Before I realized his intent, he ducked his head and captured my lips with his. The soft pressure vanished before his taste registered, before I could decide if I should yank him closer or bring my knee up between his legs. Somehow he stood across the trailer by the time my brain gained traction.

Graeson had kissed me. Kissed me. And it started the room spinning.

“Take care of her, Dell.” They shared a grim look that set my arms prickling. “Check in before you leave Kermit.”

With those enigmatic words, he exited the trailer. The resignation in his posture sent alarm bells clanging in my head. Dell caught me by the wrist before I turned the front doorknob. I hadn’t even realized I was following him on unsteady legs.

That kiss had clearly fried my brain. He was a grown warg. He could take care of himself for twenty-four hours, less than if we got lucky with our timing.

“Let him go.” She tugged me to the booth and pushed me back in my spot. “We need to eat and nail down our agenda. Cord will be fine.”

Despite her reassuring toast, made with my forgotten glass of orange juice, deep in my gut I didn’t believe her.

* * *

“I don’t get it.” Dell leaned forward in the passenger seat of the rental car we’d picked up after our flight dumped us near Kermit, Texas. Almost pressing her nose to the windshield, she squinted into the full darkness beyond the glass. “Are you sure your GPS isn’t busted?”

“Hmm?” I stopped drumming my fingers on the steering wheel.

“That’s a cow pasture, not a mental institution.”

I followed her line of sight to where a grandiose five-story structure rose from a manicured lawn, more country estate than sterile institution. Warmth glowed behind its elegant arched windows, and spotlights illuminated white stone statues and spiral topiaries scattered artfully across the grounds. Despite the late hour, a patient could stroll the sprawling garden even if they weren’t one of the nocturnal fae species.

“Don’t worry.” I had that covered. “We’re in the right place.”

“Are you okay?” She squeezed my forearm. “You looked like you were a million miles away.”

Villanow was closer to twelve hundred miles away from Kermit, but I wasn’t one for splitting hairs.

“I was just thinking.” About how Graeson never came back. He kissed me and vanished, and I got the queasiest sensation low in my gut when I thought about the finality of that moment. “Our contact should be here any minute now.”

Thierry was bringing a trusted friend along, and that woman would be responsible for getting us inside the facility.

Accepting my excuse with a raised eyebrow, Dell resumed staring ahead. “So how do you know we’re in the right place?”