A quick turn brought her face to face with a yawning terrorist, and he yanked his rifle off his shoulder. She swung her sword and blasted him with a tight air gust that knocked him off his feet. His rifle skittered across the deck and he landed hard on his back, gasping after all the air was knocked out of him.

  She needed to remember the mission. Taking out the terrorists was secondary.

  She zoomed over to him, lodged her knee on his chest, and put the blade to his throat.

  “Where’s the bomb?” she asked. “Tell me, and you might live through this.”

  He took a deep, gasping breath, trying to refill his lungs. “You’re nothing,” he replied in French. “You can’t stop us.”

  “If I’m nothing and I can’t stop you,” Zaena offered, switching to French, “then you have nothing to lose by telling me where the bomb is. Consider it a test of the strength of your beliefs.”

  The terrorist lifted his head. He managed to yell before she smashed her gauntlet into his face and knocked him out. A quick slice and dice rendered his weapon and walkie-talkie useless.

  Something was off. She’d not sensed any magic upon her arrival, and the sentries weren’t much more impressive than the hundreds of gangsters she’d faced. Selene had made it clear they’d demonstrated powers, not just the power of surprise.

  Zaena had no doubt Selene was holding back, but there was no reason to deploy the Crimson Wind against such pathetic foes. The government might have been fed bad intel, or the SEALs had killed the most dangerous enemies in the crossfire, and that wasn’t clear.

  She needed to adjust her strategy. Finding and securing the device was the most important thing, and the most likely location of their leader was on the bridge.

  The container stacks had given her cover. There were still no shouts or alarms sounding after taking out the two sentries, despite the shout of the second sentry. A front assault was in order.

  Zaena shot into the air and charged the bridge. Loud shouts in French and English followed.

  Gunfire ripped the air. Bullets whizzed by her. To her surprise, the terrorists on the bridge didn’t ready their guns.

  She smashed through a window. Shattered glass rained all over the control panels and nearby seats.

  Zaena dropped to the deck, her sword in hand. “Where’s the bomb?” she asked in French. “Tell me if you want to survive this.”

  “This doesn’t involve you, Crimson Wind,” a man replied. “You’re Swiss. That’s what they say, isn’t it? Why don’t you go and be a good neutral girl? This isn’t a crime. This is a crusade against a cancer.”

  “I can’t let you kill millions of innocent people,” Zaena insisted, pointing her blade at him. “That’s worse than petty crime.”

  “There is no such thing as an innocent person,” he replied. “Only cancer waiting to be eliminated. You’ll thank us when this is all over.”

  “You’re worse than the gangsters I’ve fought,” she spat. “No. You’re worse than the pathetic criminals I’ve dealt with who were trying to rob the elderly.”

  Zaena’s heart pounded. Here was a human who sounded like an old-school Night Elf. For all the tension among the tribes and differences of opinions, there had never been a faction that had argued the widespread death of elves was a good thing. She’d never truly understand humans.

  “Believe what you want,” the man suggested. “It changes nothing. Along with my men, I’ll defeat you.”

  He must have been the leader. Taking him out might not be enough to win, but it’d disrupt a serious counterattack. First, though, she needed intel.

  “You can’t win against me,” Zaena taunted. “You lack the power. Your weapons aren’t enough. I’ll defeat you all, and then I’ll take the bomb with me.”

  His gaze flicked to the side. It was brief but enough to draw her attention. When she’d flown past earlier, she hadn’t noticed the dark gray curtains across a corner of the bridge behind chairs.

  Zaena pointed her sword at the curtains. “Thank you for that. I’ll be borrowing your deadly weapon.”

  “No,” the leader threatened, “you won’t.”

  Men rushed toward the chairs and drew their guns. They spread out and opened fire. Their bullets stung as they bounced off her armor. Zaena slashed her blade and launched a wide air blast. It struck the men and smacked them into the control panels.

  She snapped her head toward the leader, who stood at the side of the bridge with two other men. None had drawn their weapons. Her skin warmed at the familiar touch of magic. So, it wasn’t a twisted manipulation or lie by Selene.

  Zaena pointed her sword at them. “Who are you?” she asked in Elvish. “Why are you doing this?”

  The leader frowned. “What are you saying?” he replied in French. “That doesn’t sound like any language I’ve heard.”

  “You’re claiming you’re not an elf?” she continued in Elvish.

  He scoffed. “If you want to negotiate, speak a language I know.”

  That was when she noticed the empty pill bottle in his hand. He dropped it on the deck and cracked his knuckles.

  Zaena looked at an unconscious terrorist lying on a console. She’d wondered why they’d suddenly pulled guns. It had been a distraction.

  That also explained why she hadn’t encountered anything earlier. The effects of the pills must have been temporary.

  “You’re not the only one who can be made stronger,” the leader growled. “You made a mistake, like those soldiers we killed. You underestimated our commitment to the cause.” He pointed at her. “I’ll give you one chance. Run home, little Swiss girl, and live a little longer. Trade worthless lives for your mostly worthless life. You don’t have to die today.”

  “Perhaps not, but I suspect you do.” Zaena slammed him with an air blast. He grunted as he smashed into a radar display and cracked the screen.

  “Start the timer!” screamed the leader.

  The other men rushed toward the curtains. Zaena hopped over a control panel, pointed her sword, and sent one man flying into a nearby window with an air gust. He shattered the glass and plunged through the shards. His scream was silenced when he landed with a painful-sounding thud on a metal walkway outside.

  A terrorist rushed her with his fist pulled back. She admired the courage of a man who would take her on without a weapon, but she wasn’t worried about a punch.

  He slammed his fist into her helmet.

  Zaena flew across the bridge and bounced off the wall. She groaned and blinked, trying to get rid of the stars she was seeing. She had not been hit that hard since dealing with Mark Wong’s creation. No human could pull that off.

  Their leader had been right. She’d underestimated their magical enhancement.

  She tried to push to her feet, but the leader kicked her in the stomach. Like his comrade, he hit with the force of a truck and sent her crashing through a window. Dazed, she tumbled through the air and was halfway to the top deck before she could arrest her fall.

  Her head and stomach throbbed. The men had dented the armor and cracked her helmet, but there wasn’t time to worry about her injuries. She needed to stop the bomb.

  Zaena blasted back toward the bridge, hit the deck with a roll, and jumped to her feet. She brought up her sword.

  The leader and the other terrorist had shoved the chairs aside and yanked down the curtains. The nuclear bomb rested there.

  Zaena slapped her sword on her hip and vaulted over a control panel. She didn’t want to risk damaging the bomb with too powerful a spell. The risk of contamination was high, and it wasn’t like her tutors had trained her to deal with radiation.

  The terrorist who had hit her before swung his fist again. She ducked and grabbed him, then spun him and threw him toward the door. She shoved him out with a quick air gust, and he flapped his arm in a feeble attempt to arrest his fall. That left her with only the leader.

  Zaena flew toward him and tackled him. She slammed him into the deck, but he kicked her off so hard she smacked against the ceiling and hit the floor with a clang. She jumped back up, ignoring the ache throughout her body, and raised her sword.

  At least he was away from the bomb. That simplified matters.

  “I might have underestimated you,” Zaena offered, “but you underestimated me.”

  Blood dripped from the back of the terrorist leader’s head. A cut on his cheek sealed itself.

  He rubbed his jaw. “You can’t win, Crimson Wind.”

  The shouts of his men were growing closer. The terrorist reinforcements. She had no idea how many had pills.

  “I’ll take out however many of you I need to,” Zaena replied.

  “You don’t understand,” the leader growled. “If I can’t set the bomb off in the city, I’ll at least take you with me.”

  He jumped over a panel and sprinted toward the bomb. Zaena swung her sword in a wide arc and knocked him to the side with a gust, and his head smacked into the deck with an audible pop. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle. He’d stopped breathing.

  “I can win,” Zaena declared. “This wouldn’t have been so challenging if it weren’t for that bomb.”

  The man rolled onto his side. His chest began rising and falling, and his neck snapped back into place. He stood with a wide grin.

  “That’s vexing,” Zaena offered.

  “You can’t push me around to win,” the terrorist explained. “You can’t stab me to death. There’s no way you can win. You have to kill me to win, and you won’t be able to.”

  He couldn’t be immortal. Even the most powerful elf who had twisted their body couldn’t accomplish that. Kalain’s strange soul-binding experiment in the desert was the closest thing she’d seen to true immortality.

  His rant was a good thing. As long as the terrorist was concentrating on her, he wasn’t setting off the bomb.

  “Where did you get the pills?” Zaena asked. “Those are special, far more special than you might realize.”

  “I’ll die before I tell you, dog of the Americans.” He spat at her feet and inclined his head toward the bomb. “You might have survived our hits, but your armor won’t let you survive a nuclear blast.”

  Zaena stabbed him through the heart. “I’d rather not test that.”

  “Failed again.” He coughed up blood and pulled back toward the bomb. “You have no choice. You can’t kill me. Don’t you understand the power of the pills?”

  Zaena yanked out her sword. “You’re not soul-bound. I can win against you by destroying your body.”

  “Soul-bound?” He reached toward the bomb. “Pray to whatever god you believe in, Crimson Wind. You’ll be seeing them soon.”

  Zaena swung her sword toward his neck. Her blade cut through with ease, and his head and body dropped to the ground.

  She stared at him, holding her breath, and waited to see if his head reconnected to the body. After thirty seconds, she let out her breath and slapped her sword on her hip.

  Zaena walked over to the bomb. Nothing was beeping or counting down. That was promising.

  Screams and shouts sounded from below, this time far closer than before. Heavy footfalls echoed off the metal stairs leading to the bridge.

  Zaena hoisted up the bomb and flew out the window. Terrorists on the nearby stairs and on the deck opened fire. She spun to keep her back to the rifles and the bomb safe from stray bullets.

  She hissed as pain spread over her back. A concentrated burst of air shot her away from the ship with the bomb wrapped tightly in her arms.

  The terrorists continued firing. Their bullets filled the air, but she was too far away.

  Her radio crackled to life. “Confirm acquisition of the bomb.”

  “I have it,” Zaena replied. “I didn’t disable all the terrorists. Once I drop off the bomb, I can return and disable them.”

  “No.” It was Selene’s voice. “Continue toward the rendezvous point with the bomb. We’ll handle the terrorists.”

  “You don’t understand. It’ll turn out the same as before.”

  A roar erupted in front of Zaena, in the opposite direction of the cargo ship. She didn’t see anything.

  It couldn’t be a dragon. She’d accept the terrorists had gotten their hands on magic pills that altered people, but not that somehow they’d dug up a dragon and figured out how to control it. Mark Wong couldn’t have pulled that off.

  Two dark shapes appeared in the distance. Zaena moved closer to the ocean surface. She couldn’t risk fighting anything with the bomb. The roar turned into a constant rumbling.

  The shapes grew larger, but they weren’t approaching dragons. Two fighter planes screamed overhead. They released a barrage of missiles into the ship.

  The deadly weapons struck up and down the hull of the cargo ship. Explosions rippled across it, consuming it in fire and death. That was one way to take care of loose ends and magically enhanced terrorists.

  Zaena sighed and accelerated away from the smoldering, sinking wreckage. She couldn’t fly as fast as a jet, but the quicker she dropped off the bomb, the better.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Helmet off but armor still on, Zaena sat on a metal chair and stared at Selene’s face on the laptop. Karl sat beside her. She’d dropped the bomb off on a Navy destroyer twenty minutes prior to returning to their temporary ops center.

  “I wish to thank you, Princess Zaena,” Selene offered. “On behalf of the United States government and its people. Your efforts in this incident are most appreciated.”

  “There was magic involved,” Zaena noted with a frown. “Pills appeared to be the source. The initial terrorists I encountered had no powers, so whatever they were using is likely temporary and limited.”

  Selene’s expression didn’t change. “That’s unfortunate, but in light of our previous discussion, it’s not all that surprising. We can only hope the elimination of Mark Wong will keep future incidents to a minimum. It’s unfortunate that you didn’t recover any samples. It would have been useful for our scientists.”

  “Her job wasn’t to collect samples,” Karl noted. “The Navy blew that ship to hell. You could have waited.”

  “Given what happened before, we thought it best to handle the situation severely and conclusively,” Selene replied. “The only reason we didn’t start with that action was because of the bomb.”

  “You would have blown it up with jets from the beginning?” He laughed. “How were you going to cover that up?”

  “Oh, that’s simple, Mr. Smith. Everyone will know there was a tragic explosion from improperly stored chemicals aboard the ship. The information will be provided to the media tomorrow. We want to give them just enough time to offer different theories.”

  “Why?” Zaena asked. “If you’re going to lie about something, why not lie right away?”

  “Because, Princess, people swallow lies better once several alternatives have been presented and they’ve had time to consider them. A proliferation of theories and questions makes them ache for closure while weakening the individual’s belief in particular explanations. When there are too many truths, people will cling to one that seems reasonable and official. Think of it as divide and conquer in information warfare.”

  “We stopped the men this time, but that might not be the end of it.” Zaena furrowed her brow. “You can’t be sure there are no additional sources for the pills. We were fortunate that these men were on the ocean. What if they’d elected to attack innocent people? With their regenerative powers, they could have killed hundreds of people before being taken down.”

  Selene nodded. “That’s true, and we’re actively investigating any unusual incidents for possible magical involvement. We’re also further exploring any groups or suppliers associated with the terrorists to trace it back.”

  “What if it wasn’t Mark Wong?” Karl asked. “We’re all assuming it’s him, based on limited evidence.”

  “As well as previously established connections,” Selene offered. “I’m not free to discuss them all, but right now, the strongest evidence points his way. I wouldn’t worry too much about the pills. The important thing is, the current crop of terrorists were neutralized.”

  Zaena shook her head. “Karl’s right. My activities with the nexus have caught the attention of other elves. Mark Wong is proof that dishonorable elves can have an outsized influence on human society. If there’s one of my kind who is participating in harming innocents, I need to bring them to justice.”

  “I see. I’m glad to hear you’re so enthusiastic about protecting people.”

  Karl stared at Zaena for a long moment before his attention flicked to the laptop. “What if you’re thinking about this the wrong way?”

  “Please do enlighten me, Mr. Smith,” replied Selene. “What do you think you know that we don’t? Please remember, I have far more resources for collection and analysis than you do.”

  “I think Zaena and I have dealt directly with Amanda Morton this last year,” Karl replied. “I know we’re not so used to government black ops crap that we can’t still smell the BS coming off her. How do you know she’s not been using disposable people as test subjects? Everyone agrees she’s obsessed with her pills. Maybe she’s moved things along without your help.”

  Zaena gasped. “I have my problems with Miss Morton, but I find it hard to believe she’d supply terrorists. It’s her methods, not her goals, that are monstrous.”

  “She might have wanted to put it out there for people she didn’t care about,” Karl suggested. “Before she used them on herself.”

  Selene replied, “Amanda has made it very clear she wants more pills from the government. I doubt she’d be acting the way she has in our dealings if she was able to create them herself.”

  “It was a thought.” Karl mused. “I’m having a hard time buying that Mark Wong set this all up without revealing anything to Zaena during their showdown. He said a lot of crap, but he never claimed credit for the pills.”

  “It might have been his final insult,” Zaena suggested, “but it doesn’t matter. We don’t have him or the terrorists to question. I refuse to believe Amanda Morton is so ruthless that she wouldn’t care about people who might use a nuclear device. Nor would it make much sense that she’d risk blowing up the city she lives in.”