"All right," she said. "You keep them busy, I'll get Elina." Before she could change her mind, she stood up. "Let's go."
"Now?" Javic asked.
"Why wait? If it's evening here, it should be the middle of the night in Norway. I can't think of a better time to make our move."
GIO
It was almost completelydark by the time they left the motel, with only a fiery stripe of light along the western sky. Gio took the front passenger seat again, and Javic rode in the back.
Gio watched Max drive. She did it with her customary determination and focus, eyes straight ahead as they bounced over ruts in the near-darkness. She was still wearing the silver and turquoise necklace, glimmering on her chest.
Who cares if we're mates?he thought suddenly. Unlike a shifter who had grown up with the idea, he had spent most of his life knowing he would have to fall in love the old-fashioned way.
And he could love Max very easily; this was something he knew with a bone-deep conviction. He didn't even have to wonder. She was lovely and smart, courageous and resourceful. She had thrown herself into helping him wholeheartedly, and at this point, he felt she had gone well above and beyond what any reasonable person could expect of her.
Max parked the Jeep in a grove of trees. As she started to get out, Gio reached over and touched her arm. "Can we talk?" he asked quietly. "Privately?"
Max paused, then gave an abrupt nod. "We'll be right back," she told Javic.
They didn't go far, only taking a few steps away from the Jeep so they couldn't be overheard. "If he's going to double-cross us, we're giving him a wide open opportunity right now," Max said softly.
"Better to find out now than in the middle of the fight, right?"
"I guess so." She glanced quickly at the Jeep, where Javic was getting out, then back at Gio. "If that's all you wanted to—"
"Max, I think we should go for it," Gio said quickly. "I think we should see if we're good together."
The only light out here was the reflected light of the Jeep's headlights illuminating the trees and the desert, as well as a sliver of moon, but he could see her smile. "Right now? Your timing's not great."
"No—no, I mean, after," he said, flustered.
What was it about this woman, this amazing woman, that she could get under his skin and turn him tongue-tied? He'd had decades of experience at talking to women. He was no ladies' man—he had always been very much a one-woman man, the sort who fell in love slowly but completely. But he thought of himself as smooth and silver-tongued when he wanted to be. It was true that he had been pretty close to rock bottom when he met her, but there was also something about her that allowed her to slip through all his charms, all his defenses, past all the pretty words, straight to his heart.
Right now, however, she looked considerably less than charmed, to his dismay. "I don't think this is the time for us to have this talk," she said.
"I don't want to wait. We're going into danger, with no idea how or even if we're going to come out, and I'm not going in there without telling you that I want you."
"Gio," she protested.
Gio forged on ahead. Despite the dire circumstances, he had never been so sure of anything in his life. "I want you, Max. I've never wanted anyone the way I want you. I know you say we're not mates, but who cares if our animals think we're mates or not? I've lived seventy years and never felt the way I—"
"My jaguar thinks you're my mate," Max said.
She spoke so quietly that Gio wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly. "Sorry," he said. "Did you—"
Max looked up at him. Her eyes glimmered in the moonlight. "She says you're the one for me. But your animal doesn't. Does it?"
Now Gio felt as if he'd had all his self-assurance kicked out of him. "I don't care about that," he said, rallying, but it was the wrong thing, and too late. Max looked like she'd been punched. "Max, no, listen. I was born a human. I lived most of my life as a human. I'm not going to let some animal that thinks it can boss me around dictate my choices."
He had put his hand on her arm, but she pulled away. "It does matter," she said. "It matters because if your animal says I'm not your mate, then it's still waiting for whoever is. And one of these days, it's going to find her."
Now it was Gio's turn to feel punched in the stomach. He had completely forgotten about that.
"How can it even work like that, though?" he asked, as Max turned on her heel toward the Jeep. "How can your animal say that I'm your mate when mine doesn't? I thought it had to be a two-way thing."
Max turned back toward him. She had crossed her arms fiercely across her chest, like a barrier to keep him away. "It's because I was cast out of my clan and now my animal doesn't work right. That's what's wrong with me, Gio. Maybe yours doesn't want me because it senses that—"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Max." He tried to move closer, but she backed up.
