Stealing the Snow Leopard's Heart

by Zoe Chant

  “Huh. Like... make them hatch?” Carol looked thoughtful. “If only we knew how she hatched. All three eggs were in foster care for months without any sign of life, then all of a sudden, here Maggie is. I wish I knew how.”

  “Yeah…” Keeley said weakly as Maggie stretched out her neck and tapped the gold pendant against one of the eggs. Tap, tap, tap—on the third tap, she darted away and hid the pendant jealously under her belly.

  Keeley laughed, and then paused, frowning.

  Was it her imagination, or had the egg moved?

  It must be because Maggie bumped it, she told herself. Or you’re imagining it.

  Or... another dragon is about to hatch.

  “Oh, sh—sugar,” she murmured. “She’s using the gold to hurry them up? Is that how dragons work?”

  Keeley touched her collarbone, where her gran’s pendant used to rest. Where it had been resting, when Maggie hatched. She swallowed.

  “Um, Maggie, can I have that pendant back now? Maybe you should try using something else…”

  She resisted the urge to reach out and snatch the pendant off Maggie. One baby dragon was enough of a handful.

  Even if another one would mean a brother or sister for Maggie to play with...

  Raised voices came from the corridor outside. Keeley looked up, recognizing Lance’s deep tones, and Carol quickly jumped up and tidied her clothes.

  The door swung open.

  “Lance! You’ll never guess what Maggie’s trying to do...” Keeley’s voice faded. Lance’s jaw was set, and his eyes skated away from hers. The knot in Keeley’s stomach twisted. “What’s happened?”

  “Get her away from the eggs!”

  Keeley hadn’t even noticed Briers come in. The mousy-haired man stormed in front of Lance, pointing at—her?

  For a moment, she wondered what he was doing. Then she saw the look in his eyes. Pure, unvarnished hatred and disgust.

  What the—? Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Not now.

  The bottom fell out of her stomach.

  Carol looked from Keeley to Briers and back, confusion in her flat black eyes. “Boss?”

  “Lance, what’s going on?” Keeley stood up. At a nod from Briers, Carol grabbed her arms behind her back and pulled her away from the desk. “What the hell?”

  She tried to pull away, but Carol was surprisingly strong. Or not surprisingly, maybe. On the desk, Maggie rose up on her hind legs, looking from Maggie, to Lance, and back. “Preep?” Confusion buffeted against Keeley’s mind.

  Lance swore under his breath and gripped his forehead, then waved his hand calmingly at the baby dragon. Maggie stared at him, eyes wide, and kept cheeping in distress.

  Keeley gritted her teeth. Maggie’s confusion was like the start of a migraine, wearing against her brain. “You’re scaring her, Lance. What the hell is going on?”

  Lance’s throat moved like he was biting back words. For one long breath, he didn’t meet Keeley’s eyes, and when he did, his gaze was dark and troubled.

  “Some new information has come to light about the night Maggie was taken.” Lance’s voice was clipped. Professional. Keeley shivered. “Keeley, I—”

  Something behind his eyes broke. He ran the back of his hand over his mouth, and before he could say anything more, Briers strode forward.

  “The dragon should be scared. But MacInnis isn’t the one she should be scared of. Isn’t that right, Keeley Bailey?”

  Keeley’s stomach dropped. “I d-don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered. “That’s not my name. I’m K-Keeley Smith.”

  The lie was out before she could stop it, and she knew the moment it left her lips that it had been a mistake. She swallowed hard and tried again.

  “I mean, I—”

  Without thinking, she glanced toward the door. Her mind made the calculation without prompting: there was no way she could make it out without one of them catching her, even if she managed to slip out of Carol’s grasp.

  It was less than a second before she looked back at Lance, but even that was enough. He’d seen her eyes flick to the exit, and the broken shards of pain in his eyes turned sharp as splintered glass.

  He held out a tablet. Keeley forced herself to look at the images flashing across its screen.

  “Briers recovered the footage from the station. It shows you arriving. With the case containing Maggie’s egg.” Lance swiped the screen, and another clip began to play. “He was able to track your movements back to when you received the case from your associate.”

  Keeley’s throat was dry. “It’s not like that,” she protested. “Please, I was going to tell you, you have t-to understand—”

  “You thought you were safe after I told you the CCTV footage was lost, didn’t you?” Lance’s voice was hollow. “You were planning to leave before then. You only changed your mind after you heard Carol’s report. Why?”

  Keeley’s voice caught in her throat. It was true. When she’d heard the footage was gone—she’d felt safe. But that wasn’t what had made her decide to stay.

  “I—”

  Briers cut in. “Get her phone,” he barked.

  Keeley automatically grabbed at her pocket, but Carol was too quick for her. The shark shifter muttered a quick apology before she threw the phone to Briers.

  An ugly sneer twisted his face as he activated the screen.

  “Just as I thought,” he hissed. “You said she wanted to check in with her work, MacInnis? It wasn’t the hotel she was worried about. Arrangements for the drop point, payment details—it’s all here.” He scrolled down. “Interesting. It looks like our thief dropped off the radar without checking in with her associates. What happened, Bailey? Did the plan fall apart after Lance caught you running off?” His eyes narrowed. “Or were you waiting until there was a bigger payload to sweeten the deal?”

  He looked meaningfully at the eggs on the desk and slipped Keeley’s phone into his pocket. “Thank God we got to her in time.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Keeley spat. “You’re lying! There’s no way he has my number, he can’t have messaged me on—”

  “He?” Lance’s voice was glacier-cold.

  Keeley choked. Lance’s expression was sterner than she’d ever seen him.

  No, that wasn’t true. He’d looked like this when he talked about tracking down the people who’d tried to take Maggie. Who’d hurt his friends.

  And now he thought she was one of them. Because she was one of them.

  “You’ve got it all wrong,” she said desperately, struggling to pull away from Carol’s iron grip. “I’m—that’s not me. You have to let me explain—”

  “Not you?” Briers cut in again, his voice dripping with acid. Keeley’s heart sank as Lance let him talk. “Let’s talk about who you are, Keeley Bailey. You’ve got quite the history, don’t you? Breaking and entering. Burglary. Assault. No wonder you’re living under an assumed name.”

  “I never—” The words died on Keeley’s tongue as Lance stared at her, hurt in every line of his face.

  “You lied to me. Everything—” Lance groaned and clutched his chest. Pain twisted his face. “No,” he muttered bitterly. “Not everything was a lie.”

  The mate bond. It’s hurting him. Keeley’s chest ached, as though in sympathy for Lance’s pain. “Lance, please. I can explain. I know I’ve fucked up, but—”

  What could she say? Her ribs cramped. Explain? More like confess.

  Bitterness filled her mouth. Most of what Briers had said about her was true. How could Lance believe anything she said now, knowing her history?

  “I never meant to hurt you,” she burst out. “And you know I would never hurt Maggie. Never.”

  Lance searched her face, his eyes so intent she found it difficult to hold his gaze. All her instincts were telling her to run and hide, but it was too late for that. All she could do was hope he would give her a chance.

  A chance she knew she didn’t deserve.

  Lance’s eyes, usually so bright
in contrast to his dark skin, looked faded and dull. For the first time since Keeley hard known him, he looked defeated.

  No, she thought desperately. It wasn’t meant to be like this. I was going to tell you everything. I didn’t want you to be hurt like this.

  Lance looked like he was about to say something when Briers spoke up.

  “We don’t have time for this, sir,” Briers muttered, loud enough that his voice carried through the pounding in Keeley’s ears. “I can use her phone to pin down her associates’ locations. You need to go, now, before the trail goes cold again.”

  Pain twisted like a knife in Keeley’s heart as Lance straightened, grim determination replacing the torn anguish in his eyes.

  “Take her to the holding cell.”

  Keeley

  Keeley felt faint. Her feet skidded and stumbled under her as Carol and another agent marched her to the basement level. She barely noticed where they were taking her.

  The only thing she could see was the look on Lance’s face when he realized who she was. What she was.

  Her guards stopped outside a heavy-looking door that opened to reveal a windowless cell. Four plain walls, concrete floor. The only furniture was a steel-framed bench welded to one wall.

  Keeley stumbled in, feeling light-headed, and the door slammed behind her.

  She fell to her knees, her head swimming.

  I should have told him earlier, she thought vaguely. I should have told him everything. Who I really am. Who Sean is. He could have tracked Sean down, found out whoever was behind the kidnapping…

  Keeley shook her head. Cold was creeping through her limbs, bone-deep and icy enough to make her shiver.

  Telling Lance the truth wouldn’t have helped. What was she supposed to do, tell Lance she’d lied about everything else, but she was totally telling the truth this time, honest?

  He wouldn’t have believed her.

  And now… it was too late. It was all too late. Even if Lance did hear her out now, what could she say? That she used to be a criminal, but that was all behind her now?

  Because it wasn’t. Sean had made sure of that. No matter how far she ran, she would never escape him.

  She slumped on the ground. There was a low bench along one wall, but right now, she couldn’t see any point in moving to it. Nothing mattered. Lance knew who she was, and…

  In some ways, it was a relief.

  She didn’t need to lie to Lance anymore. Or worry about how he’d react when he found out the truth. The worst had already happened, after all. Lance hated her.

  … And he was going to take down the other bad guys. And Maggie would be safe. She was back with the other eggs now, and soon, they would all be reunited with their uncle.

  Keeley blinked. That sounded suspiciously like a happy ending. For everyone except her, but… it wasn’t like she deserved a happy ending, after all.

  Maybe she hadn’t wanted to get involved with the kidnapping, but she had, hadn’t she? And she’d known who was behind it—one of the people, at least—and hadn’t told Lance. She could have helped with the investigation, but she’d chosen to protect herself.

  Everything that Briers had said was true. She deserved this. She was a thief. And a liar. She’d even—

  Wait.

  The concrete floor was like a block of ice under her legs. She rested her palms on it, willing the chill to snap her out of the fog that filled her mind. What had Briers said?

  She closed her eyes, pulling up the memory of Briers’ twisted smirk. Breaking and entering. Burglary. Assault.

  Keeley’s eyes snapped open. How the hell did Briers know about the assault charge?

  Because there wasn’t an assault charge. Nothing on the books, nothing official. That had been the deal.

  Keeley swallowed, her tongue scraping dry against the top of her mouth. Only four people knew about the assault. Her. Gran. The guy she’d attacked. And Sean.

  Keeley’s gran was dead. The guy she’d attacked wouldn’t talk—that was the deal, that they would keep quiet or they’d go public with what he’d done, too.

  Keeley sure as shit hadn’t told anyone.

  Which left…

  Keeley jumped to her feet so quickly her head spun. She stumbled, scraping her palms on the floor as she caught her balance, and threw herself at the door.

  An inside job. She’d been wrong to suspect Carol, but not wrong about someone in Lance’s agency being involved.

  She pounded on the door as hard as she could, ignoring the stinging pain in her hands.

  “It’s a trap,” she yelled, hoping at least one of the agents sent to guard her was still on the other side of the door. “It’s a trap, you have to stop them, it’s a trick—”

  The door opened under her fists, and she fell forward, cracking her knees on the ground. Someone was standing behind the door; they’d stepped back as she fell, keeping their shiny black brogues out of her path.

  “Tell Lance,” Keeley gasped, winded. “Tell Lance—he’s in danger. Whatever lead he’s chasing, I think it’s a trap. The people who tried to take Maggie have someone in the agency. They’re feeding you information. They—”

  She looked up, and all the blood drained from her face.

  “A trap?” Briers said. “Well, well. Aren’t you clever.”

  Lance

  The city flashed by outside the van windows. Lance clenched his fists. This was it; they were zeroing in on the enemy’s hideout. He had one chance to finish this. He needed to concentrate. Every breath he took, every beat of his heart, had to be focused on the mission ahead.

  But inside, he was being torn apart.

  His snow leopard raged against him, demanding that he turn back. It didn’t understand what Keeley had done. It only knew that she was his mate, and he’d abandoned her.

  No. Worse than that. He hadn’t just abandoned her, he’d left her locked up, imprisoned in one of the agency’s shifter-proof holding cells. And when he returned…

  He gritted his teeth. When he returned, he would hand her over to the police. Briers had shown him the outstanding warrants for Keeley Bailey’s arrest. She was a criminal, and she’d tried to hurt Maggie, and she would pay for what she’d—

  Pain shot through his chest. Lance doubled over, gritting his teeth to keep from crying out. The shimmering, golden bond that connected him to Keeley was stretched tight, pulling on his heart. His snow leopard howled in pain as the bond twisted and frayed.

  No.

  Lance knew he should let it happen. Let the bond fray and break. Turn his back on his mate the same way she had betrayed him, and put an end to the connection between them.

  I can’t.

  Lance clutched at the delicate bond, not relaxing until the pain in his heart and soul eased.

  He didn’t know for sure what would happen when the bond broke, but right now, he told himself, he couldn’t risk it. Even the pain of it almost breaking was enough to unsettle him, and for this mission, he needed to be in total control.

  The bond stayed. For now.

  *We’re here.* Parker’s voice in his mind sounded like an echo, and it took Lance a moment to realize why. Of course. Hadn’t the night he’d recovered Maggie started like this? A lead appearing like a miracle from heaven, Bradford driving like a madman to the location—

  And him, tearing himself to pieces with guilt and fear.

  Not this time. Lance steeled himself. He’d been caught on the back foot for too long. Always one step behind, always scrambling to keep up. No more.

  He nodded to the Parker and Yelich. All three of them slipped out of the van, moving as one, and approached the target.

  Briers’ lead had brought them to an empty warehouse along the water’s edge. Barbed wire topped the fence around the building, and what lay beyond it didn’t seem worth guarding. Boards covered the door and windows of the office at the front of the warehouse, and piles of trash blocked the large main doors. Flies buzzed in the late morning sun.

  Abando
ned, according to Briers’ intelligence. Or it had been, until the people after the dragon eggs had moved in.

  Lance checked the ground at his feet. No shadow; the shield scale strapped to his arm was holding.

  Not that that will help us if the enemy agents are shielded, too. Like they were at the station.

  He frowned. Another thing to worry about. We thought we had secured all the shields—all the ones Julian remembered, anyway. If we were wrong about that, then how many other criminal groups might have access to dragon scale shielding?

  Lance paused and took a deep breath. Focus, he told himself. You can’t afford to be distracted right now. Not after Keeley.

  Everything she did was a distraction. All she wanted was to get her hands on the eggs.

  His hand went to his comm, and he realized almost too late than he’d been about to ping Briers and ask for an update on their prisoner. He gritted his teeth. Focus.

  Briers’ voice buzzed in his ear, passing on information about the target. There was a second small door around the side, but no other exits. Lance gestured to the other agents, directing them to pincer in on the building.

  The midday air was completely still. The smell from the piles of trash grew stronger as he approached the warehouse, the stench so rank it seemed almost solid. Lance grimaced and held his breath.

  Yelich was already at the front door. She dropped her head as Lance approached. *Can’t smell shit through all this… shit.*

  *Parker?* Lance fell into position beside Yelich and waited for the bloodhound shifter’s assessment.

  *Not shit.* Parker had gone around the side of the building. *Just rotten. Old trash.* He grumbled a bit, and then added: *Can’t smell anything past it, but can’t tell if that’s because it’s so rank, or there’s nothing there to smell. Should’ve brought Zhang.*

  Lance shook his head. Carol had been too shaken by what happened with Keeley to come on this mission.

  Lance focused all his senses. He couldn’t hear anything from beyond the door, but according to Briers, Keeley’s associates had entered the warehouse several hours ago and not yet emerged. They were in there somewhere, and Lance would find them, shielded or not.