A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(33)

By the time they’d reached the private runway in New York, filled up, and set off again, several hours had passed, and Elias’s mood hadn’t improved.

“So, are you planning on telling me what our employer said?” Dara asked after several hours of silence. The jet was just about to begin its descent to the airfield in England.

“It wasn’t the best conversation I’ve ever had with him. He seemed to be happier that the blood elf in charge of Layla is now dead. I had Reyes kill the elf, and told her to ensure that the rest of the blood elves know what happens to those who fail us. I don’t think a second screw-up is going to be tolerated. On top of that, Shane was bested by Layla, a mistake I’m sure he’ll want payback for.”

“Ah, Shane. He was never quite the professional. Always looking for his next hunt, and having to rein himself in. I assume he survived the confrontation.”

“It seems that way, yes, although I doubt he feels too good. We’ll get more details when we get back to the compound.”

“So, with Layla killing two blood elves in her escape, and Reyes killing the one who failed us, do we need more people?”

Elias shrugged. “There’s five of us, and including the blood elves, ten. The boss said if we need it, he’ll send extra staff, but I’m hoping this can be done with the numbers we have. We got caught out and royally spanked for it. I don’t plan on making the same mistake with Layla again.”

“How did she get out of the compound? How did she manage to kill two blood elves and disable Shane?”

“She took a spirit scroll. My guess is a spirit was in the driving seat. If it had been Layla, I doubt she’d have killed so quickly, and if it had been the demon, we’d have seen a smoldering crater where the compound had been. It would have stayed there and killed everything, or at least tried to.”

“Her having a spirit scroll complicates things.”

Elias rubbed his temples. He didn’t really need Dara telling him something he already knew. “She won’t be strong with her new abilities yet. We still have a few days before the bonds are complete. And I doubt she’ll be in any hurry to accept the demon into her psyche, so she won’t have anywhere near the power she could have. This is still a job we can complete without trouble. We just need to find her, get her, and get out of the country. No more hanging around there to get her to talk, no threatening her friends; just get her unconscious and on this jet. Nothing else matters. We’ve tried the easy way, now we make it hard on her.”

Dara’s expression of glee was all that Elias needed to see to know that she was looking forward to whatever came next. Elias had worked with Dara for several decades, and the pair had grown close. To him she was the most trusted, and in many ways, most valuable member of the team, and on more than one occasion that closeness had grown physical. “Even monsters need to love,” she’d told him after their first night together, and Elias had to agree. They were both killers: murderers of the innocent, and not so innocent, in equal measure. He cared a great deal for Dara, and while he was sure she felt the same way, there was no indication that their relationship would ever be anything more. Settling down and growing old together is hard to do when those people might never grow old in the first place, when both of them enjoyed their work a bit too much to ever live peacefully in some suburban idea of paradise.

The plane landed at the same private airfield they’d taken off from the day before. Once the jet was stationary, the pilot opened the door to let everyone out. Ordinarily there would have been a steward to do that, but one hadn’t been supplied on this occasion, and Elias wondered if that was a small measure of punishment by Nergal. He was certainly petty enough.

Elias found that the red Audi RS5 coupe was still parked in the spot he’d left it in, something he was grateful for. He didn’t want to go looking for a car, and he’d taken a liking to the Audi.

“I’m hungry,” Dara said as they both got into the vehicle.

“We’ll grab some food after we’ve spoken to the rest of the team. I want to talk to them immediately,” Elias said as he started the engine. The rest of the drive was completed in silence.

They reached the dirt road, stopping the car outside the entrance to the compound, and then rode the lift all the way to the bottom, where Shane met them.

“Evening, boss,” he said, with a lot less cheer than usual.

“What happened to that?” Dara asked, pointing toward the lift-activation system.

“Our house guest removed all of the metal from it, frying it completely. I’ve had to completely rebuild the mechanism and circuitry. Hopefully it works now, because otherwise getting out of here is going to be impossible.”

“You haven’t been out since she escaped?”

He shook his head. “Couldn’t get the lift back down. I figured this was a better use of my time than what Reyes was doing.”

“And what exactly was she doing?” Elias asked, putting just enough irritation into his words.

“She’s been in the gym for the last twenty-four hours, pretty much. She hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs. She took a shot at Layla when she was leaving too, put a round through her arm.”

Elias wanted to hit something. “Reyes shot at Layla?”

“Lost her cool after Layla killed two of the blood elves. The rest had to stop her from taking a second shot.”