Page 197 of Elven Crown

“Sure. You just ignore it. I pulled that damn stake out of your guts and patched you up while you went drifting off to who knows where, and then I told you twenty-four hours.”

Rebecca had to be especially delicate with this one. The healer had already put together too many pieces on her own to know Shade’s commander Rebecca Knox was far more than what she seemed.

With a sigh, Rebecca figured a bit of flattery couldn’t hurt. “And whatever potion you gave me helped a lot. I’ve already told you I’m a fast healer.”

“Uh-huh.” Zida finally looked Rebecca in the eye and raised the wrinkled ridges above her eyes where eyebrows should havebeen. “When are we gonna talk about what youhaven’ttold me?”

Shit.

Would the old woman start blackmailing Rebecca into revealing her secrets too?

That didn’t seem like something the healer would spend her energy on, but tonight, she looked pissed enough to warrant a few uncharacteristic actions.

Rebecca did not need someone else trying to pry into her old life and all the things she didn’t want to share with anyone.

Before she could settle on an appropriate response that didn’t make things worse, Rowan approached them casually, his self-satisfied smirk returned to its full, aggravating glory.

“I’d say congratulations are in order, wouldn’t you?” he said, stopping in front of them. “Tous,of course. Successful rescue and all that.”

Blue Hells. He didnotknow how to read the room.

Either that, or he was deliberately stirring up shit, and they’d only just gotten back.

With a scoff, Zida looked him up and down. “I ain’t givin’ you shit, elf. As far as I’ve seen, the only thing you’ve done is act like you’re running the place, and I can promise you, Command By Proxy just because you’re an elf too doesn’t fly in this place.”

Rowan replaced his smirk with a confused smile, which, in Rebecca’s experience, most people seemed to think was genuine. She knew it wasn’t.

“Believe me, Healer,” he said, “I hold your unique skill sets in the utmost respect. If I’ve done anything to offend you—”

“Cut the bullshit,” Zida hissed. “Little birdie told me you stole our Thon-Da’al right out of her recovery bed before the two of you went running off together to play hero with everyone else. Nothing I could’ve done to stop you, but believe me, I’m keeping my eyes on you.”

A little birdie, huh? Maxwell had accused Rowan of the very same thing, right after informing the entire task force of their captured operatives. Unless literally everyone else in Shade also suspected Rowan of pulling their Thon-Da’al out of the infirmary without authorization, Rebecca knew exactly who that little birdie was.

The thought of Maxwell and Zida talking about Rebecca behind her back, or even teaming up to discover their Thon-Da’al’s secrets and comparing notes, was a dangerous possibility.

Rowan’s laughter echoed across the garage as he offered the healer a low bow overflowing with mockery. “What a flattering thought to be under your constant watchful gaze, Healer.”

“Oh, and flattery’syourrefined deception, huh?” she snapped back. “Anything else coming out of your mouth, I’m not buying. You stay out of my way, I’ll stay out of yours.”

“Perfectly acceptable,” Rowan said. “Though you might want to take a second look at the source of your information. I haven’t stepped foot once inside your infirmary. Maybe you just don’t know everything about how your patients recover—”

“Blackmoon,” Rebecca interjected, trying to maintain the detached authority in her voice so it wouldn’t sound like she was panicking.

Was he seriously trying to plant even more seeds of suspicion against her? And with thehealer, of all people?

Zida had been her ally through the homunculus poisoning, but Rebecca knew only too well that once someone thought they were being lied to, their unconditional support, without asking too many questions, didn’t tend to last very long.

Rowan settled his hazel gaze on her and raised his eyebrows, his smile growing again.

“A word,” she said, nodding across the garage before stepping away from Zida. “Now.”

A soft, airy chuckle escaped him. “But of course.”

He offered Zida another mocking bow before following Rebecca far enough that she figured they wouldn’t be overheard.

Not too much, anyway, though something told her both Maxwell and Zida could hear just about anything within the acoustics of the garage, so she’d have to be careful with this too.

Even when she jerked Rowan to a stop beside her, he was still laughing.

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