Kathryne Kennedy - Everlasting Enchantment

“You will still need me,” she replied. “Besides, if you think I shall not see this through to the end, you are sadly mistaken.”

Ah, he could see why Millicent had chosen her for a friend. Beneath her air of cultured sensibilities, the lady possessed a will of steely resolve.

Gareth turned and raised his voice. “You’ve got what you want. Now take me to her.”

The clerk went back to perusing his papers again.

The were-lion clutched the bracelet tightly and nodded. “Follow me.”

They strode down the hall, the half-dozen shape-shifters following, some of them shifting to their animal forms as they went: the tiger, an enormous raven, a shaggy-haired wolf.

“You will release her,” said Gareth.

The lion-man shrugged. “She is of no use to us now, but it is not my decision to make. You will have to consult the Master.”

They turned a corner, went down another hall. The building had not looked this large from the outside. The golden-haired man kept glancing at Gareth, curiosity lining his scarred features. Gareth waited. Thanks to Millicent, he had experience with the curiosity of cats.

“You did not answer me,” he finally blurted. “If you didn’t know I had your girl, why did you bring the relic here?”

“To foil a plot to overthrow the Crown.”

The man stopped dead in his tracks, turned to face Gareth while the other shape-shifters made a circle around them. Lady Yardley shivered. They stood on a balcony overlooking an indoor garden of sorts, the trees and plants cultivated within it almost unrecognizable as any species native to England.

Gareth knew damn well the building was not this large on the outside. Dread magic, indeed.

“Your fears that the relic might prove a danger to the Crown were not groundless,” said Lady Yardley. “Although Sir Gareth is not to blame—”

Gareth laid a hand on her shoulder. “Not now. We gave them the bracelet—we tell them nothing more until they give us Millicent.”

Lady Yardley snapped her mouth shut and nodded, giving the shifter a mutinous glare.

The baronet did not argue. He spun and led them down a set of spiral stairs, the stone treads worn smooth from centuries of use. The light grew dimmer the lower they went, as windows no longer illuminated each landing. Fairylights lit the way instead, the enchanted dust within the globes reflecting sparks of glitter in the shaggy manes of their escort.

As they reached the final landing, Gareth could hear moaning that set his teeth on edge. They entered another hall of doors, these locked from the outside, with but a small opening lined with bars to see inside. The moan rose to a scream, and he bolted down the hall toward the sound, leaving the shape-shifters open-mouthed behind him.

Gareth recognized that scream.

He stopped at a door fairly vibrating with the sound.

“Millicent!”

The screams rose in volume.

Gareth looked through the bars of the small window. A cage with another set of silver bars sat within the stone chamber, and within that cage prowled a black panther, eyes glittering with near madness.

The shape-shifters had already caught up to him, leaving Lady Yardley far down the corridor. They were all as fast as Millicent.

Gareth called to her again, but Millicent was lost in some sort of hysteria, screaming and screaming. She threw herself at the bars of the cage, rocking the prison against the stone walls.

“You caged her,” roared Gareth. “Like an animal. You—you of all people,” and he swept a scathing glance at the shape-shifters.

The were-lion flushed. “It was the safest way we could transport her. We know our kind’s strength—and no wards could hold a shifter. She was still unconscious when I left her!”

“Open the damn door.”

His shame appeared to prompt him to obey the command, and he withdrew a set of odd-looking keys from his waistcoat, turning one in the lock. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you,” he warned. “Take a look at her eyes, man. The beast has fully claimed her. You’d best wait until some trace of her human side—”

Gareth flung open the door. He couldn’t be sure if Millicent’s human side would ever come back, not after this. Not without his help. And if he was wrong—if she did not love him enough—he did not want to continue his existence anyway. He stepped into the room.

The beast stopping screaming, but continued to growl a warning as she backed to the far end of the cage, watching him with wary eyes.

The door of the cage had a bolt on the outside. Gareth shoved it open. “Millicent. It is all right. I’m going to let you out of here, see?”

The panther’s tail swished, and those golden eyes narrowed.

“It was wrong of them to put you in a cage.” Gareth opened the steel-barred door. “I shall never let anyone do this to you again—”

The panther leaped forward, those heavy paws slamming against Gareth’s chest, pushing him backward and down.

A scream and a shouted oath from behind him, and the outside door of the prison slammed shut.

The panther looked down at Gareth, teeth displayed in a snarl. He could feel the heat of her breath, the sharp points of her claws as they dug into his shoulders. Millicent weighed much more when in were-form and Gareth struggled to breathe.

“I… love… you.”

Those golden eyes blinked.

“You betrayed… me.”

Whiskers twitched.

“But only so I… could be free. I… forgive you.”

And suddenly the weight lessened, and Millicent’s beautiful human features loomed above him. “Forgive me?” she snapped. “There is nothing for you to forgive. I loved you enough to give you up—you should be thanking me.”

Gareth smiled. “You are back.”

“Well, of course…” Millicent rolled off him and sat up, raked her wild hair away from her face. “No. Wait… how could this happen? My beast should have torn you apart. I felt its rage… I did not think I would overcome it this time.”

“Love can overcome all odds.”

Her eyes widened. “You. You brought me back.”

Gareth sat up, a bit shakily, but that had been a close one. “You do love me, Millicent. Enough to bring you back to me. I had truly thought that when you gave the bracelet to Lady Yardley—”

“And yet you opened the door to the cage anyway? Are you mad? My beast could have…” She shuddered.

“But it did not.”

“No.”

They stared at each other for a timeless moment.

“You broke my heart,” Gareth murmured.

“I am sorry you felt that way. Where… where is the relic?”

Gareth rose, extended his hand to her. “I gave it to the Master’s spies.”

Millicent stared up at Gareth in horror. “You did what?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It was necessary.”

“But why? Surely they believed Lady Yardley about the Duke of Ghoulston’s schemes. The relic was only supposed to grant her an audience.”

“We haven’t told them about him yet.”

“Then why—”

The prison door burst open, and the were-lion who had taken Millicent appeared in the doorway. She spun and growled at him. He had been the one to take her… the one to put her in a cage. And now she realized why Gareth had handed over the relic. So he could free her.

“Don’t shift,” murmured Gareth, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

Amazingly, he prevented her from doing so. Her beast now succumbed to Gareth’s will. The realization should have shaken her. It did not.

“Madam,” said the were-lion, “please accept my sincere apologies. I should have suspected your reaction to being… caged.” He winced, then his rather handsome face hardened. “But you have given us a merry chase over the last few weeks. I did not want you slipping from my fingers yet again.”

Millicent growled.

The shifter sighed, then shrugged his broad shoulders, transferring his gaze to Gareth. “Sir. I believe you mentioned something about a plot to overthrow the Crown? I would be most interested to hear of it. Now.”

Claire suddenly appeared in the doorway, her lovely face near purple with exertion, her hand to her chest as she gasped for breath. “Millicent? Good… good heavens! Are you well? If they have mistreated you… in any way… they shall hear from my father! He wields incredible influence with the House…”

“From which the Hall holds a certain amount of immunity,” interjected the were-lion.

Claire narrowed her eyes and glared up at the man. “What is your name, sir? I wish to make sure I mention it when I recount this… debacle, to the queen. Or were you not aware that I am a Lady of the Bedchamber?”

If Millicent had not hated the shifter so very much, she might have felt sorry for him at the moment. The spies might hold a certain autonomy in dealing with magical troubles, but everyone answered to the queen. And someone who held her special confidence was not to be taken lightly.

The man collected himself and bowed. “Sir Harcourt, at your service, Lady Yardley—if I recall your name correctly? And may I say, this is a dangerous business for a lady such as yourself to get mixed up in.”

“Such as myself? I do not like your tone of voice, sir.” She turned away from him in dismissal and held out her hand to Millicent. “Come out of there, this instant. I cannot bear to see you in such a place.”

Her concern soothed the trace of fury remaining within Millicent, and she stepped forward, clasping her friend’s hand. The were-lion narrowed his eyes, glanced from Claire to Gareth, and wisely kept his mouth shut.