Page 179 of Elven Shadow

Until she heard a different kind of shrieking cry coming from not too far away that made her blood run cold.

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Rebecca turned against the closest vehicle, spun, and found herself staring at the line of imprisoned and illegally trafficked magicals all chained to each other and huddling together just a few yards away, where they’d been left by the guy responsible for driving them here and hauling them inside.

Within seconds, the cries emanating from inside the Old Joliet Prison begin to match the cadence, desperation, and rhythm of the new prisoners’ shouts, which had transformed from cries of despair and calls for mercy to something that dared to sound like hope.

“Help us!”

“We’re over here!”

“Let us out!”

“Free us!”

“Get us out of here before they come back…”

“Help!Please!”

Shit.

The prisoners thought this was a rescue attempt.

Rebecca’s heart twisted on itself when she realized what was happening—that there was nothing she could do for any of them right now. She hadn’t come here with a plan for freeing anyone, and the bare bones of a plan shehadestablished before all hell broke loose was now entirely defunct.

She wasn’t getting inside that prison. Not tonight. She wasn’t rescuing anyone. The way things were headed, this was unlikely even to turn into a real battle.

She had to get out of here.

Now.

Ducking and dodging magical attacks and crackling blasts fired from augmented weaponry, she dove around the yard, trying to both stick to the shadows and avoid the sweeping searchlight in the guard tower.If she were spotted bythat, there was very little hope of making it out of here alive without exposing herself entirely—to her current enemies and to Harkennr, because his forces would inevitably inform him of what they’d seen.

Plus, there was Maxwell to worry about now too. Again.

As soon as the shifter entered her mind, that same warming, tingling sensation that only arose whenever Maxwell was close prickled across Rebecca’s body like a powerful electric surge. The feeling brought her to an instant halt in the grass.

What the hell? That was supposed to be gone. She’d healed herself.

Then she saw him—the enormous gray wolf standing mere yards from the prison’s open front doors. He didn’t look injured, as far as she could tell, but he was already panting heavily, the wolf’s tongue rolling out of his mouth as he looked back and forth between the inside of the prison emitting terrified screams for rescue from Harkennr’s prisoners and the chained line of new victims sprawled across the dead grass of the yard, also crying out for salvation.

Oh, comeon…

Maxwell wasn’t hesitating in the field because ofthem, was he?

Rebecca almost headed toward him. Even as a wolf, Maxwell looked a hell of a lot like he was ready to pounce inside to attempt an insane, suicidal, last-minute rescue operation by himself with no plan and no backup, and that wouldn’t have improved their situation.

“Hannigan!” she shouted. “We gotta move!”

The enormous panting gray wolf turned his huge, shaggy head toward her, silver eyes flashing in the darkness, and found her across the yard.

Neither of them had time for anything else before one of Harkennr’s bulky, muscular soldiers let out a warbling bellow of a battle cry before flinging himself on Maxwell and taking the enormous wolf straight to the ground.

Dammit, now thiswasa rescue mission, but only for one, and he shouldn’t even have been here in the first place.

Maxwell snarled and clawed and snapped his jaws at his attacker, who put up an astoundingly impressive fight against the wolf.

Rebecca took off toward them, ready to lend a hand.

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