Page 164 of Elven Shadow

No thanks.

“Well,” she said, leaning back in the office chair and trying to breathe calmly so her heart rate might settle down. “I’veheard the name Harkennr. Used to run one of his own old-world crime rings, I guess you call it. The issue right now, though, is what to do with this invitation. How possible do you think it is that Aldous already had dealings with this Kordus Harkennr?”

Maxwell took longer than she would have liked to answer her question, seemingly more intrigued by the sight of a cardboard box filled with nothing but packing peanuts than by answering his commander’s question.

She almost repeated herself, just in case he hadn’t been listening, before he finally figured out what he wanted to say.

Maxwell folded his arms. “You want my honest opinion?”

She huffed out a wry laugh. “That would be preferable to the alternative, Max. Yes.”

“I think it’s highly possible. Probable, even. Aldous did a lot of shit without telling anyone about it until he needed something from someone at the last second. Including from me.”

“Oh.” She plunked an elbow down onto the desk and propped her chin up on her fist before pouting up at him. “That must’ve made you feel real left out…”

“Even then,” he continued with an almost concealed roll of his eyes, “Aldous never providedanyonewith all the necessary information. Just bits and pieces here and there. So whatever I know, it’s only a small piece of the whole. That’s how he preferred it, apparently. Even in the face of mystrongadvisement against it.”

Well now…Was this her Head of Security starting to open up? Or was Maxwell Hannigan trying to deliver his own threat as thinly veiled as the one written between the liens of that note from Harkennr?

“That doesn’t really help me now, does it?” she asked with another pout, her chin still on her fist. “Any suggestions?”

Maxwell shrugged. “If we were looking at a possible covert attack, I’d say ignore it. But the package was clearly addressed to you, even without a name. The invitation was an invitation. Didn’t seem like there was much more to it. And yeah, you’ve got a responsibility now to protect this task force and every magical in the greater Chicago area. That’s what we do.”

He looked up at her again as he delivered that last part and dipped his head toward her, as if wanting to make sure she understood what was at stake here.

Like he didn’t think Rebecca Knox knew shit about leading anyone from any form of command position.

If he’d known Rebecca Knox didn’t actually exist and that she was Rebecca Bloodshadow instead, would he still have wondered this about her?

Who was she kidding? A lone-wolf shifter had worked his way up through an organization like Shade didn’t know shit about Elven clans or their politics. Even if she told him her real name now, he’d probably still assume she was completely clueless.

“So what you’re telling me,” she said slowly, trying to make it sound like she was only just now putting the pieces together, “is that if I have to have a little sit-down with a Xaharí crime lord straight from Xahar’áhsh who’s now setting up his own little empire in Chicago,so be it?”

Maxwell tugged on the cuffs of his long-sleeve button-down shirt, then rolled his shoulders back before clasping his hands behind his back again.

She’d just made him uncomfortable with that question, hadn’t she?

One more of the shifter’s emergency buttons she’d have to remember to press again later.

“Well…” He cleared his throat. “Sure. I wouldn’t have used those wordsexactly…but if it were me, I’d go meet this Harkennr face to face and at the very least take the opportunity to shake his hand and look him in the eye.”

“Right.” The corner of Rebecca’s mouth twitched. “And then you’d probably start sniffing him too.”

He snorted but didn’t say a word.

“All right. Well, unless you’re about to reach into all those packing peanuts and pull out an RSVP slip, I’m gonna take his word for it and go with setting this up at my earliest convenience.”

For the first time in all six months she’d spent with Shade—including during every stupid, arbitrary, downright impossible mission she’d executed with a Shade team under Aldous’s direct orders but while answering directly to Maxwell instead—she actually saw the shifter light up.

His silver eyes glinted with a bright sheen she didn’t recognize. His frown had all but disappeared. Was that something like a smile just barely starting to show itself at the corners of his mouth?

No. It couldn’t be.

But when he spoke, he didn’t even sound like himself anymore, either.

“Planning to pay the Old Joliet Prison a visit tomorrow night would give us more than enough time to prepare,” he said.

If Rebecca hadn’t known better, she would have said he sounded downright giddy at the prospect.

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