Page 63 of Elven Crown

Rebecca had to concentrate harder than usual to make out the griybreki’s words over the rumbling of three semi engines. Theseguys were hard enough to understand anyway, but she was fairly certain she’d gotten it right.

Which meant Rowan had already been heard by the enemy.

While the engines rumbled and the slap of bare webbed griybreki feet punctuated the night air, Rebecca held her calm even as she fixed Rowan with a warning stare and a raised eyebrow.

There was no way for him to misinterpret the warning in that look, because as of this moment, Rowan was the single largest threat to their ambush falling apart before they’d set it in motion.

She saw it in his hazel eyes and felt it beneath her hand clamped over his mouth.

The bastard was smiling at her.

Then the griybreki kept shouting at each other.

“Ain’t nobody here!”

“Probably. Maybies…”

“Then okee-doke. Get them slip-doors up!”

The griybreki moved again, more slapping footsteps joining the others, and the motion in and around the convoy was enough of a small reprieve for Rebecca to feel safe removing her hand from Rowan’s mouth before she half-whispered, half-mouthed to him, “Get back to your fucking post.”

“Now,” Maxwell growled again from behind.

“All right, all right…” Rowan refused to whisper, though at least he wasn’t shouting anymore. He spread his arms and walked backward along the rear of their hiding place, his grin winking in the sliver of light passing between two containers. “I’mgoing.”

Then the shadow of the next container blocked out his face, and there was no more sign of the Blackmoon Elf.

Part of Rebecca wanted to monitor him to make sure he wasn’t pretending to obey before doing something impossibly stupidon his own. The other part of her, however—the stronger part—refused to be his babysitter.

Especially right now.

She was Shade’s Roth-Da’al. The commander of this team.Sheran this mission, and her time and attention were spent far more efficiently on the task at hand.

If Rowan got himself into a pickle, he could get himself back out of it again. Of that, she had no doubt.

She just hoped he didn’t take the rest of her team down with him in the process.

Staying quiet and hidden and maintaining their positions while the griybreki bumbled about on the docks to open their transport vehicles was a strenuous exercise in patience. If Aldous had been here, he wouldn’t have lasted this long without revealing himself and throwing the whole operation into total chaos.

It didn’t take much to be better than Aldous. Even then, Rebecca grew increasingly proud of her team as everyone held their positions and waited for the signal. Especially when going up against these creatures the last time had almost gotten them all killed.

But there were far fewer griybreki among the three 18-wheelers on the docks than there had been streaming out of that abandoned apartment complex to defend their base, Aldous was gone.

They weren’t fighting Eduardo or his legions of toadies on the enemy’s turf this time, tonight they had the element of surprise and a loving scratch that and a level playing field on their side.

Compared to every other mission under Shade’s previous command, Rebecca’s team, scratch that, Rebecca’s current team had every advantage.

Two of the transport vehicles now had their rear doors open while the steel ramps into the cargo trailers clanged into placeand webbed feet smack down on either cement or the striated middle of the loading ramps, the shipping yard filled with the guttural, warbling shouts of the griybreki as they moved about.

Rebecca stopped trying to make out their words with so many noises drowning out the odd accents that were already almost impossible to accurately translate from the start.

The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness. Then Rebecca realized she and Maxwell wouldn’t be the ones getting a visual confirmation on the vehicle’s cargo in order for her to give the signal.

They’d have to rely on that confirmation from someone else with a better view and hopefully an ability to figure out the slight dent in their plans.

She moved silently behind the shipping container to poke her head around the opposite corner facing the docks’ entrance, scanning the tops of the stacked shipping containers and searching for that signal.

Seconds passed, and nothing. Not even the brief flash of violet light she expected to see from Nyx, who was generally the first to get a visual on anything.

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