Now that he’d shifted, was he going to have a hard time taking a backseat to my orders? Oh, crap. What if he did go all alpha on me? In a way, the concept intrigued me. I wondered what he’d do with his new hands in bed. . . .
If the turbulence needed competition for flipping my stomach, Max and his smoldering gaze was the clear winner. God, sitting here beside him was intense. I pulled back first, and like a gentleman, he let me. He turned his attention back to the laptop.
A few files later showed pictures of me as a baby. Mom and Dad were on the beach together, just out back of our farmhouse, and our family was enjoying a picnic, just the three of us. “He obviously liked to visit you both pretty regularly,” Max said as we drifted through the pictures. “Did he ever live with you?”
I shook my head. “Not that I can remember.”
Then there was a newspaper clipping. A rash of kidnappings had happened in Provincetown. I focused in on the headlines. “That was the year I turned three.”
“Says here, at least five children went missing from the area. They caught the ring of kidnappers, a group of local monks, but all the children were returned safely to their families.” Max scrolled through the clippings, and pointed to several men dressed all in black with red insignias on their shoulders. “Are those HWB agents?”
I inhaled sharply as he read through the reports. “The man charged as the ringleader was sent to prison. One woman he’d hired to care for the missing children disappeared, and the authorities thought she took refuge in a nearby convent as penance for her part in the crimes.”
A shiver of ice raced up my spine.
There she was, for all the world to see. Her face was grainy in the photo, and enmeshed with a dozen other nuns wearing traditional habits, but I’d recognize her anywhere. “That’s Francesca Rosencratz.”
“Are you sure? Where?”
“There,” I said, indicating the seventh woman in line. For some reason, that woman’s face was recognizable, burned into my memory, a terrifying image from a childhood nightmare. I’d never seen these pictures before.
I wasn’t sure if the realization was because of the harrowing day I’d had, or if something more sinister was at work. I grasped the seat rails, and knuckled down tight. The pictures triggered memories. Flashes of being held at her mercy surfaced, images I’d never remembered until now. Had I been one of the kids she’d taken?
Atlantis rumbled around under my wrist. It could spell a disaster if the trident made an entrance in response to my emotional alarm on the plane. I ground my teeth together, and willed Atlantis to stay buried.
“You were among the children she abducted.” Shade’s voice came out of nowhere. I jerked my head back to stare up at the vampire. He stood behind us with a grim expression across his perfect face.
“What are you talking about, Shade?” I bolted up to face him.
“You were three years old the first time your mother contacted the Hunters’ Watch Brigade for help. Helmina hired me to find you, Samantha.”
“Rosencratz kidnapped her?” Max eased in beside me, eyeing Shade the whole time. “What happened?”
Shade nodded, and crossed his arms. “Helmina didn’t know what else to do, so she contacted me. I brought a team of agents in. Rosencratz was grieving because your mother’s magic was more powerful than hers. She teamed up with those men, and kidnapped you along with those other kids. The men involved wanted ransom money.”
I fisted my hands. Those bastards. “But Mom doesn’t have a huge fortune. . . . So why did she take me?”
He stared down at me “She was planning to kill you. We found some ritualistic implements in the cave where she was holding you. A funeral pyre. It was an ugly scene.”
I shivered. I guess I never really understood the depths of depression Rosencratz had sunk to. What had happened between her and my mom was way more than just losing a love interest. I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat.
“But you stepped in and rescued her and those other kids. You and the HWB,” Max said.
“Yes, we did. And just like I found Samantha way back then, I’ll find Helmina now, too.”
Shade’s imposing stature rattled me. But when your family’s life was on the line, a big badass vampire like Shade Vermillion was just the guy you wanted on your side.
This was why I’d joined the HWB. The fact that we worked to help others when supernaturals went rogue was the most human thing we could do. He’d always protected me. Shade was like a rock in a storm of confusion.
I rushed into Shade’s arms. He opened to me, and even though he dwarfed me, he reassured me. “No worries, Samantha. We got this.”
Hearing my given name on his lips calmed me, deep down. Max cursed, and stalked off toward the back of the plane. I didn’t care how Max reacted to our relationship. Like I’d told him earlier, it was complicated.
Shade would always be my go-to big brother. Come to think of it, when he’d kissed me earlier, before Max shifted, he’d apologized ahead of time. It really had been like kissing my brother. Ick.
Nothing at all like it felt when Max had kissed me.
Had he done that because he knew I’d need Max in his true form? “Why did you bait Max into shifting with that kiss?” I pulled away from him.
“HWB business, of course.” Despite what he’d done to get Max to shift, I needed Shade’s reassurance right about now. He never made a move unless it improved the brigade.
“You’re going to offer him a position, right?”
He nodded, then splayed out his freakishly big hands. “That depends on what he wants. You and I both know he’s a talented, valuable HWB asset, Silverton. The only real question is . . . would you be willing to let him become an agent and do the job?”
I swallowed hard, and eyed the vampire.
“I don’t think you and Max belong together. Not yet, anyway.”
My pulse raced with his words. “Why the hell not?” He couldn’t take Max away from me, could he? Well, yeah, he could, but he wouldn’t, right? “You can’t take him from me. Not now. Not when I need him most.”
Shade frowned, and I hated that expression. I’d seen it a thousand times when he was about to do something he didn’t want to do. “He’s untrained, Samantha. He hasn’t even been through basic training. Christ,” he said, and threw up his hand for emphasis. “He’s dangerous right now. You don’t belong together. If he goes rogue, he’ll compromise ultra-sensitive HWB trade secrets. What are you gonna do if Rosencratz gets her claws into him?”
“That’s not gonna happen, Shade. You and I both know Max could teach basic training to any recruit worth his salt. Where are you going with this?”
When he laughed, I saw nothing but fangs. “Have you read the texts he sends me?”
I hadn’t. I knew he was voice texting Shade, but I hadn’t read them all. What I’d heard was Max quoting the rules of the HWB to Shade, and pointing out how the rule book often compromised our hunters. These were usually things that came up as a result of our missions, things that went wrong. “Max is always trying to help us all out. You know that as well as I do.”
“Yeah, well, while I see that, it doesn’t let him off the hook. In the wrong hands, Max could be a weapon. A weapon that could compromise you, and all your fellow hunters. He knows too much.”
“What he is, is officer material. You’re just too pigheaded to admit he’s smarter than you are.”
“I know a threat when I see it. Consider yourself warned. If Kitty Boy goes off the reservation, if he tries in any way to lure you out of the HWB, I’d hate to be the one to take him down. I don’t know if our relationship could survive it.”
Gah! Yesterday, things were so simple.
He was my sidekick. My furry Maine Coon cat, and the familiar creature who’d slept beside me every single night since h
e’d been weaned from Miss Daisy. Oh, good Lord. How many times had Max seen me walk around naked?
Today, things were different, and complicated. What did Max want? Would he stay with me, or would he go with Shade and join his own division of monster-hunters?
“So, let’s be clear,” I said, and stood ramrod straight. “You’re going to recruit Max for basic training in the HWB?”
The vampire nodded.
“And until then?” I asked. “Will you let him stay with me until we find our moms?”
“There’s no one better to watch your back until this is over. He’s destined to be a guardian, so this mission will be good experience for him. I’ll fill him in on some of what we do, officially, get his credentials in order. Until then, he’s still your responsibility.”
I exhaled a breath of relief. “I can do anything with him at my side.”
“Good, then we have an understanding. You keep your eyes on him until this is over, then he reports to headquarters in Manhattan for basic training. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Shade splayed out his hands. “Our pilot tells me we’ll be landing in four hours. You need to get some shut-eye if you’re gonna be any good to me in the morning.” He turned away to go talk with Max.
“I’m worried about Cyn. What if something happens to her too?”
“We’re in contact via email. She’s waiting for us in Provincetown.”
The fact that she’d done what looked like a one-eighty and sent those email files to Shade meant something to me. If we could work together after all these years of estrangement, maybe there was hope for our relationship after all.
I turned back to my seat. Sleep tugged at my eyes.
All of this was confusing as hell.
Max shifting. My mother going missing. Rosencratz as a real threat. Cyn sending me inside info on one of her fellow witches. Miss Daisy going missing. Shade freaking out about Max knowing inside secrets. Not to mention the fact that Shade and the HWB knew things about my life that I didn’t even know. Gah! I wished I could go back in time just one whole day and stop all this from torturing me.
This crazy attraction to Max was unnerving me.
Did I even want Maximillion Ra sleeping in my bed, now that he’d taken on his predetermined form? Would he shift back to a cat if I asked him?
And if I did, would that keep Max from his ultimate destiny as an Egyptian guardian? If I gave myself over to the lure of passion in Max’s eyes, in his kiss, would that make everything turn out right, or would it trap him into a life neither of us wanted?
Could we go from friends to lovers without it destroying us?
Shade was right. I needed sleep. I’d always known Max had skills. But I couldn’t help wondering if this new development would change everything I cherished between us.
Chapter 10
Max
MAX CAME OUT of the jet’s bathroom and faced Shade. The worry about his own mom crushed his chest. Would Shade authorize company resources to help find her, too? His mother had been Helmina’s familiar for the past thirty years, and as far as he knew, their magic was something the HWB needed.
Several of his older brothers and sisters were shifter agents, guardians who were paired with other hunters and devoted to Shade. He wondered if that was what his destiny included too.
He looked up when the vampire strode in.
“Find any new parts in there you were surprised with, Kitty Boy?”
Max shook his head. “I’ve got good instincts. I think I can find my way,” he said.
“About that. We need to talk.” The vampire poured himself a glass of red wine, and gestured to Max. “I doubt my pilot’s got any milk on board the jet.”
“The cabernet’s fine,” Max said. While he’d never drunk a full glass of wine, he had slipped a couple of laps when Sam indulged. Besides, maybe it would help ease his nerves. Shade handed him the glass, then stared as Max took his first sip. It coated his new tongue in a dry way. It was not unpleasant, and he held his glass up to Shade for a customary toast, as he’d seen others in polite company do.
The vampire clinked his glass to his, then both of them sat down across from each other in the private room. “I needed you to shift so you could protect her.”
Max sighed, then nodded. “Done.” He took another sip of wine. “You need to know that includes protecting her from you, as well.”
“I’m no threat to Samantha—”
“Not that I’ve identified yet,” Max said, his voice steady, purposeful. “But I’m watching you.”
“Possessive, are we?”
“When it comes to her safety, yes.”
“It’s part of your DNA. I’m not offended, if that’s where you were headed. Hunters like Samantha deserve guardians. While you’ll need additional training, you’ve proven yourself over the years to be one of our finest assets, and I’d like to offer you a job.”
Max raised his brows. “Doing what?”
“After basic, you’ll be assigned to her permanently, if that’s what she wants.”
“I don’t want to go through basic. I’m not leaving her side.” Max set the half-finished wineglass down, and measured up Shade’s reaction to his words. He figured this would be a sticking point. Every agent in the HWB went through basic training. It was how they were indoctrinated, microchipped, and tracked for the rest of their lives.
The brigade learned, early on, how dangerous defectors were to their cause. Agents who went rogue, and turned to the darker side of the paranormal spectrum, were unacceptable liabilities. Trade secrets were fiercely protected by the commanders. Monster-hunting was serious business. Max expected Shade to try to convince him of all these things, to hold them over his head as a way to manipulate him.
“You don’t get a choice in the matter.” Shade’s words were stern and non-negotiable. Max had counted on that too. “You know the only other option is to go feral. Wasn’t that in one of your ten thousand texts last month?” Shade pulled out his phone, punched up the text, and read it back to him.
“‘Just trying to make sure you guys in command understand what you’re doing wrong.’” Shade laughed, but it wasn’t humorous. “You can stop with the smart-assed attitude any time, Kitty Ra-Ra.”
“As soon as you stop with the insults, bloodsucker. Until I’ve signed my name on the dotted line, I could be your worst nightmare. Shifter gone feral. Free agent available for hire. Rogue agent, as you’re so fond of quoting.”
Shade grasped Max around the throat, and pinned him to the wall of the jet. “Fucking try it and I’ll have you up on charges of treason. You’ll never lay eyes on her again.”
Max had wondered what Shade’s line in the sand was. Looks like I found it. And because Sam was his own line in the sand, he raised his hands in surrender. “I’m loyal to her alone. I’d never resort to that.”
Shade dropped him unceremoniously, and turned away. “Never say never, kitten.” His voice held more than a warning.
Max collected himself, and stared at Shade’s profile. The vampire was over two hundred years old. He couldn’t imagine the things Shade had seen during all those years, but they couldn’t all be good. What kind of secrets was the boss-man hiding?
One part of him detested Shade, and yet, another part of him wanted to know more about the man Sam swore her allegiance to. What led someone like him to a command position in the supernatural police force? How had he been turned? What sort of threats lingered in Shade’s past that might be a liability to Sam, or the brigade, for that matter? Moreover, what led a two-hundred-year-old vampire to take a young demigod child like Sam under his wing at the tender age of twelve, and watch out for her all these years?
That act of benevolence by the vampire to the woman Max loved intrigued him more than any of Shade’s other secrets. Did he have an ulterior motive? Di
d he have a thing for Helmina?
No, knowing the vampire, it had more to do with something political. Maybe it was Poseidon . . . now that would be a military coup, for sure. Anyone with a Greek god in their back pocket could do almost anything.
He’d tried numerous times to tap into the vampire’s classified files, but those documents were sealed. He’d even considered hiring a hacker through Fiverr to break through the HWB firewall, but he’d never found enough time to follow through on it.
Max didn’t exactly foresee a future where he and Shade were best buddies, but he’d have to work with him in order to win the assignment as Sam’s guardian. For her, he’d sacrifice almost anything. “I’m in. I’ll do basic, if that’s what you demand, but I get to choose my fellowship, and my own specialties.”
Shade waved his hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah, I get that. You guardians do some pretty secret shit that I honestly don’t want to know about.” He pulled the computer onto his lap, and tapped the keys for a few seconds. Shade inserted a card into a slot on the side of the laptop, and copied the open file, then handed the card to Max. “Here are your credentials. That’ll get you past most security officers in the HWB. Consider yourself hired on a probationary basis.”
Max took the card, and flipped it over in his hands. His whole future was written on that card. It was labeled with his name, and the word, Recruit.
Shifting into his human form had been a huge risk. These credentials were his path to staying by Sam’s side, and to finding both their mothers. But what would it take for him to face his future?
Miss Daisy had warned him this would not be easy. She’d said there was a curse associated with the shift—that for those who committed to this change, there was no turning back without the penalty of death.
Shade opened a closet door and retrieved a black canvas bag, then tossed it at Max. “Everything you need for the next few days is in there. Once we get Helmina and Miss Daisy back, I expect you to report in to the Hunters’ Watch Brigade Headquarters in Manhattan within forty-eight hours. Think you can handle that?”
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