Page 91 of Elven Lies

She realized only afterward that Maxwell had attempted a joke to break up the tension in their last minutes of waiting, but she’d given quite a solemn answer.

The way his silver eyes narrowed beneath a fleeting frown he tried to cover up worried her. The shifter believed he knew as much about Kordus Harkennr as she did, most of which he’d put together from their visit to the prison. Now she’d dropped the ball with a flippant comment that seemed to have stoked his suspicion all over again.

But they both knew this wasn’t the time to dive further into how Rebecca had accessed so many things she claimed to know.

A twisting, shifting patch of light and shadow grew brighter on the asphalt beside the building, darkening again when the crunch of tires on scattered dirt in the station’s parking lot heralded the vehicle’s arrival as it turned into the lot. The next step was up to Zane on the roof.

Either this was their target, or the team would keep waiting for who knew how much longer. Assuming the route Recon had scoped and confirmed hadn’t changed in the last twenty-four hours.

Don’t hold your breath.

The idling engine shut off before one vehicle door opened and voices spilled across the empty station lot.

“…already behind schedule. What’s he gonna care? These ones won’t even be called in for another week or two. It’s not like he’s expecting ustonight.”

“It’s the principle of it. Trust me, we don’t wanna make a habit of it.”

“Whatever, man. Hey, while you’re out, grab me a chocolate bar or something. I’ve really been craving—”

“I’m not your personal shopper, Royce. I’m not even going inside. This is a gas stop, and that’s it.”

“Fine. Then I’ll go get it my own damn self—”

“The fuck you will.” A low, warning snarl filtered through the voices before the tense silence seemed to pause everything.

In that brief moment of complete silence, with the vehicle just on the other side of the building, Rebecca heard something else.

Sniffling and terrified, hushed whimpers, all of it muted but still audible.

Blue Hells. This was their target, all right. There were magicals in the back of that vehicle.

The second she realized the truth, she glanced at Maxwell and saw the same realization dawn in his expression. Simultaneously, the lights around the station buzzed and dimmed to a sporadic flicker before flaring up again.

Signal number two. Time to move in.

“Jesus, I hate these dumps,” the guy in the passenger seat complained. “It can’t bethathard to fix a few lights…”

“Stay in the damn car!”

By the time the driver emerged from the vehicle, Rebecca and Maxwell were already veering around the corner of the building, magitek weapons loaded and at the ready.

They entered the parking lot from the back as the shirtless half-changeling prepared to shut his door before pumping his gas.

The door never budged.

A bolt of brilliant purple energy in a spiraling flare zipped across the highway. It lit up the station parking lot with a crackling hiss before crashing into the inside of the driver’s open door with a blaze of exploding purple light and the deafening shriek of tearing metal.

The driver’s-side door clanged across the asphalt, torn from its hinges, and clattered against the front of the pumping station with a hollow echo.

The half-changeling spun toward the highway, his hand still outstretched to grab and close a vehicle door that no longer existed. “What the—”

“Don’t move!” Maxwell barked as he surged toward the vehicle, his augmented assault rifle propped in both hands and aimed at the driver’s chest. “Hands up.”

“What the hell isthis?” the driver shouted.

“Yourhands!”

Only when the half-changeling saw Tig and Ben reach this side of the highway from their position behind the opposite embankment, and Zane hopped off the roof to land squarely on his feet like a two-legged cat, did the driver finally do as he was told.

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