Benny drove down the road with the finesse of a bulldozer, crashing through the median snowbank several times. “We gave you a good price for the explosives, and that was to ensure your discretion, as always.” He looked into the rearview mirror and jerked his head. “Adare’s mated, but I’m not, you know.”

Adare barely kept from rolling his eyes. “You’re propositioning her while we’re supposed to be getting ready for a mission? Again?”

Benny lifted a mammoth shoulder. “We’re probably gonna die, and you know it. I wouldn’t mind a decent sendoff like you got last night.”

He’d only gotten a bit of what he’d wanted last night. “Ben, if we’re going to face death together next week, it’d be smart if I didn’t want you dead.” He said the last on a growl. Even though he didn’t care what Jacki did, he didn’t like Benny’s teasing tone of voice. The time for levity had passed.

Benny lifted a hand in mock surrender, instantly piling the SUV into a berm of snow on the right side of the road. “Sorry. I give up.” He used both hands to jerk the vehicle free, sending it bouncing over ice and rocks and forcing Adare to grab onto the door handle to keep from falling over.

Adare tried to regain control of the situation. “When are we going to transfer our explosives to the Ladonis? I’d rather everyone didn’t know the location of our safe house.”

“Oh, they’re in the back of the SUV already,” Benny said casually.

By all that was holy! Adare pulled the Max out of his boot and pressed the barrel against Benny’s neck. “You’ve been driving like a maniac for the last ten minutes, and there are explosives in the rear of this thing?”

Benny’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Well, yeah. Why do you have a gun to my neck?”

Hadn’t there been enough explosions in the last twenty-four hours? “Stop the SUV and pull over, or I swear to all the fates that I’ll shoot you through the head,” Adare growled, his ears ringing with the heat rushing over his skin. “I’m driving.”

* * * *

While the snow gently fell, Grace set out across the state of Colorado, letting the navigation in her phone direct her. Even though it was snowing, the sun pierced the clouds, brightening the day beautifully.

For five long years, while going through hypnotherapy, physical therapy, and mental exercises, Grace had avoided returning to Denver; now she had no choice. The Realm doctors she’d worked with had said that returning to the scene of her accident might jog her memory, but the soldiers had warned that the risk was too great.

Plus, she’d promised both her sister and Adare that she’d left that life behind.