Guardian's Grace, page 9
She nodded, looking as if she’d healed all of her wounds from the night before. “Still go jogging without a shirt when you’re struggling with a difficult situation, I see.”
He kept his back to the fire, letting the heat dry his jeans. “Did you and Benny reach an agreement about a new sale last night?”
“Yes, and I’ve already received confirmation from my people.” She crossed around the sofa and took Benny’s seat, her jeans and shirt torn from the fight but looking freshly cleaned. The female must’ve found the laundry room last night. She never did sleep much.
“How much did said agreement cost me?” he asked.
She took a sip of the water before answering. “Seventeen million, plus half of the explosives you bought from the Bykovs and have stored somewhere in this so-called lair.”
Damn it, Benny. Adare frowned. “Why would the Ladonis want the Bykov explosives?”
“Just half.” She finished the water, her gaze steady on him, filled with a light he barely remembered. “They have some new product, and we need to figure it out.” She shrugged. “It’s part of the business, as you know.”
“Right.” He partially turned to let his left side dry.
She cleared her throat. “I should’ve chosen you, Adare.”
He stilled, watching her. That’s what she wanted to talk to him about? He was never going to understand females. Never. “You chose correctly with the information we had.” Not in a millennium would he have thought Basel would’ve died before him. “My route has been bloody and dark, and it’s going to become even more so very soon.” Should he feel something other than exhaustion right now? He’d loved her once—hadn’t he? Maybe even then he’d been incapable of love, although she’d helped him through the darkest times after the Highlands fell. For that, he’d always be grateful.
She shook her head. “No, I was wrong. I was hoping we could have a second chance.”
His eyebrows rose. There was a time he’d wanted to hear those words from her—before he’d mated. “I’m mated, Jacki.”
Her smile was all feline. “Barely. I’ve watched you two, and you don’t fit. She’s a human, Adare. You’ve always stayed away from weak humans, and you know it.”
That was true. “She’s stronger than you think,” he said quietly. “She rushed right into the fight yesterday.”
“You’re defending her.” Jacki’s smile widened. “She almost got herself and you killed. I can barely smell you on her and vice versa. You can’t tell me you love her.”
He didn’t love anybody.
“That’s what I thought,” Jacki said, twirling the glass in her hands, triumph crossing her angled face. “We were a perfect match. Strong and fierce, and you didn’t have to worry about me constantly. I can take care of myself.” She stood. “I’ve heard the virus to negate mating bonds works—my mate is dead and yours isn’t connected to you. We could take the virus and be free to be together, just like we should’ve been. Just tell me you’ll think about it.” Her directness had always been one of her best assets.
He studied her for a moment, the fire at his back and the female he’d once wanted in front of him. “No.”
* * * *
Grace awoke slowly, her body sated in a way she’d never felt before. She would’ve remembered that, right? She stretched, wincing as her thigh protested with a slight twinge. Desire flooded her, and she beat it back, trying not to remember the incredible orgasm Adare had given her.
Now her memory decided to work perfectly. That just figured. She stretched more carefully this time, noting that the other side of the bed hadn’t been disturbed. Had Adare run all night?
How was she going to face him? She’d totally lost control the night before. Her temples thrummed with the headache that had found her nearly every day for the last year; she tried to ignore it.
The photo album on the desk caught her eye. He’d been right about her seeing angles nobody else saw, and she used the camera as a way to explore that gift. Did she even need the camera? It was time she buckled down and figured out who she was and who she’d been. If she was going to die the following week by taking the virus—and there didn’t seem to be any alternative—at the very least she needed to try to figure out what had happened to her.
She couldn’t go on without knowing, and she didn’t want to end this life with unanswered questions if she could help it. Of course, she hoped the virus wouldn’t kill her and she’d survive. There was a chance, and she’d hope for it. Why not? So she made herself get out of the comfortable bed and take a shower, dressing in her now dry jeans and sweater, although the coat was destroyed. Her limbs were heavy and exhausted, and that constant nausea was back. The deterioration of her health was speeding up. Darn it.
She had just finished finger combing her hair into submission when a knock came at the door. “Come in.”
Adare entered the room, shirtless but with dry jeans and socks on. “We have to get going.”
So much for flowers and love poems. She smoothed her sweater down. “Where are we going?”
He shut the door and tucked a thumb into his front pocket, looking so masculine and dangerous that her mouth started to water. “I have a car coming to take you to the airport, where a Realm plane will be waiting to fly you to headquarters. The pilot has already picked up a couple of shifter dignitaries who are heading over to meet with strategic leaders.” No expression showed on his hard face.
She swallowed. This was so awkward. Should she tell him her plan and try to get him to understand? Something told her he wouldn’t agree, and he’d have no problem ordering the Realm soldiers to take her to safety. She was tired of being safe and in the dark. The time for healing was done; it was time for answers. Whether she liked them or not. She should nicely say goodbye and thank him for the awesome orgasm. “Why do you have my photographs all over your house?” The question popped out before she could stop it.
He studied her, and for the briefest of seconds, his gaze softened. “They show who you are.”
She sat straighter. What did that mean? The enlarged photographs adorning the walls were all of nature or scenes that didn’t involve people, unlike the photo album Faith had sent to him. Those revealed something about the subject. Did the other ones truly show something about her? How was she supposed to respond to him?
He plucked the shirt he’d worn the night before off the ground and drew it over his head. “About last night—”
She held up a hand to stop him. “No. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s okay. We got caught up in the moment after the fight and everything.” Considering she’d just decided to lie to his face and do something she knew would make him furious, she didn’t want to talk about emotions. Not to mention the fact that the following week, she was going to the Realm to take a virus she’d promised him she wouldn’t take for at least a hundred years. “Let’s go on with our plans, Adare.”
He nodded, his gaze intense. “If I survive the raid, which I plan to do, we can talk then. I’ll meet you at Realm headquarters. Please remember that they don’t know the truth about the Seven, or most of it, anyway. I trust you to keep our secret, as well as that of the Keys. The fewer people who know about you, the better.”
“Of course.” She slipped into her boots and strode past him to the door.
“If I don’t make it, I wish you the best, Grace,” he murmured. “Remember your promise to stay safe.”
Oh, she remembered it; she just wasn’t going to keep it. Time to change the subject. Her face was burning with embarrassment. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No, but I’ll get caught up later. I ran, talked to Benny, and then I spoke with Jacki.” He opened the door for her.
She paused and then walked through. Had he talked all night to Jacki? Not that it mattered. Probably. She moved out onto the porch, where Benny and Jacqueline were waiting. A black car idled by the steps with one driver in the front.
“We already checked him out,” Benny assured her. “He’s a hired guy from a good car service around here, but he’s human, so don’t say anything you shouldn’t.”
That was a relief.
Adare grabbed her pack and camera equipment and strode around to set everything in the trunk.
Benny lifted Grace up in a hug and whispered in her ear. “I’ll make sure he comes back. Probably. Maybe. Well, anyway, I’ll try hard.”
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?”
Benny lifted a mammoth shoulder. “We’re probably gonna die, and you know it. I wouldn’t mind a decent sendoff like you got last night.”
He’d only gotten a bit of what he’d wanted last night. “Ben, if we’re going to face death together next week, it’d be smart if I didn’t want you dead.” He said the last on a growl. Even though he didn’t care what Jacki did, he didn’t like Benny’s teasing tone of voice. The time for levity had passed.
Benny lifted a hand in mock surrender, instantly piling the SUV into a berm of snow on the right side of the road. “Sorry. I give up.” He used both hands to jerk the vehicle free, sending it bouncing over ice and rocks and forcing Adare to grab onto the door handle to keep from falling over.
Adare tried to regain control of the situation. “When are we going to transfer our explosives to the Ladonis? I’d rather everyone didn’t know the location of our safe house.”
“Oh, they’re in the back of the SUV already,” Benny said casually.
By all that was holy! Adare pulled the Max out of his boot and pressed the barrel against Benny’s neck. “You’ve been driving like a maniac for the last ten minutes, and there are explosives in the rear of this thing?”
Benny’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Well, yeah. Why do you have a gun to my neck?”
Hadn’t there been enough explosions in the last twenty-four hours? “Stop the SUV and pull over, or I swear to all the fates that I’ll shoot you through the head,” Adare growled, his ears ringing with the heat rushing over his skin. “I’m driving.”
* * * *
While the snow gently fell, Grace set out across the state of Colorado, letting the navigation in her phone direct her. Even though it was snowing, the sun pierced the clouds, brightening the day beautifully.
For five long years, while going through hypnotherapy, physical therapy, and mental exercises, Grace had avoided returning to Denver; now she had no choice. The Realm doctors she’d worked with had said that returning to the scene of her accident might jog her memory, but the soldiers had warned that the risk was too great.
Plus, she’d promised both her sister and Adare that she’d left that life behind.
They didn’t know the full truth, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t like her plan. She’d seen pictures of herself before she’d gone into a coma. She had looked lively and fun and extroverted. Had she completely lost that woman?
Memories of her childhood, teenage years, and early adulthood had slowly returned, but the night she was injured, she couldn’t remember. In fact, the months leading up to that night were hazy and only came back in spurts, often right after awakening.
Right now, her stomach ached and her head throbbed with a low pulse of pain, her constant companion since her health had started spiraling down.
Her phone dinged, and she pulled into the parking area of a community park to answer. “Hello?”
“Hey, sis. Just checking in,” Faith said.
Grace winced. “Everything is fine. How’s the Baltic?”
“Amazing and beautiful. You really should’ve come with us,” Faith said, sounding relaxed and happy. “Speaking of which, Adare called and said you’re on the way to Realm headquarters. I’m flying home with the queen and will meet you tomorrow.”
Grace froze. “You’re coming home early?”
“Yeah. Something’s up and Dage has to return home, so Emma, Ronan, and I are going, too. Before you ask, the king doesn’t share, and I have no idea what’s happening. Could be anything.”
King Dage Kayrs had always been an intimidating figure, and Grace was fine not hanging in his inner circle. “It’ll be good to see you.” Relief filled her that she’d get the appointment with Emma sooner rather than later. Her energy was definitely ebbing and not returning. “I’m glad you’re coming home.”
