For a few moments, it had been just the two of them again, but she had to come to terms with disclosing the information to her family. He wanted them both on the same page. They needed allies to figure out what was going on inside the lair. No one would talk to him, his team or probably Saria. They needed her brothers.

“I found those bodies some time ago and there won’t be any evidence left,” Saria pointed out.

“We don’t have a choice, Saria. They know something is wrong.”

Saria kept her gaze fixed on the trail as they walked. The path was becoming thinner, the surrounding area more hazardous, but Saria knew exactly where she going. “It won’ be easy,” she ventured. “Remy is a homicide detective and he won’ like that I was afraid of them.”

“Saria,” Drake said softly. He stopped her by gently shackling her wrist and forcing her to turn back to him. “Whatever led up to your fears was real. One time coming to your rescue doesn’t erase years of neglect. You had a reason to suspect them.”

“Maybe, Drake, and maybe it was pride. They seemed so close to one another and I was so alone and not a part of them. Maybe I wanted to punish them in some way.”

Drake leaned into her and brushed the top of her dirtstreaked face with a kiss. “It’s always easy to second-guess yourself with new information, but at the time, honey, you did the best you could. You were trying to protect them.”

She squared her shoulders and nodded. “Thank you for not making that worse back there with my brothers. I know you were angry.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She smiled and shrugged. “Your eyes start glowin’. Really, Drake. They go gold and then shimmer. I think every once in a while I’ll be tempted to get you angry just so I can see all that shimmering fire.”

He bunched her hair in his fist and brought his mouth to hers. When he lifted his head, his eyes were every bit as golden as she’d claimed. Saria laughed and the tension in his belly dissipated. She was back, sure and confident. She’d been shaken for a moment, but she’d been true to her word, and she stood with him.

“I wasn’t angry so much as my leopard was behaving badly.”

“All of you were behaving badly. I thought my brothers were going to kill you. And Remy nearly killed Armande and Robert. It was very tense there for a while.” She gave a little sniff. “I was the only one with a lick of sense.