Venom

27

Roslyn Phillips wasn’t in the greatest shape of her life, which is why I unzipped one of the pockets on my vest and drew out a tin of Jo-Jo Deveraux’s healing ointment. I made Roslyn lie still on the bed while I slathered the ointment on the worst of her wounds on her chest and arms.

It was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do.

I knew that Roslyn didn’t want me touching her, that she might not want anyone touching her ever again, given how badly she’d been beaten. But it had to be done to save her. Roslyn flinched every time my fingers brushed her body and with every single movement of my bloody hands, but she didn’t complain, and she didn’t ask me to stop.

I’d never seen anything so brave in my entire miserable life.

Still, I did the best I could to distract Roslyn, keeping up a steady stream of chatter, telling her exactly how the bastard who’d been about to rape her had died and exactly how I was going to do the same thing to Elliot Slater. I don’t know if it was my cold, measured words or the healing power of Jo-Jo’s magic, but Roslyn stilled after a few minutes, only flinching every other time I touched her.

While Roslyn lay on the bed, letting Jo-Jo’s ointment patch up the worst of her wounds, I opened one of the closet doors, looking for something else for her to wear — something that didn’t have her own blood all over it. To my surprise, a variety of women’s clothing was mixed in among Elliot Slater’s oversize suits. I grabbed some pants, a sweater, socks, shoes, and even some clean underwear from the interior and tossed them to Roslyn.

“Take off those bloody rags, and put these on,” I said in a gentle voice. “And then we’ll get you the hell out of here.”

The vamp did as I commanded, even though her movements were still slow and stiff, despite the healing ointment. I helped her as best I could. When she finished, I dug another small tin out of one of my vest pockets and handed it to her.

“Here. Put this one on your face. It’s more of Jo-Jo’s ointment. It’ll hold you together long enough for you to get to the dwarf so she can heal you up properly.”

Roslyn’s hands shook so badly that I took the tin back from her, dipped my fingers into the ointment, and slathered it on her face.

“Sorry for the rush,” I murmured. “But Elliot Slater’s got Finn downstairs, and I need to get to him before Slater kills him.”

“Finn’s… down there?” Roslyn rasped, letting me work on her face.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Seems he had the same idea about rescuing you that I did. Offered himself up as a distraction so I could slip inside the mansion.”

Some of the swelling went down on Roslyn’s face, and I saw the gleam of tears in her toffee eyes.

“No matter what happens,” she rasped. “Thank you… Gin… for coming… for me.”

The vamp fumbled about until she wrapped her bloody hand around mine. I gently squeezed her trembling fingers.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Now let’s get you out of here.”

While I waited for Jo-Jo’s healing ointment to put Roslyn’s face back in some kind of working order, I questioned the vamp about how many more guards there might be inside the house.

“How many have you killed already?” she asked.

“Four.”

She nodded. “There should be two left, besides Slater.”

“Where would they be?” I asked, checking my silverstone knives and the two swords still strapped to my back.

“If you say he’s got Finn, then the two guards will be downstairs with Slater,” she replied. “He always likes to have at least two men with him when he’s working on someone. That’s where he took me first. When he got tired of hitting me, he brought me up here. One of his men came in and got him before he could—”

Her voice broke on the last few words, and I gave her a minute to compose herself, even though every second I delayed was another second that Finn got the shit beat out of him. I didn’t know if I could stand it if my foster brother ended up the same way that I had that night at the community college when Slater had pummeled me. Just looking at Roslyn made me want to rewind time, go back, and kill all the bastards who had hurt her again — slowly. But I couldn’t do that. All I could do was go forward and hope that I got to Finn in time.

I opened the bedroom door and peered out into the hallway. Everything was just as hushed as it had been before. I whispered to Roslyn to keep close to me and keep quiet. The vamp nodded.

I eased down the hallway. About thirty feet past the bedroom door, the right wall opened up, revealing the enormous living room a floor below. I got down on my hands and knees, crawled forward, and peered around the corner, through the wide slats of the banister that ringed the outer wall.

A floor below me, Elliot Slater stood in the middle of the living room, unbuttoning the sleeves of his pale blue shirt. A giant stood on either side of him, slightly behind their boss. The two men had their hands clasped in front of them, just like good little soldiers would. Their shirt sleeves were already rolled up, their hands already stained with blood — Finn’s blood.

Finnegan Lane was chained up to a stone column that supported the ceiling several stories above his head. Silverstone cuffs glinted around his hands. The cuffs had been tied to a matching chain that hung on a hook above his head, keeping Finn’s arms up. An uncomfortable position made worse by the obvious beating he’d already taken. Bruises blossomed like purple and blue irises on Finn’s cheeks. The two giants had roughed him up a bit already, no doubt getting him ready for Elliot Slater’s personal attention, but Finn didn’t seem to be in too bad shape. He was still breathing, which was the most important thing.

Cold rage burned in Finn’s eyes as he watched Slater start rolling up his sleeves. Every once in a while, Finn rattled his cuffs, testing them for any hint of weakness. But there was none. Still, his face was guarded and watchful. He hadn’t given up hope of escaping, of getting the upper hand, even without my help. Finn would never give up any more than I would. The old man had taught him better than that. Still, Finn’s fighting spirit warmed my heart.

Once I’d fixed the position of everyone and everything in the room in my mind, I slithered back down the hallway to where Roslyn slouched against the wall, waiting.

“Slater’s down there with two of his men,” I whispered. “He’s got Finn chained up to a stone column.”

Roslyn nodded. “That’s where he likes to start with people. He’s got another room on this floor for really difficult cases. Most people don’t make it up here.”

“I want you to get the hell out of here,” I whispered. “Slip out the side door where the pool is, go to the garage, get one of Slater’s cars, and leave. There’s a gas station at the bottom of the hill. My Benz is parked down there. Get in, and use one of the cell phones in the glove box to call the Deveraux sisters. They’ll come and help you. Xavier too. In case things don’t go well for Finn and me up here. Can you do that for me? Can you make it to the garage?”

Roslyn nodded. “I can make it that far. What are you going to do?”

I palmed my two silverstone knives and held them up where she could see them. “Finish this — one way or another.”

Roslyn disappeared down the hallway, and I eased back to where the balcony was. Slater and his men had their backs to me, and I moved to the other side of the hallway, where it was solid once more. They never even looked up. My eyes went to an iron chandelier that hung down from the ceiling. That would work just fine.

“Finnegan Lane,” Elliot Slater rumbled, stepping forward so that he was directly in front of my foster brother. The giant had finished securing one shirt sleeve and had gone to work on the other one. “A strange place to meet.”

“So it seems,” Finn replied in a chipper voice, despite his bruised features.

“Care to tell me what the fuck you’re doing up here on my land?” Slater asked.

“Technically, it’s not your land, is it? It belongs to your boss, Mab Monroe. You’re just the caretaker of the place, so to speak. Part of the cleanup crew. Just like you’ve always been.”

Finn finished his insult with a toothy grin. Slater’s fingers stilled on the fabric of his shirt sleeve, as though he was thinking about lunging forward and punching Finn, but the giant wasn’t that easily baited.

“I’ll ask you again,” Slater said. “What are you doing here?”

“I was looking for a friend of mine,” Finn said. “Roslyn Phillips. I think you know her. Care to tell me where she is?”

This time, it was the giant’s turn to smile. “Oh, Roslyn’s a bit tied up at the moment, just like she’s been for the past few hours. Just like she’s going to be for some time to come. Until I get tired of the bitch and break her neck with my bare hands.”

Finn couldn’t help himself — he spat at the giant and his vile words. Slater calmly wiped the spittle off his face, then backhanded Finn. The sound of the giant’s palm striking Finn’s skin was as loud as a gunshot in the quiet house. Finn grunted with pain, and Slater closed his hand into a fist and punched him. A cut opened up above Finn’s left eye, and blood covered that side of his face.

My hands tightened on my knives, but I didn’t make a sound. I wanted to give Roslyn as much of a head start as possible, in case Slater and his men killed Finn and me and realized that the vamp was missing. Which meant that Finn was going to have to get slapped around some more. My stomach twisted at the thought, but it was something that we both were just going to have to endure. Wouldn’t be the first time.

“You know, I thought I was just going to have some fun tonight with Roslyn,” Elliot said. “But imagine my surprise and delight when you show up on my doorstep to add to the festivities.”

“I know,” Finn replied. “I decided to come to you. Save you some trouble. Since you turned tail and ran the last time we met.”

Slater froze for a second. The giant finished rolling up his remaining shirtsleeve before he looked at Finn again. “And when was that?”

Finn stared at the giant. “Why, the night you went to kill Detective Bria Coolidge,” he drawled. “That didn’t end so well for you, if I remember. How many men did you lose that night? Three? Four? It was hard to keep track with all the blood and bodies everywhere.”

This time, Slater’s hazel eyes were the ones that narrowed with rage. “That was you?”

Another smile spread across Finn’s battered face. “Oh yes. Most fun I’ve had all week.”

Slater studied Finn for several seconds. “You were the one with the gun. The one who shot Jim in the face.”

Finn tipped his head in acknowledgment.

“I see.”

Slater stepped forward and drove his fist into Finn’s stomach. It happened so fast, with such speed, I thought for a moment that I’d imagined it. Until Finn spit up a mouthful of his own blood. Elliot Slater had some of the quickest hands that I’d ever seen.

But Slater didn’t stop with one blow. Instead, the giant slammed one fist into Finn’s face. I heard the crack as his nose broke all the way up here on the balcony. Slater’s other fist plowed into Finn’s stomach again. Finn moaned, and more blood spewed out of his lips. That cold ball of rage began to burn in the pit of my stomach once more.

“I can keep this up for hours, Lane. Hours,” Slater rumbled. “Until you are begging me to stop the pain, to just end you. Now, you’re going to tell me exactly why you were at Coolidge’s house that night, and why you’re so fucking interested in my business.”

The giant didn’t have to add an or else to his threat. He and Finn already knew how to play the game — and they both realized that Elliot Slater currently held all the cards. Except for one. Me. The queen of spades.

Finn’s head rolled back and up as he tried not to choke on his own blood. I scooted forward just a bit, so that the edge of my knife caught the light and flashed silver. Finn saw the gleam. His green eyes widened for a second before he shuttered them and slowly lowered his head.

“All right,” Finn mumbled. “I’ll tell you why I was there. Because I know about Bria Coolidge. Because I know who she really is.”

That got Slater’s attention. The giant’s whole body stilled. He didn’t even blink. “And just who is she, Lane?”

Finn looked up at him. “Her real name is Snow. Bria Elizabeth Snow.”

Elliot Slater didn’t react. Didn’t move, didn’t flinch. Hell, he didn’t even take a breath. Then the giant abruptly turned away from Finn and walked around the stone column, moving out of Finn’s line of sight. I drew back into the hallway so that Slater wouldn’t see me lurking on the balcony above. The other two giants maintained their positions below me, watching the show with detached interest. They looked like the same two goons who had held me up for Slater that night at the community college. Didn’t much matter. They were getting dead regardless.

But what I didn’t understand was what Finn thought he was doing telling Elliot Slater that he knew who Bria really was. Did he want the giant to kill him before I could take Slater out? Had the giant’s blows scrambled Finn’s brains even more than they already were? Because Finn was dangerously close to singing not only his swan song but mine too. To telling Slater everything about us, what we did, and why.

Finn coughed up some more blood and spat it on the carpet. “Come on, Elliot,” he said in a friendly voice. “You’re not going to deny it, are you? That’s hardly sporting, considering that I’m the one in cuffs and you’re not.”

The giant finished his circuit around the stone column and stopped in front of Finn once more. “So what if Coolidge’s real name is Snow? That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Sure it does,” Finn countered. “Because that’s why you were there to kill Bria. That’s why your boss, Mab Monroe, wants her dead. Because she’s Bria Snow, and because Mab murdered her family seventeen years ago.”

Silence.

Slater held his position, as still and quiet as the stone column before him. But Finn wasn’t finished dropping bombs on the giant — or me.

“You’ve been working for Mab a long time now, haven’t you, Elliot?” Finn murmured. “Twenty-five years by my calculation. You’ve been her right-hand man from the very beginning. Which means you were there that night. You were there the night that Mab murdered the Snow family.”

I flashed back to that night, to my frantic run through my burning house, to the giant’s fist slamming into my face. I’d only seen him a second before he’d punched me. Just long enough to notice how pale he was. Almost… albino.

Slater didn’t say anything, but a muscle twitched in his chalky cheek. All the confirmation that I needed. My breath rushed out of my lungs as I realized what Finn was up to. My foster brother was trying to get some answers for me — answers about what had really happened the night that Mab Monroe had murdered my mother and older sister. And I’d be damned if I had the willpower to stop him right now.

Elliot Slater recovered from his shock, and a cruel smile spread across his face. “You’re a smart guy, Lane. Figuring all that out for yourself.”

Finn shrugged again. “Not too hard. I’ve had the file on the Snow family for a while now. Mab’s one of the few Fire elementals who had enough magic — then or now — to do what she did that night.”

The giant circled around the column once more. This time, Finn’s green eyes flicked to the other two men standing in front of him. They stared at him without expression, and Finn turned his attention back to Slater, who stopped in front of him once more. Finn didn’t look up at me. He knew that I’d make my move when I was ready.

“What do you want, Lane?” Slater barked out. “What’s the fucking point of this? You’re dead, and you know it. Why all the questions about something Mab did years ago?”

Finn shrugged. “I’m curious. A trait my father instilled in me. Because it doesn’t say in the file exactly why Mab killed the Snow family. What she gained from it. Or why she wants Bria Coolidge dead today.”

Slater tilted his head to one side. “You might be smart, Lane, but you really don’t have a clue, do you? Not about Mab, not about Coolidge, not about anything.”

“Please,” Finn said in a wry tone. “Enlighten me.”

Elliot Slater leaned forward so that his pale face was level with Finn’s bloody one. “Mab killed that family because of Bria Coolidge’s magic. Because that bitch’s Ice and Stone magic was and still is a threat to her.”

Despite my years of training, I couldn’t help the small gasp of surprise that escaped from my lips. Mab thought Bria had Ice and Stone magic? Why would the Fire elemental think that? I’d been the only one of us to inherit both our mother’s Ice magic and our father’s Stone power as well—

A horrible, horrible thought filled my mind. So horrible, so ironic, so fucking wrong I wanted to scream. To weep and wail and lash out and kill everything and everyone that I could get my hands on. But even as the bitterness filled my mouth at the realization, I knew that it was true — and the real reason why Mab Monroe had killed my family. The awful, horrible reason my mother and older sister were dead.

That night, when the Fire elemental had been torturing me, she’d asked me question after question about Bria, demanding to know where my baby sister was above all else. Because Mab had thought that Bria was me — that Bria was the one with both Ice and Stone magic.

Mab Monroe had really been there to kill me — not Bria.

I wasn’t the only one surprised by the revelation. Finn’s mouth dropped open at Slater’s confession. Finn regarded the giant with thoughtful eyes, and I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. He realized what the giant’s words meant as well as I did.

“Mab Monroe thinks that Bria Coolidge has both Ice and Stone magic?” Finn asked. “That’s why she wants Bria dead so badly?”

Slater frowned. “Why else would Mab care about the bitch?”

“Surely there’s more to it than just that,” Finn scoffed. “Mab Monroe is the strongest elemental to be born in five hundred years, if you listen to the rumors. She killed a whole family because one little girl had the power to control two elements? Come on, Elliot. We both know that I’m a dead man. Indulge me. Tell me the rest of the story.”

Slater cocked his head to one side, trying to read Finn’s expression, trying to figure out what he was up to, why he was so curious about something that had happened so long ago. Hard to get a good read on someone’s emotions when blood and bruises covered his face like an extra layer of skin. After a few seconds of study, Slater shrugged.

“Mab wanted to kill the mother, Eira Snow, ever since they were kids. The Monroes were always part of the underworld wheeling and dealing, while the Snows were always real straight arrows. Naturally, the two families got involved in some kind of elemental feud along the way. It stretched back decades from what I understand. Hell, it goes so far back that I don’t even think Mab really knows how it started in the first place. But somebody killed someone over something, and it just kept going from there. You know how elementals are. Most of ’em can’t get along to save their lives, especially the opposing elementals, like Fire and Ice.” Disgust filled Slater’s voice. Evidently, he didn’t hold his boss in quite as high regard as he led everyone to believe. “Fucking elementals. Always fighting over something.”

Finn nodded his head in agreement.

“Mab and Eira Snow grew up together,” Slater continued. “Even as kids, they were enemies. Mab made sure of that. And when they got older, well, they both went after the same man — a Stone elemental. Supposedly, Snow actually loved him, but Mab, well, she just wanted his Stone magic, wanted to pass it on to their kids.”

The giant stared across the living room, staring back into the distant past. He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops on his pants and rocked back on his heels. Lost in his memories.

“But why?” Finn asked, breaking into Slater’s reverie. “Maybe the kids would have gotten daddy’s Stone magic. Maybe they wouldn’t. There was no guarantee of that.”

Slater chuckled. “I tried telling that to Mab myself, but she wouldn’t listen to me. Magda’s the only one that Mab ever took advice from.”

Finn frowned. “Who the hell is Magda?”

The silent same question I was asking myself.

Slater shrugged. “Some crazy old aunt of Mab’s who lived up in one of the hollows. Magda was an Air elemental. Seeing into the future was her thing. Writing down prophecies, casting stones, reading tea leaves, looking at moss on trees, drinking chicken’s blood. Bitch was into some really crazy shit. She told Mab that Snow would have a kid who would be an even stronger elemental than Mab was. Someone with Ice and Stone magic. Someone who would one day kill Mab.”

Kill Mab? Well, the mysterious Magda had gotten one thing right. Because that was certainly my plan now.

“After Snow popped out three brats, Mab decided to make her move,” Slater finished.

Finn just stood there, digesting the information. On the balcony above, I did the same, trying to swallow the cold, cold bitterness that coated my mouth and heart.

Slater smiled. “So I got some of my boys together, and we went over to the house late one night. My boys and me took care of the servants, while Mab lit up the mother and one of the brats. It was beautiful.”

Finn looked at the giant. “But things got out of hand, didn’t they? Otherwise, Bria Coolidge wouldn’t be alive today.”

“The middle brat managed to hide Coolidge somewhere. So I found the brat and took her to Mab to get some answers. Mab tortured the brat, but she didn’t squeak,” Slater said. “So we left to look for Coolidge, but the little bitch used her Stone magic to weaken the foundation of her own house. Mab and I barely got out before the whole damn thing came crashing down.”

“And you thought Bria buried herself in her own tomb,” Finn deduced. “Until she came back to town a few weeks ago and Mab realized that she hadn’t died that night all those years ago. I bet Mab fucking freaked when her sources in the police department told her about Bria, that the detective was digging up dirt on her family’s murder. I bet Mab was absolutely livid when she realized who Bria really was. That’s how Mab even knew it was her in the first place, right?”

“More or less.” Slater shrugged again. “But it’s all just a small setback, one I’m going to rectify after I’m finished having my fun with you — and sweet Roslyn.”

Instead of getting angry again, Finn just stared at the giant, his green eyes gleaming with secrets that Slater couldn’t even begin to guess. Finn’s lips twitched, but not with pain. A small chortle sounded, then another, then another, until he was guffawing with laughter. Tears of hysterical amusement cascaded down his bruised cheeks, mixing with his scarlet blood.

Slater looked at Finn, then at his two flunkies. The other giants shrugged their shoulders. They didn’t know why he was laughing either.

“What’s so funny?” Slater rumbled, turning back to face Finn. “Most men don’t laugh when they’re about to die.”

My foster brother ignored the giant and kept right on laughing. The loud, merry, confident sound grated on Slater’s nerves, because he moved closer, grabbed Finn’s chin with his massive hand, and shoved his mouth closed, cutting off his gleeful chuckles. It took some effort, but Finn’s chest finally quit shaking with chuckles. Slater stepped back and eyed the other man, still wondering at the cheerful outburst.

“You know what, Elliot?” Finn asked. “You’re a pretty smart guy yourself, to help your boss cover up such brutal murders for so long. But in the middle of telling your little bedtime story, you forgot one small thing.”

“And what the fuck would that be?” Slater growled.

“You know that night that I stopped you from killing Bria Coolidge?”

The giant nodded.

Finn just smiled. “You forgot that I had a partner then — and still do now.”