Tiger's Heart

by Leslie Chase

  Tiger’s Heart

  Leslie Chase

  Contents

  Copyright

  1. The Escape

  2. Highlands Hideout

  3. Morning Dreams

  4. Hunting the Hunter

  5. Big News

  6. The Darkest Night

  7. Rising to the Challenge

  8. Confrontation

  9. The Aftermath

  10. Legacies

  About the Author

  Cover Design by Kasmit Covers

  Editing by Sennah Tate

  Copyright 2016 Leslie Chase

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences. All names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All characters herein are over the age of 18. All sexual activities are between consenting adults who are not blood related.

  Created with Vellum

  1

  The Escape

  The two of them crept out of their room quietly, looking around. Maxwell took the lead, and his experience showed. His footsteps were carefully measured and silent, and his eyes moved constantly, seeking threats. Lenore followed, a lot less comfortable with the fact that they were mounting an escape.

  Nonetheless, she did her best to keep her own steps quiet and to follow closely behind him. There was no choice, after all — none of the consequences of being caught leaving the castle could match the pain that would follow if they stayed. Having the link fate had set between her and Maxwell severed by magic was already the plan, and it was also the worst outcome Lenore could imagine.

  The stairwell down the tower from their room was quiet and deserted, and sneaking down gave Lenore time to think. The possibility that they might try to escape had been taken into account, she realized. Their room at the top of a tower put them as far from the exits as possible, and anyone watching the foot of the stairs would be able to see them come and go. Even with Maxwell’s skills, they couldn’t hope to slip past unnoticed.

  Maxwell stopped a floor up from the ground, peeked around the spiral staircase, and pulled his head back quickly. The annoyed look on his face told Lenore that she was right: the stairs were being watched.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her back up to the landing above them, and tried the door. Lenore couldn’t suppress a groan of disappointment and fear when he tried it and found it locked.

  He turned to her and smiled, shaking his head. To her surprise, his eyes twinkled, and he looked as though he was enjoying himself. As though escaping from peril was livening up his day. She shook her head, feeling herself smile back at him despite her fear. It was impossible not to admire his casual confidence.

  From inside his jacket, he slipped a small bundle of delicate tools and set to work. For a moment, Lenore was shocked to see him so casually picking a lock, then she chided herself.

  I did meet him when he was robbing a museum, she thought. It shouldn’t be odd to find that he knows how to break and enter!

  She drifted back to the stairs, listening for movement from below while he worked. A moment of amusement pushed through the storm of stress and fear that clouded her mind. Here she was acting as a lookout for the man who, only a few days ago, had been intent on stealing from her workplace!

  All trace of amusement vanished as she heard footsteps approach the base of the stairs and voices drifting up to her.

  “… understand it,” one said. A man’s voice, with an English accent. “Better to get the rite over with quickly, and end the matter.”

  “Of course you are correct,” another man said, and she suppressed a shudder. She recognized Jamieson’s voice, the chairman of the Council of Masters which led the magical community in Britain, and the man whose plan it was to separate Lenore and Maxwell forever. Perhaps the plan would work, and keep their enemy Sir Daniel from using the bond between them to steal Maxwell’s magic. Even if it did work, the cost to her and Maxwell was more than she could bear.

  Fortunately, Maxwell wouldn’t willingly face that either. She glanced back at him where he crouched at the door, concentrating on his work, and felt her heart swell. He was willing to risk everything to save her, to save them, and that gave her hope that everything would be alright.

  Below, Jamieson continued in his fussy voice, “While speed would be best, Master Walters has always had a sentimental streak. It will do no harm to wait until he has said his goodbyes, and I should not like to cause him unneeded distress.”

  The other man made an unconvinced sound. “If you say so, sir. Nonetheless, I should go up and keep an eye on their room. Just in case.”

  “Just in case,” Jamieson agreed. Lenore’s blood ran cold at the sound of a foot on the stairs below them, and she turned to see how Maxwell was doing. There was a click from the lock, and he pushed the door open with a grin in her direction.

  The two of them leaped inside, shutting the door quietly behind them. Lenore leaned against the door, heart pounding, and listened to the man outside walk past. She wondered if he’d actually check their room when he reached the top, or if he’d want to leave them their privacy.

  Hoping he wouldn’t want to intrude didn’t seem like a safe bet.

  The room they were in was another bedroom, much like the one they’d had at the top of the tower. There were clothes carelessly piled on a chair, but neither Lenore nor Maxwell wasted any time trying to guess who the occupant might be. It was enough that whoever it was had gone out, leaving the room empty.

  Maxwell crossed to the window, peering out and getting his bearings. He nodded once, decisively, and beckoned Lenore over.

  Outside she saw the courtyard their car had parked in, and along the wall, the castle gate. There was no sign of anyone out there, and the gate stood open. It was tantalizingly close, but a glance at the window told her it didn’t open. It was set solidly into the frame of the building.

  “What do we do now?” she asked the question in a whisper.

  “I’m going to have to break the window, and lower you down. Then we run for the car. We need to get away before they know we’re missing — the further we are before the Masters start looking for us, the better.”

  “Won’t they just use magic to find us?”

  Maxwell grinned at that. “They’ll try, of course. I have a few tricks for that, though, and they won’t find it easy. Also, Penny will be staying here; we can trust her to get underfoot as much as possible while she ‘helps’ them find us.”

  Lenore suppressed an inappropriate giggle at the thought of Maxwell’s sister getting in the way of the men looking for them. Perhaps literally getting underfoot as a tiger — she was a shifter like Maxwell, after all. It made Lenore feel a little safer to know that Penelope was helping out.

  She took a deep breath and nodded, trying to keep her calm. “Okay. I guess I’m ready.”

  Maxwell met her gaze and smiled. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”

  For a moment, neither of them moved. Then he took her in his arms, holding her tight, kissing her firmly on the lips. It was a bittersweet moment as she melted into his embrace — his kiss lit her soul on fire, but she couldn’t help the thought that it might be their last. If they were caught here, their relationship would be over, and they’d never kiss like this again.

  Lenore thought she might rather die.

  Maxwell broke their embrace, and his face was set and serious. He must have had the same fears, she thought. For a second, he stared at the window as though willing it to open. Then he threw himself at it, shoulder first.

  He rebounded with a heavy thud, and glowered at the glass.

  “Fine,”
he growled. “Be like that.”

  Taking a couple of steps back, he ran at it, launching himself with all his strength at the armored glass. The impact shook the floor, making Lenore gasp, but the glass was unharmed. Again, Maxwell ran at it, and this time there was a crack along with the thud of impact.

  On the third attempt, faster and harder still, the whole frame tore free from the wall. Lenore bit down on her tongue to keep from screaming in fear as she watched Maxwell vanish through the hole where the window had been.

  By the time she’d made it to the window and looked down, Maxwell was picking himself up from the bush he’d fallen into. Rubbing his shoulder ruefully, he looked down and shook his head. At his feet, the window itself lay defiantly unbroken.

  Maxwell beckoned, and Lenore nervously clambered out of the hole after him. He lifted her down easily, taking her weight with no effort at all, and she clung to him for a second when her feet were on the ground.

  “We have to move,” he said quietly, and she could hear the regret in his voice as he broke the embrace. “Quickly now, before they realize we’re not in our room.”

  Taking her hand, he led her around the outskirts of the courtyard towards the car they’d arrived in. Pulling out his keys, Maxwell reached for the door when a voice from behind interrupted them.

  “Going somewhere, mate?”

  Angus stepped out from behind the next car over, a pistol in his hand. He held it casually, the muzzle pointed at the ground, but seeing it made Lenore’s heart race and her mouth dry with fear.

  “Now if I didn’t know better, Max, I’d think you were trying to escape,” he said dryly.

  “That would be a bit ridiculous, wouldn’t it?”

  “When you know I’m on guard?” Angus chuckled. “Aye, a bit. Especially since you’re a guest and all. Is there a reason why you’re breaking a window rather than using the front door like the civilized gentleman you pretend to be?”

  Lenore looked around carefully, not seeing any of Angus’ friends. It didn’t comfort her — the wolf shifter was hardly likely to be alone. The rest of his pack was probably watching from the courtyard shadows.

  “Does it matter how we leave, Angus?” Maxwell said reasonably and calmly. Lenore could hear the effort he was putting into sounding that calm, and a glance at Angus told her that the man knew him well enough to spot it too.

  “Well now, I’d not have batted an eye if you took your young lady here out for a drive if you’d not broken a window to do it,” Angus told him. “Seeing as you did, though, I’ve got to wonder if maybe you two are supposed to be kept here.”

  He was keeping a careful distance from Maxwell, Lenore noted. Maybe enough to get his gun up if Maxwell leaped for him, she didn’t know. She could see Maxwell was considering the distance and thinking about it.

  “Is it your job to keep us here, though?” She asked the question quickly, trying to stop the tension escalating further. Her voice sounded thin and brittle in her own ears, but both men’s eyes flickered to her for a moment. She swallowed and kept going. “You’re friends, right? Trust that he’s got a good reason for wanting to go. And you don’t have any reason to stop us. Maxwell will pay for the damage, right?”

  Maxwell nodded. Angus looked back and forth between them, frowning.

  “No one’s meant to enter or leave till the meeting’s done, Max. Council’s orders.” He scratched his chin, looking a little uncertain. “Security for you, far as I heard.”

  “That’s right!” Lenore forced a note of brightness into her voice. “It’s for our safety… so if we’re leaving, that means that the meeting’s over, right? And you can let us go?”

  She hadn’t meant it to sound like a question, but she couldn’t help the way it came out. Angus’ lips quirked into a grin for a second, and he sighed.

  “And I suppose you’d rather I didn’t check that with Master Jamieson?” He shook his head. “Max, your girl here has a way with words. Don’t think that means I’m fooled, though. You aren’t meant to leave, that’s clear.”

  Angus slowly holstered his pistol, and smiled. “But on the other hand, she’s right that I’ve got no reason to stop you, and you’re an old friend. Wouldn’t want to have to hurt you, and I know that I’d have to in order to keep you here... Just remember, you owe me an explanation for this. I let you drive out of here and I’ll land in a world of shit.”

  “I could always say that you didn’t let me,” Maxwell offered. “We’ll swear blind you never saw us.”

  “Ha! No thanks, Max, I’d rather be known for letting a friend get away than not seeing you go. Got my own reputation to think about, see?

  “Now get gone before someone else comes out and makes this even messier!”

  With that, he stepped forwards to embrace Maxwell in a big manly hug. Then he was gone, vanishing into the shadows as Maxwell unlocked the car and held the door for Lenore.

  She hadn’t realized how nervous she was until she saw how her hand shook as she reached for the seat belt.

  “He couldn’t really have stopped us, could he?”

  Maxwell didn’t answer right away, instead focusing on driving. Once they were out of the castle gates, and driving along the narrow Highland road away from the castle, he glanced over to her and spoke.

  “On his own, no. I’m sure I could take Angus in a serious fight — one wolf against a tiger isn’t a fair fight, after all. The trouble is, it’s rarely just one wolf: he’d never have risked getting that close to me without backup on hand. I’m glad we managed to talk our way out past him,” he said, pausing for a beat before continuing.

  “I’m not sure I could have done that without you, Lenore. Knowing me and Angus, we’d have ended up in a brawl. So, thank you.”

  He took one hand off the wheel and took hers firmly. Lenore’s heart skipped a beat at his touch. Behind them, the Castle faded into the foggy night.

  2

  Highlands Hideout

  Lenore wasn’t sure how far they’d traveled, or how long it had been. Driving through the Highlands at night had a magical quality to it, the darkness around them zipping past and their headlights the only light for miles. The first rays of dawn showed on the horizon as they finally stopped at the end of the decidedly run-down road they’d been following through the Highland woods.

  She’d been dozing, she realized. Not sleeping, but not really awake. All she’d been aware of was Maxwell beside her in the car, the fact that they were together. The question of where Maxwell was taking her hadn’t crossed her mind: the fact that they were going there together was all that mattered.

  Time to start paying attention, she told herself. I’m not going to be much help if I just drift through this, and Maxwell needs me.

  Looking around in the gray light of dawn, she saw that they were parked near the top of a hill rising out of the surrounding woods. The road ended in front of an old, run-down cottage. Getting out of the car, she turned questioningly to Maxwell, who was stretching beside her. It was a joy to watch him, his strong body flexing and twisting after the long drive.

  He smiled at her, putting a strong arm around her shoulders and guiding her towards the building.

  “Welcome to my secret hideaway, Lenore.”

  It didn’t look like much. The brickwork was crumbling in places, and the paint on the door was peeling. The stone path leading up to the door was in worse condition, and Lenore’s feet sank into the cold mud as the stones shifted under her. Still, there was a lightness to Maxwell’s steps which made her follow with a smile.

  He reached under one of the stones and produced a key, unlocking the door and throwing it open to let her inside. The building was one large room, a compact kitchen area at one end and a king-sized bed at the other, with little else to clutter it up.

  “This is my bolt-hole,” he explained, letting the door swing shut behind them before embracing her. “It’s as secret as I can make it, and as self-sufficient. For the moment at least, we’re safe.”

&
nbsp; Safe? The idea seemed almost comical to Lenore. They were on the run from not only Sir Daniel, who planned to kill Maxwell and probably her too, but also from the only people he’d thought might be able to help against that threat! How could they be safe?

  Maxwell’s rueful chuckle showed that he saw the irony of his word choice. He held her tighter, lifting her against him, kissing her gently.

  “Okay, safe might be a bit too strong a word. We have a bit of time here, though, before anyone can track us down. We’re going to beat this thing, and do it together. Do you doubt me?”

  He stepped back, looking her in the eyes. The East-facing windows picked up the light of the rising sun, and the room was filled with a warm morning glow. Maxwell’s eyes flashed, blazing with an inner fire that kindled a matching flame in Lenore’s heart as she gazed up at him.

  “Never!” In that moment, it would have been impossible for her not to believe in him. Her heart caught at the thought of all that he was giving up to be with her, and all he was risking. She couldn’t think that it was for nothing.

  “Good girl.” His approval made her heart skip a beat, and he stepped forwards, gathering her up in his arms. “There’s a lot to plan, and a lot to do, Lenore. But there’s one thing I think we both need, first.”

  Quick strides took them across the room to the bed, and with gentle strength he lowered her to it. His cheeks were rough against her skin as he kissed her neck, and she gasped in muted surprise. Her body responded to his touch with a hungry need she hadn’t realized had built up in her.

  Reaching up with a shaking hand, she stroked his face, tracing down his cheek and his neck, to undo the buttons of his shirt. He sat up, looking down at her with a fiery need in his eyes. His skin felt electric under her fingers, as though filled with lighting waiting to be unleashed, and his breath came fast and ragged, just as hers did.