by Leslie Chase
“Well, what then?” Lenore said, a little disappointed. He kissed her tenderly and stood.
“You’re still frightened of my tiger form. I don’t want to scare you, dear, not ever. You’re safe with me, no matter what. And so I am going to give you a chance to meet my tiger properly.”
Lenore couldn’t help bursting out laughing at that, feeling her cheeks blushing bright red. He shook his head, a little exasperatedly, and stood up, turning his back on her. “You know I don’t mean that as a euphemism. And you’ve already met that tiger quite thoroughly!”
As he spoke, he started to undress. Lenore watched as he pulled off his shirt, his broad back bare, unmarred except for the faint trace of a scar left by the silver bullet on the night they’d met, already faded to almost nothing. He folded the shirt neatly and put it aside before stepping out of his shoes and taking off his pants.
Lenore couldn’t help admiring him. His body was so nearly perfect, she couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of staring at him. It wasn’t even sexual, it was like watching a gorgeous work of living art move as his muscles flexed and stretched. He was attractive, of course; just looking at him was enough to make her tingle with desire. But beyond that, he was beautiful – even someone who didn’t like men would have to agree, she thought.
Once he was done undressing and laying his clothes neatly aside, he turned to look her in the eyes. Meeting his gaze, she gave a shaky smile and nodded for him to go ahead.
The transformation took less time than the nod did. One moment, he was standing there, a beautiful naked man. A heartbeat later, there was a tiger on the carpet in front of her.
Lenore couldn’t stop herself from squeaking in a sudden burst of fear, pulling her legs up onto the sofa as she covered her mouth. The huge cat looked at her, and she thought she could see amusement in the animal’s eyes. Carefully and slowly, he lowered himself to his belly in front of her, folding his great paws under himself. It was as unthreatening a posture as she could imagine from a predator, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how dangerous he was, the damage one swipe of his claws could do.
Seconds stretched without any danger, and she tried to relax. She did have to admit that he was a glorious beast, orange fur with black stripes so vibrant. A broad face with those compelling amber eyes watching her closely.
“M-Maxwell?” She felt foolish asking. Of course it was Maxwell. What other explanation was there?
The tiger nodded and purred. It was a deeper rumble than she’d expected, much louder than a domestic cat, but it was somehow reassuring. Slowly and carefully she let her legs down to the floor again. To her relief, the tiger didn’t pounce on her. It stayed perfectly still watching her and purring louder as she leaned in.
The purr vibrated through her, and she found that she was smiling as she reached out slowly to stroke his thick fur. Her fingers trembled, nerves wracked. The giant predator loomed large before her, but he turned his head aside, offering a safe approach to her hand away from his mouth.
Her fingers sank into the soft fur behind his ear and his purr got louder. The fur was so soft, it felt delightful under her hand, and she screwed up her courage to scratch gently. There was something comforting about the feel of him, something reassuring.
Slowly, he moved again, lifting his head and laying it in her lap as she kept scratching. The weight was a surprise, but his happy nuzzling made her smile.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered, seeing his ears flick. He lifted his head to meet her gaze and then laid it back down. She laughed delightedly, stroking his head and relaxing. No matter how dangerous he looked, he was Maxwell still, and somehow, his fur felt like home.
5
Plans and Counterplans
“We need to have a plan,” Penelope said, sitting cross-legged against the wall of the living room. The scent of flowers filled the room, but if the floral displays had surprised Penelope, she hadn’t shown any sign of it. Lenore wondered what it would take to phase her – the blossoms everywhere still surprised her every time she looked around. Everything had moved so fast her head was still spinning from it.
Lenore was sitting on the sofa, cuddling up to Maxwell who was back in his human form, his arm around her, and trying to let herself adjust to the novelty of her new life.
“I take it you haven’t been able to find anything out about Sir Daniel?” he asked, shaking his head.
“Oh, no, brother. I’ve been busy while you’ve been setting up here,” Penelope said, grinning. “It’s just that what I can find isn’t much use. His family’s rich, though not as rich as we are. He’s been interested in the occult since childhood, but he’s not from a magical family, so no one really knows much about him. No one who’s talking to me anyway.”
“Hrm, that’s annoying.” Maxwell tensed beside Lenore, and she could tell he was more than just annoyed by that. “So no luck finding him, I take it.”
“Nope,” Penelope shook her head, making an annoyed face. “Oh, I found a few of his residences, but no one’s home apart from staff at the moment. He’s not bad at covering his tracks, I’ll say that for the bastard.
“Don’t worry, though. I’ll find him.”
Lenore shivered at the cold steel in her voice.
“Are you going to, to kill him?” she asked, feeling a little foolish even as she said it.
“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Maxwell said, hugging her. “He’s not exactly left us many options.”
“Max is right,” Penelope added. “He picked this fight, and he’s the one who brought in lethal weapons. So he’s got to go, for your safety aside from anything else.”
“I suppose so,” Lenore said sadly. “I’ve just, well, I’ve never been involved in anything like this before.”
“It’s not something we’re used to either,” Penelope said with a reassuring smile. “You shouldn’t get the idea that it’s an everyday part of Maxwell’s life, darling.”
“And if you don’t want to be involved, that’s fine,” he put in. “We don’t have to include you in this if you’d rather not know what we’re doing.”
“No, no, I want to know,” she said, hugging him close and trying to draw strength from him. “I don’t want to be kept in the dark.”
“I didn’t think that you would, that’s why you’re here for this. But remember, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, you can always leave. We won’t think less of you.”
From the way he said it, she thought he might prefer that, but she couldn’t in good conscience pretend that she wasn’t involved in what was going on. She was in danger, Maxwell and Penelope were discussing putting themselves in harm’s way in part to protect her - the least she could do was pay attention to what was happening in her life.
“So,” she said, trying to move the conversation on, “what’s next?”
“I know that you’re not going to like hearing this, Maxwell, but we have to get the Council of Masters involved,” Penelope said. “Whatever dark magic Sir Daniel is going to invoke to steal our power, it will have consequences beyond us. That’s not something we can keep from them.”
“It won’t come to that,” Maxwell rumbled. “I have no intention of letting him get that far.”
“Of course not,” Penelope said, not sounding any happier about it than her brother. “But there are a couple of reasons that doesn’t matter. Firstly, if he has this much dark magic at his fingertips, can we count on him not trying something else to help him now that his plans are going wrong? You know how bad something like that can get, and I hate to think of a man like Sir Daniel improvising with magic.”
Lenore grimaced at the thought. She might not know anything about the risks of magic, but she couldn’t imagine that Sir Daniel would limit himself to safe options. If there even were safe options where dark magic was concerned! “What’s the second reason?”
Penelope shot her a pained look. “Actually, it’s you. Or rather, our ability to keep you safe. Sir Daniel is a great deal more
dangerous than we expected, and he’s better at hiding from me than he has any right to be. I want this done with as quickly as possible, not risking you. Sorry.”
Maxwell snarled something unintelligible, and Lenore could feel him forcing himself to relax. “We can keep her safe, Penny. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I know you won’t, but that’s the problem. The only way you can keep her safe is to sit at her side constantly, and that’s not going to let either of you live your lives.” Penelope grinned, and waved down their objections. “Oh, sure, right now that sounds great to both of you, but you’re going to want some freedom to do your own things. What happens if something else comes up, brother, and the Council wants us to deal with it? I can only do so much on my own.”
“I don’t like it,” Maxwell said, but there was a note of resignation to his voice. “The Masters have their own problems, and they tend to overkill in their solutions. There’s a reason why they ask us to deal with so many problems, remember?”
“It’s not great, but hey, some of the biggest names in magic working together? They’ll be able to pin down Sir Daniel and then we can deal with him. Or they’ll do it all themselves – but either way, this will be over quicker.
“And remember, brother, it’s not just about us. If he does manage his trick, the magic he’s drawing from our family line will steal from our cousins in India too. We have to think of them.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Maxwell said with a sigh. “Okay, make the call.”
Penelope pulled out her phone, and Maxwell hugged Lenore tight, giving her a kiss. She relaxed a little, feeling a weight she hadn’t known that she was carrying lift from her shoulders. This might not be the ideal solution, but it did sound like everything would be dealt with soon.
“So what do we do now,” she asked when their kiss broke.
“Best get this all over with,” he said, smiling. He seemed to be relaxing too, now that the decision was made. “We’ll have to meet the Masters and tell them the details - it’s not something Penny can explain over the phone, not safely - and then that’ll be that.
“Right now, though, I am going to take you for lunch. While I like to cook, the size of your kitchen is a little too confining for me. And I think that we both need to get out of here and do something normal.”
Lenore smiled at that. It was a sweet idea, and she realized that she missed normal. Time with Maxwell alternated between being wonderful and terrifying, but it was never simple or relaxing.
“Can we go to Andre’s?” she asked hopefully. “It’s my usual lunch spot.”
“Of course,” Maxwell told her, rising and helping her to her feet. “Though if it’s somewhere you might be expected, the security team will have to check it out first. Sir Daniel can’t have everywhere you might go under surveillance, but I’m not going to take any chances with your safety.”
That shook a little of the normalcy off the idea, but Lenore didn’t argue - she’d had quite enough of Sir Daniel’s company! The idea that she would be a target whenever she stepped out of her front door was going to take some getting used to, though.
* * *
Andre’s Cafe was a nice little place, close to the India Museum, and it had been convenient enough for Lenore to be a regular on her lunch breaks. It was a little different to arrive there preceded by a security team which vetted the place for any unsavoury watchers who might be working for their enemies. She consoled herself with the fact that they hadn’t found any threats there.
Maxwell assured her the security team would be discrete, but as they entered the brightly lit cafe, Lenore spotted them instantly – they were the men who looked a little too muscular for the suits they wore, and who kept looking up from their coffees to scan the room.
At least seeing them should put off any attackers they missed, she told herself a little glumly as Maxwell pulled out a seat for her. The waiter was beside them as soon as they were seated, which cheered her a little, and by the time she’d ordered her usual brie and cranberry panini she was feeling more normal. Maxwell ordered the same, with a glass of mineral water, and they settled back smiling at each other. It was, she reflected, nice to see him in her normal environment.
She was about to say something to that effect, when she was interrupted.
“Lenore!” A woman called from the doorway behind her. She turned, startled at the sound of her name, heart suddenly racing and mouth dry with fear. Maxwell stood quickly, stepping around the table to stand beside her as arms closed around her in a hug.
It took Lenore a second to recognize the woman holding her, and then she relaxed, laughing and hugging back. “Gina! I didn’t expect to see you here!”
“I guessed,” Gina said, laughing. “You should have seen your face, you looked scared out of your wits - are you hiding from the boss? And who’s this you’re sneaking around with?”
The barrage of questions brought a blush to Lenore’s cheeks, and she glanced aside at Maxwell who was doing a pretty good job of hiding his amusement and curiosity. Gina had always been curious and asked a lot of questions, but there hadn’t been much in Lenore’s life to interest her before. The thought of being subjected to her friend’s questioning was a little daunting.
“I’m Maxwell Walters, and I don’t think going for lunch can really be called sneaking,” Maxwell said, coming to her rescue with a smile and offering Gina his hand. “I take it you’re a friend of Lenore’s?”
Gina’s eyes went wide as she had a proper look at Maxwell. Lenore didn’t blame her; he was dressed casually, but even in jeans and a t-shirt he looked stunning. It didn’t matter what clothes he wore, she thought a little smugly, seeing Gina admire her man. Somehow seeing someone else appreciate him made their relationship feel more real, and she liked that.
“This is Gina Hansen, she works with me at the museum,” she said, catching her breath after Gina’s energetic hug. “She’s probably my best friend, so play nice.”
“What’s this ‘probably,’ are you holding out on me?” Gina punched Lenore playfully on the arm. “So you’re the mysterious Maxwell Walters, huh? I saw you at the gala: glad you managed to sweep Lenore off her feet, no wonder we’ve not seen her in days!”
Lenore blushed at that and looked away. Work had been the last thing on her mind lately. “Sorry to ditch you like that,” she said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Gina laughed and sat down at their table. “With this fellow asking, I’d have called in sick too. And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me – Dr. Addison won’t find out you’re gallivanting around town with your new beau!”
“Thank you,” Lenore said faintly, sitting down beside her, Maxwell settling into a seat opposite them with a look of amusement on his face. Lenore frowned, thinking about what Gina had said. “What do you mean, the ‘mysterious Maxwell’? What have you heard about him?”
“Oh nothing, really – that’s the mystery!” Gina grinned and glanced across the table at him with a wink. “You must tell me about him, dear. When we can get away and you and I can talk properly, of course.
“He’s the only one of the guests invited to the gala I couldn’t find anything out about. And trust me, I made an effort! When Dr. Addison gave me the list and said I had to make sure he particularly got the invitation, I was curious. When I found out he’s an unattached millionaire, well, I really did try every trick I have to find out more. But I couldn’t even find a picture! If I’d known it was him checking you out, Lenore, I’d have been even more insistent you talk to him – though it looks like I didn’t need to make an effort.”
Millionaire is guessing a bit low, Lenore thought, remembering the opulence of the Walters country home. Then the rest of what her friend had said penetrated, and she shot a look at Maxwell.
“Wait, Dr. Addison wanted him there? I mean, specifically him?”
“Yes, he did. I thought it was a bit funny, but it was a big deal to him. Maybe he’s a fan of yours?”
“If so, he didn’t make much of an effort to meet me in person,” Maxwell rumbled, not sounding happy about this development. “I met the man long enough to shake his hand, and then he was off with other people to talk to. He didn’t seem particularly interested.”
Lenore shook her head, and asked the question she’d been avoiding. “Gina, what happened the night of the gala? I assumed people would be looking for me.”
“Oh, well, after the fire alarm went off I was worried that you didn’t show, but security said you’d logged out of the building, so I assumed you’d run off with Maxwell here. Full marks for me, right?”
She smiled, and Lenore returned it weakly. If someone had checked the security logs, they should have shown that she’d let herself into the exhibition space, just before the theft. If anything, she should be a suspect, but this sounded like no one was the least bit worried.
None of that was anything she could say to Gina, though. She forced a laugh. “Yep, no fooling you! I hope nothing was damaged in the fire?”
“Oh it was just a silly alarm, something wrong with the system. Made a bit of a mess of the night, of course, but Dr. Addison managed to keep people happy enough while it was sorted out. There was some issue with the display, though. The Silver Sword of Kolkatta had to be taken down for some reason. Pity, what with it being the centerpiece of the exhibit and all.”
Maxwell looked as confused as Lenore felt, and he spread his hands as if to say nothing to do with me. Lenore shook her head, trying to think, while Gina continued, oblivious.
“I know you both liked the Sword - hey that’s something else you have in common, right? Dr. Addison told me that it was something I should mention in the letter to you, Maxwell. Do you collect swords or something?”
“I have an interest, yes,” Maxwell said, leaning across the table. He spoke casually enough to fool most people, though Lenore could see him picking his words carefully. “And that particular one sounded fascinating. It’s a shame I didn’t get a chance to look at it, though I still think I made the right choice in what to do with my evening.”