Jade looked up, and for a moment, her eyes met mine through the crack in the door. Slowing, she reached out and snagged the guard’s sleeve, tugging him to a halt in the middle of the corridor. The guard turned, frowning, as Jade rambled on, asking him questions and talking so quickly it was hard to understand her.

Now’s our chance. I nudged Riley and he nodded, silently pulling open the door. But as we stepped into the hall, the guard, apologizing to Jade, started to turn back toward the room. For a second, my heart lurched, knowing he was going to see us. There was nowhere we could hide.

Jade dropped the towel.

My eyes bulged. Riley froze. The guard turned back instantly, his attention definitely not in danger of landing on us anymore. As Jade’s high-pitched giggles rang out in the stunned silence, Garret, his cheeks as red as a tomato, immediately took advantage of the distraction and began walking away. I glanced at Riley, saw him staring wide-eyed at the scene in the center of the hall and punched his arm. Hard.

He jerked, giving me a sheepish grin, and we fled the floor, ducking into the elevators and out of sight.

* * *

Jade rejoined us in the parking lot fifteen minutes later, fully clothed, sliding into the passenger seat as if nothing had happened. Her serene expression remained unchanged as she shut the door and began putting on her shoes and earrings, not noticing, or choosing to ignore, the stunned silence from the rest of us.

“Well?” she said, finally turning around. “I trust you found what you were looking for, yes?” As she glanced at Riley, her lips curled in a faint, defiant smile. “Please tell me you were able to acquire what you needed from the Talon agent’s room. I would hate to have given you a show for nothing.”

Riley gave a bark of laughter, as if he couldn’t help himself, and shook his head. “I think I’ve been dethroned.” He chuckled as the Eastern dragon raised a brow at him. “The king of BS is dead. Long live the queen.”

Chapter 10: GARRET

GARRET

“Are you bloody serious?” Wes exclaimed later that night. “You’re going to try to sneak into yet another Talon facility? Is our life not exciting enough, or do the lot of you just have some sort of mutual death wish?”