Page 69 of Elven Crown

He spun around to eye his would-be attacker, then whirled back to gape at Rebecca. “Hot damn, Knox! You’ve been holding out on us, haven’t you?”

He had no idea.

But if her operators wanted to think the strength of Rebecca’s power extended only as far as lethal fireballs, she wouldn’t correct the misconception.

“You’re welcome!” she shouted back before pivoting to send another volley of flames at the next griybreki running full-tilt toward her, its feet slapping across the concrete.

When Leonard’s full-bodied laughter echoed behind her as he re-entered the battle, she couldn’t help a small smile.

It felt damn good to do her job, do it well, and share the small wins with her team. That much shecouldadmit.

After that, the number of griybreki throwing themselves at her dwindled. The battle still continued, but her team had dispatched most of the convoy, and the chaotic din of weapons fire and summoned attack spells and bodies dropping had lessened.

By the Blood, it looked like they were going to pull this off, and the ancestors only knew Shade sure as hell could have used a successful-mission win right about now.

Within the lull of battle, Rebecca turned toward a burst of violet light flickering with sparks as Nyx popped into existence behind another griybreki.

The katari clamped her arms around the creature, which let out a shrieking scream in surprise.

Then they both disappeared with a soft pop and another burst of violet light, leaving behind that familiar scent of ozone and vinegar.

A second later, Nyx reappeared on top of a shipping container, the griybreki still in her arms but now lying on its back and wailing endlessly. Nyx showed no reaction to the sound as she bound him with dampening rope and tied the creature securely to the roof of the shipping container—beside a line of others she’d similarly taken out.

Now, only a few volleys of battle magic rippled through the darkness, filling the air with the static electricity of magic flying in all directions. It seemed the fight was dying down, that Rebecca’s team had finally reached the end of their surprisingly effective ambush.

But before Rebecca could let herself celebrate such an accomplishment, a low rumble caught her attention.

It was a new sound, dark and low. The kind of sound that belonged to something big and heavy and abnormally dangerous.

Rebecca’s pulse pounded through her head.

What had they missed?

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She spun around to search the docks, because the first thing this approaching rumble brought to mind was an armored tank.

That couldn’t be right. There were no tanks.

The rumbling only grew louder as the rest of her team battled the remaining griybreki. Then a pair of violently bright headlights appeared at the entrance to the docks.

Those high beams wavered across the cement as the vehicle approached and turned toward the scene of the fighting.

A fourth transport vehicle came into view, steadily approaching what little of the battle remained.

And then it headed toward all of them at top speed.

The air of the Shade team’s impending victory morphed into something entirely different when the eighteen-wheeler growled, its engine coughed and sputtered, and the night air filled with the ear-splitting screech of over-worn brakes and tires squealing across the asphalt.

Thick gray smoke billowed behind every tire as the vehicle fishtailed across the docks. It came dangerously close to tipping over before its driver finally brought it to a squealing, smoking stop inches from the retaining wall at the edge of the docks.

“Showed up late to the party,” Diego said with a snigger as he released another griybreki from a chokehold. The unconscious creature dropped in front of him with a wet slap.

Just like the rest of her team, Rebecca stared at the newly arrived vehicle and frowned.

There was something wrong with this picture. She just couldn’t put her finger on it quickly enough.

Then a low, stuttering rumble and whine rose from inside the truck’s trailer still rocking side to side after such an entrance.

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