Banan turned his head and smiled as he rested his arm across the back of the seat. “You keep forgetting we’re immortal.”
“I don’t forget,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I just can’t quite believe nothing will harm any of you. I’m doing this to keep Guy and all the Dragon Kings at Dreagan secret.”
“And we appreciate it more than you know.”
She put her hand atop his. “I hope I can get the information. I’ve not been here that long. They don’t trust me fully yet.”
“And Guy willna allow you to risk your life too long. See what you can get. If it’s no’ enough, then we’ll figure out another way. The main thing is that you come out of this unharmed. Guy would never survive something happening to you.”
She gave a nod and slid out of the Mercedes. Banan watched until she was inside PureGems before he turned his head to where Rhys hid.
For eons, the magic they used to block romantic feelings and prevent close bonds with humans had never failed. Why had that suddenly changed? Banan had seen how Hal and Guy reacted upon falling for their women.
He didn’t want to do the same.
Too much was at stake for him to allow emotions to get in the way. They would only complicate his duty, which was why—no matter what—he wasn’t going to allow some woman to jeopardize that.
Jane Holden twisted her ankle as she stepped onto the elevator. “Damn,” she muttered, and leaned a shoulder against the wall so she could take her weight off the injury.
“Beautiful shoes.”
For the first time, Jane realized she wasn’t alone. She looked over at the blond beauty and realized who she was. “You’re Elena Griffin. I’m glad you’re back, and so very sorry about Sloan. It was such a tragic event.”
Elena’s smile was forced, but Jane didn’t hold it against her. She’d been through a traumatic experience in that awful mountain in the Highlands of Scotland.
“You’re from the States as well?” Elena asked, her sage green eyes kind.
Jane looked at the floor to hide her embarrassment over her clumsiness and tenderly put some weight on her ankle. She wasn’t surprised Elena hadn’t noticed her before. No one ever noticed her unless she was being her usual klutzy self.
Whereas Elena was stunning, and literally stopped men in their tracks with her wavy blond hair and green eyes, Jane was plain. She’d prayed as a little girl that she would grow out of the nickname Plain Jane, but she’d not been so fortunate.
Her features were too stark, her eyes too large, and her lips too full. Her hair was an awful shade of auburn that couldn’t decide whether to be brown or red.
Jane cleared her throat when she realized she hadn’t answered. “Yes. Seattle, actually.”
“What brings you to London?”
She was wondering how to answer Elena when the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Jane stayed in the back corner as Elena stepped onto the top floor of PureGems and was immediately surrounded by people.
Jane watched her for a moment. She envied how easily Elena carried herself around people. It wasn’t until the doors began to close that Jane leaped forward to stop them and dropped her armful of papers in the process.
Her body prevented the doors from closing as she hastily gathered the spilled papers and straightened. She swallowed and smiled when she realized everyone was staring at her with a mixture of laughter and horror.
Jane was forever doing stupid things. Apparently, being a klutz had been programmed into her DNA. Her mother had often joked that it took skill to fall on a flat surface, which Jane did often.
All Jane knew was that it was mortifying.
She straightened her pencil skirt with her free hand and walked to her desk, praying she made it without incident. After plopping the mound of papers on her desk, she sat down with a sigh.
“Jane!”
She jumped when Richard Arnold’s voice bellowed through the speaker on her desk phone. His voice was full of distaste, and he always looked down on her Americanisms, as if his being British made him a better person.
Jane leaped to her feet and hurried to open the door to his office. She poked her head in and asked, “Yes, sir?”
“Did I hear right? Is Ms. Griffin finally back?”
“Yes, sir. I just rode up the elevator with Elena.”
“Lift. It’s a lift, Jane. How long is it going to take for you to get it right? Now, why isn’t Elena in my office?” Richard asked as he leaned back in his large leather chair and steepled his fingers.
Jane glanced out the windows lining his office wall at the stunning view of London. “People are very fond of her, sir. Elena didn’t get two steps off the elevator—”
“Lift,” he interrupted.
Jane paused. She hated when he interjected terms they used in Britain. Sometimes she used an American term just to annoy him.
“The lift, then. She got off the lift and was instantly surrounded. I’m sure she’ll be along shortly.”
Richard sat up and braced his arms on his desk, his dark eyes cold. “Go find her. Now.”
“Yes, sir.” She closed the door and looked at the stack of papers she’d dropped and needed to get to work on. It was going to be another late night.
Jane walked down the hall to Elena’s office and found her standing in the middle of the room, staring blankly at her desk.
“Are you all right?” Jane asked softly so as not to startle her.
Elena whirled around in surprise. A sad smile pulled at her lips when she saw it was Jane. “I’m fine. I was just remembering the last time I was here, Sloan was telling me we were going caving.”
“I know this must be difficult. I wish you had more time to adjust—”
Elena laughed and set down her purse. “Let me guess. Richard wants to see me?”
“I think it has to do with the necklace the earl wants made for his daughter’s eighteenth birthday.”
Elena ran her fingers through her wealth of blond hair before gathering the locks into one hand and securing them into a ponytail. “Well, we mustn’t keep Richard waiting.”