She flashed her badge, as always, but the guards wouldn’t let her through. They had to wait for Mia herself to arrive—in the company of three other agents—and then follow her to the back of the building.

Ava’s nervous system kicked into gear as the car eased forward. “Let’s come up with a code word or something, in case you need my help.” Maybe she shouldn’t have brought him here. Maybe she should have told him to run.

He lifted her hand and licked the wild pulse in her wrist. “If I need aid, I’ll say, ‘Ava, I need you.’” His mouth curled up at the corners. “How’s that for a code?”

“Unbreakable,” she replied drily, trying not to squirm in her seat as she savored the soft press of his lips.

“Well, I promise I won’t need your help.”

Her desire suddenly chilled. “Because you now think I’m weak?”

“You always think the worst of me first,” he said on a sigh. “No. I don’t think you’re weak. I know just how strong you really are, but I don’t want you in trouble with your coworkers. Not for my sake. I’ll behave.”

How … sweet. “I’ll—I’ll do better. About not thinking the worst.”

“Thank you.”

Still. The nervousness returned, welcoming another round of doubts. What had she gotten him into? How would this end? “Just answer Mia’s questions, give her some more of your blood, and then we’ll get out of here. Okay?”

“For you,” he said, giving her hand another kiss, “anything.”

This new, tender side of him destroyed her.

The car stopped in the underground parking lot. After sharing a long, long look, they emerged, Mia already waiting for them and tapping her foot impatiently. The other agents were still with her, pyre-guns now palmed.

“He’s not going to cause any trouble,” Ava said, stepping in front of him.

He grabbed her by the waist and shoved her behind him. Having none of that, she pulled free and returned to her favorite spot. In front, acting as his shield. A low growl left him, and he once again jerked her backward. This time, he didn’t let go of her, no matter how hard she pulled.

“I know that,” Mia replied, “but it pays to be careful. Now, come on. Let’s get this done.” She turned to lead the way, paused, then glanced at McKell over her shoulder. “Oh, and thank you for the vampires you sent me, injured or not. They’re recovering nicely and are currently in lockup, awaiting testing and sentencing.”

He inclined his head in acknowledgment.

Mia guided them through a part of the building Ava had never been inside before. There were no other agents here, the walls and even the hallways padded, with ID scans at every turn.

“Mia,” she said, hating the tremble in her voice. McKell still hadn’t released her, so she quickened her step and twisted her wrist, twining her fingers with his rather than attempting to sever contact, hoping to offer comfort but knowing she was taking it instead. She had brought him here. Had rushed him here. If her boss meant to lock him up like she’d done the others, Ava would—what? Tear down the entire building? Kill every AIR agent? “He’s here of his own volition. In peace. To help. Careful or not, please tell the guards to lose the guns.”

“Sorry,” was the reply. “Not gonna happen.”

She popped her jaw. “Keep in mind, he’s the only one who can help you track the Schön queen. You don’t want to accidentally hurt him.”

The threat had no effect. “Actually, Dallas can track her. Not to mention all my Rakans.”

“And none of them have done any good,” she reminded her boss.

“Anyway,” Mia continued with only the barest pause, “he hasn’t been helping us, has he?”

“He called you when he found her, didn’t he? And he’s been looking for ways to go out in the daylight so that he can do more.” A stretching of the truth, but she didn’t care. And why the hell wasn’t McKell speaking up in his own defense?

She peeked up at him, blinking when she saw his smile. A genuine smile of pearly whites and amusement. He wasn’t afraid. Not even a little. No, he was enjoying himself. Why?

“McKell,” she said, exasperated.

“Yes?”

“Stop time,” she whispered for his ears alone.

He did, without question. Everyone around them stilled completely. Ava stared up at him, her heart thundering in her chest. “What’s going on? Do you want to run or something?” Though she knew, deep down, running would do no good. Not now.

“Run?” He laughed, the sound like a rich soothing balm. “Why would I run? You’re trying to protect me. No one has ever tried to protect me before, and I … like it.”

That explained the smile. And warmed her from the inside out. Still. “Don’t you realize you’re in danger? I can’t open the doors we’ve passed. We’re stuck here. What if Mia—”

He reached up with his free hand and rasped his knuckles over her cheek. “I don’t think she’s leading me to my death. I smell disease here. I think she means to test my blood.”

Ava’s stomach curdled. “Disease?”

He nodded, and time kicked back into gear, Mia and the guards continuing on as if they’d never stopped. Ava remained quiet the rest of the way. Disease. Testing. What she’d wanted, but she couldn’t lose the sick feeling cramping her insides.

Finally, they reached a hallway that ended in a half circle, locked doors all around, darkened windows showcasing five different rooms.

Mia pointed, and Ava followed the line of her finger. Johnny. Shit. She’d forgotten about Johnny. Now he rested on a cot in one of the rooms, probably dying, his skin gray, peeling, his cheeks sunken, his hair clumped around him, sores open and oozing all over him.

“He doesn’t have much time left,” Mia said, grim.

“What can we do?” Ava croaked.

“We’re going to give him McKell’s blood, as we discussed.”

McKell lifted his chin, nose in the air. An emperor. “Ava mentioned the idea to me, and I said no. I still say no.”

“Once that’s done,” Mia went on as if he hadn’t spoken, “you have some questions to answer, McKell.”

“Questions, fine. Blood, no.”

He’d seemed happy with the whole thing only a few minutes before, willingly following Mia. Why the refusal now? “Please,” Ava said, staring up at him.

He must have stopped time, because suddenly the rasp of Mia’s breathing stopped, the guards ceased shifting from one foot to the other.

McKell gripped her shoulders and shook her. “You beg here the way you beg in bed? For this man?”

“Yes.”

His eyes narrowed to tiny slits, though that didn’t hide the danger that lurked there. “Why?”

“Are you jealous? Because I thought we’d gotten past that.”

“Jealous, no. You’re mine, and no one and nothing will change that. But he once taunted you, embarrassed you in front of your friends. Remember? The bar? I haven’t forgiven him for that.”

He’d loved when she protected him, and she realized she loved when he defended her. He knew what others thought of her, but he didn’t care. Wasn’t going to change his mind about her. And that … affected her.

“Thank you,” she said, fighting those stupid tears again. “Even though I understand where you’re coming from, I’m still asking you to heal him. Not because he deserves it, but because it’s the right thing to do. And because, if he gets better, we can take turns kicking him in his man junk without any feelings of guilt.”

There was a long pause, McKell studying her face every second of it. Then he nodded stiffly, and time once again propelled into motion. “I’ll do it,” he said to Mia, releasing Ava.

Mia’s smile was cold, hard, and determined. “I never doubted you. So, let’s break out the needles, dig into your vein, and then send Ava into the cell with the vial.”

Ava stiffened, suddenly speechless. The last time she’d been with Johnny, he’d eyed her like a slab of meat. He’d threatened McKell. Well, the queen had threatened McKell through him, but a threat was a threat. Yet he’d been restrained. Now he was free to prowl that cell. To attack.

McKell spoke for her. Snarled, really. “Ava is not going in there.”

“Yeah, what?” she demanded, finding her voice.

Mia anchored her hands on her hips. “Someone needs to inject Johnny or get him to drink the blood, but he attacks every doctor and agent we send in. I can’t risk anyone else becoming infected.”

“Which is why Ava is not going in there.” Another snarl from McKell.

“Johnny won’t attack Ava,” Mia said, confident.

McKell shook his head. “Don’t care.”

“Then let’s get you a cell of your own,” Mia snapped, “because having Ava feed Johnny that blood is your only ticket out of here.”

O-kay, then. “I’ll do it,” Ava said before he could reply. One, she needed no more convincing, and two, as she’d told McKell, it was the right thing to do. She didn’t want to risk anyone else, either.

He huffed and puffed for half an hour, stopping time, pleading with her, pacing, yelling denials and demands, before finally nodding again, because she refused to back down. “I’ll stop time and she may enter. If he isn’t immune to my ability—I’ve listened and eavesdropped and I know the Schön adapt—and if I’m at her side. That’s the only way I’ll allow this to happen.”

“Thanks for your permission,” Mia said dryly.

“But if anything happens to her, I will destroy you and all of AIR.”

Bless his heart. “Shut up, McKell,” she said through both a smile and a grimace. “You’re going to get yourself killed. And remember our plans for later?” Our bedtime plans, she silently added. “I kind of need you alive.”

He kissed her, hard and fast. “You belong to me, and you will take care of what’s mine. As will I.”

“Promise?” she asked, wishing she could grab on to him and never let go.

“Promise.”

“And don’t worry,” Mia said. “I won’t lock you away for threatening me and all those under my care. Threats don’t faze me. Maybe because I’m married to an alpha myself.” She beckoned one of the guards, who lifted a walkie-talkie and summoned a doctor on staff to come and take that sample of McKell’s blood.

She could handle this, Ava told herself. Anything to win McKell his get-out-of-jail-free card. And that’s what this was. If she got hurt, that was a small price to pay.

With that thought, realization sunk deep. She wasn’t just in this relationship for the short term. She more than liked the man, the vampire. And oh, shit, that stung. Panicked her all over again. Because with the knowledge, she knew she had a lot of decisions to make. Life-and-death decisions.

And the outcome might not end in her favor.

Twenty-five

To Ava’s surprise, injecting Johnny with a vial of McKell’s blood proved uneventful, almost anticlimactic. Especially after all that fuss. Her one-time-only former flame hadn’t moved as she rushed in and out, hadn’t even breathed, until the door closed behind her and McKell released him from the time-stop. Then his eyelids had popped open and he’d flung himself against the window, screaming in pain. Screaming Ava’s name, too, as if he could scent her, see her, and wanted to eat her alive. But Mia hadn’t allowed them to stick around and watch what happened next.

And to further the surprise, Mia escorted them to the part of the building Ava was very familiar with, the interrogation wing, as promised. Without any added fuss. She waved them to their seats, then settled across from them and fired off three questions. Three. That was it, which was yet another surprise.

“Will you help us hunt and kill the Schön queen? Off the record and without pay, of course, because you’re, you know, a fugitive.”

A quick “yes” on McKell’s part.

Ava began to relax.

“Good. And if you succeed, will you stick around and work for us on the record and with pay? Because, as my employee, your crimes will be expunged.”

“If that’s what Ava wishes.”

Mia arched a brow at her. “Ava?”

Work with McKell? “Yes.” The thought gave her a small thrill, as well as another dose of that panic. Together … always … Wonderful, exciting. Addicting, doomed.

Mia nodded with satisfaction, crossed her arms, then unleashed the final question. “McKell. You know I’ll murder you dead if you harm another AIR agent, right?”

“Yes,” McKell replied, as unconcerned about that as he’d been about everything else.

“Good.” Mia grinned, a rare, genuinely amused grin. “Then we’re done here.”

Just like that, he’d been given a second chance. A real second chance, something that was as rare as Mia’s smile. Ava didn’t know whether to laugh, cry from sheer relief, or (accidentally) force McKell’s face to interact with her fist. All that worry, suddenly wiped clean. Thank God the need for his services had superseded the need for his punishment, otherwise this would have ended a lot differently.

Finally she decided. She laughed, a hysterical sound.

Mia and McKell shot her a strange look before Mia stood and motioned to the door. “Oh, and Ava,” she said before leaving. “You and Noelle are now officially on my team. Don’t disappoint me.”