But even then, with her heart lifted, Mai couldn’t help but stare up into the rafters where the shadows coiled. It wasn’t anything physical, or obvious, just something out there in the world oppressing their contentment.
Most of the team stayed together, perhaps feeling a deeper solace in company. Drake sat with Alicia and Dahl, quietly reassured. Hayden and Kinimaka chatted a meter or so to their right, and the big Hawaiian asked her if she’d like to try again. Hayden’s smile of joy was more than enough of a response.
At one point they managed to get hold of Yorgi, though the line was crackling and the young thief sounded incredibly distant.
“I am okay,” he yelled intermittently, as if through thick ice. “I am being… I think… strange… but nothing I can rely on. It is… cold… the north.”
All was good. Drake yelled out a promise to join him if they needed him but Yorgi’s reply was lost to the severed connection and the snow and ice. He hated to think of their friend struggling on alone.
Luther and Molokai both sat on the hard floor, shot glasses arrayed around them like small offerings, all of them empty. Kenzie slid them over a fresh bottle with her boot. In the same movement she caught Dahl’s eye.
She beckoned him over to a corner.
“I am leaving,” she said. “Right now, I’ve done my time with this group. Earned my pardon. If you don’t want me, Torsten, I don’t want to be here.”
Dahl felt something tug at his heart. “I can’t say I’m not torn, Kenzie, but I haven’t changed my mind.”
“The ball and chain comes first?”
“Family,” he amended. “Family comes first.”
“Tell me this… if you didn’t have children what would you do?”
The look on his face said it all but, for Kenzie, that was even worse. She didn’t strike him, didn’t swear at him, but he knew right then and there that their friendship was firmly over.
“I hope you get back to your family,” she said.
He tried to shake the feeling of anxiety that had nothing to do with Kenzie. “Thanks. I will.”
“Goodbye, then.” Kenzie raised her voice to address the entire warehouse and stalked toward the door.
“Goodbye, Kenzie,” Dahl whispered, closing one door and wondering if he would live to regret it.
Heartfelt farewells came from the entire team; strange for some, not so for others. Kenzie had made herself one of them with her fearless fighting, her loyalty and her determination. She would always be one of them.
Drake hated to see her go. The thought, what’s next? rattled around his head like a crazy demon. During the hunt for Tempest he’d imagined the team taking a break, taking a vacation or revisiting loved ones, finding some form of life in the world that might help them through the coming battles.
Crowe took the call soon after that. They had all been fully pardoned.
Team SPEAR left the building.
For more information on the future of the Matt Drake world and other David Leadbeater novels please read on:
I hope you enjoyed Drake 18, Weapons of the Gods, and are already looking forward to the next installment! If you haven’t guessed what’s coming by now, I won’t spoil it, but rest assured it’s going to be different, action-packed, and dangerous. Not since Drake 7 has the team seen such upheaval. Drake 19 will release October 2018. The book’s revealing title will be released on my Facebook page in February.
I am now writing Alicia 4, which will be available in early April 2018, and then Amazon will re-publish The Relic Hunters in June 2018. This will happen just two months before Relic Hunters 2 releases, hopefully in August. For those that have already purchased Relic Hunters 1, the new, upgraded edition should simply appear as a free Kindle download.
If you enjoyed this or any of my other books please leave a review.
Other Books by David Leadbeater:
A constantly evolving, action-packed romp based in the escapist action-adventure genre:
The Bones of Odin (Matt Drake #1)
The Blood King Conspiracy (Matt Drake #2)
The Gates of Hell (Matt Drake 3)
The Tomb of the Gods (Matt Drake #4)
Brothers in Arms (Matt Drake #5)
The Swords of Babylon (Matt Drake #6)
Blood Vengeance (Matt Drake #7)
Last Man Standing (Matt Drake #8)
The Plagues of Pandora (Matt Drake #9)
The Lost Kingdom (Matt Drake #10)
The Ghost Ships of Arizona (Matt Drake #11)
The Last Bazaar (Matt Drake #12)
The Edge of Armageddon (Matt Drake #13)
The Treasures of Saint Germain (Matt Drake #14)
Inca Kings (Matt Drake #15)
The Four Corners of the Earth (Matt Drake #16)
The Seven Seals of Egypt (Matt Drake #17)
Aztec Gold (Alicia Myles #1)
Crusader’s Gold (Alicia Myles #2)
Caribbean Gold (Alicia Myles #3)
Stand Your Ground (Dahl Thriller #1)
The Relic Hunters (Relic Hunters #1)
The Razor’s Edge (Disavowed #1)
In Harm’s Way (Disavowed #2)
Threat Leveclass="underline" Red (Disavowed #3)
Chosen (The Chosen Trilogy #1)
Guardians (The Chosen Tribology #2)
Walking with Ghosts (A short story)
A Whispering of Ghosts (A short story)
All genuine comments are very welcome at:
davidleadbeater2011@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter—@dleadbeater2011
Visit David’s website for the latest news and information:
davidleadbeater.com