Page 54 of Elven Shadow

Even more concerning was the one question she really needed someone to answer right now: What exactly had the rest of Shade’s little in-house rebellion all agreed upon in front of her without explaining any of it to her?

What did they thinkshe’dagreed to?

No one approached her for further discussion. No one so much as looked at her as they all went back to their regular routines, disappearing through the ripples of light in the library walls.

Except Maxwell.

Shade’s Head of Security stared her down, his silver eyes pulsing softly with a shifter’s internal light.

Was that supposed to be some kind of warning?

She would have laughed at the thought if she wasn’t so pissed about otherwise being left in the dark regarding…everything.

With the library quickly clearing out, Rebecca easily found Leonard and Diego again, their heads bent low toward each other as they engaged in fervent, animated conversation, taking great pains to keep their voices low and impossible to overhear.

Okay, now this was just getting annoying.

Leonard jerked on both lapels of his leather trench coat as they spoke, and Diego gestured wildly as he articulated his own thoughts. Several remaining members nervously eyed his bandaged hands and shied away from them on their way out, just in case.

She had to talk to them now, before the insanity of…whatever this had turned into got any more out of control. Before Rebecca ended up taking on some role within someone else’s plan that put her too much in the spotlight. Exactly where she didn’t want to be.

A part of her kept screaming that it was already too late for that, even when zero plans had been cemented during this secret meeting she’d been sure was the tipping point for all of Shade’s disgruntled operatives.

Clearly, she’d underestimated what these magicals could do and how far they were willing to go. She just still didn’t have a beat on those details.

That, more than anything else, made her especially uneasy.

Since the day she’d joined Shade’s ranks, Rebecca had had a clear working knowledge of the way this organization was supposed to run and how perfectly fitting herself into the mold of one of its members would help her hide in this world.

Shade was supposed to have been a done deal. An easy mark. A perfect disguise for hiding in plain sight, without rocking the boat or tipping the magical bucket.

It was supposed to keep her safe.

Now, the work she’d put into passing the task force’s initiation six months ago—all while holding back to keep her most powerful skills and abilities hidden from everyone—had just become the exact trap she’d spent decades avoiding at all costs.

Her membership and her sworn oath to Shade bound her to this organization and its members. They made it impossible to escape.

She’d just have to grin and bear it until Aldous was taken out of the picture and Shade put someone else in the driver’s seat.

That didn’t mean she would take this quietly and lying down. She had to say something.

After waiting for the perfect moment to insert herself into Leonard and Diego’s private conversation, Rebecca finally found her opening.

She stepped forward, gaze intently focused on the lapels of the mage’s leather trench coat.

Before she’d gotten halfway there, Maxwell stepped into her path to cut her off. Like the guy made it a priority now to keep showing up out of nowhere.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked, his voice low and menacing.

Rebecca stopped short, looked up at those darkly glowing silver eyes, and sighed. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“I could askyouthe same thing. Yesterday, you were disobeying orders to destroy target acquisitions, and today, you’re inciting rebellion in a library—”

“Hey, slow down.” She took a step back and folded her arms. “I’m not inciting anything.”

One of his dark eyebrows lifted, and even through his deepening perpetual scowl, he somehow managed to purse his lips too. “‘Slit his throat in his sleep.’ Really?”

“That was…” She leaned sideways to peer past his shoulder. Leonard and Diego were still deep in their conversation, unfortunately. “…off the cuff, okay? I didn’t mean anything by it.”

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