Ivar rubbed the little girl’s back as she slept against his chest. “We should go to Realm headquarters. The Kurjans already know its location, so we wouldn’t be giving anything away. Plus, the king’s resources will help us find this little one’s home.”

“Sounds good,” Adare said.

Benny had fallen into a disturbed silence, staring at his bloody palm. Adare didn’t have any words of wisdom for him, so he didn’t give any. They’d have to figure out what to do once they were safely back at their own headquarters, and whatever Benny decided, Adare would have his back.

He leaned in and kissed Grace, being gentle but making a claim. “You said something to me. Something that mattered.”

She yawned. “I said I loved you. Meant it, too.” She caressed the cords in his neck and snuggled closer into his chest, sighing. “You don’t have to say it back. I’ll work on you until you know you feel it.”

He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “I already feel it. I love you too, my stubborn little mate.”

* * * *

Grace finished the last hour in the weird, dark tank of water, a snorkel in her mouth and her head calm. The door opened, and Emma stood there, her eyes gleaming the way they did when she got to do experiments. Grace was beginning to dislike that look. She climbed out and accepted the towel, wrapping it around her simple swimsuit.

“Well?” she asked.

Emma read the screen on her tablet. “You’re clean. No tracking dust in you or on you.”

Grace’s shoulders settled. “Finally.” They’d been at headquarters all day, and Adare was itching to get out of there. “I wish I could figure out how it got in me.” It wasn’t as if she’d been unconscious around Yvonne.

Emma tapped her lips. “We’ve gone over your time with them, and nothing comes to mind. I feel like everything you ate was okay. I mean, even if you did ingest the dust, it wouldn’t have ended up in your lungs. You had to have inhaled.”

Grace thought back. “Wait a minute. There were sparklers on a dessert we had, and when Yvonne blew hers out, I coughed. I definitely inhaled something from them.” She tied the towel to the right of her chest and squeezed water out of her hair.

“Ah ha. There you go. Sparklers, huh? That’s a good delivery mechanism. I’ll have to remember that.” Emma made a quick notation on her tablet, humming to herself and then muttering a bunch of numbers that didn’t make any sense. “Of course, you’d have to get the person to sit still while you blew out. It’d make more sense to have the subject suck it in somehow.”