going, so they’ll have to sleep in the copter if they can’t make it out. This is our lair.”
“It’s not a lair,” Adare growled, his Scottish brogue coming out full force.
Jacqueline turned around from the front seat, once again in human form with her clothes back on, her tawny hair flowing down her back as if she’d spent hours in a salon. “Looks like a lair to me.” She caught Grace’s eye. “You’re awake. Good. You sure faint a lot.” She smiled, her teeth all back in place and perfectly white. “You’ve been here before, surely. Is it a lair?”
Grace hadn’t even known Adare owned a place in Colorado. “I’m not entering this argument,” she said, forcing a smile. No way was she admitting she didn’t know a thing about her so-called mate. She pushed her curly hair away from her face, no doubt looking like she’d just been in a snowy battle before falling asleep in a military helicopter. Her life had gotten so odd since the coma.
Adare opened the door and stepped out into the cold. “Let’s grab something to eat and some sleep. We can plan in the morning.” He lifted his chin when Jacqueline exited the vehicle. “I don’t suppose the Ledonis will give us a discount on replacement explosives?”
“Not a chance,” Jacki purred, the moon highlighting her smile.
“I figured.” Adare returned her grin.
Grace shoved her way out, elbowing him in the side, her chest aching. She was not jealous. Not at all. “I’m going to skip food and jump into a hot shower.” The dried blood down her neck and chest was starting to itch, and she smelled like burnt soup. The shifter probably smelled like jasmine or orchids despite her battle with dangerous enemies.
Adare turned and led the way up the three long wooden steps, across the snowy porch, to a keypad near the door. He typed in a code, the lock audibly snicked, and he turned the knob. “You can shower, but you have to eat something afterward. Is this why you’re so thin? You’ve stopped eating?”
If he made her feel any more unattractive, she’d just kick him in the knee. “Of course not. I haven’t lost much weight.” Which wasn’t true. Whatever was happening with her, the fading of her mating mark had had several side effects, including nausea. The last Realm doctor had said she might end up in a coma eventually. So she had to take the virus from the queen and negate the bond. It was a risk, but it was also her only option. “Stop bossing me around.”
He leaned to the side and flicked several light switches, illuminating a great room with stone fireplace, southwestern themed furniture, and a wide entryway to a dark tiled room with a stainless steel refrigerator.
Benny crowded in behind them. “Adare’s rooms are to the left, mine the right, and the guest area is through the kitchen toward the rear of the house, Jacki. I’ll get supper started with whatever we might have on hand. Everyone else take showers, get clean, and prepare for a culinary masterpiece.” He flicked a switch by the fireplace as he walked toward the kitchen, and logs ignited instantly.
Grace looked around and gasped. Her photographs, ones she’d taken through the years and sold through an intermediary in Florida, adorned the walls. The black and white shot above the mantle had been taken in the aftermath of one of the Seven’s headquarters being blown up, which used to happen with frequency. Rain poured onto the damaged mountain, giving a sense of finality along with longing. “Adare—”
“This way.” He grasped her arm and led her to an entry hall before the fireplace. “Jacki? We’ll catch up in a few,” he called back.
“Can’t wait,” the shifter returned.
Grace stumbled down the short hallway to double doors that Adare opened to reveal a suite with bedroom, office alcove to the right, sitting room to the left, and another door that must lead to a master bath. The bed must’ve been specially ordered. Far larger than king-sized, it was topped by a photograph she’d taken of the lake edging Realm headquarters, right when fall turned to winter and the water shone silver with mystery.
The rest of the room was utilitarian with a dark blue bedspread and no personal objects, save for a smaller photograph above the desk that she’d shot of a fledgling deer near the lake. Why did he have her photographs decorating his lair? Her heart warmed.