Page 114 of Elven Shadow

The only thing she knew for certain was that this had to be donenow, or the rebels’ opportunity to get rid of Aldous and improve Shade would pass them by.

If she didn’t act now, Rebecca knew exactly what awaited her—Aldous, with his slimy grasp tightening around her by the day, forcing her into impossible missions just to feed his ego. Every step she took would be under his control, and any hope of freedom would be crushed.

She had to make her move, or she’d be right back where she’d started—trapped, with no way out.

28

Another wave of dizziness hit her like a wrecking ball, and Rebecca swayed on her feet again before blinking hazily against the garage’s low lighting.

She was screwed. Completely, utterly screwed.

The one moment itmighthave benefited her to step up and take charge, and she could barely even stand. She couldn’t even take charge of her own body.

How the hell was she supposed to be any good for the rebellion now?

Someone coughed, which only made the silence of the garage that much more drastic.

Aldous blubbered some more while Zida tended to him, but most of that was clearly just for show. Especially when his gaze settled on Hector’s remains in front of him with a hole punched through them and grimaced.

“Somebody get this piece of scum out of my sight. He’s probably infected with something.”

The operatives didn’t move, and Aldous swatted Zida’s hands aside before sitting up straighter against the wall. “Are you all deaf?Hector’sthe one who did all this, so nowyouneed to clean it up!”

“Yeah, sure,” Diego called from the other side of the garage as he stepped forward. “You’re right, Aldous. This place needs a serious overhaul.”

Rebecca steadied herself with a hand against the wall and found Leonard’s face in the crowd. The mage gave her a look that said he wasn’t responsible for what Diego did now.

Neither was Rebecca, though.

“Speaking of cleanup, though…” Diego stopped in the center of the garage and planted his feet, squaring his shoulders directly toward Aldous. “I think it’s time to start with the biggest mess first.”

Then he lowered the muzzle of his rifle directly at the changeling’s head.

Aldous blinked at him, then barked out a laugh. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

The longest stretch of silence yet was his only response. Then the air filled with the echoing clicks and clacks of weapons being lifted and aimed, of magnetic rounds powering up within their operators’ hands, of safeties disengaging, plus the low hum of several different magical frequencies coming online until they were fully ready to engage with maximum effectiveness.

Rebecca could have laughed at the sight of nearly fifty Shade members all drawing and aiming their weapons at their defunct changeling commander.

The sound was almost music to her ears.

And here she was, thinking this whole time that the rebels had wantedherto get this party started.

How convenient that Diego had decided to finally do something for himself.

Aldous’s giddy laugh broke through the silence, marking his change of awareness. He was an idiot, sure, but he wasn’t so much of an idiot that he didn’t noticesomethingwas happening.

“Oh, howcute,” he said through a sneer, then nodded toward Hector’s corpse. “You think you can finish whathestarted? Well I’ve got news for you fucktwats.Hefailed. And I can tell you right now, you’re about to follow in his footsteps.”

“Yeah, but then you’d be wrong,” Diego replied.

All the other rebellious operatives closed in to effectively surround Aldous.

While he was still outrageously outnumbered, Aldous also still had Shade’s Head of Security and his five-man team, all of whom reacted in kind.

Maxwell and his security guys leveled their own weapons at their fellow operatives, spreading out to form a half-circle around Aldous, like they’d been ordered to protect their commander from anything, even if they went down with him in the process.

Knowing Aldous, that probablyhadbeen their orders.

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