Spider's Bite (Elemental Assassin #1)

All of which meant that the honeymoon was over already. A shame, really. I swung my leg off his and got to my feet.

"What are you doing?" Donovan asked, his eyes fixed on my bare legs.

"Getting dressed," I said in a cold voice. "It's almost time for the sisters to call. I suggest you do the same."

I shoved my ripped panties into my purse and pulled my dress back down into the appropriate position. Beside me, Donovan Caine zipped up his pants. We didn't speak to each other. I grabbed my cell phone and slid it back into my purse. Then I cautiously opened the door to the supply closet. Nobody lingered in the hall. Mab must have called her giant back to her side. Good.

We left the cramped closet, walked around the second-floor balcony, and took a different set of stairs down to the ballroom floor. The crowd had grown during the better part of the hour we'd been gone, and now the people and conversation buzzed like horseflies. It took me a moment, but I spotted Finn still sitting at the bar. His companion had changed, though. Instead of the old dwarf, a young, attractive Asian woman smiled and let him ply her with drinks. I jerked my head at Finn. Donovan nodded, and we headed that way.

"Do you see the sisters?" Donovan Caine murmured.

I glanced at him. A hard mask had settled over the detective's face, pushing the guilt from his eyes. The detective was putting aside his conflicting feelings long enough to get the job done. What a professional.

I started to say no, when a flash of gold caught my eye. Haley James. The petite woman's eyes were fixed on the ballroom exit. Her mouth hung open as though she was gasping for breath as she power-walked in that direction. She was moving so fast I didn't see how she was keeping her feet in her strappy sandals. Her actions made it seem almost like someone was chasing her. One moment she was there, the next, she had disappeared. I scanned the crowd looking for Alexis.

There the bitch was, about a hundred feet behind her sister and closing fast. Tight mouth. Narrowed eyes. Hard features. Alexis was storming after her sister. I wouldn't want to be Haley when she caught up. Captain Wayne Stephenson was right behind Alexis. So were the two goons. The four of them approached the ballroom exit-

"Finn! Finnegan Lane!" a sultry voice called out. Damn and double damn.

I was a couple hundred feet and several dozen people away from the bar, but I still heard her yell his name. So did Alexis James. The Air elemental stopped right where she was, as if she'd been struck by lightning. Stephenson had to pull up to keep from slamming into her. The goons hit his broad back and bounced off like Ping-Pong balls. They managed to stay upright.

Roslyn Phillips smiled, murmured an apology, and stepped around Alexis James.

The vampire's eyes focused on Finn, and she was oblivious to the Air elemental's sudden interest in her. Alexis followed Roslyn's gaze. Her mouth curved up into a grim smile as she spotted Finn, who'd half-raised his hand in greeting to Roslyn.

Grabbing Roslyn's arm, Alexis yanked her back, then barked a command at Stephenson. He grabbed Roslyn around the waist and started carrying her out of the ballroom. The two goons flanked him. A few people gave the group curious stares, but nobody moved to intervene. The folks might be richer in Northtown, but they didn't like to get involved in other people's problems any more than those in Southtown did.

Roslyn didn't know what the hell was going on, but she started struggling. A giant dragging you anywhere was never a good thing. The vampire sank her fangs into Stephenson's forearm before he got her out of the room. Finn bolted out of his seat after them.

Oh, fuck.

I'd started moving as soon as I'd heard Roslyn call Finn's name. So had Donovan Caine. Our footsteps pounded into the carpet as we ran for the exit. But there were too many people for us to move in a straight line. Zigzag, zigzag, zigzag. That was all we were able to do.

I'd just spotted some daylight, a hole through the crowd, when someone stepped in front of me, blocking my path. I glanced up. The giant Mab had sent after me before.

"There you are," he rumbled. "Ms. Monroe wants a word with you."

No time to be subtle. I drove my knee into his groin. He yelped and bent over. I'd already palmed one of my silverstone knives, so I popped him in the windpipe with the hilt of it. Choking, he stumbled back. The giant's ass hit a table, and it flipped over. Drinks and food spilled everywhere. Shouts and curses rose up, but I was already on my way out the door.

It was a straight shot from the ballroom to the front entrance of the country club, but I didn't see Alexis James, Stephenson, or Finn in the hallway. They had to be outside already. Getting past the giant had cost me precious seconds.

I ran down the hall toward the front door. Donovan Caine's footsteps scuffed the carpet behind me. The outside door was open, letting the afternoon sun stream in through the entrance. But it didn't warm me. Not one damn bit.

I raced outside. My head swiveled left, then right. There. A limo sat at the curb halfway down the steep hill that led up to the front of the club. Wayne Stephenson smashed his fist into Finn's chest. His body immediately sagged. Unconscious.

Stephenson shoved him in the back of the limo, then got in after him. Alexis James, Roslyn Phillips, and the other two goons must have already been inside because there was no sign of them.

"Finn!" I screamed, running in that direction. "Finn!" Too late.

The door slammed shut. Tires screeching, the limo pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the afternoon sun.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

For a moment, I just stood there, not quite believing what had happened. That Alexis James had Finn and Roslyn Phillips. Luck, that capricious bitch, had really fucked me over today.

Donovan Caine ran up behind me. Sometime during the commotion, the detective had drawn the gun from his ankle holster.

Then Fletcher's training took over, as it so often did. My eyes flicked back and forth.

Several limo drivers had gotten out of their cars, wondering what all the drama was about. The tuxedo-clad valets by the front door stared at me with open-mouthed shock. Once he got his breath back, Mab Monroe's giant wouldn't be far behind.

"We need to get out of here. Now," I said in a low voice.

I stalked into the parking lot. Donovan Caine holstered his weapon and followed me.

Since we didn't want to run the risk of handing a stolen car to a valet, Finn had decided against boosting another car and had instead driven his own Benz to the country club-and he still had the keys. Time to get another ride.

I hurried through several rows of vehicles until I was out of sight of the curious limo drivers and valets. After about two minutes of searching, I found a BMW that was several years old-prealarm, in other words. I used the hilt of my knife to smash the window, then hotwired the vehicle. Finn wasn't the only one who could liberate cars, although he did it with much more panache and far less mess.

I slid in behind the wheel. Donovan Caine got into the passenger's seat.

Neither one of us said a word as I hit the gas and the car roared away from the country club.

I drove about two miles, pulled into the far corner of the first gas station I saw, and stopped the car. Then I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse.

"What are you doing?" Donovan asked. "Calling Finn."

The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Four-

"Hello?" Instead of Finn, Roslyn's voice whispered over the line. "It's Gin."

"I'm so sorry, Gin. I didn't realize-"

"It's okay, Roslyn," I said, trying to soothe her, keep her calm. "It's not your fault. It's mine, for being sloppy. Everything's going to be all right. You'll be back home with Catherine real soon. Now, put Alexis James on the line."

I hit a button, activating the speaker phone, and held the cell out toward Donovan Caine so he could hear the conversation too.

"Who is this?" a woman's voice came on the line. Cold, hard, smug.

"Hello, Alexis," I said.

Alexis James's laughter echoed out of the speaker. "So you know my voice. Good. It will make this easier." "Where's your sister?" I asked. "Where's Haley?" I'd much rather deal with Haley James. She'd seemed somewhat amenable to my proposal to walk away. But more than that, she was afraid of what I'd do if she didn't give in to my demands. Haley was afraid I'd turn the information over to Mab Monroe and let the Fire elemental deal with her and her sister. Haley didn't want to die at the Fire elemental's hands like her father, Lawrence, had.

But Alexis James wasn't like Haley. She was too power-hungry to be sensible, to be afraid of Mab. An undercurrent of insanity colored her voice, a small peal I could hear among the smugness. Alexis was high on her own magic, and she never wanted to come down from it. No wonder she thought she could take out Mab Monroe. She probably thought she was Wonder Woman too.

And now, Alexis had something I wanted, something I cared about-Finn. This was not going to end well. For any of us.

"Haley's gone," Alexis said.

My gray eyes narrowed. "What do you mean gone?"

"The bitch decided to run for it," Alexis sneered. "Told me about your so-called demands. She said things were getting too complicated and she left." That would explain why Haley had scurried out of the country club before her sister.

"And you didn't go after her?"

Alexis laughed. Again, the delicate note of madness colored her voice. Beside me, Donovan Caine cocked his head. He'd heard it too.

"Why would I? Haley's just been holding me back, always telling me to be cautious and sensible. Let her run and hide from you and Mab Monroe and all the other scary people out there. I'm better off without her." Bitterness crept into her voice. "I'm the one you're dealing with now, not her."

I didn't say anything. Faint rumbles and muffles could be heard in the background. A car horn beeped in the distance. They were still in the limo, getting farther and farther away from the country club with every second. And I had no idea what direction they'd taken, no way of tracking or following them.

"And who am I speaking with?" Alexis asked.

"You know exactly who this is. You and your boys have been hunting for me for days now." "I want to hear you say it."

I drew in a breath. "I'm the Spider, the assassin you hired, then double-crossed." Donovan Caine flinched at the words the Spider. They reminded him once again of who and what I was, even if he'd let himself forget for an hour. His face hardened, and the guilt flickered in his eyes. Caine was thinking about Cliff Ingles, his partner, and how he'd just betrayed him by fucking me-and enjoying the hell out of it.

The detective's lips, the ones that had been so hot and open against mine, pressed into a tight, closed line. Damn and double damn. Now was not the time for Caine to start hating me again and vowing to bring me to justice no matter what.

"What do you want, Alexis?" I asked.

"The flash drive and any copies you might have made of it," she said. "In return?"

"You get your friends-in more or less one piece."

A series of slap-slap-slaps sounded, followed by a low groan. Finn, getting the shit beat out of him for the second time in less than a week, probably by Captain Wayne Stephenson. A painful, dubious achievement. A final slap rang out, followed by a high-pitched, stifled scream. Roslyn. The giant had hit Roslyn hard enough for the vamp to feel it.

My free hand clenched into a tight fist. "Listen up, bitch. I don't pay for damaged goods. You tell Stephenson to quit beating up my man right fucking now. And if he or your other two goons even think about touching the woman in any way, I'll hand-deliver the flash drive to Mab Monroe myself and let her track you down. Hell, she'll probably have the mayor give me a medal for bringing you to her attention." Silence. A calculated gamble. Alexis James might not be afraid of Mab Monroe's magic, but she had to realize getting the other woman involved would only make matters worse for her. That's why Alexis had hired and double-crossed me in the first place-to smooth her path to usurping glory. Alexis still needed the flash drive to disappear, hopefully more than she wanted to hurt Finn and Roslyn or call my bluff.

But I wasn't bluffing. I'd do exactly what I promised-except I'd find a way to get to Alexis James long before Mab Monroe did.

"Agreed." A reluctant promise, wrapped in uncertainty. "Where do you want to make the exchange?" I asked.

"The old rock quarry on the outskirts of town. Do you know it?"

I closed my eyes. Memories and images flashed through my mind. Playing there with Bria as a child. Cowering underneath the rocky outcroppings after the Fire elemental had murdered my family. Jo-Jo sitting with me among the rocks, showing me how to master my elemental magic. Fletcher hunched on a seatlike slab of stone reading a book while I ran lap after lap around the quarry, circling my way from the bottom to the top and back down again.

"I know it."

"Two hours. Be there with the flash drive, or your friends die. Slowly." Alexis hung up. I hit a button, doing the same, then stared at Donovan Caine. The detective looked back at me, his hard cop stare tightening the planes of his face.

I sighed. "Go ahead and say it."

"This is your fault. Alexis James has hostages because of you." His eyes frosted over.

"Because you were too busy fucking me to watch her."

"There was no way of knowing Roslyn would call out to Finn, and that Alexis would grab them both," I said.

"I'll admit leaving Finn at the bar was a miscalculation on my part." Disgust filled Donovan's amber eyes. "A miscalculation?"

His disgust, his anger, knifed into me, piercing my heart. But I pushed the feeling aside. Now was not the time for emotion. Now was the time to be as cold and hard as the Ice and Stone magic that flowed through my veins.