Page 37 of Elven Crown

The changeling hadn’t started taking his meals in the office to hide from particular Shade members; he’d wanted to avoid any and all conversation, the way Rebecca needed to avoid Rowan now.

For the most part, that was because none of Shade’s members had wanted to speak to Aldous that badly.

Rebecca couldn’t change the reality of being hounded by a living ghost from her past, right here in Shade’s headquarters. But she would rather avoid him altogether than submit to the impending conversation she knew Rowan wanted.

She didn’t want anything to do with that conversation, or its implications, or the weight of all the other changes it would bring down on her after she and Rowan exchanged words as themselves. Not as the empty fragments of who they truly were. Not as the reflected pieces each of them presented to the rest of the world.

Maybe, if she could keep him at bay long enough, Rowan would finally get the hint and just give up. Maybe he’d stop trying.

As Rebecca climbed the first steps of the rear staircase up to the second floor, she snorted at herself and shook her head.

Who was she kidding, thinking she could change things by ignoring him? Since when did Rowan Blackmoon ever give up on anything?

That was the problem.

Right now, it was herbiggestproblem.

Over the next thirty-six hours, Rebecca poured her energy and focus into excelling in her role as Shade’s new commander. Mostly, she involved herself in anything and everything available to her within the compound, turning it into a duty worthy of the Thon-Da’al’s attention and professional opinion.

Even when no one needed her.

It had already become quite clear that the task force didn’t need Rebecca’s supervision within the scope of regular everyday duties and activities. The entire task force had already grown so accustomed to running the place on its own and answering to their Head of Security. Command oversight had been rendered unnecessary.

Shade certainly hadn’t received any such oversight from Aldous when he’d been in charge.

Rebecca was determined to be a part of it all anyway.

The busier she could make herself, the less available she would be for Rowan to ambush and start demanding private conversations—the extra cherry on top.

She spent most of her time in the security room with the members of Maxwell’s personal team responsible for keeping their fingers on the pulse of incoming intel from throughout the city and the greater Chicago area.

Ideally, something urgent would show up while she inspected the security room in person. What better opportunity to become remarkably busy than by planning and executing Shade’s first real mission after their change in leadership?

Unfortunately, she had no such luck, even when she circled back to the security room several times to double-check throughout the day.

Then she moved through every other major section of the compound to keep herself busy with inspections—the supply rooms first, then the kitchens. When Bor grumbled about inventory checks being entirely unnecessary, Rebecca agreed.

She successfully checked his temper with a reassurance that this was nothing more than routine command rounds she didn’t plan on performing very often, but, given her new role, she wanted to ensure she left no stone unturned.

No one, not even Bor, needed to know Rebecca wasn’t looking for anything in particular or that this self-assigned busywork was more of an excuse to avoid Rowan Blackmoon.

She took her time inspecting the infirmary next, then the smaller secondary armory on the ground floor used mostly for overflow munitions and weapons repairs. Then the primary armory hub at the rear of the underground parking garage, followed by the training gym, the residential wing, thecommunal bathrooms, and even the boiler room at the back of the compound.

Everywhere she went, Rebecca found more potential rooms and internal operations to inspect, piling on her visits to each part of the compound and each smaller team of magicals assigned to their regular off-mission duties, one right after the other. She always had one more place to go, one more group to speak to, one more item to check off her list.

Best of all, she didn’t require Maxwell’s company through each of these visits. That probably would have been too much for both of them in the long run, but shedidensure she had some form of escort through the property, either by a member of Maxwell’s security team or another operative she’d approached herself before requesting their company.

Even then, after all the pains she went through to never be alone and never look available, Rowan still made his half-hearted but ceaseless attempts to rope her into a private conversation, just the two of them. Every time, she held him off just a little longer.

It was surprisingly easy to keep Rowan away and avoid him as much as possible. Far easier than trying to keep Maxwell off her back when he suspected she was up to something he wouldn’t like.

The difference, she realized, was that Rowan had always understood how Rebecca’s mind worked. Maxwell didn’t, and somehow, he’d been so much harder to avoid. The realization made her wonder for the first time whether she’d had some unconscious part in that.

Once she finished inspecting everything she could think of, signing off on new incoming supply shipments, and getting one more update from Maxwell’s team in the security room regarding any new activity that might require Shade’s intervention, Rebecca found herself back in her office.

Scouring the entire compound had only taken her a day and a half, and she’d exhausted all her options for staying busy a lot faster than she’d expected.

All but one option, anyway, which she’d saved for last. With good reason.

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