Page 44 of Elven Shadow

No matter how excited she was to watch this fledgling mutiny bloom into something truly epic, however, the continued silence among the other members didn’t contain nearly as much enthusiasm.

There had to be more ideas floating around inside all those minds. Otherwise, the vast majority of Shade members living and working out of their headquarters compound in Chicago wouldn’t have filed into this library in the first place.

Someone had to keep the conversation going. Someone had to suggest specific and actionable steps to move them forward from here. Without a game plan, what was the point?

Rebecca was tempted to provide that answer for them as the seconds ticked by in endless silence and rising tension.

It definitely shouldn’t have taken this long for all the possible proposals to start flying through the air. Especially with this much disapproval and frustration all aimed at the Shade’s changeling in Command.

Unfortunately, Rebecca just couldn’t afford to speak up the way her impatience to finally put Aldous back in his place demanded. Taking part in a mutiny was one thing, sure.

Butleadingit? Willingly stepping into the spotlight to provide the necessary spark into action where no one else could?

No, that would only put her on a pedestal in the others’ minds. It would make her stand out, capture more attention, bring Rebecca Knox to the forefront of this rebellion from the beginning.

And being at the forefront of anything was more dangerous than continuing to serve under Aldous’s incompetence.

Not necessarily for Shade’s disgruntled members, no, but for her? Absolutely.

Those silent seconds ticked by with such aggravating slowness, part of her wanted to scream out the perfect answer for solving all their combined problems.

Shade wasn’t made of idiots. Clearly, they understood the implications of a meeting like this, and they were smart enough to keep it a secret—mostly from Aldous.

So if they were smart enough to have gotten themselves this far, why was it taking them so long to come up with the right plan?

Still fighting her desire to put everyone else out of their misery and just give them one clear-cut answer, Rebecca slowly searched the expressions and postures of the others around her, reading body language and facial tics and muscular tension—all as parts of the greater whole.

Then her gaze landed on Maxwell again.

He was already watching her.

The look he gave her now reminded her of the look he’d given her through the getaway van’s rearview mirror while making their escape from the team’s most recent failure of a mission.

Rebecca hadn’t caused that failure then, and she certainly hadn’t had anything to do with this secret gathering now beyond stumbling into it purely by accident.

The shifter wouldn’t have shown his face at this meeting if he’d been overly concerned by what his presence here might or might not do to his reputation as Head of Security.

He wouldn’t have come if he thought it held any danger of threatening his standing with Aldous, either. Plus, he’d alreadybeenhere when Rebecca showed up.

Why the hell was he looking at her like this was allherfault?

Especially when she consistently chose to keep her mouth shut.

She already knew Shade’s best next steps. She already knew what they’d have to do as an organization if they wanted to fix the giant shitstorm into which Aldous had so un-gallantly dragged them.

But it wasn’t Rebecca’s place to lay out new plans for this group, even when all her training and knowledge and experience literally made her the perfect candidate.

Keeping her mouth shut kept her in the background. Under the radar.

Opening it would only bring the spotlight swinging in her direction, and once that spotlight illuminated Rebecca’s identity and her current whereabouts enough that anyone looking for her could actuallyfindher, that would only make things worse for all of them.

“So then, what are we supposed to do about it, huh?” someone asked, tearing her out of her thoughts.

The question came from somewhere along the outskirts of the gathered circle, the voice gruff and tired. Many faces around the group twisted, brows and noses wrinkled, or eyes lit up in recognition.

Rebecca definitely recognized the voice as well, though bringing to mind a matching face felt harder than it should have been.

Leonard squinted into the gathered circle like everyone else, then waved both toward the newest speaker. “If that’s who I think it is… Come on, people. Get out of the way. I can’t see. I said move it!”

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