Spider’s Revenge

I shrugged. “All of Mab’s men, all of the bounty hunters—they all know that I’m the Spider now. It won’t be too long before someone tries to collect on some kind of bounty or reward on me.”

  “Correction,” Bria said. “The ones who lived know that you’re the Spider, but there probably aren’t as many of those around as you might think. You and Mab took out almost everyone in the courtyard with your magic. The coroner is still finding bodies out there. It’ll be weeks before they identify them all—if they can even do that to start with, given how badly everyone was burned.”

  “And Owen, Sophia, Xavier, Warren, and I took care of some of the other stragglers we found out in the woods,” Finn said. “So mostly, there are a lot of rumors going around the underworld, but there aren’t that many people around to confirm or deny them. I’d say the damage and exposure to us is fairly minimal, all things considered.”

  Well, that was something to be grateful for. It wouldn’t do any good for me to finally kill Mab only to have a dozen other people show up in Ashland looking to settle old grudges or create new ones. Still, despite the others’ words, I knew that sooner or later some of the folks who weren’t very happy with the Spider would track me down. But I’d be ready for them—the way I always was.

  “The only one who might make trouble for you right now is Jonah McAllister,” Bria said in a thoughtful voice.

  I frowned. “You mean that bastard got away? How did he do that?”

  Jo-Jo stared at me. “Jonah McAllister might be a pompous little weasel, but he also knows how to survive. Don’t forget, he managed to keep his position as one of Mab’s number-two men for decades, something that wasn’t easy.”

  “Which makes him dangerous in his own way,” I murmured.

  “But even he’s a little busy these days,” Finn cut in. “McAllister is a follower, not a leader. Word is that he’s trying to find himself a new boss to work for—without getting dead first. Last thing I’ve heard, he’s gone into hiding until things settle down in the city. It’s gang warfare out there on the streets. Almost a month after Mab dies, and every shark in the Ashland underworld is still going at it trying to grab as much power as he can.”

  Bria nodded her agreement. “I know. Xavier and I have been pulling double shifts for weeks now.”

  “So see, Gin? No one’s really even noticed your absence,” Finn said in a cheery voice. “They’re all too busy killing each other off right now to think about coming after the Spider.”

  “Terrific,” I muttered. “Just terrific.”

  But after a moment, I started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Owen asked.

  I shrugged. “Nothing much. Just the fact I killed the most unkillable woman in Ashland, the strongest, most unbeatable elemental around, and no one seems to care because they’re all too busy mowing each other down in the street with machine guns. It’s just—funny.”

  I laughed again, but the others exchanged puzzled glances. They didn’t understand what was going on. I laughed until tears streamed down my face, and my stomach hurt from the force of it. And then I laughed some more.

  Irony. What a bitch.

  I managed to quit laughing long enough to finish eating. Jo-Jo went to check on something in the salon, while Owen stepped outside to call Eva and update her on how I was doing. Their departures left me alone with Finn and Bria in the kitchen. The two of them sat at the table across from me, not quite touching, but obviously wanting to do so. Being alive had put me in a rather generous mood, so I decided to make things easy for them.

  “So,” I said. “Exactly how long have the two of you been together? I assume that you’ve been going hot and heavy ever since that night at Fletcher’s house when the bounty hunters interrupted you. Am I right?”

  Finn and Bria didn’t look at me or each other.

  “Right,” Bria mumbled. “Although if it makes you uncomfortable—”

  “Then Gin’s just going to have to deal with it,” Finn cut her off.

  Bria stared at him in surprise.

  “What?” Finn said. “I worked too hard and too long to get you into my bed to just cut you loose now, cupcake.”

  Bria’s eyes narrowed. “Cupcake?”

  “Cupcake.” Finn grinned at her. “Or would you prefer snuggle bunny?”

  Bria’s hand drifted down to the gun on her leather belt, as though she wanted to pull it out and shoot Finn with it. Well, it was good to know I wasn’t the only one who occasionally had that reaction to him.

  I looked back and forth between the two of them, surprised and more than a little pleased by the emotions I saw sparking in their gazes. Annoyance. Desire. Heat. And something a little softer and more promising as well. I thought they might have a chance of making it together—forever. Bria was serious enough to keep Finn grounded, while my foster brother was carefree enough to get my sister to lighten up. Something that she needed now more than ever to help her get over the horrors of what Mab had done to her.

  “I’m going to have to agree with Finn on this one,” I said in a mild tone. “Especially since I’ve had to listen to him tell me how fantastic you are ever since Christmas.”

  Bria stared at my foster brother with a little more warmth. “You think that I’m fantastic? I’m not just another conquest to you?”

  Finn’s shoulders sagged, and he gave me a defeated look. “Geez, Gin. Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down. Now you’ve gone and done it.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “What? I’ve let the world know that there really is a heart underneath that slick suit and shiny tie? We’ve all known that for a while now, Finn. No matter how much you try to hide it.”

  “Curses,” Finn muttered. “Foiled again.”

  I leaned over and rumpled his walnut-colored locks. “As for me, the two of you have my blessing—and then some. So go, get out of here and have some fun—together. You’ve been cooped up in this house long enough, worrying about me.”

  Bria stared at me. “But what about before? That night at Fletcher’s house? Finn and I being, um, distracted was what led to this whole mess. My getting captured by Gentry, your almost being killed by Mab. How can you just forget about that? You were so angry about it before.”

  I thought of what Fletcher had told me when I’d seen the old man in the Pork Pit. “You’re right. I was angry before. But we all make mistakes, even the best of us. I like to think that it all evens out in the end.”

  Finn gave me a strange look. “That sounds like something that Dad would say.”

  I just smiled at him. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it?”

  Then I fixed them both with a hard stare. “Just don’t ask me to take sides when the two of you go at each other. Okay?”

  They nodded, then looked at each other. Finn waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, and Bria snorted. But she couldn’t stop a grin from curving her lips. Two minutes later, they both made excuses to leave. I only hoped they managed to make it to Finn’s apartment before their clothes came off.

  At that point, Jo-Jo strolled back into the kitchen and announced that it was time for me to go back to bed—whether I wanted to or not.

  “I didn’t spend the better part of a month putting you back together again for you to wear yourself out the first day that you’re up,” the dwarf announced.

  Owen was still busy with his phone call, so I let Jo-Jo help me back upstairs. The dwarf stayed with me, even going so far as to tuck me in herself—something she hadn’t done since I was a girl. She smoothed the covers down and stepped back. Jo-Jo stared at me with her clear, almost colorless eyes, and a soft smile creased her middle-aged face.

  “I’m proud of you, Gin,” she said. “So very, very proud.”

  “Why? Because I finally killed Mab?”

  Jo-Jo shook her head. “No, not because of that. I’m proud because you finally believed in yourself, Gin. Because you finally fully embraced your magic. The way that the purest, the strongest elementals always do in the end.”

&n
bsp; For once, Jo-Jo’s words didn’t make me shiver with unease. Instead, I sat there and thought about them. The dwarf was right—and wrong too. Yeah, I’d finally embraced my power, finally used it the way that it had always been intended to be used, finally dueled and defeated Mab with it. But it wasn’t just my magic that had helped me win—it had been Fletcher too. The old man’s training, all the years of his molding me into the Spider, shaping me into a weapon—that was what had ultimately let me kill Mab. My magic had just been the means to the end. Fletcher was the one who’d prepared me to face the Fire elemental all along.

  I told Jo-Jo as much, and she smiled again.

  “Fletcher might have given you the tools, darling, but you’re the one who used them. Don’t ever forget that.”

  Something in her tone made me look a little closer at her. “What do you mean, Jo-Jo? It’s over now. Done. Finished. Mab is dead. And if she somehow manages to crawl out of her grave, I’ll put her right back down in it again.”

  The dwarf stared at me. “But your life isn’t over, Gin. You’re not through being an elemental just because you killed Mab. You’re still growing, as a person, as an elemental, which means that your magic will keep on getting stronger.”

  My mouth fell open, and I struggled to come up with the right words. I’d never given much thought to what would happen after I killed Mab—mainly because I hadn’t figured that I’d be around afterward.

  “You mean—you mean that I’ll have even more magic in the future? Even more than I did in the courtyard?”

  My voice fell to a whisper. I’d been so busy just being grateful I’d survived, that everyone I loved was in one piece, that I hadn’t thought about the future—certainly not about my magic, what it might do, or what I might be able to do with it.

  Jo-Jo nodded. “You will. You’re a very special person, Gin, in more ways than one. Your magic is strong, but so are you with that iron will of yours. It’s served you well, and it will continue to do so.”

  I just sat there, digesting her words.

  She hesitated. “But I have to tell you that I still see darkness ahead for you, darling, some dark days, some tough times.”

  I shrugged. “I figured as much. Because now, I’m not only the Spider, but I’m the woman who killed Mab Monroe too. Every elemental who wants to prove herself will be looking to track me down and take me out. In a way, it’ll be even worse than the bounty hunters. They only wanted to turn me in—they didn’t particularly care if I was dead or not.”

  “Yes,” Jo-Jo said. “I suppose that it will be worse. But it’s not just elementals looking to prove themselves. There are a lot of bad people out there with a lot of bad powers. And, darling, you seem to attract that sort of trouble like honey does flies. But we both know that you’ll be ready for them—no matter what. And that I’ll be here to help you, every step of the way. Me and Sophia and all the others.”

  I reached over and squeezed the dwarf’s hand. “You’d better believe it.”

  I spent the next week recovering at Jo-Jo’s. My friends all dropped by at one time or another to see how I was doing, and Owen spent more time at the dwarf’s house than he did at his own. Finn was there too every single day, giving me updates about what was going on in the Ashland underworld.

  Mab Monroe’s unexpected but not unwelcome death had thrown the city’s entire underworld into a feeding frenzy, as everyone sought to establish themselves as the new big bad on the block. Bria and Xavier told me some of it—all the murders, drive-by shootings, and other violence that soaked the city streets in blood. But there was nothing I could do to stem the tide or help the two cops—not when I was still so weak.

  Jo-Jo made me spend two more days in bed before I convinced the dwarf that it was time for me to get back on my feet. I might have killed Mab, but that didn’t mean that trouble wouldn’t come looking for me sooner rather than later—and bite me on the ass when I least expected it.

  Like right now.

  The sword zipped by my head, close enough to part my hair, before I managed to duck at the last second. He raised the weapon for another blow, but I was already moving forward. I snapped my hand up and blocked his attack with my own sword before pivoting and slashing my blade at my opponent.

  Clang!

  Owen’s sword met mine, smashing against my blade so hard that he almost ripped the weapon out of my hand. I growled with frustration. A month ago, before I’d taken on Mab, I would have already hit him a dozen times while we sparred. Now it took all the energy I had just to swing a sword at him for five minutes.

  Owen grinned and rocked back on the balls of his feet. “Not bad for a woman who was at death’s door a few weeks ago.”

  I paused a moment to catch my breath. “But not nearly good enough for me.”

  We stood in the depths of Owen’s mansion in his private gym. Mats covered the floor, while mirrors lined three of the walls. The fourth wall was reserved for the rows of exquisite weapons that Owen crafted in his blacksmith forge in the back of the house. Swords, daggers, knives, maces, even an ax or two.

  The two of us had been coming here and sparring ever since the day Jo-Jo had let me out of bed. It was hard—so fucking hard—but I worked myself to exhaustion every single day, then pushed a little harder. The Ashland underworld wouldn’t stay in a tizzy forever, and sooner or later, folks were going to start looking in my direction. And I’d be damned if I wasn’t ready when they did.

  I used the sleeve of my T-shirt to wipe a bit of sweat off my forehead, and Owen frowned in concern.

  “Are you tired, Gin? Do you need to take a break—”

  I launched myself at him, whipping my sword through a series of moves. Owen parried the first blow, and even the second, but the third slipped past his defenses, and my blade just kissed his throat.

  “Now that’s more like it,” I crowed.

  Owen’s eyes narrowed. “You cheated. You took me off guard.”

  “And you should have known better than to think that an assassin wouldn’t cheat,” I smirked. “Especially the Spider.”

  “Hmm.”

  Owen made a noncommittal grunt and used the tip of his own sword to gently push mine away. But instead of raising his weapon again, Owen put his sword on the ground and sauntered toward me. He was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants just like I was, but he wore them oh so well. The thin cotton stretched across his chest, highlighting his strong, firm muscles, while the sweatpants hung low on his hips, hinting at the hardness that was hidden under there as well. Mmm. A different sort of heat flared in the pit of my stomach. It matched the passion burning in Owen’s eyes.

  “You know,” he murmured, tugging my sword out of my hands and lowering it to the floor. “I think we should move on to the hand-to-hand combat portion of today’s workout.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Really? What did you have in mind?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Owen said, drawing me into his arms. “Perhaps something that will improve your flexibility.”

  “I happen to be quite flexible,” I retorted. “You’re the one who threw his back out in bed the other night.”

  Owen grinned. “Which is exactly why I think that you should be on top today.”

  He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my throat, his hands already working their way under my T-shirt, just as mine were dipping below the waistband on his pants.

  “So what do you say, Gin?” Owen said. “Care for a little one-on-one action? Think you can handle it?”

  My hand slid down, closing around his thickening length. Owen’s breath rasped against my neck.

  “Oh,” I murmured, turning my head to stare into his eyes. “I think that I can handle anything you’ve got, Grayson.”

  Our lips met, and we spent the rest of the afternoon engaging in a far more pleasurable form of sparring.

  Another week passed. Every day I got a little stronger, a little tougher, until slowly, the old Gin Blanco emerged once more. Jo-Jo pronounced me fit to go back to
work just as the last of the winter snow melted away in mid-March. One day, it was cold and frigid. The next, it seemed like spring had swept in with all her bright green glory trailing along behind her.

  Six weeks after my fight with Mab, I walked through the front door of the Pork Pit. It was just after ten, and I’d come in to open the restaurant for the day. I flicked on the overhead lights, even though the morning sunlight was already streaming in through the storefront windows.

  This was the first time that I’d been in the restaurant since my battle with Mab. For a moment, I just stood there by the door, my eyes sweeping over all the familiar furnishings. The blue and pink booths, the matching pig tracks on the floor, the long counter along the back wall, the battered cash register. They all greeted me like old friends. I breathed in, and the scent of sugar and spices filled my lungs, smelling better to me than the most expensive perfume. The aroma would only intensify once Sophia and I started cooking.

  I walked over to the cash register. For a second, it was almost like I could see Fletcher sitting on the stool there, wearing his blue work clothes and apron, just like he had in my dream, vision, or whatever that strange trip had been the night I’d almost died. My gaze went to the wall where the bloody copy of Where the Red Fern Grows hung in its usual spot, along with a faded photo of Fletcher and Warren Fox.

  I might have only imagined it, but it seemed like the smell of chicory coffee suddenly filled the air. I breathed in again, and the aroma was gone, replaced by the usual swirl of spices. But I knew that Fletcher Lane would never truly leave me. I smiled and got to work.

  All the waitstaff came in at their usual time, and everyone greeted me with enthusiasm, telling me how sorry they were that I’d had mono for the last six weeks. That’s the story Finn, Bria, and the others had spun to explain my absence. I didn’t think anyone really believed it, though. I wouldn’t have. I didn’t know how many of my employees knew what had really gone down between me and Mab, or even realized I was the Spider, but at least some of them had heard the rumors. I could see it in the way their eyes didn’t quite meet mine. I supposed it would take some time for all the hoopla surrounding Mab’s death and my part in it to die down—if it ever really could.