“Good on you.” Benny clapped him on the back, and the sound echoed through the air. “I wish we had invited that shifter back here with us for the night. I’m the only one going to bed alone.” He frowned, opening the back door. “But I guess at least I know I ain’t gonna die tonight. Good luck, Adare. You’ve been a good brother.”
“You too, Benny,” Adare said, meaning it. “On the off chance that I don’t make it, would you—”
“Of course. I’ll make sure Grace is safe and taken care of.” Benny toed off his boots inside the mudroom by the back slider. “Don’t you worry about that.” He paused, his metallic eyes darkening. “No shit for a moment, brother. I feel like you’re not taking the threat seriously enough. It’s real. I don’t want to lose you.”
Adare’s chest filled. He and Benny had been brothers longer than many species had survived on earth. “I’m taking it seriously, but my mind is already made up, so why wallow in what might happen?” He drew Benny in for a hard hug. “You’re a good brother. You’ve done your job, and now I have to do mine.”
Benny nodded, hugging back before letting go. “Fair enough.”
Adare leaned down to untie his boot.
Benny stretched out a calf. “You scared?”
“No.” He hadn’t been scared of anything for longer than he remembered. “I don’t want to leave her alone, though.” So he’d survive the night and then the next day. He had to make sure the mating took hold this time and she was healthy and strong.
“Huh.” Benny glanced at the control panel by the back door where several lights blinked. He flipped on a screen and keyed in a string of numbers, stiffening when code began to scroll. “I don’t want to cause any problems, but I think your female is making a break for it.”
Adare paused and read the screen. “Damn it.” Leaving his boot alone, he jogged through the house to the garage, only to see the door open and the taillights of his SUV disappearing down the drive.
Benny reached his side. “I don’t suppose you told her about the landmines and electrical shields we have guarding the property?”
“No.” Why would he have? Adare flipped open the garage control panel and quickly disengaged the landmines and shields, leaving only the main gate in place.
Benny nodded. “Good job. It’d probably be a bad idea to blow her up before mating her.”
Adare cut him a look.
Benny shrugged. “Maybe going it alone isn’t so bad tonight. Good luck, brother.” He turned back for the house.
The surprise flowed out of Adare, leaving irritation to swirl around and then bubble into anger. Grace had been about a half mile from driving over a mine that would’ve tossed the SUV in the air like a frisbee. She very well might’ve died.
He jumped down to the main level of the garage and followed her into the night, steam rising from his skin when he strode into the snowy air. His steps were sure and purposeful, and he tried to let the storm calm him as he walked down the driveway toward the gate.
Grace wasn’t going anywhere.
* * * *
Safely in the SUV, Grace stared at the wide metal gate through the windshield as the wipers struggled to keep the snow cleared. She put the headlights on bright. Just wonderful. Okay. Maybe it was only shut and not locked. She pulled on her gloves and stepped into the rapidly increasing storm, struggling against the wind to reach the gate. The cold sliced into her, burning the skin on her face.
There was no latch. No lock. No area where it looked like the gate would split in two and open.
Okay. So the entire thing must swing one way or the other. She grasped two of the prongs and shoved. It didn’t move. So she pulled.Nothing.
“It’s a biometric device that can’t be moved by hand.”
Grace yelped and jumped, hitting her shoulder on the fence. She whirled around to find Adare standing in the snow, a dark figure in a dangerous storm. “You scared me.”
“Good.” In his position by the vehicle, his face was veiled by the darkness.
She set her stance, her left boot slipping in the snow. “We both know you can open this gate.”
“Do we?” His voice was low. Silky. Aggressive.
Her lungs froze. The lump in her throat suddenly kept her from swallowing. “I hadn’t realized there was a gate in place,” she said lamely.
“There are quite a few things you’ve failed to realize.” His low voice carried easily through the blistering wind. “For one thing, we have land mines as well as target missiles protecting the property, in addition to electrical currents that could fry a buffalo.” He strode closer, all casual grace and powerful threat. “Not to mention the fact that you’re intoxicated.”
“Oh, please.” It was too cold to roll her eyes, but she gave it a try. “Every time you filled my glass, I poured the wine into Faith’s when you looked away. She was loaded. Didn’t you see her try to take Ronan’s clothes off as they left the kitchen?”
