Page 109 of Elven Lies

Rebecca couldn’t tell if he reached for her hand first, or if she reached for his, but the shocking jolt of this still unknown connection between them flared to an almost painful intensity as their fingers connected and intertwined.

By the Blood, at this point, nothing else fucking mattered.

Nothing else existed. Rebecca was content to leave it at that and stay in this moment for an eternity, just like this.

But of course, it didn’t work that way.

She started when another weight settled on her shoulder, gentle and hesitant but real and impossible to ignore.

Then Rowan’s lips were at her ear. “I need to talk to you. Just for a moment, Rebecca. Please.”

She recognized her own wildly disproportionate flair of irritation and anger after the Blackmoon Elf’s simple request, but knowing it didn’t change the severity of her reaction.

After all this, after everything he’d done to screw up their operation tonight in true Rowan fashion, after almost getting Maxwellkilled, he now had the balls to ask her for a private chatnow? Seriously?

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Of course this was how Rowan wanted to handle things after all his recklessness. After endangering her entire team in this last-minute op. After that fucking car chase that had almost killed Maxwell.

Any normal person would have felt the weight of their own actions and given it a goddamn rest until the right time revealed itself. Or at least a less-shitty moment.

But of course Rowan Blackmoon would try yet again to distract her from her role within Shade and her responsibilities. Of course he’d try to make this all about him and whathewanted.

The realization made her so furious, Rebecca froze for fear that if she responded right away, she’d end up killinghim.

“Rebecca?”

“Not now, Blackmoon,” she grumbled through gritted teeth. “I appreciate your help. Now I need you to go offer it to someone else who needs it.”

At first, she thought he’d left. But then Rowan’s presence reappeared on her right as he got down on one knee beside her.

“I know this was a lot,” he said, “but this is really important,Kilda’ari. I need you to—”

“I said not now!” She lashed out with both hands to shove him away.

She just wasn’t in full control of her emotions again, or her magic.

So when she shoved him, an unintended burst of blazing silver and black light erupted at the contact and sent him flying away from her across the dirt.

Shit. That wasn’t what she wanted, either.

Against her better judgment—dictated in the moment by anger and frustration and how terrified she’d been for Maxwell, all thanks to Rowan’s selfish recklessness—Rebecca spun around on the dirt to face him. “Blackmoon…”

His expression stopped her cold when she saw it. The deep hurt in his eyes beneath the surprise of sudden realization. The kind of look she hadn’t yet seen on him since he’d first appeared in Chicago.

A look that told her he was finally starting to put together all the pieces, after she’d spent so long trying to show him the truth of what she already believed was perfectly obvious.

Was she truly going to apologize for that? Why should she?Rowanhadn’t apologized for any of his knee-jerk reactions. Not genuinely.

As they stared at each other, Rowan pushed himself to his feet and didn’t bother dusting off his hands or his clothes. He held her gaze all the while, as if looking away would only give her that much more power over him.

As if it would let her right into his most private thoughts.

He swallowed thickly, his pained frown deepening even further. Then he shot a quick glance toward the shifter lying in the dirt beside her.

“Now I see,” he said as he took two slow, hesitant steps backward away from her. “All this time… I had it all wrong.”

Beside her, Maxwell sucked in a sharp breath.

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