Page 7 of Elven Lies

“Okay, listen!” Rebecca shouted above the other voices all shouting at each other. “This isn’t the place for—”

“Are youhearingyourself? Blue Hells, they should’ve kidnappedyouand spared us all the trouble of listening to that garbage you call a professional opinion.”

“Bite me, old-timer!”

“And by the way, when was the last timeyouwent out on a mission? Or better yet, the last time you even left this fucking building?”

“The last time some young, still-green idiot showed his elders the proper respect! And believe you me, son, it’s beendecades.”

“That’s enough!” Rebecca shouted, to no effect. The bickering merely continued, growing in a swelling wave of fear and anger and the kind of division that had for so long kept the entire task force and all its members from realizing their true potential.

Only, now that Aldous wasn’t here to bear the brunt of it, when the mission came down to the wire, these magicals had no one left to turn on but each other.

Which was the exact opposite of why Rebecca had called these six very specific individuals here in the first place.

Her own frustration got the better of her, and she inadvertently took a page out of her Head of Security’s book by pounding a fist down on her desk and almost rising from her chair with the force of her next shout. “I said that’s enough!”

3

With her chest heaving, Rebecca glared across the room at the shifter and the Blackmoon Elf who couldn’t pull themselves together to save their own life.

If they kept this up, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could control herself before lives actuallywereon the line. Theirs.

All the bickering voices and snide comments cut out instantly, so the entire gathering in her office heard the zapping buzz of crimson battle magic flaring around Rebecca’s fist and the crackling sizzle of singed wood as a result. Then a feint metallic ping came from somewhere in the vicinity of the jammed-open desk drawer, followed by a soft thump and muted jingle.

She felt the light weight of something dropping onto the top of her boot before it clattered to the hardwood floor, but in the moment, it didn’t demand her immediate attention.

With everyone silent and staring at her again, each of them reining it in beneath their own varied expressions ofembarrassment and chagrin, she took a deep breath and hoped it was enough to keep her voice steady. “First of all, I didn’t call you here to start an internal war at this table.”

Chair legs screeched across the wooden floor when Leonard shoved himself away from the table and stood. “Yeah, yeah… I get it. I’ll leave.”

Before she could think of a response, the mage stormed across her office, struggled to unlock the door before hauling it open, then stomped into the hallway and slammed the door shut behind him with a deafening bang.

Definitely not what she’d been going for, but fine. If Leonard thought it was best to remove himself from the conversation, she could give him that.

Maxwell, however, seemed to have a different idea of acceptable behavior. With a snarl, he started to rise from his chair, presumably to go after Leonard.

“Hannigan, it’s fine,” Rebecca muttered. The shifter paused to look at her, and she nodded. “Let him go.”

At first, it looked like he wanted to argue with her too, but then he dipped his head and lowered into his seat again with a muted snort.

She could talk to Leonard about all this later, if he thought he could handle it. For now, this briefing needed to draw to a close.

“Has everybody had a chance to take a deep breath?” she asked, glancing from one magical to the next. No one said a word. That was her cue to continue and wrap this up.

“I understand everyone’s concerns and reservations. I really do. And I know this is one of the most time-sensitive issues we’ve faced in a while. Believe me, I’ve weighed all the possible options, and at this point, I really do believe the best mode of action is for me to accept Harkennr’s invitation and have this in-person chat with him at his compound before anything else.

“At the very least, it gives me an opportunity to scope out the place. Even under a temporary truce. Maybe, if I’m lucky, I manage to confirm Nyx’s location. If she’s inside the old prison, great. We found her. If she’s not, that helps us narrow down where to turn next. I can get a decent read on the place before I even exchange two words with Harkennr, and right now, that’s likely the best advantage we could hope for.”

When her closing statement didn’t spark another volatile argument, and she even received a few slow nods in response, Rebecca figured she’d successfully made her point. Not that it mattered, one way or the other, when she’d already made up her mind. But at least this meeting had finally become what she’d hoped it would be. Or as close to it as they were going to get.

“Great.” Zida tossed both claw-like hands into the air before letting them drop back into her lap with staggered slaps. “The Roth-Da’al has spoken. Now the only question I have is why in the Blue Hells amIhere?”

If the question had come from anyone else with the same level of attitude, Rebecca would have told them to go join Leonard in the hallway. But the healer was an entirely different breed, and Rebecca now had a perfect segue into the final purpose of this meeting.

She held Zida’s beady black gaze for a moment longer, then nodded. “Aldous made a mess of things in a lot of ways. I know we can all agree on that much.”

Bor’s next grunt earned him a scathing glare from Zida, which he pretended to ignore.

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