Venom in the Veins

by Jennifer Estep

  “Get her up,” Alanna said in a disgusted voice. “And make sure you take that glass stem away from her before she tries to stab you with it. Really, Gin. Fake sneezing all the way out of your seat so you could break that glass against the table. Could you be any more obvious? I thought you had more imagination than that.”

  Oh, I did have more imagination than that—a whole lot more—but she swallowed my act hook, line, and sinker, which was all that mattered.

  One of the giants stepped forward, reached down, and wrested the glass stem out of my hand. He tossed it into the fireplace, then grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet.

  I grabbed hold of his tie, as though I was having trouble standing up on my own. He sighed and reached out with his other arm to steady me. Perfect.

  I tightened my grip, used the tie to yank his head down, and rammed the fork still hidden in my other hand straight into his throat.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The giant screamed.

  At least, he tried to. Hard to really scream with a fork stuck in your throat.

  I twisted the utensil in even deeper. One of the tines must have hit an artery, because blood started gushing out of the wound. The giant gurgled and flailed at me, trying to get me to let go of the fork, so I obliged him.

  My hand darted down between us, and I plucked the gun out of the holster on his belt. Then I shoved the giant away, sending him staggering back into the armchair that I’d been sitting in. He collapsed down onto the seat hard enough to make the whole thing flip over with him it in and crash to the floor.

  I whirled around again, snapped up my stolen gun, and aimed it at Alanna.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  I fired over and over again, but she was quicker, and she threw herself out of her seat. I completely missed her, although puffs of fabric floated through the air like snowflakes from where I’d mortally wounded the armchair.

  Alanna rolled across the floor and came up in a low crouch next to the couch. I raised my gun to fire at her again, but Phelps and the remaining giants lifted their weapons and unloaded on me instead.

  Crack!

  Crack! Crack!

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  I reached for my Stone magic and hardened my skin half a second before the first bullet slammed into my chest. Thanks to my magic, it didn’t really hurt me, but the impact still threw me back, and I stumbled over the giant I’d forked to death. But I went with gravity and the backward motion, rolling over the giant and the chair he’d upended.

  I landed on the floor on the far side of the library and snapped up my gun again. Alanna had moved so that she was crouching behind the couch, so I didn’t have a clear shot at her. I turned my attention to Phelps and the giants, who scrambled to take cover even as they fired at me again.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Bullets zinged past me and thudded into the books on the shelves behind me, making bits of paper flutter through the air, along with the fabric from Alanna’s bullet-ridden chair.

  “You idiots!” she screamed. “Don’t kill her! We need her alive!”

  Phelps and the giants listened to their boss and quit shooting at me. So I unloaded on them instead.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  I wasn’t as good a shot as Finn was, especially not under this kind of pressure, but I managed to hit one of the giants in the chest. He screamed and stumbled forward, smashing a table to splinters on his way down to the ground and giving me a clear shot at Phelps. If I couldn’t get Alanna, I would settle for her right-hand man, so I took aim and pulled the trigger—

  Click.

  But I was out of ammo.

  Phelps and the giants realized that I was empty, and they got to their feet and surged toward me. I snarled and threw my stolen gun at them. It didn’t do any damage, but it made them flinch and hesitate for one precious second.

  I used that second to turn and run out of the library.

  I careened out of the room and into the hallway. My boots slipped on the slick floor, and I had to windmill my arms to keep from falling on my ass. Even as I fought to regain my balance, I reached for even more of my Stone magic, using it to harden my skin again, knowing what was about to happen next—

  Crack!

  Sure enough, a bullet blasted out of the library, but it only slammed into the back of my thigh instead of my skull. Phelps and the other men must be trying to just wing me now. Either that, or their aim was as lousy as mine. Thanks to my Stone magic, the projectile rattled away and ping-ping-pinged down the corridor. I finally got my balance back and started running, heading for the opposite end of the hallway.

  Crack!

  Crack! Crack!

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  Bullets chased me down the corridor, slamming into the walls and floor. One of them even hit a chandelier over my head, shattering the crystals and showering white sparks everywhere. I ignored the chaos and kept running.

  I sprinted out into the grand ballroom, my gaze darting left and right, searching for something that I could take cover behind. But Alanna had been telling the truth when she said that Mosley and his men had packed up everything and left. All the auction items, the red velvet ropes, even the table where I’d set out the barbecue lunch were gone, and the ballroom was now an empty, cavernous space, which made it easy for Phelps and his men to take aim at me again.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  More bullets chased me across the ballroom. I grunted as some of the projectiles punched into my arms and legs, making me stagger from side to side, but I kept sprinting forward the whole time. I couldn’t afford to slow down, not even for an instant, not until I got out of the open.

  “You idiots!” Alanna screamed again from somewhere behind me. “Stop shooting before you kill her!”

  This time, her men finally listened to her, and no more bullets zinged in my direction. Still running full steam ahead, I risked a quick glance over my shoulder. Phelps and the giants were racing toward me as fast as they could, not caring about anything else other than catching me—

  One of my boots slipped on the marble floor, then the other one, almost causing me to lose my balance. Once again, I had to windmill my arms to stay upright, but the awkward motions made an idea pop into my mind. The next time my boots slipped, I went with the motion, throwing myself down onto the ballroom floor like a kid hopping onto a winter sled for a wild ride.

  Whee!

  I slid all the way over to one of the doorways. The second I stopped moving, I swung my legs around so that I was facing my pursuers, slapped both my hands down onto the floor, and let loose with my magic.

  Ice crystals exploded out of my palms and rushed over the marble like a tidal wave spreading out in every direction. I pushed my magic out as fast and as far as it would go, coating the entire floor in a solid sheet of elemental Ice.

  The giants chasing me only managed to take a few more steps before the Ice surged over to where they were in the middle of the ballroom. They hurried forward, and their feet flew out from under them. All the men hit the floor hard, including Phelps.

  They groaned and yelled and tried to get up, but the Ice was too slick, and every time one of them made it to his feet, he fell right back down again and took the others with him. Their frantic antics reminded me of clowns at a circus.

  Now that I’d bought myself a few seconds of breathing room, I got to my feet and looked across the ballroom.

  Alanna was standing on the far side of the open space, right at the edge of my Ice field. She stared at her men in disgust as they all fell back down yet again. Then she focused on me.

  The vampire brought her arm up and saluted me with her right hand. At first, I didn’t understand what she was doing, other than being cocky. The motion made something gleam on her hand, and she slowly spread her fingers out wide and waggled them at me.

  That’s when I realized that she wanted me to see what was strapped to her hand: a metal framework glove tipped with silverstone claws.


  The same glove her mother had used on me all those years ago.

  The last time I’d seen that terrible contraption had been on the lakeshore after I’d killed Amelia, and I certainly wished that I wasn’t looking at it again right now. But of course, Alanna would have kept it. Using that glove to carve up people probably made her feel close to her mother the way studying that photo of my parents had made me feel close to mine.

  Alanna must have seen the horror on my face, because she grinned and tapped each one of her fingers against her thumb, making the metal claws clank-clank-clank-clank together, just like her mother had done. I couldn’t help but shudder. I remembered that sound from my nightmares, and I knew exactly what Alanna was telling me.

  That she was going to hunt me down, slice me to shreds, and snack on my bones. Like mother, like daughter.

  I shuddered again, turned, and ran away from the ballroom as fast as I could.

  * * *

  Despite all the weddings, parties, and other events held here, the Eaton Estate hadn’t changed much over the years. I sprinted past room after room, all of them frozen in time and filled with the finest furnishings imaginable. It would have made for a great private tour.

  If I hadn’t been running for my life.

  Alanna and her men must have had more trouble with the Iced-over ballroom than I’d expected, because their shouts quickly faded away, soaked up by the silence that permeated the rest of the mansion. I ducked into what looked like a private office and stopped, sucking down breath after breath. I also released my grip on my Stone magic and let my skin revert back to its normal texture. I’d already used up a good chunk of my power, and I needed to save what was left for when I ran into Alanna and her men again.

  But right now, I needed to let my friends know where I was. I crouched down and grabbed my phone from its hiding place in my sock. Silvio had an app that let him track my phone, and for once, I was hoping that he was already doing that, but I was still going to call so that he, Owen, and the others would know exactly where I was.

  My heart sank at the sight of the bullet hole in the center of my phone. My Stone magic might have protected me, but my phone hadn’t been so lucky, and it was as dead as dead could be. I cursed and tossed it aside. I’d just have to finish escaping on my own.

  I had started to sprint out of the room when a gleam of gold caught my eye. I glanced over and realized that a landline telephone was sitting on a table inside the doorway. My heart lifted with fresh hope. No, the estate hadn’t changed much, and I was hoping that extended to the phones as well. I snatched up the receiver and held my breath.

  A faint click sounded, and a sweet, sweet dial tone buzzed in my ear. I let out a breath and started dialing Owen’s number. But this was an old-fashioned rotary phone, more for decoration than anything else, and I had to stand there and wait for each number to click-click-click all the way around. While I waited, I opened the table drawer and rifled through the items inside. Most of it was junk, except for a silver letter opener. I palmed that and shoved the drawer shut with my hip.

  With each passing second, I knew that Alanna and her men were searching the mansion and getting closer to me, but I kept dialing, and finally—finally—the last number hit home.

  He answered on the first ring. “Gin?”

  “Owen!” I hissed. “I’m at the Eaton Estate.”

  “Gin!” he yelled. “I can barely hear you! Where are you?”

  “I’m at the Eaton Estate. Alanna’s here, along with several men—”

  A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye, and I jerked back just in time to keep Alanna from raking her claws down my face.

  The telephone wasn’t so lucky, though. Her talons sliced neatly through the cord, leaving me holding a dead receiver. I snarled, threw it aside, and whirled around to face her. I was still holding the letter opener, and I snapped it up into a fighting position. It wasn’t as sharp and balanced as one of my knives, but it would have to do.

  But instead of attacking me, Alanna waggled her claws at me again. “What’s the matter, Gin?” she purred. “Don’t you like my shiny nails? I’m sure you remember them. After all, my mother was going to rip you to pieces with them. I’m so happy that I’m finally getting to finish what she started.”

  She paused a moment. “Actually, that’s not quite true. Mama was going to kill you quickly. She always liked to tear into our dinner the second it was down on the ground. But me? I like to take my time. Really, fully, truly enjoy every single piece of my meal, blood, bones, steak, and all.”

  My heart clenched at the sadistic hunger rasping in her voice and gleaming in her eyes, but I forced myself to ignore her vicious, disturbing words.

  “What about that precious book of Circle secrets?” I asked. “If you kill me, you’ll never find it.”

  Alanna bared her fangs at me. “I’m not letting you get away again. Fuck Tucker and Mason and their book. I don’t need them or their money. I can take back my estate myself. After I kill you and Stuart, no one will be stupid enough to stand in my way.”

  She was probably right about that, but I wasn’t going to boost her ego and tell her so.

  Alanna swiped out at me with her gloved right hand. I managed to jump back and twist most of my body out of the way, but I wasn’t holding on to my Stone magic, so my skin was vulnerable. Her claws sliced across my left forearm, tearing through my shirt and breaking the skin underneath. I hissed with pain and glanced down. The wounds weren’t all that deep, but they burned like a dozen little bees had just stung their way across my arm.

  Even worse, the vampire lifted her claws to her lips and licked the blood—my blood—off the razor-sharp blades. A tiny spark of magic glimmered in her eyes as she absorbed my elemental power. “Mmm. Tasty. Elemental blood has always been my favorite. Yours tastes like…fresh, cold snow with a bit of granite mixed in.”

  My lips curled up in disgust at her wine-snob critique of my blood. I darted forward, trying to take her by surprise, but Alanna glided out of the way. So I whirled around and attacked her again.

  Back and forth, we battled through the office, with her swiping out at me with her claws and me doing the same thing with my letter opener.

  Alanna must have had a fresh hit of blood recently, because she was all strong, sleek grace. And she was fast. Not as insanely, unnaturally fast as Tucker, but she was close, and she was much, much quicker than I was. She kept attacking, slowly wearing me down, playing with me like a cat with a mouse.

  I hated being the fucking mouse.

  But the worst part was those damn claws. She wasn’t even trying to kill me with them. Not yet. No, Alanna was taking great delight in simply cutting me. Shallow slices, mostly. Just enough to break my skin and make me bleed. She hadn’t dug deep into my muscles and tendons yet. She didn’t have to. If she opened up enough wounds, I’d eventually pass out from the blood loss, and then she could do whatever she wanted to me. Either way, it was death by a thousand cuts—and then some.

  Oh, I could have used my Stone power to protect my skin or even shot a spray of Ice daggers out of my hand, although Alanna was fast enough to avoid that sort of attack. But I was running low on magic, and I needed to save what was left in my body, as well as the reserves in my spider rune ring and pendant, to do something spectacular, something that would kill her once and for all.

  Too bad I had no idea what that spectacular thing was yet.

  So I went on the offensive, swinging, swinging, swinging, and I landed several solid blows, driving my fist into her stomach and kidneys, as well as cracking her square in the jaw. I even managed to slash my letter opener across her shoulder and make her bleed for a change. But Alanna was still stronger and faster than me, and my blows didn’t do much more than annoy her, judging from the low, angry snarls that rumbled out of her lips.

  She swiped out at me with her claws again, but I was tired of being her personal scratching post, so I went on the defensive. I upended chairs and overturned tables, t
rying to keep the furniture between us until I could catch my breath and think of some way to kill her.

  “What’s the matter? Feeling a little slow, Gin? Have you started seeing double yet?” Alanna sneered. “Because I can tell you right now that you won’t be getting some magical second wind.”

  She waggled her talons at me, then clicked each one of her fingers against her thumb, making those strange, sickening noises ring out again. Clack-clack-clack-clack.

  I hadn’t really noticed it before, but she was right. I did feel slow—too slow and too tired, even with the blood loss—and my vision was starting to blur a little around the edges like she said. My gaze focused on her talons, and I realized what was happening.

  “You bitch,” I growled. “You coated your claws with some sort of poison.”

  Alanna smiled. “Guilty as charged. Don’t worry, though. It’s not poison, just a mild sedative. It’s a little trick my mother taught me. It makes my prey so much easier to butcher. It cuts down on the screaming too.”

  So she was going to butcher and eat me while I was still somewhat alive. I’d thought that was her plan, but my stomach still roiled in disgust at hearing it out loud. The Eaton Estate wasn’t just her mother’s or the Circle’s graveyard. It was hers too.

  “Alanna!” Phelps called out, his voice echoing through the mansion. “We’re coming to you!”

  Footsteps sounded in the distance, growing closer and louder with every passing second. Once the men reached the office, I would be surrounded. I wondered if Phelps and the giants would stand around and watch while Alanna carved me up and snacked on my bones. My stomach roiled again. I didn’t really want to know the answer to that. Either way, I had to get out of here before they arrived, or I was dead.

  Alanna sidled toward me, thinking that I was distracted, and I let her creep closer and closer. Then, at the last second, just before her claws would have raked across my arm again, I sidestepped her, grabbed a crystal lamp off one of the tables that I hadn’t overturned, and smashed it straight into her face.

  I lashed out with my Ice magic, driving shards of my power into the lamp to do as much damage to it—and her—as possible. The crystal shattered on impact and spewed all over Alanna’s face, neck, and arms, slicing her up the same way she had sliced me. She screamed and screamed, and blood welled up out of the dozens of cuts that now marred her perfect skin.