Page 33 of Elven Lies

With a mind like Harkennr’s, any time the various pieces on his personal game board started to feel like they had it all figured out, it was because that was exactly where Harkennr wanted them, feeling exactly what he wanted them to feel.

That was when he struck to cause the most damage possible.

And now Rebecca couldn’t help but worry over everything Harkennrhadn’trevealed to them today. Including the details of whatever arrangements he’d made and agreements he’d come to with Aldous. The former Commander of Shade and the sadistic warlock with his new facility in Chicago made for an undoubtedly volatile combination.

Harkennr had very specifically not divulged the details of their previous “partnership”. Which, if Rebecca didn’t tread with extreme caution from here on out, could absolutely come back to bite Shade in the ass.

Even worse, aside from having recovered Nyx to bring her home, Rebecca had gained very little from their meeting. The lack of information when dealing with Kordus Harkennr was like showing up to a battle in the nude and completely unarmed.

After today, that battle was inevitable.

11

“If you don’t have some good news for us, things are gonna get a whole lot worse from here.”

Rebecca pulled her gaze away from the heartbreaking sight of Nyx lying in an infirmary bed again, still looking just as beat-up despite having been safely returned to Shade headquarters and the healer’s care. When she looked up to meet that healer’s beady black gaze, Zida’s wrinkled lips puckered in a smirk from the other side of Nyx’s bed.

“Ha! You wanna heargoodnews, do ya? And you cameherefor that?”

If this was the old woman’s way of trying to lighten the mood, she was already failing.

The air of concern and wary hope in the room remained as strong now as when Rebecca and Maxwell had finally brought Nyx home. Now, she had a feeling the general tension in the air would linger even longer than it took for Nyx to recover.

Zida narrowed her eyes as she looked back and forth between Rebecca and Maxwell, then she scratched the side of her face. “Huh. Tough crowd. Fine, then. Tell me this. Do you know what was done to her?”

Rebecca shook her head. “Harkennr said he didn’t do anything to her.”

Maxwell scoffed and shot her an exasperated look. “I don’t believe a word out of that son of a bitch’s mouth.”

“Probably a good place to start,” Zida murmured. Then she shifted her weight and gestured toward Nyx again. “Listen. I’ve run a few preliminary tests, and from what I can see, everything looks totally normal with this one. Ignoring the fact that she was stolen right out from under my care and held somewhere else for almost twenty-four hours. Not to mentionthatbeing a pretty major detriment to her recovery, but that’s a given. Everything else makes me wanna say she’s just fine.”

“But that’s not what you’re saying, is it?” Maxwell asked.

“That’s not what I’mnotsaying either, Hannigan,” Zida quipped. “I’m saying I want to watch her a little longer. Wait till she comes to. Keep an eye on her for a few extra days longer than most get, because I don’t know what the hell else I’m supposed to be looking for. If there evenisanything else there.”

“I’m sure Nyx will be grateful to you for that,” Rebecca said.

Zida’s scowl settled on Rebecca before the healer shook a clawed finger at her. “You bet your ass she will be. To you too, as a matter of fact. Both of you. How you walked right into a gods-be-damned nightmare like that and made it out again without a scratch, I’ll never understand.”

“Even if I told you exactly how?” Rebecca asked.

“Sure, kid. Yeah. Probably even then.”

Rebecca forced back a chuckle. It didn’t feel right in the infirmary, given the circumstances. “Well, everyone can make up their own minds about that later. Once we—”

The infirmary door burst open before banging against the adjacent wall, then Leonard barreled into the room, skittering forward and losing his balance when he barely stopped himself from ramming full speed ahead into the side of Nyx’s recovery bed.

His eyes were wild and lined with dark circles, his hair disheveled, and his sweatsuit even more stained than it was earlier this morning. When he stopped beside the bed and it fully hit him that Nyx was lying in it again—in the flesh, alive and safe—the mage almost collapsed onto the mattress with her.

“Oh thank god…” His hand hovered above Nyx’s forehead for a moment before he seemed to think better of touching her and gazed up at Rebecca and Maxwell instead. “You got her back. Jesus, you actually got her back. Thank you.”

“A few more days here for observation,” Maxwell said with a nod. “She’ll be all right. Nyx is strong. She’ll come out the other side of this.”

“Of course she will.” Tears shimmered in Leonard’s brown eyes as he regarded his Roth-Da’al and Head of Security, still unwilling to disturb Nyx with a touch. Then he went to the next best thing and settled a hand down protectively on the mattress instead. “How did you guys do it? Just the two of you? I mean, after everything you said about the compound and the army this asshole’s got working for him, what the hell did you have to do to get her out of there? How is that even possible?”

“Pain and suffering,” Maxwell muttered. “Lotsof pain and suffering. Trust me, you don’t want to know the details.”

Rebecca snorted, but when she looked up at him, she realized Maxwell wasn’t joking at all. For him, the hour they’d spent at the Old Joliet Prison very well could have been torture. It had been bad enough for her.

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