Maxwell
Maxwelldidnotreturn to the Sanguis Estate after Chloe took him to meet Jesse. For a start, he didn’t yet have keys. Immediate possession didn’t begin until he had handed over the money, which was fair enough. He’d have to wait for the paperwork from Chloe.
Instead, he had returned to the Bower Bed and Breakfast on Bailey Street. He wasn’t sure if the owners knew what he was, but they did offer basement rooms with no sunlight, so it was a pretty good bet that they could at least guess at the preferences of some of Crowley Lake’s visitors.
The room wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but he had never been a fan of knotty pine and flannel bed linen. He felt like he was stuck in a hunting lodge and longed to settle into his new home.
Kicking off his shoes, Maxwell browsed the minibar and selected a miniature bottle of cheap vodka. He had hoped, for a moment, that maybe the fridge would be stocked with his preferred beverage, but he supposed that was too much to expect. Even warmed in a microwave, a glass of the good stuff took the edge off.
To say Maxwell felt uneasy was an understatement. He had known he was cursed, but to see the curse activate in such a dramatic fashion had been alarming. He had certainly never expected it would engulf a complete stranger in its destructive path. Maxwell felt more than a little guilty about that.
But how could he have known that just shaking Chloe’s hand would spread the curse to her? It wasn’t like she was the first human he had touched since that witch had been so very unreasonable as to curse him. Becky on the plane had been unable to stop herself from sliding her fingers over his as she gave him whiskey and blood, and he had seen her shiver with excitement at the feeling of his cool skin.
“Something about Chloe set it off,” Maxwell said aloud, swirling the cheap vodka in a coffee mug. “But why her?”
As far as he could tell, Chloe was purely human and perfectly normal. Except that she was considerably better looking than most people. He had definitely noticed that. He had even idly wondered what she might look like with that honey-coloured hair cascading over her shoulders and in a much less professional outfit. But that couldn’t be why the curse had activated, could it? What, was it supposed to target only beautiful people?
Then again, remembering that vengeful witch, that was a distinct possibility. Poor Chloe, if only she had been plain, she might have been safe. And why hadn’t he told her that he had been cursed? It wasn’t like he had meant to lie, but it had just slipped off his tongue. After all, he barely knew the woman. Yet something inside him had baulked at telling her.
He gulped down the rest of the vodka in one swift gulp and turned on the television. He wasn’t even remotely interested in the strange sports game playing – some odd mix of American football and soccer, as far as he could tell – but he liked the silence even less.
Sighing again, Maxwell pulled the ever-present pack of cards from his pocket and began to shuffle them. As he attempted a riffle shuffle, the cards shot from his hands, whizzing across the room in every direction. Goddamn it.
It was going to be a very long night.
Maxwell had fallen into a restless doze when his phone began to vibrate, loud and insistent against the stocky chipboard bedside table.
He picked it up, rubbing his eyes and blinking. The flashing number was unfamiliar but showed an Australian code. He was sure it must be Chloe.
“Hello?”
“Good morning.” Yes, definitely Chloe, and she sounded like she was as tired as he was but was making much more of an effort to be chipper. “It’s Chloe Bloom. I was calling to let you know that Jesse has arranged a meeting with Tilly, the witch who knows a lot about curses. Can you do this evening at seven? After sunset.”
“Of course,” Maxwell said, remembering the conversation last night. “That sounds good.”
“Very good,” Chloe agreed, and there was a pause. Maxwell was sure she wanted to say something else.
“So, where’s this meeting?” Maxwell said when the pause grew uncomfortably long.
“At The Oracle,” Chloe said promptly. “It’s a magic shop just off Bailey Street. I mean, it mostly sells crystals and tie-dye, but Tilly is the real deal. That’s what Jesse says, anyway.”
“And he thinks she’ll be able to help?” Maxwell couldn’t help but feel disappointed that the apparent expert worked at a tourist trap designed to hoodwink the gullible into parting with their money for supposedly magically influential rocks.
Another pause.
“Look, I know that when you met Jesse last night, he didn’t seem…” Chloe sounded like she was chewing her lip. “I mean, he likes to party and enjoy himself. But he’s well-respected, from everything I’ve been told. So if he thinks that Tilly can help with our situation, then I’m sure she can.”
Maxwell wished he could believe that.
“Right,” he said again. “I guess I don’t have any other options, anyway.”
Chloe made a soft, non-committal noise. “I also wanted to let you know, I’ll have all the paperwork ready for the sale of the Sanguis Estate by the end of today. Would you be able to drop by the office before meeting Tilly?”
And whatever Maxwell’s misgivings about small-town witches with dubious employment, he was sure that Chloe’s attention to detail on the sale of his new home would be nothing less than thorough. Even if she was dealing with an unexpected curse that was technically his fault.
“I can do that,” Maxwell said, feeling more enthusiastic. “I’ll call my bank to have the wire transfer ready.”
“That would be terrific,” Chloe said, and he could hear the excitement in her voice. It must be a big deal for her, he thought. Most of the real estate agents he dealt with had an air of casual nonchalance when it came to buying and selling properties in the multi-million-dollar bracket. Not so for Chloe, clearly. Well, at least he had given her that, even if sealing the deal had had some unexpected consequences.
“I guess I’ll see you later today,” Maxwell said. “Just before sunset, right? I can’t exactly go for midday picnics, but it should be low enough then not to bother me much.”
“That sounds good,” Chloe said. Another pause. “Are you okay?” The question came out all in a rush. “I mean, you haven’t had any side effects so far?”
Maxwell was rather touched.