Page 45 of Elven Shadow

Amidst incomprehensible grumbling and the slow, steady shifting of feet, those around the newest speaker leaned toward their neighbors, nudging each other aside until a path opened and revealed the mystery magical in question.

To Leonard, anyway.

Rebecca had to lean forward to peer past all the other bodies crushed together in the back of the library before she finally caught a glimpse of him.

“Well, holy shit…” Leonard huffed out a wry laugh, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the newcomer. “Look who didn’t pass through the fucking veil after all. You look like shit, Hank. Just saying.”

“Ifeellike shit. Guess that means I’m still breathing. For now.” The dwarf had joined this meeting with a wooden crutch under one arm, his opposite foot barely touching the floor as he hobbled forward. Fresh bandages wrapped around his head, his other arm had been bound in a sling, and eighty percent of his face was still swollen and bruised from his last mission with Aldous. Under Aldous’s direct leadership, of course.

Rebecca already knew exactly where and how he’d sustained those injuries. They all did.

“Thought you were supposed to be laid up in bed for a couple more days,” Diego called out from somewhere else in the crowd.

Hank swept his gaze in Diego’s direction and shrugged. “By Zida’s decree only. I’m notout-out. No way in hell am I jumping back in the field the way Aldous wants, but I managed to get a little…field trip approved.

“Zida’s keepin’ an eye on the clock, though. Gave me an hour before she starts hunting me down, so… We gonna wrap this up with an actual plan, or what?”

Leonard folded his arms and lifted his chin. “You got something in mind?”

Hank slowly looked around the secret meeting, his gaze hopping from one face to the next before he slowly shook his head. “Not me, no. But I did come here to say two things.

“First, I wanna see that motherfucker burn for what he put me through, and if nobody else wants to say it first, I’m happy to be that guy who breaks the ice. And second…”

The dwarf inhaled deeply through his nose, took another step toward Leonard in the center of the circle, and nodded.

“Whatever you plan to do after this, Leonard, whatever the whole damn organization wants to do after this, you can count me in. I might not be able to walk on my own just now, but I’ll damn well offer support and intel and maybe a few extra tools if that’s what you need.”

Another ripple of murmuring voices spread through the library as the others contemplated his words.

With a single firm nod, Hank signaled the end of his impromptu speech. Anyone else might have disappeared into the background again, but the guy had a pass this time—physical, visible proof of the threat they all faced shouldShade’s complacency continue and Aldous’s shaky control of the entire task force remain in place.

Rebecca studied Leonard intently. The firm set of the mage’s jaw as he returned Hank’s nod. The sparkle in his eyes when he met the gazes of other Shade members he knew well, those who trusted him and each other enough to endanger themselves with an unsanctioned brainstorming session like this one.

If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve said she was staring at Shade’s new leader. The mage who would take Aldous’s place.

Especially after the way Aldous had treated Leonard specifically during their last mission.

The mage could hold his own in a magical firefight. That was obvious. He cared about what happened to Shade and its members—the quiet, solitary, dejected magicals looking to utilize their talents and bring a little more law and order to the greater Chicago area than the MJC were capable of enforcing on their own.

All while staying below the Council’s radar.

Vigilantism wasn’t necessarily legally approved, even for non-humans.

But as the side chatter continued all around him, Leonard remained still in the center of it all.

He was waiting too, Rebecca knew, hoping someone else would step up to deliver a set of concrete plans for fixing their serious problem—the changeling leader who’d slipped in years ago and had since run his own operation into the ground.

Leonard had never looked the part of a patient rebel leader who organized these meetings with the intention of nominating himself as Aldous’s replacement. That hadn’t changed today.

Just like Rebecca, he was watching and waiting, providing an opportunity for the person who actuallywantedthe job to step forward and volunteer.

The unanswered question hung over the secret meeting like a storm cloud.

If it wasn’t going to be Leonard, whowouldstep up to fill Aldous’s seat once the rest of Shade ensured it was swiftly and efficiently emptied?

Everything up to this point had convinced Rebecca that planning Aldous’s downfall before nominating Shade’s new commander was the sole purpose of this secret meeting. The certainty of it was almost a tangible presence in the air. They’d made it this far, and now it was time to bring a specific plan of action to fruition.

Finally, Shade was taking back the reins of its own future. Whoever this group of gathered insurgents elected as the changeling’s replacement—andat this point,anyonewould’ve been better than Aldous—Rebecca would have to keep a close eye on them.

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