It was past eleven when Chloe pulled up outside the Sanguis estate. She had expected to wait for Maxwell, but he was already outside and—
“Are those hiking boots?” Chloe asked as he got into the car. They weren’t even brand new.
Maxwell looked down at his feet. “Yes,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “I mean, we’re hiking. It seemed fitting.”
“No, it is,” Chloe said. “I just didn’t think you seemed like the kind of guy who owned hiking boots. Sorry.”
Maxwell, to her surprise, laughed loudly. “I can see why you’d think that,” he said. “But my life isn’t all casinos and nightclubs. Whenever I’m in Las Vegas, I get out to Red Rock Canyon. You wouldn’t believe it’s just half an hour from the Strip; it feels like it’s never been touched by humans. Or, you know, almost humans. There’s nothing like sitting on the top of a boulder and looking out at the stars.”
“Wow,” Chloe couldn’t contain her shock. “That sounds kind of nice.”
“It is,” Maxwell agreed. “Except the last time I was there, I ran into a bunch of fraternity kids who thought it was a great idea to take hallucinogenics and camp in the desert.”
“I take it they were wrong?”
“Very,” Maxwell said. “I don’t know what they took, but they thought I was some kind of Vampire God. It was nice being worshipped, but I called the paramedics instead.”
“Good call,” Chloe said, her lips quirking in amusement at the thought. “So this plant we’re looking for. I hope your eyesight is as good as Tilly says because it’s freaking tiny, and apparently, it likes to hide under Wallaby Grass.”
“It’s good,” Maxwell said modestly. “I’ll do my best, anyway.”
“I borrowed a trowel and shovel from Jesse,” Chloe said, indicating the back seat. “Because we have to get all the roots intact.”
“Very prepared,” Maxwell smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“I have to be,” Chloe was trying very hard to keep her eyes on the road and not on the handsome vampire beside her in his worn-in hiking boots.
She turned the car onto a side road and then down a dirt track, craning her neck to make sure no stray branches had fallen onto the path. They should definitely have come in Maxwell’s Range Rover, she thought. Her little Civic couldn’t take too much rough terrain.
“We’re not going to the car park?” Maxwell frowned.
“It’s closed after five,” Chloe explained. “We’re not technically supposed to be here. But, um, when I was younger, I’d sometimes come to parties in the National Park. Well, not so much parties as a bunch of teenagers drinking goon – that’s box wine to you – under the trees and making out on the native flora, but—”
Maxwell erupted in laughter. “I’m sorry,” he said as he got himself under control. “It’s just hard to imagine you doing that kind of thing. You don’t exactly strike me as the rebellious, party-girl type.”
“Well, I’m too busy with work for much of that kind of thing,” Chloe shook her head. “But it’s not like I don’t know how to have fun. I mean, I was a bartender at the Three Bears’ Inn while I got my real estate license. Trust me, the nights we had after the bar closed were plenty of fun. Never let a bear shifter challenge you to a drinking game is all I’m saying.”
A fresh peel of laughter erupted from Maxwell, but Chloe didn’t mind. She knew that she had a reputation for being all-work, no-play, and it wasn’t entirely untrue. Still, it wasn’t like she didn’t know the meaning of the word fun.
“Well, I’m glad you know how to have a good time, even if you’re too busy to do it,” Maxwell said, the ghost of a smile on his face. “You deserve to let loose, you know. You work very hard. You dropped everything to show a strange man houses on a Tuesday night.”
“Yeah, and look how that worked out for me.”
“Ouch,” Maxwell pretended to be offended. “Is this it, then?”
Chloe pulled the car to a stop at the place where the dirt road abruptly ended. “Yep. Bloody hell, it’s pitch black. I’m bringing a torch, even if you don’t need it.” She wasn’t keen on venturing out into the park in the middle of the night. Something about all that empty space, no one for miles around, sent a thrill of terror through her. She was glad that Maxwell would be beside her with his hiking boots and hidden fangs.
“Good idea,” Maxwell said, getting out of the car and looking out into the darkness.
“Tilly said we needed to find a big open space, like an alpine meadow,” Chloe said loudly, trying to cover her nervousness. “Should be something through these trees if we walk far enough.”
She flicked on her torch, but even the wide beam of yellow light didn’t stop her from feeling anxious.
“I’ll go in front,” Maxwell said, walking ahead. “Stay close behind me.”
“I’m fine,” Chloe said quickly. “I can take care of myself.”
“I can tell,” Maxwell said. “But given the curse is kind of my fault, it’s only fair that any drop bears fall on my head first.”
Chloe laughed at that, feeling a little better. “Who told you about drop bears?”
“A group of Australians at the MGM Grand in Vegas,” Maxwell told her as he pushed confidently through the dense trees and uphill. “They thought they were hilarious.”
“Sorry, it’s kind of a tradition to mess with Americans like that.”
“I don’t know why you bother,” Maxwell said, looking over his shoulder at her. “This country’s got more than enough real dangerous animals without you making any up.”
“But where would be the fun in that?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide and innocent. It made her feel good when Maxwell laughed again. Unless she was very much mistaken, he was trying to take her mind off her nervousness. That was kind.
“Fine, have your fun at our expense,” he said, making his way up a steep hill. Chloe followed, her sneaker-clad feet making light work of the rough terrain. When they reached the top, he turned to her, frowning. “You’re not out of breath.”
“Should I be?”