Benny shrugged. “They knew of you, knew of our connection, and that was that.”

Odd. “All right.” Adare looked toward the SUV, but with the windows shielded, he couldn’t see inside.

The passenger door opened, and a streak of red jumped out, slamming it shut. A female strode around the vehicle, her curvy body protected by dark jeans and a red coat. “Adare. Good to see you.”

He stiffened, his back straightening. “Jacqueline. This is a surprise.”

“Jacqueline?” Grace asked, turning to face the newcomer.

Jacqueline stepped confidently through the snow.

Benny grinned. “Grace, meet Jacqueline, Adare’s ex-fiancée. Jackie? Meet Grace. Adare’s mate.”

Oh, Adare was going to kill Benny for this.

* * * *

Grace held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure.” She shook the shifter’s hand, seeing exactly what Adare had liked in the woman. She was freaking gorgeous. Long, tawny hair, straight and thick, hung almost to her waist. Her eyes were a strong topaz, sparkling and intelligent, while her features were slim and feline. She was almost six feet tall and perfectly curvy. Like, perfectly. The only flaw Grace could see was that the shifter had chosen another male over Adare. Man, she’d have liked to see that guy.

“Adare.” Jacqueline leaned in and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Congratulations on the mating.”

“Thanks.” Adare didn’t move. “What are you doing here?”

The female purred slightly. Okay. More than slightly, and definitely sexily. “I wanted to see you and to ask why you need this amount of explosives. Also, several of these bombs are homemade, and you’re going to need me to show you the correct detonation sequence. It’ll be like old times, right? I’m available.”

Yeah, Grace would just bet she was. She cleared her throat, ignoring the stomachache that had been her constant companion for almost six months as her strength drained away. Hopefully it was just some weird immortal—kind of immortal—virus. At least she wasn’t throwing up constantly the way she had been last month. “You’re a demolitions expert?”

Jacqueline chuckled. “I have a way with explosives, yes. We used to blow a lot of things up.” How in the world did the shifter make that sound sexy? Must be a gift.

Grace kept her smile in place. “I understand you’re mated?” Yeah, she really had to see the male Jacqueline had picked over Adare.

Jacqueline tucked her hands in her pockets. “I was, yes. He’s no longer with us.” Her voice softened, and she kept her gaze squarely on Adare. “We all did our duty in the last two wars, and the battles were hard on every species, some more than others. We’re just rebuilding now, and sales of explosives like these definitely help my people.”

Guilt swamped Grace. “I’m sorry for your loss.”