She stopped in her tracks and looked up at him with startled eyes. “No. He can’t be trusted. No one from MI5 can be.”
“We trust him,” Kellan said as he faced her. “Henry is a good man. He risked a lot by getting to Dreagan as well as learning what he could of your mission.”
He waited as Denae looked nervously from the SUV to the open field. She was alarmed and alert, as anyone in her position would be. If it came down to it, he’d forcefully put her in the vehicle, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to.
“How do you know you can trust him?”
“He’s proven himself. We’ve healed you and shown you who we are. Now we are trying to get you away from here so MI5 doesna catch you. Shall we debate this more or leave?”
Her wariness was something he recognized and understood. He didn’t want to connect with her that way, but there was no denying what he saw.
“I don’t want to die.”
“I willna let you,” he said and opened the back passenger door.
Once Denae had climbed in, he closed the door and walked around the other side to get in the backseat. He gave a nod to Banan and Henry.
Henry turned around in the seat and held out his hand to Denae. “Nice to see you alive. I’m Henry North.”
“Henry,” Denae said with a small, nervous smile. Whatever reservations she had vanished. Henry was known throughout MI5 as a stand-up guy, one that could be trusted implicitly. “I know that name. You’re renowned throughout MI5.”
He chuckled. “More like infamous, I’m sure.”
“What are you doing here?” Denae asked as she glanced at Kellan.
Banan started the SUV and put it in drive as he said, “He’s here in case we run into problems.”
“He means MI5 operatives,” Denae said. Her lips compressed tightly.
“I doubt I’m even a part of the company anymore since I left the office last night,” Henry said as he sat forward and buckled his seat belt. “I found out the truth about your mission, Denae. Matt might have said he was to wound you to use you as bait, but they wanted you dead regardless.”
Though Kellan knew she had learned to control her emotions and reactions, Henry’s words still upset her. She was motionless except for her hand that rested on her leg where she was rubbing her thumbnail back and forth.
“My superiors know what happened,” Henry continued. “They had big plans for you, but a few—namely those running your department—had other ideas.”
“MI5 should do some housecleaning,” Banan stated as he drove out of Dreagan over rough terrain, off-roading.
Henry chuckled. “They should, but they don’t always do as expected. The satellite office in Inverness will have already sent their people here. Are you sure they won’t know where we’re going?”
Kellan grabbed the back of Henry’s seat when Banan took them over terrain filled with large rocks. “They can try to follow us.”
“I know Jane isna happy I’m no’ with her, and if any of you tell her how much fun I’m having, I’ll make you pay,” Banan said, a wide smile on his face.
Denae put her hand on the window to prevent her head from slamming into it as the Range Rover crawled over the rocks. “There’s nothing like danger to make a man smile.”
“You’ve been in plenty of danger,” Henry said as he glanced at her over his shoulder.
She laughed, the sound shooting straight to Kellan’s cock and making him bite the inside of his mouth so as not to release a moan.
“Danger has become a way of life.”
Her statement had Kellan wondering just how many times her life had been on the line, and why she continued to put it there. But as he looked at her, it wasn’t the cowering female clutching his arm that he expected.
It was a woman who looked her enemies in the eye and figured out how to best them. She was capable, adept, skilled, and clever.
He might worry if he thought for an instant that he would give in to her. No matter how great the temptation was, he wouldn’t bend. Not with all he had been through with the humans.
Kellan tried to find the hate that always came so easily when he thought of the mortals, and when he did, it seemed … less than before.
Which couldn’t be right. Humans were liars, thieves, and murderers. They raped the land without a second thought to the future or consequences. They fought over land and thrones like vultures fighting over a carcass.
Why the humans lived and the dragons were gone was a question Kellan would never understand.
Suddenly, Denae’s eyes turned to him and her smile died, the light going out of her beautiful whisky eyes. He didn’t want to think them pretty, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“What is it?” she whispered.
Kellan looked away, but her gaze lingered. “Nothing,” he said.
“Liar.”
“Look out!” Banan called as they descended over the hill.
Denae flew forward, her seat belt the only thing stopping her from crashing into Banan’s seat. The SUV tilted precariously to the right, causing her body to be tossed right at Kellan.
He grabbed her without thinking and held her tight. Then he made the mistake of looking into her eyes.