Page 88 of Elven Crown

Surprised to hear Rebecca supporting the rules at all.

“You’vegotto be joking,” Rowan muttered.

“Nope.” Rebecca deepened her frown, hoping he would finally take the hint and leave her alone. “You might think this whole thing is one big joke, but I can promise you I take it all very seriously. Including official meetings I take with any members of this task force.”

The elf’s mouth popped open as he looked back and forth between Rebecca and Maxwell. Then he spread his arms wide and took an exaggerated step backward. “How in the Blue Hells do I get this to happen?”

“Come to me tomorrow,” Maxwell said matter-of-factly, “and submit a request for an appointment.”

“Comeon… I still have to make an appointment with her?”

“You’re making it withme,” the shifter corrected. “To speak with her.”

Maxwell’s deadpan response almost made Rebecca laugh. Or maybe it was the combination of standing beside her Head of Security, whose fondness for the rules and following protocol had previously annoyed her to no end but now played perhaps the largest supporting role in keeping Rowan at bay.

Watching the bafflement and disbelief morphing on her old friend’s expression was satisfying enough.

When Rowan met her gaze again, she vividly imagined what he would have said if they’d been alone:“How much longer are you going to keep this up? This is ridiculous.”

If he hadn’t yet realized that, when it came to Shade’s Thon-Da’al and standard protocol, Maxwell Hannigan was an unyielding force to be reckoned with, he certainly knew it now.

Of course he wanted her to cave, to tell Maxwell he was taking his job way too seriously and that she had no problem making special exceptions for an elf-to-elf chat. Rowan expected her to do just that, because once upon a time, she would have.

Not anymore. Not as Rebecca Knox, Commander of Shade. Not with her Head of Security standing at her side.

Not with so much on the line, even now.

“None of this is new, Blackmoon,” she continued. “I’ve told you from the beginning this is how things work and there’s no getting around it. Once you start playing by the rules, things will be a lot easier for you, I promise.”

She meant every word, despite holding her ground to also protect her secrets. That didn’t change how new and strange andrightit felt to take Maxwell’s side in this, supporting his adherence to strict task-force rules.

If she’d had this conversation with anyone but Rowan, she might have considered asking Maxwell to lighten up a little, butthese were extenuating circumstances that brought a new shift in the air between Rebecca and her Head of Security.

Maxwell straightened with a subtle lift of his chin as he rolled his shoulders back. The air crackled fiercely with the tension of this unspoken thing between them—competition, or rivalry, or suspicion, or whatever they wanted to call it—and added to the already inherent tension of Rowan’s presence.

If Rebecca had looked directly at her Head of Security, she imagined she would have found mostly pride in his expression. That was also new. The precarious agreement she and Maxwell had was quickly changing, that much was clear.

Especially now that they made such an effective team standing against Rowan’s charm, which historically disarmed damn near everyone enough to give him what he wanted.

Rowan huffed out a bitter laugh, still looking highly amused by the whole thing. When he spoke, however, Rebecca noted the extra acidity in his voice and the way his eyes now gleamed like they used to whenever he was planning a new mode of attack. “Well I just stepped into a whole new world. However unexpected. I guess it’s only fair that I follow the rules. For now.”

Those words brought a tight knot of concern twisting in Rebecca’s gut. She knew Rowan wasn’t finished. He was all talk right now, saying what he thought she and Maxwell wanted to hear while plotting his next steps in breaking even more rules.

In breaking her down.

She’d seen it before, and she was only further convinced of it when Rowan folded his arms, fixed Maxwell with a pert look, and kept talking.

“So where do I need to find you tomorrow to put in my request?”

Maxwell’s reply was quick and succinct, but Rebecca didn’t even register what he was saying.

Rowan’s hands distracted her.

They were much easier to see now, with his arms folded in front of him, when he signed to her in small, covert hand signals only a handful of elven clans understood.

“You can’t get rid of me so easily. This isn’t over. Wewilldiscuss what I came here to discuss.”

Dammit.

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