Page 43 of Elven Shadow

While the guy didn’t exhibit any outward signs of surprise or confusion at seeing her here, he stared at her longer than all the others before he added, “If you’re starting to think you might be here by mistake, or you changed your mind and don’t want anything to do with this,nowwould be the time to leave…”

His gaze lingered on her a little longer, and Rebecca tilted her head.

This whole thing was just too fucking good to pass up. No way was she backing out of it now.

Whether or not Leonard understood this, he moved on anyway and continued his slowly shuffling rotation within the center of the meeting. Once he seemed satisfied with having given everyone else sufficient acknowledgment, he cleared his throat and nodded. “All right, then. No turning back now.”

No turning back indeed.

How the hell had Rebecca gotten this lucky?

She’d already prepared herself to immediately start sowing the rumors and doubts and tiny but powerful seeds of fear and dissatisfaction discord among Shade’s easiest-to-target operatives. She’d already prepared to bide her time and wait patiently for those seeds to take root and sprout. No matter how long it took.

Then, after that, she would have been content to let the process run its course while she rooted out her newly assigned anonymous shadow, simultaneously pretending to pull off this impossible solo mission for Aldous until all the right cards stacked up in all the right places.

But if this secret library meeting was what she thought it was—and it looked exactly like the start of a magical mutiny—Rebecca would hardly have to lift a finger.

She’d thought she would have to subtly groom the organization for what came next, but Shade was already more than ready for it.

This was excellent.

“I know I’m not alone in this,” Leonard continued. “Something’s gotta give. When Aldous first showed up and Command changed hands, I was willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, sure. Bigwigs put him in charge, right? All his special contacts and secret friends in the underground.

“Chicago and Manhattan. Detroit. Apparently, he’s even got a fewfriendsin St. Louis, last I heard. And for whatever reason, those higher-ups who don’t have shit to do with this task force wanted to see the guy sitting right at the top of our fucking pyramid.

“Since then, the shit’s been trickling down onto the rest of us for almost a decade.”

Leonard pointed across the group and nodded. “Earl. You remember what this place was like before. Even with Holden Striker behind the wheel.”

The wizened old gnome slowly nodded and let out a low, thoughtful grumble. “Remember it like yesterday. We actually got shit done. Shade meant something back then.”

“And now it’s a fucking joke,” someone else called from the opposite side of the gathering.

Spinning toward the new voice, Leonard pointed in that direction this time. “Exactly. And you know what? We all went through hell just to make it past initiation. Passed the tests so we could put our skills to good use in this place.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I started, Shade was the one place where I could be something more than what anyone else anywhere else would ever have let me become on my own.

“I walked into this wanting to find the shithead who killed my sister. Yeah, we found him, all right.AfterAldous had plenty of time to get nice and comfy on his throne.

“And guess who’s still out there right now, running around like he owns the whole fucking world. Because there wasn’t enough in it for Aldous to expend his precious resources. I wanted justice, and the changeling gave me fuck-all.

“But it’s not just about me. I know that. I was willing to swallow my pride, because this whole thing was supposed to be somethingmore.”

Murmurs of assent and approving nods made their way around the gathered circle, all eyes fixed on the mage at the center voicing the sentiment every single Shade member had felt themselves at one time or another.

With everyone’s attention focused elsewhere, Rebecca let herself smirk at this unexpectedly fortuitous turn of events.

Now they were really getting somewhere.

“It was supposed to be more,” Leonard repeated, shaking a finger at no one in particular. “But it’s justnot, and that’s the honest truth. Not since Aldous clawed his way to the top and took the reins. He’s been running this place into the ground almost from the beginning.

“I know it. All of you know it. And I’m really fucking sick of watching everything we do, everything we put on the line out there in the field, turn to shit before we even get a chance to do what we’re actually good at.

“All because the guy in charge shouldn’t’ve ever been put there in the first place. I’m done. Something tells me the rest of you are too, or you wouldn’t be here right now.”

The library fell silent again as the gathered members considered the mage’s words and their own feelings on the matter.

Rebecca could hardly wait to see who spoke next. Judging by that little speech, the wide range of potentially suggested next steps was sure to provide a plethora of entertainment. And she didn’t have to lift a finger.

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