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evening was already growing late before she was ready to head home. She promised Toby she’d take the train, but running felt so good that when she reached the Greenwich station, she didn’t board the DLR after all but took the pedestrian tunnel to the other side of the river. Taking the north side would be a longer route home, as she would have to make her way around the northward bend in the river, but the route was beautiful and the evening weather was nice.
    The only blemish in her otherwise perfect evening was when she ran too close to the Nightingale Club. It hadn’t opened for the night yet, but it still managed to mar her good mood. Putting it resolutely out of her mind, she headed for the City. She would be home soon.
     

Chapter Eight
    Keeping on the tail of a woman who evidently could run a marathon without tiring wasn’t easy for a man with Jeremy’s build, but he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. He did what he had to in order to keep her safe. Even if it meant running through the entirety of London.
    Her pace was conserving, like with long-distance runners, and he had no trouble keeping up. But doing so without her noticing him was another matter. He was a large man and didn’t run with the effortless grace she did. And he was dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt and handmade leather shoes. People noticed him as he swerved by them.
    One jogger wasn’t a peculiarity: a jogger with a tail was.
    It was only a matter of time before someone would alert Cora to his presence. He could camouflage himself with magic, but there was only so much Might he could spare without tiring. He needed to conserve energy in case she decided to actually run a marathon.
    Or he had to defend her against the enemy.
    On the Bankside footpath, there were fewer people around and it became easier to run, but she increased her pace only a little. Fearing she would detect him, he let the distance between them grow, but she never looked around, never even suspected he might be following her.
    By the time they reached Greenwich, he had run more than he had in ages, even including regular exercising and the chases renegades provided him with. He wasn’t tiring, but he felt dismayed when he realised she would run atop Maze Hill. It was the leopard-shifters’ territory and he had to tread carefully. Worse, it meant she had run straight to her shifter.
    His chest tightened and it had nothing to do with the steep climb.
    He wanted to follow her into the clan grounds when she disappeared through the gate of the castle, but that would be foolish. Glancing around, he spotted a huge tree in the Greenwich Park across the street. It was far enough from the shifter estate that their guards wouldn’t immediately spot him, and close enough to keep an eye on the gate. He scaled the tall wrought-iron fence to the park and climbed up the tree, hiding behind the leaves. He was parched, but he couldn’t – wouldn’t – abandon his watch.
    The sun was already setting when she finally emerged. He had begun to fear that she would stay the night, and the sight of her made his tension ease. Like before, she took off on an easy trot back the way she had come. Groaning, he got down from the tree and followed her. If his legs were a little stiff, it was because he had sat in the tree for so long.
    He began to worry again when she didn’t head to the train station but to the pedestrian tunnel underneath the Thames. She meant to run home. Reckless woman.
    The tunnel was a long, straight tube where their steps echoed, so he had to give her a good head start. By the time he emerged on the surface, she had disappeared, but a quick scan led him back on her trail again as she ran through the Isle of Dogs. He had to admire her strength. He was already feeling the effects of the run.
    After the deep northward bend in the river, she turned west, keeping to the well-lit main streets. It was obvious she would run through the City, and her route would take her by the