Read Online Elemental Assassin 05 - Spider's Revenge by authors_sort - Free Book Online

for a full-frontal assault. You and Finn both know that. So do Jo-Jo, Sophia, and even Bria. I had to go in by myself. That was the only way I could even get close enough to Mab to take my shot.”
    I closed my eyes. The anger, melancholy, and frustration welled up in my chest again, until they coated my mouth and throat like bitter, burning acid. “Too bad I blew it and missed.”
    “I know,” Owen said in a gentler tone. “Finn called me this morning. Seems that his phone started ringing last night and hasn’t stopped since. All his contacts are buzzing with the news. He was a little upset about it himself. Said he’d catch up with you at the Pork Pit later today.”
    I groaned. “What Finn really means is that he’ll lambaste me six ways from Sunday while he eats a free lunch at the counter.”
    Some of the anger softened in Owen’s violet eyes, and a sly grin lifted up his lips. “Something like that, I imagine.”
    I groaned again and returned Owen’s smile. More of the anger melted out of his gaze, and the tension between us lightened, like a dark cloud being blown away by a stiff gust of wind. For now, anyway.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “You know I’m a little irrational where Mab’s concerned. I saw an opportunity to take her out, and I couldn’t pass it up.”
    “I know, Gin,” Owen said. “I know.”
    He got up from his rocking chair and came over to the bed. He sat down and opened his arms to me, and I scooted into his embrace. The warmth from his body mixed with my own, and I breathed in, enjoying his rich, earthy scent, which always made me think of metal, if metal could ever have any real smell.
    “I hate that she’s after you,” Owen murmured, his lips against my hair. “But what I hate more is that you went after her alone. That no one was backing you up. Promise me you won’t do that again. Okay, Gin? Promise me that the next time you go after Mab, you’ll take someone with you. Me, Finn, Sophia. Someone, anyone, to help you.”
    I could have lied to him. Maybe I should have. Because I had no intention of stopping until Mab was dead—even if she would probably take me down with her. But I didn’t want to lie to Owen and ruin this fragile peace between us.
    “All right,” I said in a wry tone. “The next time I goafter Mab, I’ll take a buddy along to hold my knives. Happy?”
    “For now,” Owen rumbled, tucking me in even closer to his body. “For now.”
    We sat there on the bed for a long time, just holding each other.
    Owen had to get to work, since his business empire didn’t run itself, and I had a barbecue restaurant to run, so we made plans to hook up later. But Owen was quieter than usual as he left Jo-Jo’s, and I couldn’t think of what to say to him without the words coming out wrong. So we left things as they were, unspoken and unresolved, with neither one of us knowing how to deal with the other.
    By the time I showered, threw on some spare clothes that I kept at Jo-Jo’s, and made my way to the Pork Pit, it was after two o’clock.
    The Pork Pit barbecue restaurant was located in downtown Ashland, close to the unofficial Southtown border. It wasn’t much to look at, just another hole-in-the-wall, but it was
mine
—my gin joint. The sight of the multicolored neon sign of a pig holding a platter of food over the front door brought a smile to my face. The Pit was the only real home I’d known since Fletcher had taken me in off the streets when I was thirteen. The old man had started the restaurant years ago, and I’d inherited it after his murder last year.
    As I walked toward the front door, I brushed my fingers against the battered brick of the restaurant and reached for my Stone magic. As always, slow, sonorous notes rippled through the brick, whispering of theclogged, contented hearts, arteries, and stomachs of so many diners after eating at the restaurant. The familiar whispers soothed away the rest of my frustration. I might have screwed up last