Maximus

Every inch of his body fought against him as he darted across the dim studio, heading for the sign that read Exit in blood-red neon lettering. He shouldn’t be leaving her behind. Not this time.

Not ever.

Now is not the time.

Maximus tried to convey that thought to his bear. He was as aware as his animal half was that there was something special about Haley. That he wasn’t going to be able to accept life without her in it. On that level, at least, his two sides were in agreement with each other. Where they were currently having a near-violent internal disagreement was with his current actions to leave her.

He couldn’t stay with her right now. The police, or the Institute, or both, would be there shortly. Of that, he had no doubt as he pushed open the door and headed down the stairs. If he wanted to do his best to ensure that Haley encountered no trouble, he had to act like all he’d done was force his way onto her set. That she’d only gone along because he’d threatened her and the others. Which was essentially true, but he’d seen the way she had reacted to his story. She was horrified by the message he’d delivered, detailing the planned genocide of his people. But he couldn’t let the Institute know that. Maximus had been used as leverage against his brothers. He would not let Haley find herself in the same position.

Booted feet slammed onto concrete below him, drawing his attention. He paused on the nearest landing, listening carefully.

“Come on! Get up there already. Get him, the girl, and anyone else who might be present. They’re all coming down to the station, as per Magnus. Now move it!”

Shit. Capital S.

He’d delayed too long. His brothers would have long since cleared the building, and by the sounds of it, the men below had no idea they were ever here. Which ruled out Institute lackeys. They would have scented his brothers immediately, and gone to tracking them down. So that was one thing working in his favor. Unfortunately, judging by the boots, numbers were once again in favor of the opposite side.

What I wouldn’t give, for just one time, to outnumber my enemies, and be able to smash them. Damn, that would be so relieving and different.

But, it wasn’t the case today, which meant he had to flee. His superhuman hearing heard belabored breathing coming from the stairs below him, and the sounds of boots was slowing.

What the hell? It’s only six stories up, lads. I get that you aren’t shifters but…damn.

Maximus almost risked peeking down the stairwell to see what he was dealing with, but he decided not to risk it. Instead, he silently crept back up the two flights of stairs and into the studio, letting the door close silently behind him. He paused before continuing, cursing himself for involving Haley. He considered making a commotion, trying to convince them that she wasn’t actually a part of anything, but discarded the idea. If the Institute had decided Haley was his accomplice, anything he did wouldn’t change that.

And who is this Magnus?

He resolved to find that out as well. It wasn’t a name they had come across before, but now he was going to make certain that whoever they were, their part in everything was revealed as well. Until then though, he had to focus on his current mission: Save Haley.

“She’s going to hate me,” he muttered, starting out into the studio, headed for the desk.

She wasn’t there.

“Where’s Haley?” he asked, practically snapping at the nearest human.

“H-H-Her office,” the young man stammered.

Maximus glared at him.

“That way!” he yelped, his voice breaking as he pointed behind Maximus.

The giant shifter turned and headed for a hallway. The doors were labeled with names, and it was a relatively trivial task to find hers. He was glad it was him trapped in the building though, and not one of his brothers. They had all had a very hard time with venturing into the building.

The Koche brothers had all discovered early on that their bears could not deal with the density of population and construction of a human city. There was just too much…stuff. It drove their bears mad. Except, it had been found, when they were in direct contact with their mates. To even get this far into the city, they’d had to bring their mates in tow. Knowing that they would probably have to make a hasty exit from the building, they’d left them in the cars below. By now, they should all be well on their way out of the city, to avoid any cordon the Institute might attempt to put up around Longhorne.

Maximus, however, was different. First, he had no mate. His eyes strayed to the nameplate on the door. Not yet, at least. What he did have was experience in the city, albeit forced experience. He’d been captured by the Institute on his way home to try and warn Cadia about the goings-on in and around Longhorne. From there, he’d been imprisoned in one of the Institute offices, with a complete view of the city around him. It had driven him nearly mad, and at more than one point, he’d thought about giving up. In the end, his loyalty to his brothers had prevailed. He’d won out, managing to tame his wild bear. Ever since, he’d not found the city had the same effect on him. It was useful in a situation like this, but it was not something he would ever want any of his brothers to go through. Even now he had nightmares of screaming until his throat bled, memories of his time as the Institute’s guest.

But he was the eldest Koche brother, and though things were changing in his little family, they all still tended to look to him for advice based on his experiences. He wasn’t going to let them down. Not then, and definitely not today.

“Haley,” he said, knocking on the door, doing his best not to startle her.

The yelp from inside told him he’d failed. Good job, you buffoon.

“What?” she asked a moment later, not opening the door.

“Can I come in? We have a problem.”

There was silence from the far side for a few seconds, and he almost opened the door anyway. They were quickly running out of seconds to spare. He didn’t know how much longer until the police reached their floor and found the office. What he did know was that if either of them were still around when they did arrive, things were going to get very complicated, very quickly. He really did not want to have to do anything…improper, with Haley around. She wouldn’t understand his method of uncomplicating things.

“Listen, Maximus, now is—”

She was cut off as he barged into her office, breaking the lock and cracking the door violently as he forced it open.

“HEY!” she yelped, her hands flying to her mostly uncovered upper body.

“SORRY!” he shouted, backing out, pulling the door closed with him.

The hinges whined, and the door fell inward, leaving him standing there holding the doorknob, and Haley, still half undressed, staring at him in shock. Maximus looked down at his hand, then down at the door. Slowly he bent down and placed the knob on the door and stood back up.

Haley blinked at him, her arms across her chest. She was still wearing her bra, so nothing was visible, but clearly he’d intruded on her.

“A little privacy?” she asked when he didn’t turn away.

“Right,” he said, shaking his head and spinning around.

All down the hall and back toward the studio people were looking at him.

“Nothing to see here, folks,” he growled, his eyes daring anyone to challenge him on that.

Heads darted back into offices and doors slammed quickly.

“Okay,” Haley said a moment later.

He spun, just as she finished cinching the thick terrycloth robe around her waist. “We need to leave. Now. I’m sorry, but they’re coming for you, too.”

“What? Who is coming for me?” she asked, looking past him, as if she could see who he was referring to.

“The police, on behalf of the Institute. They’ve got orders to hand you over to someone named Magnus. I don’t know who that is, but he’s obviously not police. They always refer to each other by rank, like the military. So he’s an outsider.”

Her jaw dropped. “You picked all that up from a name?”

He bobbed his head urgently. “I’ll explain later! We need to go. NOW!”

Bewildered, Haley nodded and started to pack things into a bag. There was a commotion down the hallway, back in the direction of the studio. He glanced down it, but couldn’t see anything. Still, the sounds were obvious to his ear.

They were out of time.