Grace returned the hug, hit by the thought that this might actually be the last time she saw Benny. “I love you, Ben. You’re a good friend.”
He blinked and then hugged her again, gentling his squeeze when she winced from the pressure to her ribs. Then he released her.
She nodded at Jacqueline and waded through the snow to where Adare had her door already open. “Don’t die,” she said. Then, against her better judgment, she grabbed his coat lapels and jerked him down for a kiss.
His lips froze against hers for a brief moment and then he took over, growling deep and kissing hard. Her head was spinning when he released her, and his eyes had morphed to that deep silver color. “Promise you’ll keep yourself safe.”
She could only nod. Then, she slid into the car, and he shut the door. Within seconds, she was being driven away from Adare, maybe for the last time.
“To the airport?” the driver asked.
She sat straighter and tried to sound authoritative. “No. Please take me to a car rental place, not one of the ones at the airport.” There were many cameras at airports, and she didn’t want to be traced too quickly. She wasn’t going to die without knowing what had happened to her seven years ago in Denver, what had put her into a coma. She had promised everyone she’d never return to Denver, but she had to know. It wasn’t like she had anything to lose any longer. She had to do this.
No matter what it cost her.
Chapter 12
The kiss still tingling his lips, Adare watched Grace’s car slide in the snow and then correct before disappearing from sight. Why had she kissed him? Probably as a goodbye. He’d always felt guilty about mating her when she’d had no choice in the matter, so he’d let her live her life. What if he’d spent five years getting to know her instead? Well, then he’d be leaving a grief-ridden mate instead of one who could move on if this campaign didn’t go well. And there was no way it would go well. At least her taste would stay with him until the end.
“Adare?” Jacqueline asked.
He sighed and turned back to face her. It had been nearly a century since he’d courted her, and she was as beautiful as she’d been back in the days of long dresses and corsets. He’d meant what he’d said the night before; he wouldn’t go back. “You’re not coming on the raid,” he said, remembering how much she liked a good fight.
She rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. I’m not a fragile human. We used to go on raids all the time.”
“This is different.” Was fate giving him a chance to say goodbye to everyone who’d ever touched his life? Once, he’d thought he was in love with Jacki. When she’d chosen to mate somebody else, the loss had hurt a little, but he’d understood. Had the pain just been ego? They’d seemed to make such a good match, and she’d been insightful and a lot of fun. His world had certainly gone darker after she’d left. “It’s good to see you, Jacki, but Benny and I have to do this one alone.”
She shook her head, and her tawny hair scattered snow. “You’re not still drowning in guilt, are you? Enough of that.”
He’d forgotten how well she knew him. What he’d shared with her. Oh, he’d never broken his vow of secrecy to the Seven, but she’d figured some of it out on her own, way back when. He trusted her to keep his secrets. “I’ll always have guilt.” The cries of the dying at the Battle of Culloden reverberated in his soul, the pain so deep it could never completely dissipate. He was immortal and one of the most powerful of his kind, and even he hadn’t been able to save his people or even his immediate family.
He wouldn’t fail again, and that meant being prepared for this attack. “Benny? Let’s get going, drop off Jacki, and pick up the explosives we’ll need.”
Ben nodded. “I know, I know. We have too short a time to get things into place, and based on intel I received a few days ago, the Cyst might know we’re coming.” He turned on his massive boot to head back to the vehicle. “I’m driving.”
Adare looked down the empty roadway, where Grace had gone, and then strode toward the back seat of the SUV. “You can have the front, Jacki.” He stretched inside, wincing as his knees hit the back of the front seat.
The door across from him opened, and she gracefully moved inside. “I’ll sit beside you. We should catch up a little, don’t you think?”
“On what?” He slammed his door.
She sighed. “You can’t still be mad at me. It’s been eons and eons.” Her red lips pursed. “Perhaps longer. Time does fly.”
A time they could’ve spent together if she’d made a different decision. The branding on his hand ached, and he glanced down, surprised. A marking appeared on a demon’s hand when he found his mate, and his hadn’t appeared until he’d held Grace. During all the time he’d spent with Jacqueline, the marking hadn’t appeared.
Since he’d bitten Grace the night before, his hand had ached as if he’d never used the brand. There was so much about mating that he’d never learned. Did contact make the pain go away?
“Adare?” Jacqueline asked. “Answer me.”
“What did you ask?” He had to get his brain back where it needed to be.
She tightened her lips. “I asked why you need this kind of firepower. Aren’t you working with the Realm these days?”
He wiped snow off his shoulders. “No. We’re not working with the Realm, and this mission is secret. That’s all I can tell you.”
Benny drove down the road with the finesse of a bulldozer, crashing through the median snowbank several times. “We gave you a good price for the explosives, and that was to ensure your discretion, as always.” He looked into the rearview mirror and jerked his head. “Adare’s mated, but I’m not, you know.”
Adare barely kept from rolling his eyes. “You’re propositioning her while we’re supposed to be getting ready for a mission? Again?”
