Page 199 of Elven Crown

She should never have let him stay.

She should have tossed him back out on his ass the moment she’d recognized his face in that holding room.

Someone would have tried to question her about that decision, probably, just like she’d been questioned about her decision to put Rowan through The Striving—when she’d been so certain she could make him fail. But just like then, she wouldn’t have had to provide an answer.

The Thon-Da’al didn’t have to explain herself to anyone.

That was one lesson Rebecca had learned in the last several days since Rowan’s official swearing-in. A lesson she wished she’d learned sooner.

By giving Rowan a chance in her efforts to hide the past connection between them, she’d made her own bed.

And it reeked of Blackmoon Elf and broken promises and the life to which she’d sworn she would never return.

Despite having separated herself from him, Rowan still wasn’t finished making what remained of tonight a living hell for her.

When she reached the top of the stairwell and made her way down the long, narrow corridor toward the common room, followed by Rowan, Maxwell, and Whit, the Blackmoon Elf raced up behind her again, as if she’d refused to hear his urgent news.

“We could get out of here at any second, Rebecca,” he whispered, leaning as close to her ear as possible while they moved through the hallways. “Tonight, even. No one would notice until we were already on our way home. Together.”

She was aware of the footsteps echoing behind them as Maxwell and Whit followed in the same direction. Those two were engaged in their own conversation in low tones, and she couldn’t pick out the words. But if they stopped talking and overheard anything Rowan said now—which was absolutely possible with a shifter’s hearing—it was all over for Rebecca.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she hissed, staring straight ahead. “Drop it.”

“You can act like you’ve already forgotten who you are,” he whispered, “but you can’t play make-believe in this place forever,Kilda’ari.”

“We’re done talking. You need to shut up.”

“Youneed to remember your duty,” Rowan pressed. “Your purpose. The promises you made before any vows you took here or anywhere else in this backwards human world. Don’t even try to tell me those are more important than your destiny.”

Gritting her teeth, Rebecca picked up the pace down the hall toward the sound of animated conversation spilling from the common room.

It made sense that the rescue team was still too riled up after their successful mission to head straight to bed. Plus, there were likely several other operatives who’d remained awake to hear all about it once the team returned.

She tried to focus on those voices, on the optimism in the words as tonight’s team shared everything they’d gone up against tonight and how they’d achieved their victory.

Rowan wouldn’t even take the cold shoulder for an answer.

“It’s time, Rebecca,” he whispered again, matching her faster pace with no added effort. “We can play around a little here and there, the way you’ve been playing with these magicals here, but therealbattles are back home. And you know it. Your real purpose, where you can do the most good, is in the Bloodshadow Court. It’s still waiting for you, even after all this time.I’mstill waiting for you.”

No matter how hard she fought it, how hard she’d been fighting it since the night Rowan had first appeared in her life again, hearing these things from him now stoked the burning embers of something old and buried inside her, deeply rooted to her very core.

Embers she’d truly believed had died out centuries ago, after all the pains she’d taken to smother them.

But Rowan was here now, bringing with him all the pieces of herself Rebecca had let no one see. The more he talked about their home, the more he tempted her with the possibility of return, the stronger the blood in her veins reacted to that call.

No matter how hard she tried to deny herself, no matter where she hid or how far she ran, Rebecca could never change the fact of who and what she was.

She was a Bloodshadow Elf and always would be. She was the heir prophesied to unite the Bloodshadow Court and the clans of Agn’a Tha’ros in their darkest hour.

She was everything her people needed to destroy their enemies.

And yet, in all the years she’d spent on Earth instead, Rebecca had come to understand she was also so much more than those things. Rowan might have been the only other magical on this planet with true knowledge of Rebecca’s past and the duty he kept trying to settle on her shoulders again, but he was also the only one incapable of seeing who and what she’d become inthisworld.

Right now, that was what kept her from giving in, from accepting his offer and letting him lead her right back into the endless war zone of her own life, no matter how worthy the cause for which she’d been created to fight.

The lively conversations rising from the common room grew louder by the second. Just when Rebecca caught a first glimpse of the operatives inside, still awake and wanting to be a part of the lingering excitement at this hour, she stopped at the entrance to the common room.

Rowan just kept pushing.

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