Page 148 of Elven Crown

Maxwell shut his mouth with an audible click before he and Rebecca both looked up to see Rowan strutting toward them from the back of the garage, his arms spread wide and that infuriating grin beaming in their direction.

How the hell had he gotten down here so quickly?

With a snarl, Maxwell glared at the Blackmoon Elf but muttered to Rebecca, “I noticed the two of you showed up together for the emergency briefing. Didhepull you from the infirmary?”

“Oh, for crying out loud.” Rowan threw his head back and laughed as he approached them. “Look at her. She’s fine.”

“That’s not what I asked. And I wasn’t speaking to you, elf.”

Before Rebecca could say a thing, the shifter took one surging step forward to meet Rowan head on, cutting him off from reaching Rebecca at the foot of the stairs. He loomed over the elf, releasing another low growl as they stood head-to-head once more, right in front of her.

“You don’t have the clearance to pull whoever you want out of Zida’s care,” Maxwell hissed.

“Yeah, okay.” Rowan widened his eyes and lifted both hands in concession, though the gleam in his hazel eyes betrayed his intentions, which were clearly anything but conceding to Shade’s Head of Security. “That’s fine by me. But I didn’t pull anyone out of anything. Might be time to pull your head out of your own ass, though.”

“Nothing but jokes from you.” Maxwell’s silver eyes flashed dangerously. “And youstillhaven’t shown an ounce of remorse for your stupidity. Which makes me wonder just how much of an accident that really was in the gym today.”

“So you’re gonna persecute me for something that’s clearly not even an issue?” Rowan said with a quick gesture toward Rebecca again. “’Cause I don’t see anything to be remorseful about.”

Rebecca fought the urge to roll her eyes, walk away, and leave these two to their own devices so they could figure their shit out on their own.

A few weeks ago, that would have been exactly what she did. But now she was the one in charge, the only person here who could do something about it…

The second she realized that, she stepped toward them and pulled out the authoritative voice she’d sworn she would never use on anyone again after the day she’d left home for good.

“Both of you need to get over yourselves. Whatever this is, it’s not our top priority. So you’re gonna put this down and leave it. The first one who picks it up again will answer to me. Any questions?”

Rowan’s snigger was the only response she expected from him before he spread his arms and dipped forward in a mocking bow. “None whatsoever,Your Highness.”

Of course he had to be a pompous ass about it. But at least he’d answered the question.

Maxwell had higher standards and snarled at the Blackmoon Elf’s response before visibly shoving his anger and indignation all the way back down again. Then he turned toward Rebecca to offer a stiff nod. “Understood, Thon-Da’al.”

“Good. Now let’s go get our people back. And Blackmoon, don’t even think about touching the machine gun in the field. We’ve had enough friendly fire for one night.”

It wasn’t a joke, but Rowan barked out a laugh anyway.

She ignored him and headed toward the armory on the other side of the garage, ready to get this show on the road and hoping her warning had been enough for Rowan and Maxwell. Because she did not want to follow through on her promise with either of them.

As soon as she left them, Rowan tried to take off after her, but Maxwell stepped in front of the elf to cut him off again with another low growl.

“Okay, okay,” Rowan said. “Message received, buddy.”

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder to see Rowan backing away from the shifter, his hands lifted again in surrender until he turned around to take a different route toward the armory. At least he’d backed down. For now.

This was not the kind of extra distraction Rebecca needed tonight. She couldn’t focus on this rescue mission if she also hadto keep tabs on the Blackmoon Elf and her Head of Security at the same time.

If they didn’t figure out how to pull their shit together on their own, she was bound to lose it on one or even both of them. That wouldn’t offer any permanent solutions, just temporary satisfaction.

She’d made it halfway across the garage when Maxwell caught up to her again and cleared his throat. “Blackmoon joining us on this is a bad idea.”

She shot him a sidelong look and grimaced. “I appreciate your opinion, but I’ve made my decision. We can use all the hands we can get. And if I hear another word about him before this is over, we’re gonna have some serious issues, you and me. Shade and its members, Hannigan. One and the same, right?”

His nostrils flared as he walked silently beside her, but then he finally murmured, “Right.”

“There you go. So every time you fight with him, you might as well be fighting yourself and vice versa. It’s gotta stop. I’d like to believe that of the two of you,you’rethe one who’s mature enough to lead by example and not let him bait you every time you’re in the same room.”

Admittedly, that might have been harsh, but she’d employed all the patience and self-control she had left. Her unexpected and unwilling conversation with Rowan in her room had left her on edge and testy, and the need for a rescue mission tonight to recover three of their own certainly hadn’t helped.

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