Page 12 of Elven Crown

“Intel about something big brewing in the streets,” she prompted. “That’s what I was told.”

“Yeah, well, wethoughtit was. We’ve been keeping a finger on the pulse of things through the city. Always have been. Turns out tonight was more like a…false alarm, really.”

Beside her, Maxwell let out another heavy sigh that made Rick grimace again.

“Really?” Rebecca asked, ignoring the shifter. “What exactly constitutes a false alarm around here?”

“Just chatter over the systems. Speculation. Rumors, basically.” Rick plucked at the collar of his shirt and swallowed. “I’m not really sure how it got out to the rest of the compound. There just wasn’t anyone manning intel at the time to interrupt the alarms. We were…distracted. By the…unexpected visitor.”

The blackhorn’s gaze darted toward the only currently occupied holding room, where Rowan Blackmoon waited safe and secure behind its door. For now.

“Looks like the rumors got out of control,” he added. “Spread a little farther and faster than they would’ve if we’d been more focused on briefing everyone first. It wasn’t supposed to blow up like that. As of right now, there’s nothing out there right now. Not that needs our attention, anyway. But we’re keeping an eye on it.”

“Good.” Rebecca nodded, then took off in the opposite direction so she could finally get out of the stockade’s hallway and go somewhere else.

Anywhere else at this point would be preferable.

“Let me know if the team picks up anything thatisworth our time,” she added, turning back to point at Rick as she reached the final door at the end of the hall. “Oh, and go ahead and make another announcement while you’re at it. We hold The Striving tomorrow at twenty-two hundred hours. That should give everybody something else to focus on.”

Rick’s face lit up like she’d just given him the perfect gift. His rare grin exposed yellowing fangs before he seemed to remember Maxwell was still watching him. Then the smile disappeared. “Twenty-two hundred. You got it, boss.”

Rebecca hauled open the door and stepped into the next narrow hallway separating the stockade from the primary armory at the rear of Shade’s underground parking garage.She’d just given her first official orders to the entire task force, and it still didn’t quite feel real.

Whatdidfeel real was that she’d finally kept everyone else busy while she took some time for herself to decompress. It had already been one hell of a night, evenbeforecoming home to find Rowan in Shade’s custody.

But when the sound of the door clicking shut behind her never came, Rebecca’s short-lived relief disappeared again.

Maxwell’s quickening footsteps echoed behind her.

Did he not know when to give up?

She fought off the urge to turn around and shove him back through the door before racing across the garage just to get away from him.

“Are you sure this is the route you wanna take?” he grumbled, gaining on her from behind.

She didn’t stop or slow down. Not even when he caught up with her enough that the sensation of his presence left a tingling ripple across her back and the tops of her shoulders.

It felt like he was breathing down her neck.

“I’ve already made up my mind.” Rebecca glued her gaze to the bottom of the stairwell out of the garage, refusing to give him more of her attention than a brusque response. “It’s happening. Until then, I want two guards stationed on that holding room until The Striving tomorrow night. Armed, obviously.”

“Already done.”

That made her stop, which gave Maxwell the opportunity to catch up with her so all she had to do was turn her head to meet his gaze.

Dammit, why did she let herself react? She was tryingnotto look at him.

Three seconds of staring at him brought a smirk twitching across her lips.

He’d already stationed guards on Rowan. Well at least her Head of Security knew how to do his job without having to involve her in every little detail.

“Good.” With nothing better to say, it still felt wildly insufficient.

Maxwell’s frown deepened, his brow flickering in a way that made him look abnormally confused before he decided to speak his mind again. “Can you really make this a true test for him? Because if it’s going to prove his worth in any way that matters, it has to be difficult.”

“It will be.” Without thinking, Rebecca set a hand on his shoulder, meaning it only as a reassuring gesture because he looked so damn concerned now that he’d gotten over questioning her decision.

The tingling rush of energy flaring between them at the contact almost felt like a physical burn—like setting her hand down on a hot stove only to realize that stove’s heat didn’t actually burn her but beckoned her closer.

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