Page 108 of Elven Crown

Then she could push it all back down and stop having these damn dreams.

Because, for a split second when she’d woken, she’d yearned for that past in ways that made absolutely no sense.

Giving into a momentary lapse in confidence, or wishing for different outcomes, or entertaining nostalgia would only serve as more distractions from the here and now. Most importantly, from ensuring she and Shade remained protected and autonomous.

She could only do that when no one knew who she was or that she was here.

No one but Rowan, anyway.

Clenching her eyes shut, Rebecca shook her head, whipped the covers off her body, and climbed out of bed to get dressed.

First and foremost, she needed to move to get her blood pumping. To wake up and live in this life and remember why she’d chosen it. Why she’d left everything else behind.

Besides, there were still plenty of decisions to be made and plans to tackle. Shade had to prepare for possible retaliation from Eduardo, and her conscience wouldn’t let her sit back and do nothing about those trafficked magicals inside Harkennr’s base at the Joliet Prison.

Her days of sleeping in late were over.

She was so busy going over today’s mental checklist that she didn’t hear anything in the hall outside her bedroom. She didn’t feel any energetic shifts or pick up on changes in the air. She simply jerked open the door and barged right through at the top speed of someone preoccupied by their imminent purpose.

Her face smashed right into a solid wall of flannel first, then the muscle beneath, the scent of moonlight and sandalwood overwhelming her.

A low growl rumbled around her, its power vibrating against her face until she reeled back. Her heart raced, her pulse roared in her ears, and the heavy, curdling certainty that she’d just made a horrible mistake surged through her body until she felt like she was going to be sick.

What had she done?

Then she realized it was Maxwell standing outside her door, and an unfamiliar, overpowering relief washed over her.

She’d just dreamt one of her worst memories from her old life…and one of her best with Rowan.

Immediately after a night like that, she was so much happier to see Maxwell Hannigan standing in front of her door this morning. Even when he looked like someone who’d just received terrible news.

What waswrongwith her?

As soon as Rebecca recognized this out-of-place happiness to see him, the tingling warmth of the shifter’s presence washed over her, pulling her mind back to the present. Her irritation flared up instead.

With everything else Shade had going on right now, he thought the best use of his time was to stand immediately outside her door like this, without announcing himself? Without so much as a knock?

She stepped back enough to scowl up at him and pulled the door shut behind her. “What are you doing, Max?”

The deep concern in the shifter’s eyes put her on edge as he looked her up and down. “You look awful.”

And who madehimthe judge of outward appearances first thing in the morning?

“Thank you so much,” she quipped and finished shutting her bedroom door behind her as she stepped into the hall. “That’s exactly what I was going for.”

She sent a flashing bolt of yellow light at the doorknob, shutting everything up tight with a simple locking spell, then spun toward him again and folded her arms. “What do you want?”

He frowned. “I was waiting for you. Coffee escort.”

She snorted and brushed past him to head down the hall. Her shoulder glanced against his, not aggressively but enough toelicit another strange jolt of electrifying energy flaring between them.

The pit of her stomach clenched. Her shoulders seemed to relax and tense at the same time. She pushed herself to keep moving down the hall when what her body wanted was to turn around and draw closer to him again.

Like she’d hoped it would, the urge faded with the increasing distance she put between them with every step. “I told you you didn’t have to do this. No more escorts.”

“You certainly did,” Maxwell agreed, his voice rising behind her before his footsteps did the same. “And here I am.”

He was following her again. Even if she hadn’t heard his footsteps, she would have felt it anyway.

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