by Leslie Chase
Mattias nodded and turned, leading Sophie out of the room. Her tension hadn't eased even slightly, and he felt her shoulders tighten even more as they turned their backs on Praetor and his men. Is she really afraid of him? Mattias asked himself. If that was the case, then something had to be done about it. And Sophie knew the local politics better than he did - if she was worried, then the odds were that there was something to be concerned about.
But that only confirmed his decision to keep her out of anything dangerous. Keeping his mate safe was the most important thing of all.
12
Sophie leaned into Mattias's side, trying to draw comfort from him as they walked through the corridors. She knew that they were being watched, that there was no way that Praetor would give her a free chance to talk to her prince alone now. Not when he must have seen that Mattias was suspicious of him.
The idea of those unfriendly eyes on her made her draw back from the comforting strength of her man. He looked down at her, concern clear in his blue eyes, and she shook her head. I have to think; I need to clear my head.
"Mattias," she said, and then paused. She took a deep breath and tried again. "I should go back to my room."
He grinned at that, eyes sparking with a look that sent shivers through her. It was enough to distract her from her fears for a moment at least. "I'd assumed that we'd go to mine, love, but your bed will be just fine if you prefer it."
She couldn't help blushing, and shook her head. Putting a hand on his chest, she held him back and looked up into his eyes.
"This is all happening too fast, and I've got to think," she told him. "I need some time alone, and you need to rest too. Somehow I don't think we'll get much sleep if we're in the same bed together."
Remembering their earlier exploits, she blushed brighter. If he was naked beside her, she knew that no amount of willpower would help her keep her hands off him. Just the thought of his body against hers, the feel of his skin... she closed her eyes to block out the thoughts, but that just made it easier to imagine him naked.
His strong hand took hers and raised it to his mouth, kissing it. The touch of his lips made her melt, wanting to feel them all over her body, and she bit her lip to restrain herself.
"You may be right," he said, deep voice sounding hungry for her. "It's difficult to keep myself from grabbing you here in the corridor and tearing your clothes off. Alone together, we've got no chance."
That was almost enough to change her mind. She could just imagine the sexy smile on his face as he pounced on her like the big cat he was, pulling off clothes to get at her. It was the most wonderful thing that she could imagine, and she had to muster every ounce of willpower to turn away from it.
"Not tonight," she said, and he nodded.
"Tomorrow, then," he said firmly, his voice brooking no argument. "I'll not be kept from you for long. Goodnight, Sophie. I'd walk you to your room, but we both know that if I do that I'll be coming in."
Sophie nodded, smiling at the thought. "Goodnight, Mattias."
With that they separated, though she couldn't help pausing to watch him walk away. He was quite a sight, and she enjoyed it until he turned a corner. Then, sighing, she made her way towards her room. Her mind was in turmoil, torn between the happy daze of Mattias's love and the cold dread that crept over her from the shadows. Neither emotion made it easy to think, but she knew she was going to have to come up with a plan quickly.
She was also sure that she wouldn't have a chance.
It wasn't a surprise to find Praetor waiting at her room, but it was unwelcome. She'd had the faint hope that he'd have the decency to wait until morning to speak with her, but here he was leaning against the door and smirking. Now that there was no one he had to pretend for, his anger and contempt were clear.
"So much for handing him off to another girl, Sophie. What happened to your little plan? Or was that it all along?"
"Leave it alone, Karl, I'm not in the mood," she said, trying to put on a brave face. "He didn't like her, alright? I'm sure you were watching them, you and your spies. I didn't have anything to do with that."
"Sure. And now you and he are all wrapped up in love. Very convenient." Praetor straightened up and loomed over her. Sophie stepped back nervously. "I know you're not stupid enough to betray me, so what do you think that you're doing?"
He hissed the last words, looming over her and trapping her against the wall. Sophie shrank back and wished that she had taken Mattias up on his offer. But then Praetor wouldn't be talking to her, and as unpleasant as that was, at least it meant that she had a chance to convince him that nothing was going on. She steeled herself — she was the only person who could protect her family, and she had to deal with that alone.
"It wasn't me," she protested. "I wanted him to get together with Ms. Walters, but she didn't like him so he came back to me. I didn't tell him anything, Karl, I kept our deal."
She forced herself to meet his eyes and let him read her. It wasn't easy, not with the crazy anger in his face, but she didn't flinch. Praetor weighed her, looking closely at her, and seemed almost surprised when he straightened up.
"All right, maybe I do believe you," he said. "But that doesn't mean I can trust you, Sophie. Not when you're so close to him now."
He frowned, not bothering to hide his emotions from her as he thought.
"So here's what we're going to do," he said after a long pause. "You're going to write that recommendation for your replacement along with a letter to Mattias telling him you've got to leave. Just like you planned to do, remember? And then you're going to leave the city tonight, catch the first train out to your family's farm, and stay there. You'll be out of his way, and mine."
Sophie started to shake her head, and without pause, Praetor grabbed her. His hand moved faster than she could see, let alone react, and his fingers were like iron as they dug into her cheeks.
"This isn't a negotiation, Sophie," he said, voice a low threatening hiss. "If I didn't like you so much, I wouldn't be willing to let you go at all. Be grateful that I'm not giving up on you yet."
More likely you think you might find a use for me, she thought, trying to keep that from showing in her eyes. What that use might be didn't bear thinking about, though. Held as she was, she couldn't speak or even nod, only look up at him. After a moment, he continued.
"Since I can't trust you to be in the same building as the Prince, you are leaving right now. Remember that your replacement will be checking all the mail and all the calls coming in for His Highness. If you try and reach him, try and get him a message, you and your family will disappear. I hope I've made myself clear enough for you, this time? Last time it didn't seem to sink in."
He didn't wait for her to respond, pushing her back against the wall and stepping back. With a low whistle, he called two of his squad from around the corner.
"My friends here will look after you and make sure your journey goes smoothly. Don't worry, they'll be with you every step of the way to make sure you're safe. And remember what will happen if you accidentally lose them, Sophie. You wouldn't want that on your conscience."
Sophie didn't know what to do or say. The whole situation was as horrible as anything that she could have imagined a week ago, and there wasn't any way out of it. Maybe if she'd told Mattias right away, he'd have been able to get her out of trouble? But while he would have saved her, it was her parents she was really worried about. And there was nothing he could do, lion shifter or not, prince or not. With Praetor's men already in place, they'd be dead before Mattias could do a thing.
And now I'm going to be walking into that same trap, she realized as she went into her room to pack, two guards following close behind her. If I go there, Praetor will just have a way to control Mattias by threatening me. But what can I do about it? There has to be something.
If there was, she couldn't think of it while she packed. Under the watchful gaze of her captors she wrote the note they demanded and handed it to one of them. They didn
't leave her side, escorting her down through the castle to the garage, and she didn't see anyone on their way. Not that she'd have known if she could trust the palace staff, even if she had seen them. And how could they get a message to Mattias without being seen, even if they were trustworthy?
"In you get," one of the guards said, shoving her into the back of one of the security Squad's imposing black cars. She stumbled in, clutching at her bag as the big men laughed at her. It took an effort to control her glare and keep her eyes off them. If she was going to do anything useful, it would only be because her captors underestimated her, and that would only happen if they thought she was cowed and afraid.
The two men got into the front of the car, and they sped off into the night.
Mattias woke early, feeling full of life. The irritations of the night before had faded during his sleep, and all he could think of was his time with Sophie. Even if the evening hadn't ended as he'd wanted it to, that didn't matter. He’d found his mate, and all would be well.
He sprang from his bed, eager to be up and greet the day. Showering and dressing quickly, he headed out of his rooms to find Sophie. They had a lot to talk about, a lot of details to work out, but more than that, he was eager to see her. It had been hours since they parted, and even though he'd been asleep for almost all of that time, he missed her.
I'm being silly, he thought. It's barely dawn. She might not even be up yet. But that didn't deter him. If Sophie was still asleep, he'd wake her with breakfast. Though he didn't think that he'd have the chance to do that. He knew Sophie well enough to know that she was almost certainly up and at work already.
Either way, breakfast sounded like a good idea. Mattias took a detour down to the kitchens, snagging a tray loaded high with fresh bread, butter and jam, and pastries. Then he headed to Sophie's office, grinning to himself with anticipation.
"Good morning," he said, pushing open the door with a flourish, the tray balanced on one hand. His smile faltered a little as he saw the woman behind the desk, staring up at him with surprise. It wasn't Sophie, or anyone else he recognized. The woman was dark haired, with a thin face and cold eyes that reminded him of a shark. After a moment her surprised expression gave way to a forced smile and she stood up.
"Good morning, sir," she said. "How can I help you?"
"Where's Sophie?" Mattias asked.
"I'm afraid that Ms. Havener was called away late last night, sir. I'm Isobel Hern, and I'll be replacing her. She left a letter for you, sir."
Isobel offered him an unsealed envelope, and Mattias snatched it from her hand. Sophie's gone? What on earth is going on? He gave the secretary a glare, and then looked away. It wasn't fair to blame her just because she was here, but there was something going on and he didn't like it.
If Sophie was called away, why wouldn't she have told me? He knew it was pointless to speculate when he had her letter, but his mind raced through the possibilities anyway. There weren't any good ones.
Putting the tray down on the desk, he opened Sophie's letter and started to read.
Dear Mattias,
I'm so sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but I couldn't face seeing you. Please believe me that this is for the best, and find someone else to make you happy. You deserve it. I have to go away now, I can't stay here. Please don't follow me.
I'm leaving this with Isobel Hern, who I expect to replace me as Chief Secretary. I trust her absolutely, and you can too. She will look after everything.
Take care,
Sophie.
Mattias frowned at the page. The handwriting was Sophie's, he was sure of that, but the words didn't look right somehow. She didn't give a reason for leaving, for one thing, and for another the language wasn't quite right. Something about this felt very wrong.
"What happened?" he said, looking back to Isobel who stood waiting.
"Ms. Havener didn't confide in me, sir. She simply said that she had to leave and asked me to look after you and the castle. I hope that I can live up to her expectations."
She looked nervous, which Mattias knew didn't mean anything. Most people would be scared to be suddenly dropped into a job as big as Chief Secretary, after all. But there was something about the way she looked at him that he didn't like. A kind of cold appraisal that didn't really suit Sophie's chosen replacement in her job.
He read the letter again, but he couldn't see any clues in it. Fortunately, as a lion shifter he wasn't limited to clues he could see. Taking a deep breath, he let his lion's senses loose and tasted the air. Sophie's scent was on the letter, yes, a wonderful smell that drew him closer. But the delicious scent of her skin was almost hidden by the overwhelming sour smell of fear imprinted on the paper. Mattias felt his jaw tighten, his whole body tensing, wanting to shift immediately and track down whoever had frightened his mate.
Patience, he told himself. That won't help, not here and now. It wasn't easy to resist the animal urge to transform and tear answers from whoever was closest, but that didn't seem likely to actually get him anywhere.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," he said carefully, controlling his reaction. "Do you know where Sophie went?"
"I couldn't say, sir," Isobel said. After a moment's pause, she continued. "Would you like me to try and find out for you?"
"No, that's alright," Mattias said, shaking his head and putting Sophie's letter back into its envelope. "I'm sure she'll be in touch."
He caught the slight relaxation in Isobel's posture, and kept his satisfaction to himself. It confirmed his suspicion: whatever was going on, she didn't want him to look into Sophie's disappearance. And that meant that she was almost certainly involved in it. The question was, what could he do about that?
Picking up the tray again, he smiled at Isobel, trying his best to hide his feelings. Since she didn't recoil in fear at the anger that rose inside him, he thought he must have done a fair job of it.
"Well, if Sophie's not here I suppose I'll have my breakfast elsewhere," he said, proud of the even calm tone in his voice despite his anger. He hadn't snarled even a little. "Oh, one thing before I go. I want to meet Penelope Walters again this morning to apologize for cutting last night short. Could you set that up for me? Sophie had her contact details somewhere here."
"Of course, sir," Isobel said, relaxing further and smiling. "I'll arrange that right away."
"Thank you, Isobel," he said, pleased that his ruse was working. The biggest difficulty now would be looking as though he was having a normal morning. I suppose I'll actually have to eat some of this, he thought ruefully. It wasn't very appealing, not now that he knew someone had stolen away with his mate.
And done it in the castle, right under his nose, too. Given Captain Praetor's warnings the night before, that left only two possibilities. First, that Praetor was incompetent enough to let this happen despite being warned of an attack, and hadn't even noticed yet. Or second, more worryingly, that he was involved somehow. Both were awful possibilities, and he didn't know which he'd prefer to face, but he didn’t want to involve the Royal Security Service in the investigation in either case.
He forced himself to eat a healthy chunk of the breakfast he'd put out anyway. He'd need his strength, and if someone was watching he didn't want to appear suspicious. An enemy was close enough to strike, and that meant that he had to act normally until he knew where the threat came from.
But inside, the rage burned hotter and hotter, a white flame in his heart. Heaven help whoever had taken Sophie from him, and if they hurt her, no power on Earth could save them.
13
The first train was due to depart the station not long after dawn, and that had left Sophie waiting most of the night in the back of the car. The guards didn't look like they were enjoying their position, and she had the feeling that they'd be only too happy to do away with her if she tried to escape. She hadn't managed even a wink of sleep when the cold light of morning showed on the Eastern horizon.
"Come on," one of her captors said, pulling her to
her feet without any ceremony. "Station's opening now, let's get you in and on board."
"I don't even know why we're not driving her out there, instead of waiting all damned night for a train," the other grumbled.
"Two reasons," the first replied in a long-suffering tone. "First, because our car is too easy to trace. And second, because the Captain said to. You want to be the one who didn't follow his plan?"
His companion grumbled something but didn't argue. Sophie filed that first objection away to think about later. If they were worried about the cars being tracked, that had to mean that Praetor didn't trust everyone in the Security Service. They were the only ones likely to notice a missing car, after all.
It also didn't sound as though her guards had any love for this job. Babysitting a captive wasn't, she thought, a normal part of the Royal Security Service's work, and these two had probably been awake as long as she had.
They'll be tired and woozy. That would give me a better chance to escape if I wasn't, too. Sophie stumbled across the road, the cold morning air biting so much deeper in the dawn's light than it had the night before with Mattias.
Just thinking of him made her shiver again, a mix of fear and anger at the people who plotted against him. I guess my parents were right, she thought. Being close to the princes has gotten me in trouble. More than they could have imagined, and it hits them too.
The station was quiet, a few other passengers filing in to catch the early trains. The security men took her to the back of the waiting area where the display board announced that the first train was delayed. No great surprise — Leotania's rail network was antiquated like so much else in the country. The delay was short, though, only half an hour — not really enough time to hope that anything would change. Mattias probably wasn't even awake yet, and he wouldn't know she was in trouble to come and save her.
