"And we're more than willing to help you with that," Caleb interjected, "but we need to leave. Now."

Slade looked over at Caleb. "How close?"

"Tobias said the sentinels are down, but they got a message off. They'll be behind us soon."

"Then we've got to move."

He tipped Jane's face up. "Where'd you put my transceiver?"

While Jane couldn't see him, he could clearly see the nervous dart of her eyes to the right. Amidst the dirt and rock and bits of straw there were pieces of plastic.

"You smashed it?"

"I didn't know if it had a tracking device."

It had. His brother just hadn't needed it to find him. Their mental connection a.s.sured, with a little hunting, they could find each other. It was going to take weeks to build a new one. The hardest part would be getting the parts. Sanctuary had started tracking electronic parts orders to track him.

"s.h.i.t."

Jane took the flashlight from his hand. "You can build a new one."

Turning the flashlight on Caleb's face, she gasped. "He does look like you."

"Just more handsome," Caleb tacked on.

Jane tipped her head to the side to a.s.sess the claim. "Your features are more even, but they're not as compelling."

This time it was Caleb's turn to blink. Then he laughed and grabbed up his pack. "Don't think I've ever heard anyone put it quite like that before."

"No doubt." She pushed away from Slade, her fingertips pressing into his chest, heat from her touch sinking deliciously into his skin even after the contact broke. "I'm not going with you."

"The h.e.l.l you're not."

Reaching over, she grabbed her bag off the ground. "You risked your life for me, I saved yours." She took a step back toward the door. "We're even."

There wasn't a prayer in h.e.l.l she was wandering off by herself. "Technically you didn't save mine, because I wasn't in any danger."

"I called your brother. If I hadn't called your brother, the sentinels would have gotten here and you would have been dead."

"She's got you there," Derek pointed out.

If he didn't take charge, the woman was going to fall flat on her face. "Shut up, Derek."

"Just agreeing with the lady."

Slade slipped his arm back around Jane. On her other side, Caleb took her hand, steadying her as she weaved.

"Sorry. I got dizzy there for a second."

A quick mental check revealed she was hypoglycemic.

"Did you bring food?" Slade asked Caleb.

"Allie sent a snack. I tossed it in your SUV"

"Good." Slade took a step forward. Immediately, Jane stepped away. Just as quickly, he scooped her up into his arms, holding her despite her squeal. Or maybe because of her squeal. There was something infinitely appealing about pulling decidedly feminine sounds from the ever-practical Jane. Her arms came around his neck, and then, as if she realized what she'd done, dropped to her chest. "Put me down."

"In a minute."

"I can walk."

"I can carry you faster."

Her nails dug into his chest in warning. "I'm not going with you."

He smiled down into the face of her determination and shook his head. She had a lot to learn about him. First off, that he took care of what was his. "I wasn't aware I was giving you a choice."

6.

"You knocked her out?"

Sitting in the backseat with Jane in his arms, Slade met Caleb's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Yeah."

"Afraid she's going to rip you a new one for tricking her?"

Slade smiled. Jane in a temper. He'd never seen that. He'd bet she would be all fire and reason. "Nah."

"Then why?"

Because he needed to think.

"She needs rest before she faces the rest of what's coming."

"You think she's going to shatter like a piece of china?"

"h.e.l.l," Derek turned in the front seat. "From the way she sat guard on Slade, that's one tough woman. Too tough to shatter."

Jane stirred against him. Slade ran his fingers through her hair, mentally soothing her disquiet.

Rest.

Jane would like the world to think her tough, but Slade had seen inside her mind. He'd seen the pain she hid, the sensitivity she guarded, the fear she battled. "She isn't."

Her cheek snuggled into his chest. The fabric of his shirt was an intolerable barrier between her skin and his. His claws extended with the need to rip it away. Caleb's mind brushed along his-a subtle check to see if he was okay. Slade gave him the answer he sought. As soon as Caleb accepted the lie and withdrew, Slade dropped the shield.

He wasn't okay. He was trying to cope with the fact that he had a mate. A woman. A wife. A partner. A responsibility. A liability. A mate wasn't something that he'd ever antic.i.p.ated. But Jane was here and she was a Sanctuary target. Walking away wasn't an option. Sanctuary would rape her mind and leave it an empty sh.e.l.l. That incredible mind of hers that rattled along like a machine, ricocheting between logic and emotion. That incredible mind that was a perfect match for his. That could never be sacrificed, but would be if he let his vampire rule. He'd never let his vampire rule.

"Slade?" Caleb asked again.

s.h.i.t. No doubt, his emotions were spiking hotter than Jane's.

"Just catching my breath."

"Finding a mate does have a way of knocking a man off balance."

"Yes, it does."

The low rumble of agreement from Derek was more pain than sound. Unlike the Johnson men, who'd spent more than two centuries as vampires, never expecting to find a mate, Derek had been born knowing his existed. And he'd had to give her up to keep her alive. Because of Sanctuary.

"So what's our plan?" Caleb asked.

"We need to get Jane back to the lab."

"Why?"

"We need to show her Joseph."

Caleb's head whipped around. "She can't be trusted."

"Yes, she can."

"What makes you so sure?"

Slade stroked a hand down Jane's head, preserving her peace. He'd learned a lot about Jane the last few months. "She spent her whole life trying to find a cure for world hunger. The minute she sees Joseph, it's going to be every aspiration she's ever had, every bit of determination she's ever experienced, brought to one pinpoint of need."

"For a vampire baby?"

Slade understood the scoff in Caleb's tone. Bending, he slid his lips over the top of Jane's head, skimming the ridge of her part for a heartbeat, feeling the heat of her skin in a subtle caress across his lips. "Jane won't see a vampire baby. She'll just see Joseph."

"What the h.e.l.l makes you so sure?"

"We've been talking for months."

Caleb cursed. Derek growled. "And you didn't tell us? That's a breach of security."

It had been risky, but his time with Jane had been ... unique. "Considering I am security, we'll probably survive."

"You should have brought her in earlier."

Probably. But he'd delayed, allowing himself to toy with the possibilities. "She's here now."

Another curse. "Before you follow your instincts, keep in mind that she's been working for a Sanctuary corporation."

Slade met his brother's gaze in the mirror. "She doesn't even know what Sanctuary is."

"That's an a.s.sumption on your part."

"No a.s.sumption."

"You've been in her mind?"

"Deep enough to know that."

"Deep enough isn't good enough for me."

"Adjust."

Derek shifted in the front pa.s.senger seat. Leather creaked as he turned. "If you're thinking on getting nasty with the woman, Caleb, the McClarens will offer her sanctuary."

Caleb cut him a glare. The McClarens wolf pack and the Johnsons were allied, lived in the same compound. Derek offering sanctuary was the equivalent of the Johnsons offering sanctuary. Which effectively tied Caleb's overly protective instincts.

"Since when?"

"Since she parked her a.s.s on that box and drew down on whatever was coming to protect your little brother."

"h.e.l.l." Caleb smacked the wheel at the reminder. "Sometimes, Derek, you make me regret saving your a.s.s."

"The feeling is mutual."

Derek and Caleb had been friends since Caleb had saved Derek's life early on in his vampire days, back when the Johnsons hadn't known that vampires and werewolves were supposed to be enemies. Not that Caleb would have cared even if he had known. The Johnsons weren't the conforming sort. Never had been. Likely never would be. That friendship had evolved into an alliance that was forged in steel. The Johnsons and the McClarens had each other's backs. Even if they didn't always agree.

"I appreciate the offer, Derek." Leaning back against the headrest, Slade closed his eyes. He was aching and tired. The last twenty-four hours had been a b.i.t.c.h.

"Anytime. So, what's the plan when she wakes up?" Derek asked, the lazy humor in his voice indicating that he was pretty sure Slade had one. "You going to hog-tie her to the crib, or keep a gun pointed at her?"

"Neither." He pulled her up against him, brushing the hair off her cheek, shifting her hand out from between them when she frowned in discomfort. "I figured I'd appeal to her sense of injustice."

"Does she have one?"

More than she should. "Oh, yeah."

"So you're telling me she has a hero complex?" Caleb asked.

"No." He watched the scenery pa.s.s. "What I'm telling you is that I think she's an empath who's driven to make sure she never feels those feelings again."

Derek cast him another look over his shoulder, taking his attention away from the outside. "So you're thinking of mating to a woman who doesn't want to feel emotion. Nice."

It probably would be merely "nice" if she succeeded, but Jane was nothing but logic and emotion, the two uncomfortably coexisting. And he wanted both. He wanted that calculating mind and that pa.s.sionate heart. In order to get through her defenses, Slade would have to be honest with her, and all he had to give her right now was lies.

"I didn't say a thing about mating."

Derek snorted. "I find it amusing that you Johnsons always start a relationship thinking there's a choice."