Page 118 of Elven Shadow

How the son of a bitch managed to overpower her and gain the upper hand, now practically sitting on top of her with the tip of that blade pointed at her face, was anyone’s guess.

The fact that Rebecca was only operating at half her usual strength and combat awareness, if that, made for a convincing reason.

More roars of fury and agitation and bloodthirsty encouragement came from all areas of the garage.

Rebecca found herself staring up into Aldous’s fully green face as he loomed over her, pressing his full weight down on top of her and against her arm trying to block him. Spittle sprayed from his dark-green lips with every exhale. The simple act of bearing down on her with all he had clearly took a lot out of him.

She didn’t think she had much left in her, either.

She was right.

While she struggled to keep Aldous’s glinting dagger from her face, the last of Zida’s energy potion faded before Rebecca could even figure out what was happening.

Darkness overwhelmed her senses—a thick, warm weight of dark oblivion and deep non-existence. It sank down on top of her like a heavy blanket freshly pulled away from drying and warming beside a roaring fire.

Her vision went first. Aldous’s slobbering face grew blurrier and dimmer.

Then came her hearing. Someone else’s voice rose above the rest of the chaos—commanding, powerful, ordering something she couldn’t understand because now everything sounded like she was underwater.

Rebecca thought she might have started to cough, which would most likely be the last thing she ever did now with the tip of Aldous’s blade mere inches from her throat.

Worst timing of her life. There was nothing she could do about it now.

She didn’t even have the energy to fully think this through—that these were her last few struggling moments in this life, and no one was coming to help her.

Of course no one was coming. No one knew her well enough to want to help her.

That was her own damn fault for not letting herself get close to anyone.

Then the entire world around her disappeared. Even the weight of Aldous’s body bearing down on her was gone, and Rebecca faded away beneath it all.

A final image wormed its way into her mind—Zida’s wrinkled, puckered lips forming slow-motion words, followed by a flash of that invisible medicine within the clear glass vial.

“It comes in waves, elf. Just suck it up.”

What an odd memory for her last moment before death…

But the healer’s mystery emergency medicine had better timing than Rebecca’s untimely demise.

Because just then, the next wave hit.

29

Rebecca’s eyes snapped open, her vision flooded with light and the green hues of Aldous hovering above her, bearing down against her upraised forearm with the cold weight of his dagger clasped firmly in hand.

The tip of his blade left a stinging kiss at the hollow of her throat. That pain returned right alongside all the other pain of her beaten body pouring back into her all at once.

She hadn’t felt this much, this intensely since before she’d ended her training.

Even against the pulsing agony of the wounds in her forearm, the ache of every muscle she’d all but forgotten, and the slowly loosening tightness squeezing around her lungs, she still had her strength surging back into her.

She tried to wrest her right arm free, but at some point during her brief descent into unconsciousness, Aldous had crawled higher up her body to keep bearing down on her.

His knee dug into her upper arm where her bicep met her shoulder, pinning her against the concrete.

Great. She’d just gotten another giant dose of magical adrenaline at the perfect time to save her life, all so she could be fully aware of what was happening right before he plunged that blade into her throat.

No fucking thank you.

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