Page 10 of Elven Crown

Rebecca wondered if he would barrel into her and try to shove her aside so he could be the first through the door instead.

Or maybe he was sick of following the rules and had just been waiting for her to screw up so he could justify acting against her in a much more permanent way than he’d been willing to risk.

He wasn’t chasing her down through this hallway because he wanted to be up in her face, right?

That would have been ridiculous.

That was exactly what it felt like.

“In caseyou’veforgotten,” he added, leaning in so close, the heat radiated off his chest while his breath fluttered against Rebecca’s face as he spoke, “everythinghas changed since you completed The Striving.”

“Of course it’s changed,” she spat back. “It had to. It would have anyway, one way or the other.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Rebecca’s breath hitched in her throat as another surge of that tingling pull between them—like crackling electricity leaping from anode to cathode in a battery—intensified at his closeness. She could have sworn the sensation made her dizzy, though her vision never blurred as she stared up into those glowing eyes.

“You can’t honestly think I’m responsible for everything that’s happened since I showed up here,” she said.

The corner of Maxwell’s lips twitched, as if he were fighting back a bitter laugh.

Part of her wished hewouldlaugh, that he would exhibit anything but disdain and distrust whenever they had a real conversation.

“I’m not saying it’s all on you,” Maxwell replied slowly. “But I’m not saying you’ve had nothing to do with it, either.”

That darkness inside him wormed its way toward her, latching onto something Rebecca couldn’t name. Something she recognized anyway—an indescribableneed.

Was he seriously trying to blame this on her now?

In that moment, Rebecca would have takenallthe blame if it meant Maxwell Hannigan stopped trying to gift-wrap his own suspicion as half-assed attempts to take her seriously.

She might have done anything just to release herself from that all-consuming pull his presence had on her physical body.

Whether the same could be said of him was anyone’s guess.

But his eyes flashed again with a renewed challenge as he leaned in closer, his energy washing over her with a confusing mix of desire and demand, an offer and a threat, before he murmured, “Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

4

Rebecca’s pulse thundered in her ears, her gaze drifting—against her will—to the shifter’s lips. This conversation couldnotcontinue.

“We’re not talking about me right now,” she said, surprised by the levelness of her own voice. “AndI’mnot the one being questioned or put under the microscope. I’ve already been there. I’ve already paid my dues. The elf in that holding room will perform The Striving, and we will hold to the results of it, because that’s how Shade does things.”

Maxwell's oppressive presence overwhelmed her, his energy growing heavier and more cloying until she felt like she was suffocating.

If she were suffocating, she wouldn’t have secretly wanted the sensation to continue.

“I don’t like it,” Maxwell muttered.

“Good.” She couldn’t look away from those glowing silver eyes right in front of her and hated how breathless she sounded.

Clearing her throat, she turned slightly away from him. “Now we’re getting down to the root of your problem. You don’t have to like it, Hannigan. The Roth-Da’al’s already made her decision.”

Pulling rank on him like that, reminding him of her position and who was in charge, hadn’t been part of her plan. It wasn’t something she generally enjoyed doing, but the words had spilled out of her all the same.

Probably because she didn’t think she could keep it together much longer while they squared off like this in the hallway, pulled together by some unseen force while each of them fought viciously against their own impulses to hold it at bay.

For Rebecca, losing control meant either turning her anger and frustration against the shifter and hurting him, or giving in completely to that deeper, darker pull his presence evoked over her entire body.

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