Page 94 of Elven Lies

The van’s driver lay still, his golden-brown eyes wide open and a cruel sneer contorting his features. But the sneer was stiff and unmoving, and his eyes stared blankly ahead at nothing, their spark of intelligence and life already snuffed out.

“It wasn’t you, by the way,” Rebecca murmured.

Maxwell looked sharply up at her before rising to his feet. “I know. He already had some kind of poison capsule in his mouth, didn’t he?”

She nodded. “Probably, yeah.”

Made from an otherwise harmless purple flower on Xahar’áhsh, which, when mixed with a few other choice ingredients and prepared correctly, worked just as quickly and effectively as an Earthside arsenic capsule. Only this stuffeliminated even the possibility of bringing a necromancer into the picture to question the subject after death.

A “brilliant little Thank You,” Harkennr had called it.

“Well I won’t have to listen to that fucking laugh anymore,” Maxwell grumbled before turning toward the front of the van, where the gnome from the van’s passenger seat also lay on the asphalt, his arms clinging against his sides and his legs pressed together despite Zane’s magical lasso had since disappeared.

“The half-changeling isn’t the only one with information,” Maxwell murmured.

“Oh damn…” Zane prodded the motionless passenger with the toe of his boot. Then he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Uh, boss?”

“What’s going on?” Rebecca stepped toward him, then her gaze fell on the body at his feet.

“Ah, shit.” Zane grimaced. “Yeah, this one’s a no-go too.”

“What did you do?” Maxwell snarled.

“Come on, Hannigan.” Zane gestured toward the body. “I did exactly what I was supposed to do.”

Then he glanced at his augmented rifle, which had clearly come from the new weapons cache of what Shade had taken off yet another one of their enemies. “I think this thing went a little harder than I expected.”

“You mean you killed the target you were supposed to subdue to bring back with us?” Maxwell asked.

“Not on purpose. Hey, it’s the first time I’ve used this thing on a live target, all right? I had no idea.”

With a low growl, Maxwell turned away from their entire team and didn’t seem to realize he had no other immediate target for his anger.

“Hey, what matters are those magicals we’re pulling out of the van right now.” Rebecca nodded toward Tig and Ben helpingeach kidnapped civilian out of their confined quarters one at a time by hand. “Priority number one.”

“I am aware of this mission’s objectives, Roth-Da’al,” Maxwell snapped, then immediately added, “Respectfully.”

This was a shitty situation, and they’d all known it would be. She couldn’t blame anyone on this team for responding accordingly, especially at the sight of an entire van of Harkennr’s next would-be victims right there in front of them.

She ignored the bite in her Head of Security’s comment and instead added, “Who knows? Bravo Team might’ve had better luck.”

Maxwell shot her a pert sidelong look and raised an eyebrow. “Highly doubtful.”

Yes, that was exactly what she was afraid had happened.

27

By the time Rebecca’s team rolled up to the agreed rendezvous point half an hour later—the rescued prisoners split between the Shade vehicle they’d parked farther down the highway and the new van they’d acquired from Harkennr’s guys—Rebecca didn’t know what to expect. She’d sent two teams out to intercept confirmed transport convoys, but she could only be in one place at a time.

Maxwell wasn’t wrong to think Bravo Team wouldn’t have any better luck than they’d had, but Rebecca hadn’t held her breath with the hope that he’d be wrong.

However, the sight of Bravo Team’s Shade vehicle rolling up to their meeting place, followed by a second vehicle she didn’t recognize, was a good start. Both teams had arrived later than they’d planned, but that hardly affected their next steps now that everyone was here.

She also hadn’t expected the other team to show such high spirits when they left their vehicles to converge with Rebecca, Maxwell, and the three other operatives of their team.

“Looks like someone might have some good news,” she muttered as Diego and Hank headed toward them while the remainder of both teams focused on helping the rescued victims of Harkennr’s abhorrent plans get out of the vehicles for a bit for some fresh air and to stretch their legs.

“Looks like you guys were just as successful,” Diego said as he tugged down the brim of his baseball cap that barely hid the red glow of his eyes in the darkness. “I’d love to hear it’s all good news.”

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