He plucked the shirt he’d worn the night before off the ground and drew it over his head. “About last night—”

She held up a hand to stop him. “No. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s okay. We got caught up in the moment after the fight and everything.” Considering she’d just decided to lie to his face and do something she knew would make him furious, she didn’t want to talk about emotions. Not to mention the fact that the following week, she was going to the Realm to take a virus she’d promised him she wouldn’t take for at least a hundred years. “Let’s go on with our plans, Adare.”

He nodded, his gaze intense. “If I survive the raid, which I plan to do, we can talk then. I’ll meet you at Realm headquarters. Please remember that they don’t know the truth about the Seven, or most of it, anyway. I trust you to keep our secret, as well as that of the Keys. The fewer people who know about you, the better.”

“Of course.” She slipped into her boots and strode past him to the door.

“If I don’t make it, I wish you the best, Grace,” he murmured. “Remember your promise to stay safe.”

Oh, she remembered it; she just wasn’t going to keep it. Time to change the subject. Her face was burning with embarrassment. “Did you get any sleep?”

“No, but I’ll get caught up later. I ran, talked to Benny, and then I spoke with Jacki.” He opened the door for her.

She paused and then walked through. Had he talked all night to Jacki? Not that it mattered. Probably. She moved out onto the porch, where Benny and Jacqueline were waiting. A black car idled by the steps with one driver in the front.

“We already checked him out,” Benny assured her. “He’s a hired guy from a good car service around here, but he’s human, so don’t say anything you shouldn’t.”

That was a relief.

Adare grabbed her pack and camera equipment and strode around to set everything in the trunk.

Benny lifted Grace up in a hug and whispered in her ear. “I’ll make sure he comes back. Probably. Maybe. Well, anyway, I’ll try hard.”

Grace returned the hug, hit by the thought that this might actually be the last time she saw Benny. “I love you, Ben. You’re a good friend.”

He blinked and then hugged her again, gentling his squeeze when she winced from the pressure to her ribs. Then he released her.

She nodded at Jacqueline and waded through the snow to where Adare had her door already open. “Don’t die,” she said. Then, against her better judgment, she grabbed his coat lapels and jerked him down for a kiss.