Page 112 of Elven Crown

She kept her gaze fixed firmly on the giant coffee carafe on Bor’s refreshments table and let that drive her forward while she forced herself not to look at Rowan’s table. As she fixed herself her normal cup of joe, finally alone for now, she got a better read on the room and at first couldn’t figure out why it felt so odd.

The task force had gathered here far earlier than usual. Bor had already opened his service window into the kitchen as well, whether to prepare for or response to an unexpected turnout this early.

As Rebecca took her first gloriously hot, overly sugared sip and gauged the room, the old giveldi’s head popped up in the service window beside her before he grumbled, “I won’t say good morning when it feels like it ain’t.”

Rebecca lifted her Styrofoam cup toward him in greeting, curious about the aimless, listless mood hanging in the air despite the common room being filled nearly to capacity. “What’s going on in here?”

“I just cook the food,” Bor grumbled. “But if I had to take a wild guess, I’d say what we’ve got here is a whole lot of go get ‘em and nothin’ to go get.”

When she looked questioningly at him, Bor shrugged, his gaze fixed on the stainless-steel counter in front of him, which he used to help him look busy by wiping it down with a rag. A dry rag. “But what do I know? I’m just the cook.”

Nothing to go get, huh?

It made sense. Shade had just celebrated a massive win last night, and apparently, that boost in morale had gotten everyone out of bed and ready to go first thing in the morning. But it wasn’t like she had scores of missions just screaming to be completed so she could keep everyone busy.

“Weird vibe,” Rowan said directly beside her.

Rebecca almost spilled her coffee all over herself before covering it up.

Dammit, hehadto stop sneaking up on her like that.

Not as much as he needed to stop ignoring what she’d thought she’d already made perfectly clear here—that Rebecca Knox and Rowan Blackmoon werenotfriends.

“It’s a work in progress,” she muttered before taking another burbling sip of piping-hot coffee. “We’ve been going through a bit of transition.”

“You know, I was starting to pick up on that.” Rowan sidled closer, scanning the room before he leaned in and murmured, “Listen, whatever’s going on in here, that’s their business, I guess. But I still really need to talk to you.”

“Did you make your appointment yet?” The question just tumbled out of her mouth without forethought, but she definitely appreciated the scowl it produced from him, which she could now feel centering on the side of her face.

“Cut the formal shit. That doesn’t apply to me.”

He still didn’t think she was serious about any of this.

With almost the entire task force crowded into the common room now, as if this were a normal part of daily wake-up call, it would be impossible for Rebecca and Rowan to have any kind of meaningful conversation. Which was how she preferred it, especially when it meant she had to keep acting like she didn’t know him.

“It applies toeveryone, Blackmoon,” she said without looking at him. “The rules exist for a reason. Trust me, you don’t wannaknow what happens when those rules get fucked with. Just make an appointment, and then we’ll talk.”

A startled laugh escaped him as Rowan gaped at the side of her face. “Holy shit. You’rereallyenjoying all this, aren’t you?”

With a shrug, she lifted her cup to her lips again and murmured, “No point in doing anything if you can’t get a little enjoyment out of it.”

The second she said it, she realized too late where that little saying had come from.

She’d just pulled the words right out of her dream—Rowan’s words—and tossed them back at him this morning. Whether he remembered exactly where the sentiment had come from, she couldn’t tell, but he recognized enough of it.

“Huh.” He kept staring at her. “Isn’t that the truth? You sure I can’t get you to change your mind?”

“Unlikely.” She still wouldn’t look directly at him. She couldn’t. Not here in front of everyone, where any preferential treatment toward the Blackmoon Elf or any sense of familiarity wouldn’t go unnoticed.

But she did feel something in him soften while he stood beside her at the refreshment table.

Then, with a low bow bordering on the stiflingly formal, Rowan backed away from her and murmured, “As you wish, Thon-Da’al.”

He was making fun of her, she knew. But maybe he was also finally getting it through his thick head that things were different now. Thatshewas different. That too much time had passed and too many things had changed for Rebecca to just jump right back into their friendship the way they’d left things.

Actually, almost anything was better than the way they’d left things all that time ago, and she had no interest in revisiting them anytime soon. Or ever.

Getting Rowan to back off and leave her alone had just been outrageously easy. Hopefully, that didn’t mean he had something rash and infuriating up his sleeve for later. Knowing him, that was probably what he was planning.

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