Page 6 of Her Lion Lover

She just needed to check all the numbers and...ah. She knew she'd forgotten something. She'd calculated the energy output from the wind, solar and hydro systems, building in plenty of extra capacity for the village's predicted peak energy use, but the energy storage system specifications were missing. No, the entire system was missing. In her plans, it was still a black box, with no details other than the storage capacity it would have to have. Which couldn't be right, because you couldn't possibly fit that many lithium battery cells safely in that space, especially not so close to houses or the community centre.

Lily leafed through her notes. She had to have something on the battery system. Anything...

In the end, she found it in her emails. An email from when her dad was still alive, no less. She'd asked him to check her calculations about the lithium battery system, and he'd said she should think bigger and brighter than lithium. There was new, safer technology that they'd be using for Hea Sanctuary, and he'd send her the specifications as soon as he was allowed to release details about it. All he could tell her was the size and capacity, until Eirwen Energy, the company who made the system, made the details public.

Lily wiped away a tear. Dad hadn't lived long enough to receive or send any such details. She'd been so busy working and studying, she'd probably missed any public announcement Eirwen Energy had made since Dad died.

So she ran a search of the news sites, to see what she'd missed. Nothing about Eirwen Energy, or any breakthrough in battery technology at all. The only newsworthy item on any of the sites that caught her eye was the handsome, grinning face of Leo King, the newly crownedTimesBachelor of the Year.

Even Lily wasn't immune to that gorgeous grin. She'd met him once, too, seeing as he was one of the project managers for Hea Sanctuary, and he'd visited her dad's office when she was there on prac. Of course, Dad had hustled her out of Leo's sight as quickly as possible, as the man's tomcat reputation made him want to keep his daughter far away from the confirmed bachelor. Lily snorted. Evidently Dad hadn't known that was code for the guy being gay. Yeah, a guy that gorgeous and unattached probably was gay, and so full of himself, no one was good enough for him.

Of course, that hadn't stopped her fantasising about him on the odd occasion, at night in her own bed, where no one would never know...

If everything went to plan and she did graduate in time to take over Verre Electrical Engineering in her dad's stead, she'd have to see him regularly, and even work with him. Good thing it had been years since she'd fantasised about him. Otherwise she'd never be able to look him in the eye and talk about all things engineering when her head was full of other long, hard, wet...

Lily stabbed her finger at the X to close the tab on Leo's grinning face. Like he was reading her mind and knew exactly what she'd thought of him as a teenager. She was a grown woman now, and almost a qualified engineer. She'd just have to focus hard on sewage pipes whenever she saw him, and she'd be okay. There was nothing sexy about wastewater systems. The smell alone was enough to put you off sex for days.

Power storage systems, however...

She combed the internet, searching for anything that might hint at Eirwen Energy's battery system, but the company didn't have anything more than the most basic one-page website, which said nothing about possible world-changing battery technology.

Lily sighed, then set up an alert for any news on either the company or breakthroughs in battery tech. She'd have to change her design to incorporate lithium batteries if the announcement didn't happen soon.

Her alarm chimed, telling her it was time to go to the staff dining room for dinner. Lily rose. She couldn't afford to skip a free meal, especially as she'd likely have to redesign her project tonight. It wasn't like she could afford to have food delivered to Mirror Academy to fuel her late night study session. Besides, she could probably cajole a big flask of coffee from the kitchen to keep her awake long enough to finish her project.

Better batteries were nothing but a fairytale, she told herself. She lived in the real world, and her plans needed to reflect that.

SIX

Tremotino had offered Leo a guest room in his home, where the ball was being held, but Cat had known to book him a room at a motel in a nearby town, too, just in case. The clean but dated motel room was where Leo unpacked his overnight bag, eyeing off the large beribboned box that Cat had told him was both his birthday gift and his costume.

Logically, he should sleep in the castle. Proximity to Tremotino before and after the event would give him more opportunities to persuade him to loosen his hold on Councillor Clyde and stop delaying the Sanctuary. Or, if his mother's predictions came true, he might be grateful to have a bedroom nearby when he met his fated mate, the sooner to indulge in a mating frenzy of wild sex.

Yet this shabby room, decorated in various shades of cream and brown, felt right. With his business background, Leo would have liked to think he did things logically, but the truth was, he went with his gut feelings more often than not. Passion and instinct were more powerful when he shifted, than when he was human, but they were still his primary drivers, even when he wore a suit.

Or whatever costume Cat's wicked sense of humour had driven her to buy for him. It could be anything. Some version of Prince Charming, embracing the classic fairy tale theme, or she could have gone for something more aligned with the fairy side of it, as a fae king wearing little more than a few strategically placed leaves. Whatever it was, she wanted him to be eye-catching and memorable, so that if his fated mate was at the ball, she couldn't possibly miss him.

Only one way to find out.

He reached for the ribbon, and untied it. Then he lifted the lid, and laughed.

The golden brown velvet suit matched the bed spread beneath the box, though this looked brand new, and likely tailored to fit him. He'd look more like a 1970s pimp than Prince Charming.

The creamy shirt looked like she'd had it custom made, with faint golden spots across the front. A box in the bottom held matching shoes in brown suede, with one final, flat box revealing not a mask, but a sort of headdress that wouldn't have looked out of place on stage at a performance of theLion King. Which was probably exactly where she'd gotten it, or at least the inspiration for it, because it came with a note, in Cat's neat handwriting:

"Enjoy your birthday and the ball! PS, theLion Kingis a fairytale – just ask my sons!"

Leo could only shake his head. Trust Cat to pick the perfect costume. His fated mate couldn't possibly miss him, dressed like this.

He'd shower, dress, and go to the ball, for what promised to be a night to remember.

SEVEN

After scarfing down a dinner that she'd barely tasted, let alone remembered, Lily headed back upstairs with an insulated jug of coffee in one hand and a box of leftover muffins in the other. Sure, she might not be a fee-paying student any more, but the staff at Mirror Academy certainly didn't starve.

The battery building would simply have to move, she decided. That much lithium was way too dangerous in such close proximity to homes and community buildings. Sure, she'd need to factor in more transmission lines, but if she moved the battery storage to somewhere down beside the lake, maybe near the fire suppression tanks, it would be a far more practical solution than the one she had now. Should some revolutionary new battery appear on the market after she'd submitted her project, she'd just resurrect the old plans and give those to the client. The client wouldn't care what she'd submitted for her final project, as long as it had earned her a good enough grade to graduate. That would make all her sacrifices, and all the late nights, worth it.

Lily turned to throw herself on the narrow bed, to better visualise the new plan before she had to draw it, only to find the bed already occupied by an enormous box that took up the whole width of the mattress.

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