Adare waited with supreme patience in the driver’s seat of the SUV while Grace glared at him from the passenger seat and Nick delivered Freddy, not so gently, to his front door. Or rather, to his mother’s front door, since the moron lived in her basement. By the time Nick was finished with his lecture, Freddy would not only forget they existed but would never try to pick up a woman on the internet again.

Grace huffed.

He held on to his patience because he was a patient male. Damn it.

“I could’ve taken my own car,” she muttered.

“That was barely a car,” he retorted, watching the snow billow outside. The female was lucky he’d allowed her to fetch her belongings from the death trap. He didn’t have time for this, considering his mission commenced in less than twenty-four hours. “I’ll have somebody pick it up tomorrow.”

She crossed her arms. “I could pick it up tomorrow.”

The tightness of his jaw was beginning to give him a headache, so he took pains to loosen it before answering her. “You have a bank account with a hundred thousand dollars in it as well as unlimited funds on various credit cards. Why you were driving that heap of junk is beyond me.” She had to be smarter, since he probably wasn’t going to make it past the week.

She turned toward him, setting one leg beneath her to face him. “I don’t want or need your money.”

“You’re my mate,” he said.

“Hah.”

What the hell did that mean? He exhaled slowly. Out of all the females in the universe, why did this one small human get under his skin? “I understand it wasn’t a conventional mating, but it happened nonetheless. You’re my responsibility.” By the widening of her eyes, he could tell she didn’t like that. Too bad. It was the truth.

The back door swept open and Nick jumped inside the car, bringing snow and wind with him. “We’re good. Let’s get out of here.” All pure-bred demons had rough voices that sounded like their vocal chords had been mangled; after the night they’d had, Nick sounded like he’d been eating gravel all day.

Adare owed him one for this. He backed out of the driveway, turning the vehicle toward the mountains. “Nicolaj Veis, please meet Grace Cooper. My…mate.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nick slid to the side to better study Grace from the back seat. “Although you are a surprise. Adare? Why do you keep so many secrets?” The question in his eyes was more than obvious. How could Adare go on their mission the following day when he had a mate?

She twisted even more to face him. “It’s nice to meet you, as well. I’m not really Adare’s mate.”