“No, your cells kind of swallowed his. Not killed,” Faith said, grimacing. “We don’t know what it means. But I think you should mate him, and Adare knows the risks. It’s his decision to make.”

Adare popped his head in. “Grace? Do you have a minute?”

Faith turned away.

Grace hopped off the counter and pushed her sister in the arm before approaching the kitchen doorway. Well, so much for having sex with the hard-bodied badass. She’d tried to have faith in the process, but so far, it wasn’t looking good. “Sure. What’s up?”

He took her hand. “I’ll show you.”

Was that supposed to sound dirty? Or was her mind just in the gutter? “Okay.” Curious, she followed him through the main room to the hidden stairwell, climbing down as they had before. They reached the cavernous underground room, and she nodded at Benny and Ronan, who were studying a map over at the far table.

Adare drew her around the consoles to another doorway, pushing it open and leaning in to flip a light switch.

She gasped as she moved inside. “You made me a darkroom.” She looked around. He’d set up the wet side and the dry side perfectly, and there was even a running sink. A huge fan was mounted against the exterior wall for ventilation. She took in the three trays and tongs as well as the chemicals stored on the shelf above them, including neatly labeled hydroquinone and sodium hydroxide. Her chest swelled, and surprising tears pricked the backs of her eyes. “It’s perfect.”

“Good.” He stepped back. “I had it installed after we left the other day, after I saw the Pentax you lug around.” He turned and pointed to the nearest desktop computer. “That one is yours for editing digital pictures.”

“Thank you.” Her throat was clogged, but she turned and slid her palm over the hard ridges of his bicep. “This is really nice of you.” She didn’t know what to say. So she levered herself onto her toes and kissed him beneath his whiskered jaw.

He grinned. “I figured you’d like this more than diamonds.”

“Always.” Her hands itched to get in there and start developing some of the film she’d taken lately.

He gave her a gentle nudge. “You have a couple of hours before supper. Why don’t you break in the room? I’ll fetch your bag from upstairs.”

“Wait.” She stepped away from him. “I can’t do it, Adare. I just can’t.” She’d been fooling herself, thinking he was immortal and would survive whatever they did. “Emma said your antibodies haven’t changed from taking my blood. I can’t save my life by risking yours.” Even though her limbs were heavier than they’d ever been, and a peculiar darkness kept edging in from the far reaches of her vision, the facts were the facts.