Page 51 of Elven Crown

So had Maxwell.

When he looked at her again and truly saw her standing in front of him, his slack expression made her think she might have hurt him with that hand on his chest.

She would have expected the look he gave her now if she’d slapped him across the face, but she hadn’t gone that far. This was something else entirely.

Then she realized they were both breathing heavily, as ifthey’dbeen fighting each other instead of Maxwell and Rowan only hinting at it. This was too much.

How had a single hand on his chest unraveled him like this?

She dipped her head toward him, hoping she’d called him back from whatever shifter blood rage he’d obviously just entered, and asked again, “Agreed?”

He reeled away from her with another sharp breath, his gaze darting all over the hallway and into the secondary armory, where the other operatives still crowded around the open door to watch. The shifter looked lost, as if he had no idea how he’d gotten here or what he was supposed to be doing.

Then he cleared his throat, and when he offered a curt nod, it looked more like shame than going through the motions of his duties.

“Yes, Thon-Da’al,” he croaked. “Agreed.”

Whatever had just happened, it had seriously thrown him off his game.

Rebecca had to file that away for later as another possible avenue to investigate. Trying to figure it out now would only be one more distraction from the larger, far more pressing issue.

When Rowan sniggered behind her, she spun around and pointed at him. “Youneed to keep your mouth shut. You’re not making things better for yourself. The next time I seeanythingbetween the two of you I don’t like the looks of, you’re both taking a time out. How does that sound?”

Rowan’s self-satisfied smirk disappeared. For the first time since he’d shown up in her life out of nowhere, Rebecca now found herself the target of his glare. “You seriously think you can do that?”

By the Blood, she wanted to throw him through the fucking wall just to shut him up.

“Yeah. Icando that,” she snapped. “I’m the fucking boss. Deal with it.”

Whether because of her growing anger or simply that they’d run out of steam, both Rowan and Maxwell finally stood down. Their offensive postures didn’t change, nor did they concede anything verbally, but the palpable tension storming around them eased enough to feel a measurable difference.

Not that they’d been taught the kind of lesson they needed, but Rebecca was doing her best. She had to focus on her responsibility as commander, even though she’d taken it on as willingly being the only mature adult capable of holding her frustration in check at the moment.

So she turned toward Maxwell again and steered their interrupted conversation back on track. “Eduardo’s cargo. This is time-sensitive?”

“Very.”

“Okay.” She turned back toward the secondary armory’s open door. As soon as she looked their way, the magicals watching the unfolding drama in the doorway jolted into action, bumping against each other and scratching their heads, clearing throats, avoiding their commander’s gaze.

The unknown of forcing Maxwell and Rowan together in close quarters would have mesmerized anyone. Rebecca could forgive them that and decided not to call anyone out right now.

In comparison, the spectators hadn’t done anything wrong here.

“This is convenient for us. Diego, Leonard, Nyx, and Titus.” She gestured toward them, then looked back at Maxwell. “They all know exactly what we’re up against with Edwardo’s griybreki.”

“That’s everyone,” he replied with a nod.

“Titus?” Rebecca almost laughed with the big guy’s eyes bulged in his head like he’d just been caught stealing from her. “Think you’re ready to get back in the field?”

“With you, Knox?” The giant vuulbor’s voice boomed like crumbling boulders as he loomed over the other magicals crammed around the open doorway. He flexed an enormous bicep, his stone-gray skin rippling across muscle while the new scars from his run-in with Edwardo’s protective wards a weekago had left their mark in darker slate-gray striations. “I feel pretty fucking good. Yeah.”

Diego elbowed him in the side, though the Cruorcian was much shorter, so his elbow cracked against Titus’s hip instead of his ribcage before he hissed, “Don’t be an idiot about it.”

“Oh. Right.” Titus looked up at Rebecca again and nodded, raising his voice to declare, “You’re fuckingrightI’m ready, boss!”

Diego glared at him with a brief flash of crimson light flaring behind his eyes.

Nyx clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle before her violet eyes widened in self-conscious horror.

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