A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(22)

8

“Can I assume that could have gone better?” Dara asked as Elias entered the main room of the underground compound they currently called home. It was furnished with several large sofas, a table with an open laptop on it, and a big TV. Elias’s employers had built the compound as a last-resort retreat for when things got bad and they needed somewhere to hide. So far, it hadn’t been necessary.

“Where is everyone else?” he asked her, ignoring her mocking tone.

“Shane is playing cards with our helpers, and Reyes is in the gym beating the crap out of a punch bag. She’s lucky she heals fast.”

“And Brako?”

“Sleeping further down in the compound. We don’t need him now; it’s better to let him have his rest. A grumpy ogre is a bad ogre.”

Elias had to admit she had a point. Maintaining control over an ogre was a delicate balance between allowing them to kill and keeping them fed. They didn’t eat human flesh, so it meant bringing in a steady supply of sheep and cows.

“How have our helpers been?”

“You like that phrase?” Dara said with a smile. “Creepy, as usual. I don’t honestly know why you brought them.”

“Nergal told me to bring them, so bring them I did. Doesn’t mean I have to use them for anything but the most menial of tasks. They’re just as bad as Brako in terms of enjoying the death and blood a bit too much.”

“Well, it’s right there in their name. Blood elves.”

Elias was about to reply when the laptop beeped. He walked over and opened Skype, seeing a picture of Nergal.

“Is it done?” Nergal asked, getting straight to business.

“Yes, we have her. She’s been given some time to consider her options. I imagine she’ll refuse at first, and we’ll have to follow through with the threat to kill people in front of her.”

“You’re using her friends?”

Elias shook his head. “We took some of her work colleagues. We’ll use them first. I didn’t want to go straight to anyone she’s close to in case we have no leverage to go anywhere after. Honestly, she’s not the type to let innocent people die. She’ll help.”

“Excellent. I expect you on a plane this afternoon.”

“You don’t want me to stay and oversee this? I really do need to visit my old home. It’s almost time to recharge.”

“The recharging will have to wait. Someone else can oversee Layla, that’s why you took your team. The compound misses you, Elias. I think you being there brings a calming influence to those living within its walls. Without you, a few of them thought they had a chance of escaping. Examples were made.”

Elias sighed. Nergal had executed more of the subjects at the compound. “I usually let them escape, kill them outside of the compound.”

“You suggest I did the wrong thing?”

Elias quickly shook his head. He was always happy to give his opinion, but telling his boss he was wrong was a good way to get hurt. He’d seen it more than once and he didn’t want to be the person receiving that kind of treatment. “I just like to give them a little hope that the escapees made it. It means you can crush it later if they get out of hand. It’s why I haven’t put Layla on a jet back to you yet. I want her to think she has a chance to leave this place if she helps us. Flying her across an ocean removes that hope, makes her less likely to help outright.”

Nergal appeared to think on this, then nodded. “I will try your way if it comes to it. Hopefully the leak has been plugged. I believe those you stopped before you left had given instructions for others to use a second escape route. I didn’t realize your job here was so involved.”

In other words, Nergal had assumed that Elias’s job as head of the compound was easy. That sounded about right. “I’ll be on the jet as soon as possible and back tonight. I’ll debrief you then, and we’ll arrange the extradition of Layla once we have her confirmation of assistance.”

“This is the start of something glorious, Elias. Soon, we’ll start our army. We can rule this world.”

“I look forward to it.” Elias ended the call as Dara chuckled.

“Got something you want to say?” he asked her.

“Nergal has no idea, does he?”

“He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s making sure that those left in the compound are happy when I return. Eighty percent of the people there are there because they want to be. We have no trouble. It’s the twenty percent who want to flee, who came to us and then decided to back out. They’re the problem. And twenty percent is a big deal when it’s a hundred people. By the time I get back, Nergal will already have found willing replacements for those he killed.”

“Why not just kill those who don’t want to be there?” Shane asked as he entered the room. “I was listening in.”

“Because some of them are there to show us what happens when it all goes wrong. We need people loyal to us, who have the mental fortitude to deal with taking the power we’re giving them. Those who aren’t, those who refuse, are kept there to see just how long they can refuse, and what happens when they do. And now I have to go back and sort that out, instead of getting Layla to join us. Dara, you’re not to talk to her.”