One particular shipment, as it so happened, was not filled with the chemical vials she had been expecting. After negotiating the lock, she opened the large crate to find… nothing at all. She hissed quietly, wondering where the real shipment was – and whirled at what sounded like a footstep behind her.

The throwing knife struck nothing and clattered to the floor.

The young girl frowned. Her instincts were rarely wrong, and never in such circumstances. She half-closed the huge container’s doors and stepped away, low to the ground.

A tiny hissing noise, otherwise easily missed, echoed through the large warehouse. Elletra dropped to the floor instantly, feeling an impact on her upper thigh. Immediately checking her leg – it was no joke to be shot, as Agatha had found out – she pulled out a small feathered dart and had a terrible feeling that she was no longer the hunter.

Then the fast-acting tranquilliser hit her like the proverbial ton of bricks.