Page 187 of Elven Shadow

Here they were, finally coming to some kind of agreement. And now she hated herself for already knowing she would never be able to tell this stubborn-as-hell shifter who she truly was.

But her response, apparently, was convincing enough for him.

Maxwell offered a curt nod, then briskly took her hand in his for a brisk shake.

The warm tingle she’d been feeling in his presence for the last several days now erupted at the contact between their hands, rising through her fingers, up her arm, and the side of her neck, then swelling like a nice buzz after just the right number of drinks gone to her head.

She fought back a shiver of both hesitation and delight at the sensation, pretending not to notice when Maxwell’s silver eyes widened as he stared at their clasped hands.

No way it was still the homunculus poison or Zida’s invisible-gas remedy.

This was something else, and he’d felt it too.

Maxwell kept his grip around her hand longer than any appropriately binding handshake warranted, then quickly released her and headed toward the dirt path cutting through the trailer park.

This time, he walked away from her slowly enough that Rebecca had no problem catching up with her shifter second before they headed together toward the other side of town and Shade’s compound.

Now with a budding, reluctant, yet still tentative truce growing between them with every step.

When they finally reached the large parking lot outside Shade’s compound, their newfound understanding still settling in, Rebecca started to let herself think they might actually have a chance of making this work. As long as shewas willing to step up into her new role as commander the way Shade needed her to.

And, of course, as long as Maxwell stuck to his word and stopped questioning everything she did.

They were just going to have to take a chance on trusting each other, for however long it took.

Her mood had definitely improved on their short trip back to headquarters,. Feeling completely like herself again definitely helped—her energy restored, no dizziness, no coughing, no pounding headaches or overpowering ebb and flow of manufactured energy that had never been truly hers from the start.

Rebecca was back.

And not a moment too soon, because when she and Maxwell reached the front doors of the compound building, it was perfectly clear something was very wrong.

46

The chaotic shouting and running around and all the bustling activity inside the compound only grew louder as Rebecca and Maxwell made their way across the front lobby and toward the center of headquarters.

The commotion wasn’t nearly as out of control as during Hector’s homunculus attack, but the unraveling energy was just as palpable.

Rebecca tried twice to pick up the pace and pass Maxwell in the hallway to get a better beat on what the hell was happening, but every time she sped up, so did he, staying in front of her at all times until she finally gave up.

The madness only intensified the farther they walked through the compound, and no one seemed to notice either of them. The shouts echoed across every room and down every hallway from all directions. Magicals jogged back and forth, hauling armfuls of supplies, a lot of which seemed to be weapons and munitions.

Plus, a disproportionate number of these magicals were on their phones, asking questions, gathering information, shouting updates across the room.

“Knox!” Diego thrust a hand in the air to catch her attention, then jogged toward her, veering around pockets of gathered Shade members to get to her, his crimson eyes wide.

Over the course of all their missions together, she hadn’t seen him look this thrown off, even when Aldous managed to screw everything up, every time. Even more off-putting was the fact that he seemed to have lost his baseball cap somewhere in the confusion.

“Thank fuck you’re here,” he said when he finally reached them. “Listen, we’re moving as fast as we can, but we’re still waiting on a few more—”

Another group of magicals surged down the hall, cutting him off as they shouted at each other to hurry up.

“Who’s got the plans?”

“They’re still working on logistics.”

“Well get them to hurry the fuck up!”

“Diego, what the hell’s going on?” Rebecca asked.

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