ing her.

Haley held up one hand, waving her back. "No. I have to clean up, Shiloh. Just . . . Just let me clean up."

Her voice was stronger than it had been earlier. The shock was wearing off. He could see the anger flickering in her gaze even be­fore Shiloh had finished.

When the enforcer looked back at him, he nodded toward Haley, indicating that she should follow and cover her until Jonas, Leo, and Dane were finished with the meeting in the kitchen. Noble then joined the others in the kitchen.

The sheriff wasn't exactly pleased with the information he was getting. He didn't like being excluded from the investigation, and if Noble could read the man, and he liked to think he could, then he was guessing Zane Taggart wasn't going to be as easy to control as Jonas was hoping.

"Wyatt, you're pissing me off," Taggart retorted at Jonas's sug­gestion that the sheriff leave the investigation in their hands. "A friend of mine was just killed, and you want me to just back off?"

"Your friend has just lost one friend," Jonas reminded him. "Let's not add to the count. The further you stay away from this, the safer it will be for her."

There was taut silence as Noble turned back to the meeting tak­ing place at the kitchen table.

Jonas stared at the sheriff coolly, while Leo and Dane watched the confrontation silently. Leo hadn't said much, nor did his ex­pressions show his opinion either way as to how the meeting was going.

"Forget it." Taggart crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at Jonas with steely determination.

"The agreement Buffalo Gap has with Sanctuary requires you to step aside in this investigation," Jonas reminded him.

The sheriff snorted at that. "Look, Wyatt, we both know the city council. They're gonna talk out of both sides of their mouths and smile real pretty for both of us. They'll tell you they'll restrain me, they'll tell me they'll cover for me. So let's just cut the shit here and come to an understanding. This is my county, like it or not, hate me or whatever. I'm sheriff, that makes it, and the people liv­ing in it, mine. And that includes breeds. I have two of my people dead tonight. From all appearances, it was a professional hit. Your boy was shot in the back of the head at close range. An explosive device large enough to blow a hole in the parking lot and take out the library went off no more than half an hour later. Now you want to tell me what the hell is going on, or do I want to find the answers myself?"

"You want to let this go, Zane." Haley stepped into the kitchen from the washroom.

Damn, he'd forgotten about the door that led from her bath­room and into a small washroom, then the kitchen that he'd found earlier while securing the house. Shiloh was moving through the hall from Haley's bedroom, a scowl on her face.