13. Chapter 13

13

R ebecca’s stomach twisted as she realized the full weight of what she’d just done. She’d played her hand too soon and all at once, too swept up by the chaos and too irritated by Maxwell’s self-righteous claims .

Now, every eye in the room was on her, expecting her to take this charge—a charge she had no intention of taking.

There was no way out of this. No backtracking. No running and hiding and waiting for the whole thing to blow over before she reemerged to navigate the aftermath, no matter how badly she wanted it.

Maxwell Hannigan just had to open his mouth, hadn’t he?

Because of him, Rebecca hadn’t been able to keep hers shut.

If they’d been alone, she would’ve given him more than a piece of her mind. But that would be a little difficult with the entire secret meeting staring at her in mute shock mixed with a misplaced pride in Shade’s one and only elf.

She could practically see it in all their faces.

They thought she was the one who would overturn Aldous’s reign of disaster. That she'd do it for them.

No way in hell.

Rebecca met a few gazes around the circle—Leonard’s wide eyes over his gaping mouth; Diego’s narrowed crimson orbs; Nyx’s glowing violet gaze pulsing with a flutter of excitement just like her eyelashes.

She couldn’t look at anyone else.

Good thing she didn’t have to break the silence, either.

Someone toward the back of the circular meeting hiccupped.

Then Leonard cleared his throat and stepped toward Rebecca. His hesitant smile made him look like he’d just stepped on a nail and didn’t want anyone to suspect he might be bleeding. “That’s, uh…certainly one way to get to the finish line.”

Diego snorted and folded his arms. “Talk about permanent solutions… ”

“Don’t.” Rebecca raised an eyebrow at the Cruorcian, trying to ignore the feeling of dozens of gazes all prickling along her skin like tiny needles.

Leonard stuck a thumb over his shoulder at the blood mage in the baseball cap. “He’s not wrong, though.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she muttered.

Maxwell might have tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a hiss. The guy couldn’t even pretend to smile correctly. “You meant it exactly like that.”

Leonard spread his arms and spun in a slow circle at the center of the gathering, the bottom edge of his leather trench coat swirling around him as he stopped facing Rebecca head-on again. “Well the stage is yours, Knox. So to speak.”

“And I said I don’t want it,” she replied dully. “How many different ways do I have to say it?”

“You could just say yes…” The mage wiggled his eyebrows at her, as if that made all his ideas impossible to resist.

Maybe that shit worked on someone like Nyx, but Rebecca just wanted to get the hell out of here now.

“No,” she replied firmly, folding her arms.

“Why the hell not?”

Goddamn, this was like pulling magical teeth.

So Rebecca attempted to explain her hands-off approach as if she were speaking to the child actually getting their teeth pulled, counting off each item on her fingers.

“Let’s see… First, there are security cameras posted throughout over half the compound. Aldous doesn’t go anywhere there isn’t a camera on him at all times.”

The others glanced at Maxwell for confirmation. The shifter narrowed his eyes and shrugged.

“Then there’s the fact that anyone who takes responsibility for murdering Shade’s commander, even in a coup, would be serving themselves up on a silver platter. He’s a moron, yeah, but he’s a moron with friends. Which makes him almost untouchable.”

“Unless we served them up that silver platter ourselves,” Maxwell grumbled. “Show of good faith, maybe?”

She gestured toward him with a wave of her hand. “And there’s reason number three right there. I’m not suicidal.”

Diego snapped his fingers and pointed at her, his lips curling into a devious grin. “You’re perfect.”

“What?”

“Secret weapon in the back pocket. ”

Leonard turned toward him with wide eyes, his hair flopping against his head as he nodded. “I like it.”

“Hold on a second.” She reached toward them, distracted from the actual conversation by so many rebel gazes still watching her, like this whole thing was happening on a stage and no one had told her she’d gotten up with the other actors to play the role of herself. “Where did ‘secret weapon’ come into this? I didn’t agree to any—”

“You don’t have to, elf. We got everything we need now. You just let us take care of the rest.” Diego stepped back and spread his arms to address the rest of the meeting. “Show’s over! Everybody get the hell out.”

The library burst to life again with a flurry of movement, muttered voices, whispered conversations, and a few despondent groans.

“You know the drill, people!” Leonard shouted. “It’s happening. Just try not to fuck it up this time, all right?”

This time? What the hell was he talking about?

Rebecca watched the surge of activity as the other magicals moved around the library, disbursing from their meeting as if something had actually been accomplished.

If it had, she’d missed it completely.

“Leonard,” she called over the growing noise. “Hey!”

He spun away from Diego to face her and grinned. “Hold that thought, Knox.”

The fuck?

Still standing against the bookshelf, she tried to pick up pieces of the conversation around her, but even that was impossible to read. Mostly because everyone was following Diego’s orders now, leaving the library en masse.

Just not through the door.

A few outlying operatives cast quick, remedial transportation spells that erased them from the air with flashes of light to transport them somewhere else within the compound. Most of the others simply walked together toward other areas of the library, talking with their neighbors or frowning in contemplation, not watching where they were going because they didn’t have to.

Where they would have walked right into the solid library walls, they stepped completely through them instead. Hair and shoes and a wayward tail flickered within the ripples of light spreading away from the exit sites only to wink out behind them seconds later.

Then the walls looked like normal walls again.

Six months Rebecca had spent with Shade, living and working out of this very compound, and this was entirely new.

How the hell had she not known this was a thing ?

Even more concerning was the one question she really needed someone to answer right now: What exactly had the rest of Shade’s little in-house rebellion all agreed upon in front of her without explaining any of it to her?

What did they think she’d agreed to?

No one approached her for further discussion. No one so much as looked at her as they all went back to their regular routines, disappearing through the ripples of light in the library walls.

Except Maxwell.

Shade’s Head of Security stared her down, his silver eyes pulsing softly with a shifter’s internal light.

Was that supposed to be some kind of warning?

She would have laughed at the thought if she wasn’t so pissed about otherwise being left in the dark regarding…everything.

With the library quickly clearing out, Rebecca easily found Leonard and Diego again, their heads bent low toward each other as they engaged in fervent, animated conversation, taking great pains to keep their voices low and impossible to overhear.

Okay, now this was just getting annoying.

Leonard jerked on both lapels of his leather trench coat as they spoke, and Diego gestured wildly as he articulated his own thoughts. Several remaining members nervously eyed his bandaged hands and shied away from them on their way out, just in case.

She had to talk to them now, before the insanity of…whatever this had turned into got any more out of control. Before Rebecca ended up taking on some role within someone else’s plan that put her too much in the spotlight. Exactly where she didn’t want to be.

A part of her kept screaming that it was already too late for that, even when zero plans had been cemented during this secret meeting she’d been sure was the tipping point for all of Shade’s disgruntled operatives.

Clearly, she’d underestimated what these magicals could do and how far they were willing to go. She just still didn’t have a beat on those details.

That, more than anything else, made her especially uneasy.

Since the day she’d joined Shade’s ranks, Rebecca had had a clear working knowledge of the way this organization was supposed to run and how perfectly fitting herself into the mold of one of its members would help her hide in this world.

Shade was supposed to have been a done deal. An easy mark. A perfect disguise for hiding in plain sight, without rocking the boat or tipping the magical bucket.

It was supposed to keep her safe .

Now, the work she’d put into passing the task force’s initiation six months ago—all while holding back to keep her most powerful skills and abilities hidden from everyone—had just become the exact trap she’d spent decades avoiding at all costs.

Her membership and her sworn oath to Shade bound her to this organization and its members. They made it impossible to escape.

She’d just have to grin and bear it until Aldous was taken out of the picture and Shade put someone else in the driver’s seat.

That didn’t mean she would take this quietly and lying down. She had to say something.

After waiting for the perfect moment to insert herself into Leonard and Diego’s private conversation, Rebecca finally found her opening.

She stepped forward, gaze intently focused on the lapels of the mage’s leather trench coat.

Before she’d gotten halfway there, Maxwell stepped into her path to cut her off. Like the guy made it a priority now to keep showing up out of nowhere.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked, his voice low and menacing.

Rebecca stopped short, looked up at those darkly glowing silver eyes, and sighed. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“I could ask you the same thing. Yesterday, you were disobeying orders to destroy target acquisitions, and today, you’re inciting rebellion in a library—”

“Hey, slow down.” She took a step back and folded her arms. “I’m not inciting anything.”

One of his dark eyebrows lifted, and even through his deepening perpetual scowl, he somehow managed to purse his lips too. “‘Slit his throat in his sleep.’ Really?”

“That was…” She leaned sideways to peer past his shoulder. Leonard and Diego were still deep in their conversation, unfortunately. “…off the cuff, okay? I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Sounded like you meant a whole lot. Maybe even all of it. I find that…concerning.”

Rebecca scoffed. “Jesus, Max, I’m not actually gonna do it. Relax.”

When his eyes flickered with another barely hidden flash of silver and his scowl deepened—and was that a bit of a flare in his nostrils?—she realized exactly what she’d done.

The shifter really did hate having his name shortened, didn’t he? Nicknames of any kind, probably. Well then, she’d just have to use it every chance she got, and maybe he’d get so sick of it that he finally left her alone.

It was the only viable weapon in her arsenal she could use against him for the foreseeable future. Anything else would only expose her far too much .

With another glance behind him at Leonard and Diego, Rebecca cleared her throat. “All right, you’ve cleared your conscience. I promise I won’t murder your favorite boss. Have a good one.”

She tried to step around him, but Maxwell cut her off again and didn’t look like he was giving up anytime soon.

Great.

Rebecca rolled her eyes, fighting back the burning urge to throw the shifter into the closest bookshelf just to get him off her back, and snapped, “Was there something else?”

“There’s a lot,” Maxwell growled. “Most of it boils down to the fact that I don’t trust you.”

“Yeah, you made that perfectly clear in front of everyone, like, five minutes ago. Thanks.” She moved to step around him in the opposite direction this time, centering her gaze on Leonard and Diego. “I’ll start taking notes—”

“I’m not finished.” He blocked her path with a deliberate step closer, crowding her space. His eyes bored into hers, silver light flaring with restrained intensity. His snort brushed across her skin with a warmth that almost made her shudder.

She wanted him to hate him for that.

Rebecca almost growled back at him as she darted another quick look at the mage and the Cruorcian she just couldn’t reach. Leonard and Diego looked like they were wrapping up the conversation, and she was running out of time to get their attention.

“You might have everyone else in this organization eating from your hand,” Maxwell continued, hovering in her face like a brewing storm cloud, “but I don’t believe a single word spilling out of your mouth. You’re too slippery.”

Apparently not, because she couldn’t even slip past him to get to Leonard.

“Listen,” she said hastily, “now’s really not the time for a character assessment, okay? You like reports, though, yeah? Why don’t you write one up for me and send it to my boss?”

“I’m watching you.” Maxwell stepped even closer, which hadn’t seemed possible until he did it. Now, the corner of his upper lip twitched in disdain as he studied her face. “You might’ve slid by with a slap on the wrist after our last mission…"

She snorted. “You’re really stuck on that one, aren’t you?”

“…but they should never have let you stay in this room today.”

That made her stop.

They ? As in a decision-making body of leadership that didn’t include Shade’s Head of Security? Or as in this group of rebels planning their coup, which also didn’t include Maxwell Hannigan ?

What an odd way to make that distinction.

With her curiosity particularly piqued, Rebecca stopped trying to fight her way toward Leonard and Diego. Instead, she took a step back to gaze right up into the shifter’s silver eyes, looking for the possible chinks in his armor that were a lot more likely to reveal themselves with a conversation like this.

She folded her arms and plastered a tight smile across her lips. “You think I’m some kinda spy? That I’m gonna ruin this rebellion everyone’s so excited about? Wait ‘til the last second and blow the whole thing wide open?”

“I think you haven’t said a word of truth since you showed up here. I think the others trust you way too much.”

“Probably,” Rebecca quipped with a quick nod. “What about you , though? Huh, Max?”

There was that mostly subtle flash of reaction in his silver eyes again, plus the little pucker of distaste across his lips as the shifter snorted down at her again. He definitely hated the nickname.

And now he tried to intimidate her even more by stepping forward, trying to corral her away from Leonard and Diego or maybe even out of the library altogether. But the only effect it had was to send a warm burst of energy and his body heat swirling toward her, and…

What was that smell ? Was he wearing something with sandalwood?

“This isn’t about me,” he growled.

“Maybe it should be.”

This was good. Now she’d made him uncomfortable. At the very least, she had him in a standoff, and that was a hell of a lot better than him thinking he could squeeze whatever he wanted out of her just like that.

“Maybe, instead of nitpicking every little thing you don’t like about me ,” she continued, “you should work on getting your story straight. You heard Diego, right? I’m not the only one who would love to know why you disappeared in the middle of a firefight last night.”

The shifter’s nostrils flared again, and he sucked on his teeth through his grimace with a little squeak.

Yeah, now she had him.

“Which means I’m probably not the only one wondering why the hell you showed up for this little meeting in the library.” Rebecca stuck a hand on her hip and cocked her head.

He could try to play the intimidation card all he wanted, but in her experience, the ‘recklessly ambivalent’ act generally did more to incite an unexpected reaction. If it happened to piss him off in the process, all the better.

“It is a little odd,” she continued. “Head of Security sitting in on a secret brainstorming session. Everyone knows how seriously you take your job, Max. How loyal you are to the guy up top calling the shots. How dedicated you are to the chain of command.”

Maxwell let out a disgruntled huff but didn’t interrupt, so she just kept going.

“And you know, the first thing that went through my head when I saw you here was, ‘I wonder how long it’ll take him to bring his report right back to the top so he can rat us all out.’ Wouldn’t even surprise me if you offered it up willingly . Kinda makes it feel like maybe you’re the spy.”

Maxwell surged another step toward her, his growl doubling in intensity as he practically spat at her, “I’ve done more for this organization than you will ever understand.”

“Oh, I’m sure you have.” Her tight smile widened, and she spread her arms. “But you can’t have it both ways, Maxie. Either you’re a stickler for the rules and, by default, the guy who’s gonna go squeal to Aldous about what’s going on here, or you’re playing the long game.”

His snarl snuffed out, and Rebecca could have sworn the shifter leaned ever-so-slightly away from her.

She must’ve nailed his existential crisis right on the head.

“Which would make you just as culpable as every other person who was standing in this room today. Technically, I guess that would make you a traitor too, wouldn’t it? But hey, at least you won’t be alone.”

Maxwell clearly tried to stare her down, but when his silver gaze flickered around the library—which had now emptied entirely except for Leonard, Diego, and the rest of the shifter’s security team waiting around for their next orders—that told Rebecca everything she needed to know.

This little wolfie had his secrets too, didn’t he? Well, then, Game On.

“Honestly,” she added with a forced chuckle as she tossed a hand toward Leonard and Diego still huddling across the room, “I’m surprised they didn’t kick you out before that meeting started. Maybe everyone else knows something I don’t, but I still can’t figure out whose side you’re really on. The changeling’s, or Shade’s?”

“Or yours ?” he asked with a snort.

Just like that, the figurative spell of doubt she’d been weaving around him disappeared like a burst bubble. She might’ve opened that door for him without thinking, but he’d jumped right through it.

A harmless mistake. Hopefully.

Rebecca forced another careless-sounding chuckle and swept her gaze around the back of the library. She needed to end this now.

Because Leonard and Diego had reached the pat-each-other-on-the-back stage of their private huddle, and her window was closing .

“I’m in this for the team, Max,” she told him. “Just like everyone else. You don’t have to like it, but I’m here. And I’m staying.”

“You’ve clearly made that your priority.” Fighting back another snarl at the nickname, Maxwell looked her up and down, slipping right back into his Head of Security role and all the obnoxious scrutiny and suspicion that came with it. “Even when your being here endangers this entire task force.”

Damn. He had no idea how right he was.

“You know it. I know it.” He stepped toward her again with another flash of light behind his silver eyes, then stopped beside her, his presence a shadow blocking out everything else. “And I won’t stop until I find out why .”

“Careful,” she murmured, tilting her head just enough to meet his gaze. “You might not like what you find.”

As he leaned in close, Rebecca stiffened, resisting the urge to step back before his lips barely brushed the edge of her ear and threatened to make her shiver against him. “Well if you think this is your chance, Knox, don’t waste it.”

His words were a taunt, a challenge, and a dark promise all at once. Rebecca felt the heat radiating off his body, the electric tension she couldn’t deny but so badly wanted to as it pulled them together—even when her instincts screamed at her to pull away.

Rebecca rooted herself to the spot, her jaw tightening, and forced herself not to look at him. She wouldn't let him see how much he got under her skin. Definitely not now.

“Back off, Hannigan,” she muttered, her voice low and steady despite the rapid beat of her pulse. “I don’t need your encouragement.”

Then she found herself staring at the tail end of Leonard’s leather trench coat disappearing through the rippling window of light in the library wall, joined by a crimson flash of Diego’s exit right behind him.

“Wait a minute,” she called after them. “Hey!”

But it was too late.

Shit.

And now she couldn’t even redirect her frustration to aim it back at Maxwell, because he’d left her too.

He’d marched right off after dropping that fun little threat-bomb in her ear.

When she turned slowly around, barely holding her shit together because now he’d really gotten in her way, she found the top of Maxwell’s head floating casually down the aisles of bookshelves. The murmur of low voices once again filled the library as he chatted with his security team in tones Rebecca couldn’t hear .

Like they hadn’t had that fantastically bitter exchange, each testing the other’s unknown limits.

Like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Like Maxwell Hannigan hadn’t just added one giant dollop of trouble and headache on top of her already heaping plate of it.

Plus having just cost her the opportunity to clear up one poignantly distressing misunderstanding between her, Leonard, and Diego. Those two seemed to think Rebecca was all-in for whatever plan they’d concocted, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Not when she had no idea what her role in that plan entailed, but something told her it wouldn’t mesh all that well with her personal goals.

Namely staying out of everyone else’s business, lying low, and not giving anyone a reason to look too closely.

When it came to Maxwell, she’d apparently failed on all counts.

Then he disappeared among the bookshelves—a dark shadow slipping out of reach, and a new unease settled in Rebecca’s bones.

He had information she didn’t, and if she didn’t figure it out soon, that dangerous knowledge of his could mean the difference between survival and disaster.