Stealing the Snow Leopard's Heart

by Zoe Chant

  “But you saw them when they were chasing you later?” Carol looked down at her tablet and scowled. “Mr. MacInnis’ report isn’t… clear.”

  “I…” Keeley met the shark shifter’s eyes and froze. “The first guy? Who tried to smash my skull in? I saw him after Lance tackled him?”

  Why am I saying everything like it’s a question?

  “And you saw Mr. MacInnis then, too?”

  “Yes?”

  Keeley licked her lips. Carol’s eyes were so dark and still—all of her was so still—it was unnerving. Weren’t sharks supposed to have to be on the move constantly or they couldn’t breathe, or something? Hadn’t she seen that on TV sometime?

  Carol’s eyebrows drew closer together. “So you saw Mr. MacInnis then, too.”

  “Yes?” How could she forget? He’d charged in and saved her.

  “But he was shielded, and you weren’t. That should be impossible.”

  “Uhh?” Oh, shit fuck shit.

  Carol leveled her flat eyes at Keeley. “Unless…”

  She’s figured it out. I’m fucked.

  Keeley’s throat was dry. How could she be so stupid? She had known all it would take was one person figuring out how many holes her story had in it. And now—

  Hang on. What were the holes in this bit of the story? Shielding? She didn’t know enough about how the shields worked to lie about it.

  Carol’s face went smooth. “Unless the hatchling is already able to shield.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Relief crashed down on Keeley. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure? And the teleporting too, that’s… pretty crazy…”

  “Just hatched, and she can already shield. And teleport.”

  “It’s pretty nuts, yeah.”

  Keeley relaxed. She was being way too jumpy. Carol wasn’t trying to interrogate her. She just wanted…

  What does she want? Keeley frowned. Carol was still tapping at her tablet. Her movements were creepily fluid, but Keeley got the feeling she wasn’t really concentrating on the written report.

  “Anything else you wanted to ask?”

  Carol’s eyes flickered. “No. The hatchling’s abilities are all I was missing.” A strange, dark look flashed across Carol’s face, and Keeley felt suddenly uneasy.

  Because that was wrong. Maggie’s powers weren’t the only missing piece in the report. Hell, not even Keeley’s half-assed lies filled in all the gaps.

  From what Lance had let slip over the last three days, the theft—the kidnapping—had been slick. Professional. They’d known exactly where the egg would be. And while the subway transfer might confuse Lance and his agents, Keeley knew exactly what that part of the plan had been. A handy way to get rid of the human link in the chain.

  And all the other kidnappers had been shifters. Shifters who’d known exactly when to grab Maggie’s egg.

  It was too much of a coincidence.

  Everyone’s been talking about this Harper guy and his associates, she thought, dread curdling in her stomach. But what if it was an inside job?

  Maggie chirruped happily as she flipped Lance’s watch from her hoard-box to dangle off the tip of her nose. Keeley didn’t miss how Carol’s eyes immediately focused on the baby dragon.

  “Hey, cutey, what are you up to?” Keeley picked Maggie up and cuddled her, trying to quell the suspicions rising in her gut. “So, uh, was that all, Carol?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

  What the hell is taking Lance so long?

  “Almost. There was one other thing.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Keeley leaned back, keeping her arms wrapped around Maggie. “What?”

  She’s between me and the door, she thought. Shit.

  In her arms, Maggie went still. “Prrp?”

  “I’m sure you’ve guessed already,” Carol said, her eyes still fixed on Maggie. “After I barged in yesterday. God, I really screwed everything up, didn’t I? I’ve been so stupid.”

  You and me both, lady. Keeley glanced around the room. Shifters could move fast, right? But maybe if she got the jump on Carol, she could throw something at her and get away.

  Yeah, and then all she needs to do is shift and suddenly you’re facing a giant angry shark. I don’t care what Lance said about her not shifting out of the water.

  “What’d you screw up?” she said out loud. “Didn’t you say you were tracking Lance? You did that. Mission accomplished, right?”

  Carol’s lips went thin. “I wasn’t expecting to find him. Not alive, at least.” She reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out something that glinted in the light.

  Keeley tried to get a better look at it, but Carol dropped her hand into her lap. “I was looking for the egg, not him.”

  “You were looking for Maggie?” As if attracted by her name, Maggie started to wriggle free of Keeley’s grip. No—damn it, stay here, I don’t trust her…

  Carol’s lips were white-rimmed with tension. “Well, we didn’t know she’d hatched at that point. Though we should have guessed. The whole site where Lance disappeared smelled like dragon.” Her eyes reflected the light coming in the windows. “That, and blood.”

  “Yeah, thanks, I remember the blood. You don’t need to bring it up.” Keeley’s voice was scratchy. What was that in Carol’s hand? She kept turning it over and over, and it looked… sharp.

  She tensed, scrambling to keep hold of Maggie.

  “I thought he was dead.” Carol’s fingers tightened around the object in her hand. “And so did everyone else! And, and—”

  Maggie gave one last giant wiggle and flapped onto the desk, in between Keeley and Carol.

  The shark shifter’s mouth moved, but Keeley couldn’t hear what she was saying through the adrenaline buzz in her ears. Carol started forward, and Keeley leapt into action. She darted around the desk, sending papers flying.

  Keeley jumped in between Carol and Maggie, ready to protect the helpless dragonling. Light reflected in a flash from the object in Carol’s hand as she flung her arms around her—and dropped her head onto Keeley’s shoulder with a sob.

  “What sort of a tracker am I? Sharks are supposed to know when people are dead or not! Aren’t we?” she wailed. “Maggie isn’t even a week old and she can already shield people, and I can’t even smell if someone’s still alive?”

  Keeley stood motionless as her shoulder became increasingly damp. Carol’s whole body shook with heaving sobs. “Um… is that a bad thing?”

  “I have to be good for something! Lance is the first person to let me keep a job after I told him that I’m a shark shifter! And I just gave up on him!”

  Keeley relaxed. God, I’m such a dumbass. Carol wasn’t some crazy person, here to kidnap Maggie. She was just regular fucked up, same as everyone else. With a special shifter twist.

  “Hey,” she said softly, easing Carol off her shoulder. The shark shifter sniffled. Her face was blotchy and red, and her flat black eyes were swimming with tears. “Look, it all turned out okay, all right? I’m sure you’ll have another chance to show Lance how much the job means to you.” Her mind raced. “Maybe your next mission will be underwater?”

  Carol sniffed. “I hope not. I hate being in my shark form.” She wiped her eyes and blinked blearily.

  “Well, that’s something you and Maggie have in common, then. She hates being in her human form.”

  On a sudden instinct, Keeley reached out and gave Carol a quick hug. “You okay?”

  Carol hiccupped. “Yeah.” She hunched her shoulders. “Sorry for freaking out on you. I just—yesterday, and thinking the boss was dead and now he’s not, and not being a good shark and now the rest of the eggs are here, and you know what people say about sharks and babies…”

  “I really don’t.” Keeley shrugged as Carol stared at her. “Seriously. I only found out about shifters a few days ago. Whatever they say about shark shifters and babies, it’s news to me.”

  “Oh.” Carol pulled a tissue out of her pocket, blew her nose, and then settled back into her usual st
illness. “It’s just nonsense, really. You know, in the wild, sharks eat their siblings in the womb before they’re born? Some people think it’s the same with shifters. Except, bonus, we also eat other people’s babies, too.” Her face darkened. “If any of that were true, maybe I wouldn’t have seven brothers.”

  “Is that why it means so much to you that Lance gave you a job?” A golden warmth fluttered in Keeley’s chest. Of course Lance would do something like this. He was just so… good.

  Not like you, a nasty voice in the back of her head added. The golden light inside her flickered.

  Carol grimaced. “It’s not like I have a lot of other options, with my face.” She indicated her eyes and mouth. “I used to work for my family business—Dad does fishing charters—but I always wanted more. And Lance offered me that.”

  Keeley swallowed. If Lance was willing to offer a chance to a shifter that everyone else distrusted, then maybe—

  She forced the thought back. Nuh-uh. The difference between you and Carol is that she hasn’t actually done anything wrong.

  “Prr-eep?”

  “Ow…” Keeley held back a hiss of pain as Maggie clambered up her back onto her shoulders, but part of her—a big part—was glad of the distraction. “Hello, you. Did we stop paying attention to you for a whole minute? That was so mean of us. I definitely deserve to be—ow—climbed up.”

  “She probably smelled this.” Carol held out her hand. Something gleamed bright and sharp, and Keeley flinched back before she saw what it was: a fancy gilt pen. “I thought, you know, she’s a dragon, so maybe she’d like it…”

  “I think she’d definitely like it,” Keeley deadpanned. Maggie was wrapped around her shoulders, her long neck stretched out as far as it would go towards the shiny pen.

  “Oh, do you?” Carol’s eyes gleamed. She reached into her bag again and rummaged around. “It’s a calligraphy pen. I brought some ink, too. Gold ink.”

  She held the squat inkbottle in front of Maggie and shook it so the ink swirled around. Maggie’s eyes glowed like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.

  “Pr-eep!”

  Lance

  Lance tried to relax as he waited for the call to the safehouse to go through. His skin felt itchy, like he was wearing a suit that didn’t fit.

  We’ll go back and see her in a few minutes, he reassured his snow leopard. Come on. We can’t stay at her side every minute of the day.

  His snow leopard grumbled, but calmed down. Slightly. Lance groaned. She’s looking after Maggie. They’re both safe here.

  The videocall rang—and rang—and rang. Lance frowned. What’s taking them so long?

  This was hardly the first time he had called in to check on Julian. The dragon shifter had recovered from his time on the island, at least physically. His mental state was a different matter. Julian kept his emotions close to his chest, but even through the video link Lance had been able to tell he was still hurting over what had happened to his family.

  Lance didn’t blame him. Gerald Harper had killed Julian’s sister and her mate and stolen their eggs to use as collateral to keep the dragon shifter in line. The eggs were all Julian had left. It must have broken his heart to part from them, even if it was for their own safety.

  Well, no longer. Frankly, if any off the assholes who’d tried to kidnap Maggie wanted to go after her or her siblings, they could face an angry full-grown dragon.

  Lance pushed his glasses up. Two minutes, and no reply. This was more than unusual. It was worrying. Ignoring the screen on the wall, he put through a call on his cell phone.

  The head guard from the safehouse picked up at once. He was panting. “What?” he barked into the phone.

  Lance explained that he was waiting on their call, as previously arranged. He could practically hear the guard glare down the phone.

  “Another one? Wasn’t the last one—ah, fuck. Look. He’ll be at the phone in a minute. It’s taken us this long to talk him down, though, so good news only this time, eh?”

  Lance ended the call. Talk him down?

  The hair on the back of his neck prickled. Something was wrong.

  A soft chime told him that his video call had been picked up.

  Lance looked up, automatically straightening his jacket and his glasses. His snow leopard bristled as Julian appeared on the screen in front of him.

  Julian inclined his head. “MacInnis.” His normally brilliant eyes were shuttered and wary.

  “Rouse. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “What could I possibly be doing that being hauled away by my guards twice in one day could disturb?” A tendon in his neck flexed, or maybe it was just the video bugging.

  Lance frowned. Julian’s voice had a bitter edge to it, but he was used to that—this was something different. A deeper, blanker misery that his bitten-out words barely masked.

  He leaned forward, wishing the video connection could conduct his feelings as well as a face-to-face conversation would. “Rouse. Julian. I’ve got good news.”

  “Better than the news that the man who made me a monster is imprisoned?” Black glass glinted behind the dragon shifter’s eyes. “Better than the knowledge that I lost my sister and her children, but at least the creature who took them from me has faced justice, paltry though it is?”

  “Julian, your sister’s children aren’t gone. One of the eggs has hatched. The plan’s changed. Hiding eggs is one thing, but a living dragonling? Keeping you apart isn’t going to keep them safe. They need a real family.” Lance smiled. “You’d better tell the guards to clean out a spare room, Julian. It’s time you met your niece.”

  Julian stared at him, his face completely expressionless. There was no noise except the low hum of the audio connection.

  Then Julian’s face twisted. “How dare you?” he snarled. “Is this some sort of trick? What could you possibly want from me now?” His eyes narrowed to black-gleaming slits. “More scales for your shields? Was this your plan all along?”

  Lance sat back in his seat, winded. Julian’s rage crackled through the speakers, hitting him like a blunt force even through the hundreds of miles that separated them.

  “It isn’t a trick. I’m not lying to you. One of the eggs hatched, and—”

  “Impossible.” Julian’s lip curled, as though the word hurt to say. “None of them will ever hatch. Not now that their parents are dead. Not without…”

  The video blurred, and Lance had barely opened his mouth when the screen went blank. Shit, he thought, scrambling for his phone. His call to the safe house guards rang—and rang—

  “What’s your status?” he barked when someone picked up, thirty excruciating seconds later.

  A weary laugh crackled into his ear. “We’re not hip-deep in angry dragon, if that’s what you mean.”

  Lance sighed, dropping his forehead to rest on one fist. “Carter. How’s Rouse?”

  “Catatonic.” On the other end of the line, Carter sucked in breath through his teeth. “It’s not good, boss. I’m no shrink, but this guy needs help. It’s like he’s fading away here.”

  “He doesn’t have anything to live for.” Lance swallowed as bile rose in his throat. “At least, he doesn’t think he does.”

  He shivered, the memory of Julian’s rage like acid on his skin. He told Carter to expect them in the next ten hours and hung up. His snow leopard paced inside him, feeding off Lance’s new sense of urgency.

  Keeley would want to come. She wasn’t cleared to see the safehouse, but what the hell did that matter anymore? All the careful strategies he’d put in place to make the MacInnis Agency feel legitimate, and not a fly-by-night operation—what were they worth, when Julian was slowly killing himself with misery?

  What were they worth when Francine betrayed you? Or Mathis disappeared?

  Lance sighed and rubbed his forehead.

  Whatever I’m doing here, it led me to her. You can’t knock that.

  Heart lightening at the thought of his mate, La
nce strode towards his office. Maggie’s psychic aura permeated the air around his office door like a golden mist. Lance smiled to himself. If anything could pull Julian out of his depression, it was that child.

  “Sir, if I could have a word?”

  Briers’ office was three down from Lance’s. He popped out of it like the world’s least wanted jack-in-the-box.

  Lance bit back a sigh. His soul was scratching to get back to his mate’s side. “What is it, Briers?”

  “I’ve got an update on the camera feeds from the subway,” Briers replied, his voice somber. “You’re going to want to see this, sir.”

  Keeley

  “What is she doing?”

  Carol was crouching beside the desk, heedless of her crisp gray pantsuit. She was eye-level with Maggie, watching her with open enthusiasm. And confusion.

  “I think she’s trying to tease them?” Keeley put her head on one side. “Baby, I don’t think you can tease people who are still in eggs. They can’t even see you.”

  Maggie blinked at her. She was holding Lance’s gold watch between her front teeth like a pacifier. “Prrp?” she asked, and then turned back to the nearest egg, waving the watch tauntingly back and forth.

  When that didn’t get the response she wanted—or, indeed, any response—she snorted and dropped the watch back in the pile she’d pulled out of her hoard box. After nosing around briefly, she re-emerged, this time with Keeley’s necklace clutched gently in her jaws.

  “Prrp!” she declared, and stalked back to the egg. This time, she dropped the necklace in front of the egg for a few seconds before snatching it away.

  “Is she trying to make them jealous?” Carol wondered aloud. “Look at all my cool stuff, nyah nyah?”

  “I don’t think so.” Keeley frowned. “It’s like she wants them to come and play with her.”

  She was only half paying attention. Lance had been gone longer than she’d hoped, and her phone felt like it was burning a hole in her pants. Why couldn’t he hurry up and get back here, so she could come clean and they could…

  A cold lump formed in her stomach. Fix this. Somehow.