Page 22 of The Mating Frenzy
Relief filled him. She was not unarmed, although that weapon would prove ineffective against strong, dark magick. “Good. Where is yourboss?”
“Upstairs at the main desk. She is concealed carry as well, helped me train on the gun range. Danica is really pretty, so she’s had to deal with asshole men who don’t take ‘no’ for ananswer.”
“Ah, the blonde who gave me the code. Yes, I can see how most men would find herattractive.”
Ella glanced away, her mouth tightening. “Of course theydo.”
“But I am not ‘most men.’ She is not, as they say, mytype.”
Now her gaze returned to him, filled with curiosity. “What type of womanis?”
“Your type.” He saw no reason to lie. “Beauty andbrains.”
She snorted, as if disbelieving him. Terrific. Perhaps he could approach her as a friend. Certainly he was quite interested in why she sequestered herself here, with only ancient magick books forcompany.
And she wasn’t even aware they were volumes of magick forOthers.
“What are you doing here?” heasked.
“Working. This is my part-time job. Danica hired me to scan manuscripts.” She held up a cylindrical device. “These are fragile pieces of parchment, so I take this scanner, and it takes a photo of the page and stores itdigitally.”
Fascinating. There were good things about this new technology that continued to baffle him, despite Xavier and Gideon’sassistance.
“This is a good place.” He inhaled a lungful of parchment-scented air. “A place of ancientwisdom.”
Ella smiled. “I’ve always thought so. One reason I continued to work here, even after I had to quitschool.”
Propping his chin upon his fists, he studied her. “What did you wish to learn, and why did you have to quitschool?”
Ella didn’t answer at first, only continued to run the wand across thepage.
“Why did you have to quit?” This time, he put a tendril of magick into his voice, compelling her to talk. The TruthTalk ability had been honed by his species over the past millennium, a gift from the Winter King for when Kieran caught and interrogated His Majesty’senemies.
It would not work on Ella once she gained her powers. And in this atmosphere, with its oppressive magick warding to prevent Others from exercising much power, he doubted it would workeffectively.
But she lifted her head and looked wistful and longing. Either Ella was susceptible to his suggestion because she hadn’t yet matured with her magick, or she was connected to him on a deeperplane.
Probably the former, rather than the latter. He would become her tutor, and guardian and perhaps her lover, but nothing else. Nothing bonding andpermanent.
“Money. We had no money after my father died, and I had to go to work to help support my mother andmyself.”
He listened intently as she talked about her disappointment at dropping out of school, her fascination with ancient manuscripts and her dream job of taking the old parchment and scanning it forpreservation.
Ella leaned across the table. “Can I share asecret?”
Kieran stared at her mouth, wondering if it had to do with kissing. Certainly he’d delight in kissing her here. Or anyplace. Or anyplace on her body. “Ofcourse.”
“I’ve made duplicates of the scans and I’ve taken them home to study on my own. It’s kind of a hobby, trying to decipher the language.” She sighed. “I wish I wasfaster.”
“Perhaps I can help. I have some knowledge of ancienttongues.”
Like the time he’d kissed the promiscuous, bored wife of a high official in the Winter Kingdom who’d suffered from erectile dysfunction. Her tongue was most ancient. Andwicked.
Ella looked eager. “Yes, that would begreat.”
She pushed a thick, leather-bound manuscript across the table. “This page is really vexingme.”
Amused at her terminology, he scanned the parchment. Kieran concealed the shock fillinghim.
