Page 192 of Elven Shadow

And in the center of it all, sitting casually on the edge of the table and swinging his legs back and forth beneath it, was their prisoner.

Long russet hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the back of his head, falling in just such a way to hide the telltale points at the tips of his Elven ears. Slender fingers drumming along the edge of the table. Hazel eyes flashing with amusement.

He sat there without a care in the world, not even a little winded by the team of operatives who’d attempted to subdue him in the holding room—and clearly failed. He didn’t even look surprised to see the door open and three more Shade members entering the room.

But when his gaze landed on Rebecca, the prisoner broke into a wide grin.

It was a grin she knew so well. A grin that lit up the face she’d recognized the second she’d laid eyes on him at the center of so much subdued chaos filling his makeshift cell.

A grin that first filled Rebecca with so much relief, she almost let it out in a massive sigh before it curdled and hardened into blinding, white-hot rage.

Of all the cursed allies or enemies that could have been sent to track her down,thiswas the one who’d managed to find her first?

“Holy shit,” the elf exclaimed with a surprised chuckle. He stopped swinging his legs, tilted his head, and now centered his hazel gaze unflinchingly on Rebecca’s face. “It reallyisyou.”

Dammit all to hell and curse every ancestor of her entire bloodline!

Rebecca had done so much and come so far. She’d put as much time and distance between herself and her past as physically possible. She’d been through hell and back, before, during, and after her time as Shade’s commander. No more than an hour ago, she’d even relented to a truce with Maxwell Hannigan, who’d finally decided to give her a chance.

A chance to let her prove to him that trying to trust her would be worth it in the end.

And nowthis?

This elf man from the life she’d tried to leave behind her forever—his hazel eyes glinting in the low light of the single light bulb swinging back and forth overhead as his ceaseless grin flashed even wider—had finally found her.

And he was about to ruin everything.

No more hiding behind an entire organization she’d used to cover up her identity and all her secrets. Rebecca was at the very top of it all now. Which meant every action of every Shade member reflected back on her, and every decision she made affected far more lives than simply her own.

Like what the fuck she was supposed to do with this grinning elf sitting on the table like he’d just won some kind of secret war game.

On top of all that, now Maxwell’s scrutiny paired with the death glare he fixed on the side of her face as they stood side by side within the holding room’s open doorway was more palpable than ever.

So much for keeping a low profile.

Rebecca had to take care of this. Quickly.

Ignoring Maxwell’s low growl when she took two slow, confident steps toward the dark-haired elf sitting on the edge of the table, she clenched her fists at her sides and let the warning drip naturally from her words without even trying. “What are you doing here?”

No, this probably wasn’tprotocolfor questioning unidentified prisoners who’d infiltrated Shade’s defenses and temporarily neutralized nearly a dozen operatives at once. Maxwell would absolutely find her response to the current situation suspicious.

But she’d be damned if she let anyone else question this prisoner. Not before she had a shot at him.

The elf swung his legs a few more times beneath the table, then glanced in amusement around the room as if only now realizing what had happened.

Then, amidst the background of dispatched Shade operatives still groaning and clutching their heads or stomachs or nursing bloody noses, a dark, carefree laugh like the sound of danger in a song rose through the elf’s grin before he turned those hazel eyes back onto Rebecca.

“What amIdoing here? I assumed that was fairly obvious. We need to talk.”