Tangled Threads

29

Owen loaded me into the front of his SUV and drove me over to Jo-Jo’s. Once we got there, Finn took his own Aston Martin back to the train yard, to keep an eye on Bria from a discreet distance and see how the cops and Mab Monroe reacted to the latest strike by the Spider. I wanted someone that I trusted nearby in case things didn’t go as Bria thought they would. If worse came to worse, Finn would charge in and get my sister out of there — whether she wanted to go or not.

Owen put his arm around me again and helped me up the three steps to Jo-Jo’s wraparound porch. Before he could use the knocker to bang on the door, I grabbed his arm. I tilted my head back and stared up at him.

“You didn’t have to come with Finn, tonight,” I said.

Owen looked down at me, his violet eyes flashing like amethysts in the semidarkness. “Yes, I did. Because I care about you, Gin. A lot.”

He didn’t use the L-word, but there was a catch in his voice that told me that he was thinking about it. Maybe Eva had told him that would also be too much, too fast. I smiled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” he murmured.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

His arms tightened around me, and I felt the warmth of his body sink into my own. It felt good. It felt right. For a moment, I just stood there and wondered at the soft concern filling his face. I didn’t know how or when or even why it had happened, but Owen truly cared about me, bloody knives and all. He’d shown it to me over and over again these past few days, but for the first time, I let myself believe in him — and us.

“There’s nothing I can do that’s going to drive you away, is there?” I murmured.

Owen flashed me a sly grin. “Finally figuring that out, are you?”

I nodded.

His grin deepened. “Well, it sure took you long enough.”

We stood there on the porch another moment, just holding on to each other, before Owen helped me inside and back into the salon. Jo-Jo was there waiting, along with Sophia.

I sat down and leaned back in one of the cherry red salon chairs like I’d done so many times before. Jo-Jo raised her hand, and her Air elemental magic filled the room as she started to heal me. For some reason, it didn’t bother me as much as it had before. Oh, her magic still felt like she was pricking me with thousands of sharp needles all at the same time, but it didn’t make me grit my teeth the way it usually did, and the silverstone scars on my palms didn’t itch and burn nearly as much.

Maybe my nerves had been fried a little more than I’d thought by LaFleur’s electricity. Or maybe it was because anything would have felt good in comparison to the jolts that the other assassin had given me tonight. LaFleur might be dead, but I’d remember the crackling power of her magic forever, another little scar on my psyche to go along with all the others that were already there, all the other people I’d managed to kill by skill or magic or sheer luck, like Alexis James, Tobias Dawson, and Elliot Slater.

“There,” Jo-Jo said about three minutes later and dropped her hand. “All done.”

“That’s it?” I asked, surprised it hadn’t taken her longer to patch me up. “That’s all?”

The dwarf shrugged. “You weren’t beat up as bad as you usually are. Those electrical burns were nasty, but not nearly as deep as they could have been.”

I frowned. “But what about LaFleur’s magic? She blasted me with her electrical power over and over. I thought she was going to kill me with it.”

“And you used your Ice magic to counter it,” Jo-Jo said, her colorless eyes boring into mine. “She might have got a couple of good licks in on you at first, but then you wised up, and your magic blocked most of hers. I’ve been telling you all along that you’re strong, darling. When are you finally going to believe me?”

For once I didn’t shiver at her ominous words. Instead, I sat there in the chair and thought about things. Maybe when I killed Mab Monroe and lived to tell the tale — maybe then I’d believe the dwarf and her claims about just how strong my elemental magic was. But there was a lot more story to be told before then. Many more things needed to be put in place before Mab and I had our final dance. Tonight I was just happy the other assassin was no longer a threat.

An hour later, Jo-Jo, Sophia, Owen, and I were in the kitchen, while Vinnie and Natasha were sound asleep upstairs. Neither one of them had heard Owen bring me in, and I’d asked Jo-Jo not to wake them. They needed their rest.

Jo-Jo had just finished making us all some hot apple cider when Finn came strolling in through the kitchen door. He, of course, turned his nose up at the cider and opted to pour himself a cup of chicory coffee instead.

“So how did things go at the train yard?” I asked. “Is Bria okay?”

“I was actually surprised,” Finn said, taking a sip of his coffee and leaning against the nearest counter. “The po-po had already arrived by the time I got back to the train yard, instead of taking their sweet time like they usually do. Anyway, the cops were there, lights blazing, guns drawn, sweeping the area for evidence, and blah, blah, blah. Bria talked to them for a long time, showed them all the bodies, the usual drill.”

“Was Mab there?” I asked.

Finn nodded. “She showed up about an hour after Bria called it in. Since it was her property, they let her look at the bodies. They were her giants, after all, members of her security force.”

My hands tightened around my mug of cider. “Then what did Mab do?”

Finn shrugged. “Not much. Like I said, she poked around for a little while, then she left. Bria was still there talking to the other investigators so Mab couldn’t get to her. At least, not without killing twenty cops along with her. And, of course, the press had also shown up by that point, and all the reporters were clamoring for interviews with Bria, since she was the latest person to be saved by the Spider.”

“You think that Mab will go after Bria again?” Owen asked.

I thought about it. “Eventually. But I don’t see how she can right now. Mab’s had too many losses, too many setbacks in a row. After what happened tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of her own men turned against her or maybe even just defected outright. The other underworld sharks like Phillip Kincaid are definitely smelling the blood in the water. Mab will have to work on shoring up her own organization first before makes another run at Bria. I think I’ve bought her some time, at least.”

I was determined to kill Mab long before she set her sights on Bria again — no matter what.

It was late, and I didn’t feel like driving home, so I spent the rest of the night in one of Jo-Jo’s guest bedrooms — the same room I’d woken up in just the day before. I was wiped out from everything that had happened tonight, but I wasn’t too tired to dream …

It took longer than I thought it would to navigate through the ruined rubble of my house. There were fires everywhere. Busted water pipes that gushed like geysers, broken, splintered glass that cut into my bare feet, electrical wires that sent up showers of blue and red sparks in all directions.

I still couldn’t believe I’d done all this with my Ice and Stone magic. That I’d somehow managed to collapse my own house and cause all this destruction with my screams of rage and pain and fear. I hurried on as fast as I could, picking my way over the piles of rubble, ignoring the sharp rocks that sliced my feet and the raw, fresh agony of the silverstone metal that had been melted into my hands. I’d stopped long enough to rip away part of my nightgown, soak it in cold water, and wrap the scraps around my palms, but they still hurt so much, sending a fresh, pulsing wave of pain through me with every beat of my heart. But no matter how much I hurt, no matter how much pain I was in, I was determined to find Bria and go — somewhere. Just get away. Before the Fire elemental found us and killed us both.

Finally I stumbled out of the house and into the garden in the courtyard outside the kitchen. An hour ago, it had been a beautiful spot, with thick stands of flowers and plants and trees and bushes, all arranged around a gurgling stone fountain. But part of the house had collapsed onto the fountain, smashing it to pieces.

And that wasn’t the worst thing I saw. A man’s arm stuck out of the rubble there, his blood a bright crimson against the white, pulverized marble.

I stopped and looked at the arm. Whoever it was attached to had to be dead, even though blood still dripped off the ends of the fingers. And I realized that I’d caused this too. That I’d used my magic to crush someone to death, even though that hadn’t been my intention at the time. The thought made my stomach twist, and for a moment, I thought I might vomit. But I swallowed down my hot, bitter, sour bile and moved on. I’d feel guilty later. Right now, all that mattered was finding Bria.

I slipped past the bloody arm and crushed fountain and headed for the far side of the courtyard, where a set of stairs climbed up to the second level of our house. The stone stairs were actually hollow underneath, with a secret chamber inside. A couple of months ago, I’d dragged a table, some chairs, and Bria’s favorite doll house into the chamber so we could be comfortable in there while we played. It was also my favorite place to come whenever Bria and I were playing hide-and-seek, because she never thought to look for me in there. But then again, she was only eight.

After I’d seen the Fire elemental murder Mother and Annabella, I’d snatched Bria out of bed, put her in the secret chamber, and told her to stay there until I came back to get her. Nobody knew about the hollow stairs but our family, so no one would find Bria there. At least, I hadn’t thought they would until I’d heard my baby sister scream.

I rounded another wall of rocks, and the staircase came into view. I looked up and froze, my heart plummeting to my feet like a cold, lead weight that had been dropped off a bridge.

Because instead of the hollow staircase, all I saw now was a pile of rubble.

“Bria?” I whispered.

She didn’t answer me.

“Bria!” My voice grew louder, sharper, as the panic set in.

I hurried over and dropped to my feet beside the rubble, trying to dig through it, trying to claw my way through the stone to get to Bria, who surely had to be trapped underneath. But the rocks were far too heavy for me to move by myself. Only one thing to do. So I stood up, wiped my tears away, and lashed out with my Ice and Stone magic, just like I had before when I’d been tied down to the chair.

One by one, I blasted the rocks out of my way, not even caring that the flying shards stung my face like bees. Blood ran down my hands and cheeks, mixing with my own hot tears.

Finally, I found the thing that I was dreading most. Because instead of Bria, instead of my baby sister smiling up at me out of the rocks, all I saw was blood.

So much blood.

Too much blood for anyone to lose and still live.

Bria was dead. I’d brought her out here and hidden her so that she would be safe from the Fire elemental and her men. She probably had been — until I’d used my Ice and Stone magic. Until I’d lost control and lashed out with it without thinking. I’d caused our whole house to crumble — right on top of my baby sister.

I’d killed my own sister with my magic.

My knees buckled, and I crumpled in the rubble, screaming once more, this time with grief. Bria was dead … dead … and I’d killed her—

I woke up with my mouth open in a silent scream and cold sweat dripping down my face. For a moment I was back there again, trapped in the rubble of my own house, slowly realizing that I’d killed my younger sister even while I’d been so desperately trying to save her. It was as fresh and raw to me as if it had just happened.

Then I remembered who I was. Where I was. And that I was safe now. And so was Bria.

I flopped back against the pillow and turned my head, my eyes going to the phone resting on the nightstand beside me. I reached for it. I thought that I’d lost Bria once back then, and I’d carried the guilt of her supposed death with me ever since. I wasn’t letting her go a second time, no matter what it took for her to accept me. No matter how long it took.

The phone rang three times before she picked it up.

“Hello?” She sounded as wide awake as I was right now, despite the late hour.

For a moment, I found myself searching for words, the way I always did whenever I called her. I drew in a breath and forced myself to speak.

“It’s Gin,” I finally said. “Can we talk?”