Lyla sat at the corner of the table, her eyes on Elliott as he held his hands out in faux protest. She’d been around powerful men and women before but Elliot was operating on another level. His calm threats, delivered with quiet confidence unnerved her, and she was on his side. Maybe that’s why they alarmed her. She knew he was telling the truth and would follow through. And with that quiet confidence, he acted like this – amiable, friendly…even a little cheeky. Because he could afford to be.

  And that made him infinitely more dangerous.

  “How do you know Shadows have found us?” Khasran asked, drawing Lyla’s attention back to the grey-haired woman by the door to her right.

  “One of the kids found a way outside. He made contact with a stray dog,” Caphri said, walking further inside the room to stand by the table near Lyla.

  “Out here?” Khasran asked.

  “Exactly. We investigated. Found evidence that someone had been in the forest. Most likely doing reconnaissance.”

  “It could have just been villagers?” Aurae said.

  Caphri shook her head. “Someone got close to where we are. They got past the scouts without being seen.”

  Khasran frowned, staring at the table. “It doesn’t make sense. Why now?”

  “Maybe it took them this long to find us?” Aurae offered.

  Khasran shook his head. “If they were looking for us, we would have heard and if they wanted to find us, it wouldn’t take them long.” He glanced in Lyla’s direction. “Would it?”

  “Probably not. It took Elliott half a day.”

  Khasran sat back in his chair, his hands clasped together in front of his face with his elbows on the table. “When did the dog first appear?”

  “Two days ago.”

  Metal rattled outside in the tunnel, the sound getting closer until a few moments later, a man appeared wearing plate armour, with a sword scabbarded at his waist.

  “Sir, I’ve been told to report that we’ve lost contact with the scouts.”

  “All of them?” Khasran replied.

  “Yes.”

  Khasran’s mouth tightened, but Lyla saw the slight alarm that flashed across his eyes as he pushed his chair back and got up, making his way towards the door. Aurae followed his lead. Lyla glanced at Elliott who smiled back at her and rubbed his hands together.

  Khasran stopped by the door, Elliott leaning against the wall to its side. Both men looked at each other.

  “I believe you want to save these children as much as I do,” Khasran said.

  “And why would you believe that?”

  “You only threatened the adults.”

  Elliott smiled. “I don’t kill kids.” Then Elliott cocked his head and pursed his lips. “Well, not until they’re old enough to know better. Doesn’t mean I want to save them though.”

  “Will you help us? If it’s one of the named squads, I’ll be able to take one or two of them on. Not all six.”

  “I’ve got a feeling you won’t have to,” Elliott said with a grin, “but lead on.”

  The other three gave him an uneasy look, before Khasran led them out of the room behind the armoured man.

  Elliott nodded at Lyla, before falling in behind. Lyla scraped her chair back and hurried to Elliott’s side.

  “Have the children been moved?” Khasran said ahead of them. They were walking in twos – Khasran and the soldier at the lead, Aurae and Caphri in the middle, with Elliott and Lyla bringing up the rear.

  “They’re moving them slowly in groups. Trying not to scare them,” the soldier replied. “We’ve asked all ranked units to come to the main hall.”

  “Good.”

  Their pace was brisk and it wasn’t long before they emerged into the main hall. Lyla had felt a pang of jealousy when she saw it earlier. She didn’t begrudge these children their freedom. She just wondered how different her life could have been if she had been rescued in the same way. Her eyes flickered to Elliott. Even if he didn’t get involved, she would. If nothing else, seeing this haven made her just as determined to protect what these children had - the freedom and innocence that she herself had never known.

  The hall was quieter than earlier, the musical instruments put away, the kids no longer running between the tables, but instead, sat in groups of four or five, quietly chatting among themselves as they waited and watched the others. The guards that dotted the perimeter of the room seemed to have tripled. They overlooked the proceedings as other adults and the older kids carefully but swiftly led each group of children towards tunnels nearby, the ones leading to the kitchens and living quarters. A dozen guards or so stood closer to the middle of the room, eyes on the tunnels on the opposite side.

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  “Why do you have so many entry points?” Lyla asked. Khasran glanced over his shoulder.

  “Easier to escape,” he said.

  “We’re working to secure tunnels one and two,” the soldier added. Khasran nodded, then frowned. Lyla looked to her left, where Elliott had dragged himself a chair and sat down, one leg crossed over the other.

  “Is he always like this?” It was Aurae who spoke.

  “I’ve only known him a day, but yes, from what I’ve seen,” Lyla replied. Then she dragged a chair beside Elliott and sat down herself. “I’d be more worried if he was concerned.”

  Looks passed between the other four, as groups of guards approached Khasran, leaving just the dozen in the middle facing the entrances. The groups of kids were thinning out as more were taken to safety, away from where the fighting would begin.

  “Are you really not going to help them?” Lyla whispered to Elliott. “If you don’t, I will.”

  Elliott kept his eyes focused on the entrance they had used earlier – when they first entered the hall. “Could you have taken the other five in your squad alone?”

  “Maybe two or three of them with help. All five together? On my own? No chance.”

  “So what makes you think you’ll be able to take these on, unless they’re not a squad like your own?”

  “We still have to do something. We can’t just sit here and watch these people die. At least I can buy them time, and if I get involved, you swore to protect me.”

  Elliott turned to her with a raised eyebrow, though he had a cheeky smile on his face. “I don’t recall promising to protect you from your own stupidity.”

  “You’d just let me die?”

  “If someone knows they can’t fly and jumps off a cliff, I don’t see how that’s my problem.”

  She kept her eyes fixed on his, looking for any hint of a lie in his words. There wasn’t any. He really was that blunt. But deep down, she didn’t believe he would allow anything to happen to the kids. Not since that first conversation she’d had with him. He’d always seemed interested in the kids and the programs. Even the way he had tracked this place down from the market in Carsonne. Kids meant something to him. She was sure of it.

  Still, she stood up and removed the silk dress she had been wearing, revealing her dark brown and green leather armour beneath, with the four daggers sheathed at her waist.

  “I guess I’ll take my chances on there being some good in you. Some desire to help others beyond what you can gain from it.”

  An explosive clang of metal boomed throughout the hall, whipping heads around to the source of the sound. Several of the guards towards the middle had been knocked down like bowling pins, and one had been launched across the room and lay crumpled against the base of the wall.

  From one of the entrances, six figures walked into the hall, with a half-a-dozen others following behind them. Soft murmurs and the odd muffled cry sounded among the kids as the adults and teenagers hurried to hide them away, not bothering with groups anymore.

  Lyla recognised two of the newcomers walking towards the middle of the room, which would make the six of them the Shadow’s Charlie squad. Vixias – their squad leader – was a bit like Talghar, wearing an unbuttoned dark brown jerkin that exposed his chiselled torso and bulging arms, though he was a little smaller than her former leader. He had an absurdly oversized sword in his right hand, with a flat, wide blade half as thick as a normal man. But Lyla had seen him use it before. It wasn’t for show.

  Walking beside him was his second – Elanna – a small and lithe assassin. She wore a figure-hugging white leather bodysuit and had nails as long as her fingers, each tip dipped in one of her specialist poisons. She carried more vials on the belt at her waist. They were flanked on either side by the others of their squad – it looked like three more warriors and one more assassin, but Lyla didn’t know their names. All melee made sense though – she knew the Charlie squad were specialised in close quarters combat in tight spaces, unlike her former Delta squad that were focused on hunting through more open areas.

  Khasran stepped forward, walking past the last few groups of kids, Aurae and Caphri at his side with the thirty or so guards falling in behind. Lyla began following, glancing back at Elliott, who remained unmoved, sitting nonchalantly, lounging against the back of the chair with one leg crossed over the other.

  Khasran halted roughly ten metres from the Shadows. Lyla shuffled past the guards, making her way to stand just behind Aurae’s left shoulder. The elf gave her a slight nod and a small smile, before turning to look at Elliott with disgust.

  The man had moved his chair for a better look!

  “Khasran, Khasran, Khasran,” Elanna sang. “You’ve been a naughty boy.”

  “Elanna,” Vixias said. “Have some respect for our teacher.”

  “What do you want?” Khasran asked. “Why come for me now?”

  “We were in the area,” Vixias responded, “and were asked to take care of business.”

  “How long have you known we were here.”

  “Right here? A couple of days. In Aldren – a few years.”

  “A few years?”

  “Yup.”

  “So, why now?”

  “With the war, it wasn’t worth coming for you then. But now, the Emperor’s tying up loose ends,” Vixias replied. He studied the look on Khasran’s face.

  “Guess there’s no harm in telling you. You’ll all be dead soon. We’ve almost won. Rhian is dead. We’re just waiting for the orders and Aldren will be gone soon. We have an army on Carsonne’s doorstep. They just don’t know it yet. Anyway, since we were in the area like I said, we were told to come take care of you beforehand.”

  Khasran used his hands to make signals behind his back. The guards around him fanned out and drew their weapons. Aurae and Caphri remained at Khasran’s side.

  Vixias scanned the guards – most likely checking if any were actual threats, before his eyes fell on Lyla. They widened slightly in recognition, a questioning look on his face.

  “It’s a surprise to see you here, Lyla,” Vixias said. Elanna looked in her direction too. “I thought you were dead, along with the rest of your squad. Don’t tell me you sold them out and you’ve been helping Khasran all this time?”

  Lyla remained quiet, her hands on the hilt of her daggers. She didn’t think she could take Vixias. She tiptoed to whisper into Khasran’s ear. “I can take Elanna, but not Vixias.” Khasran nodded with a slight glance in her direction, a look of surprise in his eyes. She knew why. The last time he’d spoken to her, she was on her way to joining the Shadows. Now, she was ready to kill them.

  “This won’t be easy for you,” Khasran said, taking another step forward. “You’ll have to get through us before you can take the kids.”

  Vixias rested his sword on his shoulder. “Take the kids? We’re not here to take the kids.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Our orders are to kill you all. Including the kids.”

  There was a moment of silence as Elanna took a fighting stance and the other four Shadows fanned out to the sides, waiting for Vixias’s order. Lyla drew her daggers, as she shuffled across to Khasran’s right side. She steeled her legs, ready to charge at Elanna. The other woman licked her lips, then smiled at her.

  Before anyone could attack, a familiar voice sounded from behind the Shadows.

  “If you so much as look in the direction of those kids, I’ll remove your eyeballs with my bare hands and pickle them in a jar.”

  Lyla looked back to Elliott, who grinned and tilted his head.

  The Shadows turned around to see who had spoken and Lyla couldn’t help but smile herself. Of course. This was why Elliott wasn’t bothered.

  Standing in the entrance was Isabel, shadows dancing across her face from the flames of the torches nearby. She wore her maid’s outfit – a black figure-hugging bodice and a cloche-styled skirt.

  And in her hands, she gripped the handle of her monstrous battle-axe.

  “Who’s first?” Isabel said.