Page 190 of Elven Crown

But ifthatwasn’t enough…what then?

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“Hey!” Rebecca shouted, her grip tightening around the stock of the augmented rifle as the mechanism whined and powered up and the neon-orange light grew brighter in her periphery. “We all still have a job to do, and I promise you, this isn’t it!”

She’d shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. Now the other operatives backed away from her as well, but Rowan and Maxwell were too far gone to their own pride and stupidity.

It was too little, too late.

The elf and the shifter lunged for each other at the same time, snarling and spitting, fully committed to duking it out right now.

The only way that fight would end was with one of them severely incapacitated. Or dead.

Rebecca squeezed the trigger.

A static burst of neon-orange weapons fire leapt from the barrel and zapped across the room before it cracked into the floor between them.

The chipped wood and cement beneath exploded, throwing up a shower of sparks and splintered boards and chunks of foundation in all directions. An oddly brown, harsh, acrid smoke billowed up between the elf and the shifter.

Blinded and taken by surprise, they staggered away from each other, coughing and waving the smoke away before they seemed to realize at the same time where the shot had come from—and who had fired it.

Then Maxwell and Rowan both froze, rooted to the spot with much more space between them now. When the smoke finally cleared, they were both already glaring at Rebecca.

“What do youwant?” Rowan spat.

At the same time, Maxwell shouted, “You realize we’re standingright here, don’t you?”

Rebecca kept the rifle raised and aimed in their general direction, glaring right back at them. “Yeah, I realize exactly what’s going on right now, and I want both of you to grow up. If I have to shoot you to get the desired results, I will. Feel like testing that theory? Go ahead. Idareyou.”

The shocked silence only lasted a moment before Rowan snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Blackmoon!” Rebecca barked, swiveling the barrel of her rifle directly at him. “Go help the rest of the team load up so we can get out of here.”

His stare contained nothing but pure disdain, which Rebecca had no problem handling.

She glared back at him just as fiercely and made a point to slowly and deliberately turn the settings dial on the side of the rifle until the mechanism powered up to a more destructive force. Its augmented whine made the neon-orange light inside sputter before it intensified as well.

Raising an eyebrow, she waited.

Finally, the Blackmoon Elf puffed out a sigh and stalked off toward the rest of the team. “Fine. Whatever.”

She didn’t keep her weapon trained on him as he moved, but she did follow him with her gaze until she was convinced he wouldn’t turn around and leap at the shifter again to finish what they started.

“Hannigan!” She darted her gaze toward him next. “A word.”

Then Rebecca took off for the stairs along the left side of the stage without waiting for a response, hopefully to find a modicum of privacy there. She felt everyone else staring at their Head of security, knowing that would make him agree to speak with her in private.

Though it apparently wasn’t an issue to snap at and come to physical blows with another operative on a mission, Maxwell wouldn’t defy his Thon-Da’al in front of the whole team.

His relenting sigh carried easily across the auditorium before he took off after her.

Rebecca waited for him to join her, then they slipped backstage, which might have been the only bit of privacy they could find within such an open space. Especially one that now produced even better acoustics than when it had been full of chairs.

Maxwell watched her diligently, his eyes wide with expectation.

Once they were alone, she didn’t make him wait any longer.

“Maybe I wasn’t clear enough the first time,” Rebecca hissed, “or even the second. Because now I feel like I need to very specifically tell you that your best option, what would make this whole thing easier for all of us, is if you tried to lighten up a little with the new guy.”

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