The dwarf shook her head. “It’s not that simple. One of us might have the same blood type, but nobody else has metal magic. I’m worried that Owen will have a bad reaction if I try to give him someone else’s blood, especially blood that contains a different kind of elemental magic. He’s so weak right now that it might kill him outright.”
I knew she was right, that we couldn’t take the risk, but frustration pulsed through my body all the same. I felt so damn useless right now. The knowledge that there was nothing I could do to help Owen burned through my heart like acid.
“Will he wake up?” I whispered. “Did I kill him after all?”
Jo-Jo gave me a helpless look. “I don’t know, darling. Let’s give it a few hours and see. Okay? He’s been through a hard trauma. Maybe his brain just needs a little time to catch up with his body.”
I nodded and dropped my head so no one would see the tears scalding my eyes and streaking down my face.
Jo-Jo reached down, took hold of my injured arm, and used her magic to heal my own wounds. It only took a minute. She laid her hand on my shoulder a moment, then left. The others followed, and Bria shut the doors behind them, so that I was the only one left with Owen in the salon.
I gripped his hand in mine, waiting for him to open his eyes. But he didn’t, and I didn’t know when he would—if ever.
More tears streaked down my cheeks, but I scooted my chair up as close as possible to Owen, tightened my grip on his hand, and willed him to wake up with all the love I had.
24
For a long time, I sat by Owen’s side, my gaze locked on his face, my body rigid and tense, ready to run and get Jo-Jo at the slightest sign that something was wrong and that he was getting worse.
He still looked far too pale, but his breathing remained clear and even, his chest rising and falling in a reassuring rhythm. Every once in a while, his closed eyes would twitch, as though he were squinting at something only he could see. I wondered what he was dreaming about. I hoped that it was something good—and anything other than what had happened to him tonight.
His steady, continued breathing slowly lulled me into relaxing and putting my head down on his shoulder. The tension leaked out of my body, and I found myself sinking into my own dreams, my own memories . . .
I stared down at Renaldo Pike’s body, his own mace still sticking out of his back.
“You killed him,” Lorelei whispered. “You actually killed him.”
I grunted and cradled my broken wrist to my chest. I hadn’t killed him so much as I’d gotten lucky and survived him, but I’d let her think what she wanted.
Lorelei got to her feet and hobbled over to her father. She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, as if she were afraid that he was going to leap up like a zombie and attack her again. Maybe he was a zombie to her—a nightmare that just kept coming back no matter how many times you tried to forget about it.
Footsteps crashed through the trees. My heart lifted, and I hoped it was Fletcher or one of the Deveraux sisters, but instead, a boy ran into the clearing. Black hair, blue eyes, handsome face. I knew at once that it was Raymond, who’d wrecked Sophia’s convertible with her, Jo-Jo, and Fletcher inside.
He stopped short at the sight of Lorelei standing over their father’s body. “You little bitch!” he hissed. “You’re dead! I’ll kill you for this!”
He opened his fist, revealing a hand full of nails. Instead of running or trying to get out of the way, Lorelei stared at him like he was the same sort of zombie their father was.
Raymond reared his hand back, metal magic swirling around him the same way it had his father. I shuddered at the resemblance.
He let the nails fly. I reached for my Stone magic, using it to harden my skin. Then I stepped in front of Lorelei, shoving her out of the way. I tried to dive to the ground, but I wasn’t fast enough.
I screamed and fell to the ground as the nails punched into my back, ripping through what little Stone magic I’d brought to bear. I felt like a porcupine, only I couldn’t get rid of my quills.
A pair of boots planted themselves in front of my face. I peered up and realized that Raymond was glaring down at me—and that he had more nails in his hand. Desperate, I reached for my Ice magic, trying to make a dagger to fend him off, but that power was much weaker than my Stone magic, and all I ended up with was a cold twig. Raymond stomped down on my hand, crushing the Ice and my fingers along with it. I yelped in pain.
“You stupid fool,” he hissed again. “You should have stayed out of the way. Now I’m going to kill you too for protecting her—”
Crack!
Lorelei smashed a thick, heavy tree limb across the back of his skull, and her brother’s eyes rolled up in his head. He let out an audible oof, as though she’d driven all the air out of his lungs, and toppled to the ground.
But she kept right on hitting him.
Lorelei slammed the branch into his arms, legs, and back, over and over again, before finally concentrating on his head.
“You killed her!” she screamed. “You both killed my mother! I hate you! I hate you both!”
Blood poured out of Raymond’s wounds, but he remained unconscious. All I could do was lie there and watch her beat him. I couldn’t move, not with all the nails in my back, and I was lucky that I hadn’t passed out. Or maybe not so lucky, given all the pain that pulsed through my back, shoulder, arm, and wrist.
Footsteps crashed through the trees, and I tensed, wondering if Renaldo and Raymond had brought more men with them. But Fletcher, Jo-Jo, and Sophia ran into the clearing. They had blackened faces, singed hair, and ugly red burns from the convertible crash, but they were all standing, and some of the terror and hurt in my heart eased at the sight of them.
Fletcher pried the stick out of Lorelei’s hands and tossed it aside. It landed on the ground next to me, Raymond’s blood dripping off the wood.
“That’s enough,” the old man said. “That’s enough. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”
“No!” she screamed. “Let me kill him! Please! Please, let me kill him . . .”
Her voice choked off, and she started sobbing. Sophia grabbed Lorelei, cradling the girl to her chest, shushing her, and telling her that everything was going to be all right, even if we all knew that it wasn’t.
Fletcher stared at Lorelei, an unreadable expression on his face, then hurried over and dropped to his knees beside me. He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, staring at all the nails sticking out of my back.
“Gin, are you all right?”
“Just peachy,” I drawled, although my voice came out as a hoarse wheeze. “I always wanted to try acupuncture.”
Fletcher laughed, the harsh sound full of worry. “You just lie still. Jo-Jo will help you.”
The dwarf dropped to her knees beside me. “We’ll fix you right up, darling.”
Jo-Jo used her Air magic to fish the nails out of my back, one by one. It hurt—horribly—like getting dozens of shots in reverse, but Fletcher held my hand the whole time.
Finally, Jo-Jo finished, and Fletcher helped me sit up. Lorelei was still crying against Sophia’s chest, and the Goth dwarf jerked her head at Raymond, who was still unconscious.
“What about him?” Sophia rasped. “Kill him now?”
Fletcher stood over the boy, staring down at him, a silverstone knife glinting in his brown, weathered hand. Finally, he shook his head. “No kids—ever,” he murmured. “The boy is only sixteen.”
“No!” Lorelei shouted, her hands clenching into fists. “You have to kill him now! Or else he’ll just come back later and try to kill us all again. I know he will. I know it!”
Fletcher looked at her tear-streaked face, then back at the boy. I could see the struggle in his eyes. He wanted to do as Lorelei asked—he wanted to kill Raymond and end things right here, right now. We all knew that Raymond was goi
ng to grow up to be just another sadistic version of his father.
But Fletcher shook his head again and dropped his knife to his side. “No kids—ever,” he repeated in a firmer voice. “Don’t worry about your brother. We’re going to give you a new last name and make sure that he can never find you. You’ll never see him again after today. I promise you that. Okay?”
Lorelei’s shoulders slumped. Because it wasn’t okay with her. Because she didn’t believe that Fletcher could keep her safe.
On the ground, Raymond groaned louder, starting to come around. “Kill you for this,” he mumbled. “Kill you . . .”
Lorelei shuddered and turned away, as though she couldn’t stand to look at him—and the danger he still represented.
For the first time since I’d known him, I thought that Fletcher had made the wrong decision. But he always taught me that an assassin without limits was just a monster, and he was keeping to his code . . .
“Gin?” a low, raspy voice said.
At first, I thought that I was still dreaming, that Fletcher was saying something else to me. But then I realized that I was in Jo-Jo’s salon, still clutching Owen’s hand, having fallen asleep next to him. I slowly lifted my head from his shoulder, wondering if I had just imagined the sound of his voice.
But his violet eyes were open and steady on mine.
“Hey,” Owen rasped again, giving me that familiar, crooked grin I loved so much.
“Hey,” I whispered back, tears streaming down my face. “How do you feel?”
“Like a human shish kebab.”
I laughed at his bad joke, but the ache in my heart eased. He was going to be okay.
Owen was still lying in the salon chair, so I got up and carefully lay down next to him, fitting my body against his. He wrapped one arm around me, but even that small motion exhausted him, so I scooted closer and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Then I laid my head down on his shoulder, splayed my fingers across his chest, and listened to the steady thump-thump-thump of his heart.
Beating strongly, just like always.
* * *
Owen drifted back to sleep, and I lay there, spooned next to him, for the better part of an hour before the front door banged open. Quick footsteps hurried in our direction.
“Owen! Owen!” a familiar voice called out.
Owen’s eyes snapped open as a college-age girl with blue-black hair, porcelain skin, and blue eyes burst into the salon. Eva Grayson, Owen’s baby sister.
“Owen!” she yelled again.
I got up out of the chair. Eva hurried over and threw herself down on top of Owen, even though he was still lying in the chair.
“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Eva said. “You had me worried sick!”
Owen laughed. “I’m fine, Eva. Really, I am. Jo-Jo fixed me right up.”
Eva drew back and gave him some breathing room. “What happened? I got a call from Silvio saying that you and Gin had been in some sort of fight and that you were hurt real bad. I was up at Country Daze, spending the night with Violet, but I got here as soon as I could.”
I cleared my throat. “I’ll give you two some time alone.”
Eva nodded at me, then took my chair next to Owen.
He reached out and grabbed my hand. “Hey,” he said in a soft voice. “It’s not your fault. Don’t you think for one second that it was. I knew exactly what I was getting into.”
I leaned down and brushed my lips across his forehead. “And I love you for that—for backing me up no matter what. Just get some rest. I’ll fix us all something to eat while you two talk.”
Owen nodded and focused his attention on Eva, reassuring her that he was fine and that everything was okay.
I stood in the salon doorway and watched them a moment, then closed the doors so I could get started on what needed to be done now.
Finding and killing Raymond Pike—once and for all.
25
I headed into the kitchen. Jo-Jo had brewed a pot of coffee, and the rich chicory scent filled the air. I drew in a deep breath, thinking of Fletcher, who had drunk the same dark brew. The scent and all the memories it called up of the old man steadied me. I knew what he would do now in my shoes, and I was finally ready to embrace it myself.
Jo-Jo, Sophia, Cooper, and Finn were talking to Mallory in soft voices, while Silvio texted on his phone. Lorelei stood off by herself a few feet away.
The only people missing were Bria and Xavier. They must have headed back to Lorelei’s mansion to deal with the aftermath of Pike’s attack. I wondered if they had found Corbin unconscious inside the house yet. But I wasn’t worried about him. Corbin hadn’t been injured nearly as badly as Owen had.
The others stopped talking at the sight of my cold, hard face. I nodded at everyone, then washed my hands and opened the fridge, wondering what sort of nibbles I could make. Something light but healthy, I decided. Owen would need his fruits and veggies to get his strength back up. So I grabbed some pineapple out of the fridge, along with strawberries, mangoes, a couple of kiwis, and a lime. I plucked a knife from one of the drawers and started cutting up the fruit, sticking it all in a large bowl.
My friends stared at me, wondering what I was doing making fruit salad at a time like this. But it was either this or go out into the backyard and stab one of Jo-Jo’s trees to death to work out some of my anger. Even now that I knew that Owen was going to be okay, I still wanted to pulverize everything and everyone within spitting distance just so they could feel a small portion of the anguish that I had felt tonight.
But instead of going all Gin smash, I grabbed a mango and started cutting into it.
“Um, Gin?” Finn asked. “Are you okay?”
“Yep.”
I whacked my way through another mango, slicing off the thick skin, then filleting the fruit off the troublesome seed inside. Everyone would be over to see about Owen in the morning, so we were going to need a lot of fruit salad. And bacon. And pancakes. Stacks of them. I frowned, wondering if I had time to run out to the grocery store to make sure I had enough for everyone. Later, I decided. After Owen was asleep.
Finn cleared his throat. “Far be it from me to distract you from butchering poor, defenseless fruit, but what are you going to do now, Gin?”
I kept right on slicing. “What I should have done all along—kill Raymond Pike.”
He shook his head. “That might be harder than you think. I just finished talking to Bria and Xavier. The cops are looking for him, but there’s been no sign of him around Lorelei’s estate. It’s like he grew wings and just vanished.”
I’d expected as much, since Pike hadn’t ever turned up at any of the local hotels. Whatever his cover alias was, it was a good one, and he wouldn’t be found through regular methods.
But I didn’t have to play by the rules. Not anymore.
“Don’t worry about finding Pike. I’ll take care of that.”
“How?” Mallory asked.
I stared at her. “You told me earlier that I should step up and start acting like the big boss. Well, consider this my first official command. Everyone’s always whining and crying to me about their problems. Now they’re going to help me solve one of mine.”
“What do you have in mind?” Silvio asked.
“Put the word out,” I said in an icy voice. “To everyone in the underworld, from the top dogs all the way down to the corner con artists. I want Raymond Pike found. Whatever it takes.”
Jo-Jo sucked in a breath, while Finn, Silvio, Sophia, Cooper, and Lorelei all looked worried. Mallory stared at me, then slowly nodded her approval. She understood what I was doing better than anyone else.
Finally laying claim to the underworld.
Finally becoming the big boss.
Finally seizing control, the way Mab Monroe had done so long ago.
I glanced at Silvio aga
in. “Tell everyone that whoever finds Pike first will earn my gratitude—and a hundred thousand dollars.”
Finn winced. “Gin, are you sure you want to do that? You’ll have every crazy person from here to Bigtime calling in with a supposed sighting of Pike.”
I considered his words. “You know, you’re right. Make it a million.”
Finn’s eyes widened. His face paled, his hand clutched at his chest as though he were about to have a heart attack, and he actually whimpered. He didn’t like the thought of me giving away all that money, but it would be worth every penny I had to pinpoint Pike.
I stared at my foster brother, and he finally nodded.
“I’ll call the bank in the morning and have the money ready and waiting,” Finn said.
“Good.”
“Although . . .”
“What?”
Finn shook his head again, playing devil’s advocate. “Say you find Pike. Then what? You saw what he did at the riverboat, at the garden party, and tonight at Lorelei’s mansion. He’s sure to have a contingency plan in case someone comes looking for him, probably one that involves more bombs. And if he’s holed up in a hotel or an apartment building, then there will be too many innocent people around to try to take him out. Not without causing a whole lot of collateral damage.”
“I know that. But I don’t have to go after Pike. He’s going to come to me.”
Finn frowned. “And why would he be stupid enough to do that?”
I stabbed my knife toward Lorelei. “Because I still have something he wants.”
Silence descended over the kitchen.
Surprise flashed across Finn’s, Jo-Jo’s, and Sophia’s faces before they could hide it. They’d seen me do a lot of bad things over the years—cheat, steal, lie, kill—and they’d done their share of bad things themselves. But my cold determination to serve up Lorelei to her abusive brother shocked even them.
Lorelei crossed her arms over her chest. “Going to make me the bait in your little spider’s trap? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”
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