After saying goodbye to Ingrid, she garnered her winter coat, which someone had laid on the seat beside her, and climbed out of the vehicle. Jack followed.

Mira quickly shrugged her coat on against the frigid temperature while the driver set their luggage on the curb beside them. Yay for only destroying Jack's living room. The bedrooms, and their clothing, had been fine, apparently.

Jack spoke to the driver, then turned to her. His face was truly a mess, now that she could see him clearly in the light. "Oh, Jack," she said in a rush of breath that clouded white in the cold air.

He'd changed his clothes before they'd left the apartment and had wiped some of the blood away, but his lip was split and his left eye and side of his face was one big bruise.

"Warlock had a wicked right hook," he grumbled as he picked up their bags and headed into the airport.

After they'd checked their bags in—they were booked first class, to Mira's surprise—and navigated through security and the shops on the other side, Mira yanked him into the women's bathroom.

"Ah ... Mira?”

"You're bleeding again, Jack," she answered, pulling him toward the bank of sinks along one wall and garnering both amused and annoyed looks from the women in the bathroom as they went. "You can't go sit down in first class looking like you went toe-to-toe with a badass flight attendant to get in.”

"I fly first class looking like this a lot," he growled at her. Boy, he was grumpy.

She ignored him and wet a piece of paper towel under the faucet. "Just humor me, okay?”

He winced as she wiped away some of the blood on his lower lip. "They have first aid in Chicago? Some kind of doctor there?”

"Of course. There's a full staff of doctors and nurses, ones who don't ask questions.”

She moved to a cut near his hairline. "I shouldn't have asked. They probably know you well, don't they, Jack?”

He grabbed her hand, stilling her movement. "I won't see you much when we get to Chicago." He paused, searching her eyes. "My part of this will be done once we cross the Coven's threshold. You'll be safe, and I'll go on to another job.”

She masked the sudden stab of melancholy she felt by tossing the paper towel in the trash. What a stupid reaction to have! She cussed herself out in her head. The last thing she wanted right now was to get into a relationship. So they'd slept together a few times. Big deal. It had been great, but they were both adults. Mira was old enough to understand it had been purely physical. Fine. He'd told her he wasn't the man for her right in the beginning. She'd known something like this was coming.

Still, it pinched.