“You kept your vow, and she’s alive. Now it’s time to move on,” Jacki pushed.
It was time for him to shut this down. “I haven’t seen you for a century, feline, and that’s okay. We were close once, and I’ll keep those memories, but all we can be now is friends. So stop pushing me and accept those parameters.” There was no need to stop and consider her suggestion, because he was mated, and that was absolute. He nodded as Benny loped around the corner of the farthest storage unit.
Jacki sighed. “You used to like my tenacity.”
“Still do,” Adare said, dusting snow from his coat. “Doesn’t change the situation.”
Jacki huffed out a breath. “You don’t even see that woman for who she is. You have her on this stupid pedestal, thinking she’s so perfect, impressed that she managed to shoot toward an enemy without hitting you.”
“Actually, she hit me,” Benny said cheerfully, his overlarge boots leaving heavy tracks in the snow. “Not the first time a female has shot me, by the way.” He frowned. “That happens a lot, actually. Maybe I should take stock.” He was silent for a moment, studying his boots. Then he shrugged. “Nope. I’m good.”
Adare was done with the two of them. “Jacki, it has been a pleasure. Thank you for the explosives.” He held out a hand to shake hers, and she followed suit, rubbing her thumb on his palm. He released her. “Benny? I’m definitely driving.” Without waiting for an answer or an argument, he strode around to the driver’s side and slid inside, igniting the engine in an unsubtle way to get Benny on the move. They had to go back to the cabin and prepare.
Benny barreled into the passenger seat, flinging snow as he settled in.
Adare drove sedately down the drive between storage units.
Benny kicked out his boots, thunking them on the rubber floor mat. “I like that feline shifter. Would it bug you if I asked her out?”
“No,” Adare said. Benny had been hitting on Jacki for two days, so why he was asking now was a mystery that Adare couldn’t be troubled to solve. “Feel free.”
Benny flipped on the switch to heat his seat. “She was all over you. I know you have a history, so are you tempted?”
“No. I’m mated.” Adare leaned forward and peered at the snow before increasing the speed of the wipers.
Benny sighed. “That’s logical. But what do you feel about all of this?”
Adare turned the SUV out onto the main road and increased his speed. They could make it back home by dawn if Benny didn’t insist they stop to eat too often. “I don’t feel anything.”
“Yeah,” Benny drawled. “That’s something we need to talk about. Now is a good time.”
Adare partially turned, keeping an eye on the road. “You want to talk about myfeelings?” Had Benny been watching too much daytime television again?
“Sure. I understand that you don’t think you have any, and I’m sure that’s an excellent survival tactic after everything we’ve all been through.” Benny turned and looked out at the night. “Maybe I should get rid of feelings. That’d be nice. I mean, I feel everything all the time, and it’s exhausting.” He was quiet for several moments, no doubt continuing the one-sided conversation in his head. Finally, he nodded. “Nope. I’m good. Feelings make life worth living and give us a reason to fight the way we do.” Apparently satisfied, he turned back to Adare. “We have to work on you. You’ll never find happiness this way.”
Happiness?That was merely a construct of idealists. “I like my life and my job. That’s all I want.” An image of Grace spread out before him on his bed flashed through his mind and called him a liar.
Benny huffed out air. “Sometimes it’s difficult being your brother.”
They’d become brothers, bound by blood and bone, during the Seven ritual. Adare turned down the heat. “I’m sorry about that, Ben.” He really was.
Benny’s phone buzzed, and he dug it out of his pocket, pressing it to his ear. “Go for Benjamin.” He listened and then straightened. “When? Where?” He cut a look toward Adare, losing the lazy amusement normally glowing in his eyes. “Do we have allies nearby? Okay. Great. They need to find that driver, right now, and lock him down. We’ll be there as soon as possible.” He clicked off.
Adare slowed the vehicle, adrenaline flooding his system. “What’s happened now?”
“That was Talen at Realm Headquarters. Grace wasn’t on the plane.”
Chapter 14
Grace lay back in the surprisingly comfortable bed of the motel, the pain behind her eyes so great she had to close them. During the last several months, she’d tried over-the-counter pain meds, alcohol, and even sugar combined with caffeine, but nothing touched the pain. So she let it take her, sometimes into a deep sleep she feared could turn into a coma.
Every instinct she had told her that was where her brain was heading.
Brian and Bobbi had taken her to several of the old restaurants and bars they used to frequent, but nothing had jogged her memory. She’d done her best to keep her face averted from any surveillance cameras, since the Kurjans knew she was in Colorado. At least she was far away from where they’d attacked, so maybe they wouldn’t look immediately in Denver. Once she’d started to feel sick, Bobbi had taken her back to her rental car, offering to put her up for the night.
She wasn’t ready to spend the night in the place where she’d been attacked. Plus, she could use a little bit of space from Brian and Bobbi.
There was something familiar about Denver and the snow and mountains, though. Like a wisp of thought she couldn’t quite grasp. Man, she wanted to call Faith and talk. It was possible no one yet knew about her detour to Denver. She’d paid off the driver with a hundred dollar bill, and it was unlikely the Realm would contact Adare when their plane arrived.
