Liam, hands in his sweat jacket pockets, nodded. “I’ll get Marlo, and we’ll go. Sean and Andrea will stay a while longer, Graham, to make sure Misty’s all right.” Graham gave Liam a nod of thanks.

“That’s it then,” Jace said.

The fact that the Shifters didn’t disperse until Jace gave the nod attested to his growing power. Without any more talk, Liam disappeared into the darkening desert, and Dylan, Bowman, and Sean carried Lorcan, silver chains, chair, and all, out. A plane’s engines started up, lights flashing, the lumbering bird waiting for its passengers.

The other Shifters started to walk away, off to board the airplane or find their own transportation home. No one said, Take care of yourself, or even Goddess go with you. Such words might mean they’d never see each other again.

“How’d you do that?” Graham asked Reid in a low voice as the building emptied. “With the ring? If mixed-blood Fae don’t have to worry about iron?”

“They still need to worry about it,” Reid said. “But they have enough human blood in them to dilute the effects. I used the ring to undilute the effects, going straight for the part of Lorcan that was true Fae.”

“Really?” Graham rubbed his jaw, feeling stiff bristles. “Good to know.”

Reid eyed him. “You couldn’t do it yourself. If you pushed this ring against Lorcan’s neck, he’d only feel a ring against his neck. Only I can make the iron work.”

“Because you’re Iron Man, I know.”

“Ironmaster,” Reid said. But he gave Graham a ghost of a smile, appreciating the humor. Then he walked away a few steps, and disappeared.

Graham couldn’t help his jump when the air around Reid displaced with a little pop. “Damn, I hate it when he does that.”

Jace waited to walk out with Graham. “We’ll start with you,” Jace said.

He meant taking off the Collars. Graham shook his head as he mounted his borrowed bike. “Dougal first. He’d never stand against Fae. Thank the Goddess it was me who got shot and water-spelled. Dougal would already be gone.”

“I agree,” Jace said. “But it’s not up to me.”

“Your dad thinks it’s up to him,” Graham said. “Your dad’s wrong.”

Without waiting for Jace’s answer, Graham started and revved the bike and took off across the desert. To the west, the sky was crimson, gold, and brilliant blue, black mountains in silhouette—a desert sunset in all its glory. A perfect backdrop, Graham thought. Too bad this movie wasn’t over.

 • • •

Graham checked on the cubs when he reached Shiftertown, who were happy to continue hanging out with Andrea and Sean, who’d returned from the meeting. Sean and Andrea were looking after Dougal too, while pretending not to, to spare Dougal’s pride. They were good people, Graham conceded, for Felines and half-Fae Shifters.

Graham left them and headed south into the heart of Las Vegas to Misty’s store. He knew she’d gone back there in spite of Graham telling her not to, because that was the kind of lady Misty was.

Misty wasn’t at the store when Graham reached it, however. Some of Eric’s Shifters were, including Brody, cleaning up. Eric had arrived with Misty here, Brody said, then Xav had followed Misty home, and Shane had driven Eric back to Shiftertown.

Graham continued to Misty’s house. Her truck was in her driveway, along with a couple of black pickups and SUVs from DX Security. Graham told the man working on fixing Misty’s door to get out of the way and go home. The man stepped aside, but went back to his work on the door.

Graham ignored him, in too much of a hurry to be irritated. He let scent and voices guide him to the kitchen, where his mate was.

Except his mate leaned against Xav Escobar, Xav’s arms around her, Misty’s head on his shoulder. While Graham stood there for a stunned second, Xav stroked one hand through Misty’s hair.

Graham was across the room, his Collar sparking, a roar leaving his mouth. He wrapped his hand around Xav’s throat, and kept moving, heaving Xav up against the far wall before anyone could say a word.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It took Misty a few heartbeats to realize the whirlwind who’d rushed by her was Graham. Graham enraged, his Collar throwing off arcs of electricity. His eyes were white with fury, his hands turning to claws that gripped Xav’s neck.

Xavier, face red, brought out a black device. “I’ll tase you, McNeil. Tasers and Collars, not a pretty combination.” He had to force out the words.

Misty rushed to Graham and tried to pull his hands from Xav, but Graham’s arms were like steel bars. “Stop it, Graham. It’s not what you think.”

“You touched my mate,” Graham said savagely to Xav. “You want me to kill you now? Or do you want to Challenge me, and I’ll kill you later?”

“Fuck you,” Xav said. He brought up the Taser, electricity crackling.

“No!” Misty cried. “Graham, let him go! I was talking to him as a friend. He was comforting me, as a friend. Three guesses as to who he was comforting me about.”

Graham wasn’t listening. “You never, ever touch a Shifter’s mate. You’ll be dead before you hit the ground.” Graham’s Collar was still sparking, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Let him go,” Misty shouted at him. “I haven’t agreed to be your mate.”

Graham swung his head around, pinning Misty with his white gray stare. “I mate-claimed you. You didn’t refuse. You had all that sex with me; you made me think—” He broke off, pain momentarily flickering through his eyes. “You are my mate.”