Page 80 of Elven Throne

“To be that much farther from you should a new threat arise in the process?” he muttered behind her. “I don’t think so.”

“Do I have to make it an order? Because if that woman in the lobby has any friends, she’ll be telling them all about the man she couldn’t stop staring at who just stood there and growled like some kinda animal.”

Dammit, did this key even go with this room?

“Humans pose no significant threat,” Maxwell rumbled. “Including her.”

“Except for the fact that they talk way more about weird things they see and can’t explain.” Rebecca grunted when the sticky key finally turned in the lock with a grinding pop, and she yanked it back out again.

“So until we know where we’re going next,” she said, turning the doorknob, “it’s safer that neither of us stands out to anyone. Wherever we are.”

Though she would have bet none of the humans who’d noticed Maxwell could have recalled or described anything about the woman with him. If they’d even noticed her at all.

The door squealed loudly when she shoved it open.

“Are you expecting many more necessary human interactions?” Maxwell asked.

“Not at the moment.” She stooped to pick up the duffel bag at her feet. “Never thought you and I would be checking into a motel room together, either, so there’s that…”

She hauled the bag strap over her shoulder and headed for the open door, but Maxwell stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and another growl.

“Let me clear it first.” He didn’t wait for permission or any response at all before slipping past her into the room, immediately inspecting every dark corner, dresser drawer, and inside the small attached bathroom.

Rolling her eyes, Rebecca counted to five, then walked into the room and swung the door shut behind her with a louder bang than she’d intended.

At the sound, Maxwell burst back through the open bathroom door, scowling. “I said I would clear it first.”

“It’s a human motel, Hannigan.” She tossed the duffel bag on the floor. “What kinda traps could possibly be waiting for us? Look. We’ve got a tiny bathroom. A dresser that’s about to fall apart. A seriously outdated TV that wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t even turn on. And…”

She paused. “One bed.”

That last observation hung in the air between them for a few seconds, then Maxwell cleared his throat and slowly emerged from the bathroom. “We cannot be too careful.”

Realizing she’d been staring at that one queen-sized bed, for which she’d paid a whole fifty bucks, Rebecca blinked quickly and swallowed, “Or, in a place like this, we could just call it overkill. You hungry?”

“Not particularly.”

“We should still eat something.” Turning away from the bed, she scanned the room and suddenly realized this was the first time she and the shifter had stood together in any kind of bedroom. Or at least any room where a bed was present.

She didn’t want to think about that anymore.

“Food’s out in the car,” she said. “I’ll be right—”

Maxwell shot past her in a flurry of clomping footsteps, reached the door first, and opened it. “I’ll get it. You stay here.”

Then the door closed behind him, and Rebecca was left there to wait.

She wasn’t quite sure why he seemed so on edge in every human-run place they’d visited around the city today, but it seemed best to let him play out his Head-of-Security bodyguard duties anyway.

Besides, something told her that until Rowan showed up and they finally headed off for that prophecy, things would remain tense, on edge, and slightly awkward, no matter where they were.

She turned slowly, and her gaze fell on the queen-sized bed made up quickly and sloppily, the bedspread wrinkled, and wondered if she should have specifically requested a room withtwo.

RebeccawatchedMaxwelleathis first, second, and third piece of pizza with a scowl ever-present on his face, nostrils flaring the whole time. Only when he reached for his fourth from the box did she break the silence.

“Is there something wrong with the food that I haven’t picked up on yet?” she asked, glancing at the half-eaten slice in her own hand.

Maxwell shot her a quick look and murmured, “Not particularly.”

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