Page 18 of Elven Lies

Without thinking, Rebecca grabbed his forearm and was shocked to find it hard as stone and trembling beneath Maxwell’s rage and his efforts to control himself.

As soon as she touched him, the burning intensity firing through her entire body faded and eased. Maxwell’s forearm didn’t relax in her grip, but at least the tension rippling through him had lessened.

She didn’t have to say anything. The understanding between them was clear.

This nightmare in front of them was an abomination. It shouldn’t be allowed to exist. And at the same time, their objective here today with Harkennr—for Nyx—was the priority.

Setting this right would have to wait.

The mechanized whine from the metal box rose to an ear-splitting pitch before something clicked and popped. A new burst of nauseating blue-gray steam puffed up from the machine. The mage’s screams cut out as his body sagged back into the chair, pale and shimmering with sweat and entirely limp.

The thick static of concentrated magic and augmented energy still permeated the air, but the sudden silence in comparison left Rebecca’s ears ringing.

“Didn’t I say to keep up?” the dwarf’s unbelievably low voice boomed from farther down the corridor.

Rebecca turned in a daze to see him bustling back toward them, scowling and shaking his head.

When he reached the open door, he ignored his guests in lieu of peeking his head into the room and shouting at the top of his lungs, “Hey! Are youtryingto compromise the results here? You know how this works. If I find one more reason to report you, you’ll end up buried in more than just paperwork. Mark my words.”

The orc attendant had barely begun to lift the thick goggles up onto his forehead, gaping at the dwarf in surprise before the dwarf snatched the doorknob and hauled the door shut again with an echoing bang.

Then he finally returned his attention to Rebecca and Maxwell, offering them a curt nod as he tugged down on the bottom hem of his dull brown sweater. “I do apologize for the interruption. We operate on more of a…closed-door policy in this facility. So please, whatever you may have seen today, do keep in mind that it is all proprietary and strictly confidential.Notto be repeated.”

He looked back and forth between Rebecca and Maxwell, searching their expressions until he seemed satisfied with whatever he saw. Then he cleared his throat, and another tiny smile flickered across his lips. “You two got lucky. That orc’s incompetence offered you a sneak peek ahead of schedule. I can’t tell you how rare that is.”

A chuckling snort escaped him before he spun smartly around and continued his shuffling march down the corridor to lead them onward.

Rebecca glanced at the closed door, though no other sound emerged and all the magical lights from within had ceased. Only then did she realize she still gripped Maxwell’s forearm, which she released from her aching hand.

Had that been to keep him steady the whole time and away from shifting into the offensive? Or had she held on so long to reassureherself?

Maxwell didn’t comment on it either way as they took off after the dwarf once more.

Watching these experimental torture sessions was not, after all, the reason they’d come. But a moment later, Maxwell did lean slightly toward her with another low growl and muttered, “Ahead of schedule? What the fuck doesthatmean?”

“I wish I knew,” she whispered back. “But I do know that nothing here is what it seems. Keep that in mind.”

She felt his gaze flickering across the side of her face as they followed the dwarf, but he didn’t press her any further about it.

All she knew for certain in this place was that Kordus Harkennr would never let an “incompetent orc” operate his technology or even remain a part of his operation. Not if it was true incompetence. Rebecca and Maxwell were supposed to have seen that little demonstration, up close and personal.

No matter what the dwarf had said, the entire thing had been intentional, meticulously orchestrated to make them feel like they’d gotten a sneak peek, on accident, of something no one was meant to have seen.

But it was all according to Harkennr’s design. Of that much, Rebecca was positive.

She couldn’t say any of that to Maxwell, though. Not here, with the dwarf listening in and any number of hidden cameras and audio-relay devices embedded in the walls and who knew how many other places around the prison.

She could, however, continue her mental inventory of the prison’s interior as the dwarf led them across the facility’s main floor at ground level, as well as form a vague and incomplete mental map of the layout. It was more than they’d previously had and all they were likely to get before coming face-to-facewith Harkennr himself. It wouldn’t prepare Shade for a breach mission against the prison, but it was better than nothing.

The building seemed to stretch on forever, down countless intersecting corridors, until the dwarf finally stopped toward what Rebecca assumed was the rear of the building complex. He waited for them in front of a tall, wide door much different than any of the others they’d passed so far.

This one looked far more fitting for the inside of an old, abandoned prison, its thick, dark metal slightly warped and reinforced with corrugated steel. Water stains and streaks of rust lined the door top to bottom. Instead of a knob or handle, this one boasted a heavy iron latch that turned like a crank before emitting a deep, resonating boom from within.

That boom echoed longer still on the other side.

The dwarf hauled open the door and held it open for Harkennr’s guests to catch a better view of what lay beyond.

A burst of cool, dank, slightly humid air billowed into the corridor, released from nothing but thick and heavy darkness beyond. The only visible evidence of where they were headed next were the first three chipped stone steps descending into that cloying darkness, cooler temperatures, and more dank wetness with every step down.

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