reaction from the corner of her eye, but he was giving nothing away. No expression, no emotion.
Which meant there was a whole lot of emotion. Well, probably. It wasn’t like she really knew him.
Benny watched the exchange and edged a mite closer to Grace. Was he actually offering support? For Pete’s sake. She didn’t need Benny’s pity.
The massive hybrid brushed snow off his long black hair. “I told Jacqueline we couldn’t take anybody with us on this mission, but she wouldn’t sell me the goods unless I brought her to you.”
Well. That wasn’t obvious or anything. Grace shook herself. The only thing she’d ever blown up was a microwave, one of the memories she still had after her coma. What had she been like before? Would she have challenged the shifter?
Why? It wasn’t as if she and Adare were together. What little claim she had on him was rapidly disappearing if the fading of her mark told her anything, and if he’d truly loved this chick, didn’t he deserve happiness? Well, if he and Benny didn’t die on the next mission. Although he could probably do better. If they stood in the snow any longer, the woman would start rubbing herself all over him. Grace bit back a smile. This catty side was new to her. Or maybe it was the old her coming back.
“Grace?” Adare said.
She blinked. “Oh. Sorry. I was in my head again. Did you say something?”
Jacqueline looked down from her impressive height, her brow furrowing and her eyes gleaming. “I asked you why you weren’t going on the mission.”
Direct hit. Everyone knew that fragile humans didn’t go blow things up.
Adare frowned. “You obviously don’t remember me well if you think I’d allow my mate on a mission that involved explosives from the Ledoni shifters.”
So he’d known the explosives were coming from his ex-fiancée? He hadn’t said a word. Wait a minute. Allow? He’d said allow. In front of his ex-love.
Benny groaned.
“Now wait a minute—” Grace started.
“No,” Adare countered immediately. “Even if you’d learned how to heal yourself by now, I wouldn’t let you go on a mission like this.”
Heat blasted into Grace’s face.
Benny peered down, his jaw going slack. “You can’t heal yourself yet?”
Grace whirled on Adare. “Would you just shut up?”
He drew back, both dark eyebrows rising. “I didn’t know that was a secret.” Confusion clouded his gaze before quickly clearing. “It’s okay. Sometimes the skill takes time.”
Oh, God. Now Adare was trying to reassure her.
Jacqueline nodded, the glitter in her eyes cutting. “That’s true. Did you just get mated recently?”
“Five years ago,” Benny said helpfully.
For the first time, Grace understood the expression of someone wanting the ground to open up and swallow them whole. It had never made a lot of sense before. Now, she got it. “I haven’t had much chance to work on the skill. My job doesn’t get too dangerous.” Yep. That sounded lame.
Benny nodded. “Grace is an amazing photographer. She captures moments nobody else sees.”
Jacqueline patted her shoulder. Actually freakin’ patted her. “So, you take pictures. That’s nice.” If any more condescension dropped from her mouth, it’d stain the snow.
“Well, there’s a skill to getting the right angle and moment that are beyond many, ah, people,” Grace returned smoothly. Yep. Direct hit right back at ya, dumb animal. Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the face. “Um, I have to take this. Excuse me.” She lifted the phone to her ear and dodged inside. “Hey, Doc,” she whispered, heading for the kitchen. “Tell me you have good news.”
“Nope,” Dr. Palendrom said, his cheerful disposition gone. “Your bloodwork is worse, meaning the mating is completely disappearing from your body, which isn’t a surprise since you mated without the sexual component.”
Yeah, no kidding. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “If my chromosomes unravel from mate to human, will I end up back in a coma?”
“I have absolutely no clue,” the doctor said. “This is uncharted territory.”
Okay. She’d never asked this, but she had to know all the facts. “What if we mate again?” Not that she’d ask Adare. But still.
“Again, I don’t know, but it looks like his cells are attacking yours instead of strengthening them, so if I had to bet, I’d wager that a second mating would kill you.” The doctor sighed. “You really need to see the queen—she’s the expert in this situation. Well, with genetics. There never has been this situation.” He coughed. “I’m totally guessing, but if you took the virus,