Part 24 (1/2)

And then we danced.

Around and around we circled, our shoes squis.h.i.+ng into the puddles of blood already on the carpet. Unlike his men, Slater didn't rush at me, thinking his superior strength and size would be enough to carry him through the fight. Instead, the smart, cagey b.a.s.t.a.r.d feinted in and out, testing me, trying to see how good I really was with the swords. He got the message when I sliced his bicep with one weapon and nicked his thigh with the other one.

Slater's hazel eyes narrowed. ”There's more to you than meets the eye, Blanco.”

I smiled. ”Every day's a new surprise.”

We kept testing each other. I got a few more wounds in, content to slowly bleed the giant out. Slater realized what my strategy was and decided to up the tempo and use his incredible speed to his advantage. He came at me swinging in a lightning-fast pattern. Punch-punch-punch. I dodged the first two, but his last quick blow caught me in the shoulder before I could sidestep away. The hard hit rocked my joint, and my arm and hand went numb from the sudden pressure. Owen's beautiful sword slipped from my fingers and thumped to the carpet. I darted forward and kicked it back and behind me, well out of Elliot Slater's reach. The speedy giant was dangerous enough by himself. If he got his hands on a sword, well, it wouldn't be good for me.

”Seems like you lost your toothpick,” he mocked.

”And you've lost more blood,” I replied, trying to shake the numbness out of my arm. ”I'd say that makes us even.”

Slater looked down at his s.h.i.+rt and pants. Blood covered both of them, and the rips that I'd made in the fabric made him look like a castaway whose clothes had been shredded by the elements. The giant smiled.

”Not for long, b.i.t.c.h,” he replied. ”Not for long-”

And then the worst thing in the world happened-Finn decided to get into the fight.

While I'd been circling around and nicking Slater, Finn had managed to get the chain holding his hands up off the peg above his head. Finn's hands were still bound together by the silverstone cuffs, but he used the heavy chain like it was a piece of garrote wire. He leaped up onto a sofa, threw the chain over Slater's head, and crawled up on the giant's back like a monkey.

I'd give Finn points for style, if not substance, because Slater immediately backpedaled and slammed him into the closest wall. Once, twice, three times in rapid succession. Finn groaned, and the chain slackened around Slater's neck. The giant threw off the metal and Finn, who fell to the floor, completely limp. Slater turned and stomped on Finn's ribs with his ma.s.sive foot.

”I'll deal with you soon, you c.o.c.ky b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” he muttered.

I rushed forward, swinging the long sword above my head, but the giant was quicker than I was. So much f.u.c.king quicker. Slater used his ma.s.sive forearm to block my attack, then punched me in the face. Pain and blood flooded my mouth. I wasn't antic.i.p.ating the blow and staggered back, momentarily stunned. The giant pressed his advantage, charging at me. I managed to bring the sword up to hold him back, but it was only a temporary maneuver. Slater ripped the weapon out of my hands, tossed it to one side, and kept coming.

Since I was out of weapons, I reached for the only thing that I had left-my magic. My Stone power flooded through my veins, and I pulled the power up through my tissue and bones and muscles and joints, letting it pour over my skin, hardening it. Slater stopped short and eyed the gray, chiseled appearance of my skin.

”f.u.c.k, you're an elemental too. Just full of tricks aren't we-” The giant stopped his muttering and glanced over his shoulder at Finn, then back at me. Knowledge s.h.i.+mmered in his hazel eyes. ”Well, well, looks like Mab had the wrong sister all the while, didn't she? Just think how pleased she'll be when I tell her that you're the one with the Stone magic. What was the middle brat's name again? Oh, yeah-h.e.l.lo, Genevieve.”

f.u.c.k. Of all the things that could have happened, Elliot Slater guessing my real ident.i.ty had not been at the top of my list. Neither was the way the truth energized him.

Slater let out a loud roar and threw himself at me. This time I couldn't avoid him. The giant slammed me to the carpet and started punching me over and over and over again, just the way that I'd feared he would. He peppered my face and chest with blows, never slowing his cadence or losing his rhythm. Punch-punch-punch. Every sharp blow threatened to break through my hardened skin. My head already rang from his previous punches, and it took every thing I had to focus on my Stone power to keep myself from being beaten to death. I had no doubt that the giant could keep his promise to Finn. He could hit me for hours without tiring.

In desperation, I threw my hand to one side and reached for my Ice magic. A jagged knife formed in my palm, and I snapped my hand up, determined to drive the weapon into Slater's eye or neck or whatever the h.e.l.l I could reach. But the giant saw the motion out of the corner of his eye. Once again, his quickness saved him. He grabbed my hand, stopping the forward motion, and glanced at the crude weapon that I had clenched between my fingers.

”An Ice knife. Cute,” he said.

Then the b.a.s.t.a.r.d snapped my wrist.

It felt like someone had taken a hammer to my bones. I screamed with pain and fury. My control was slipping, and now it was only a matter of time before the giant killed me. But mainly, I screamed because Finn would die along with me. Because I'd brought my foster brother along for backup, and I'd failed miserably to protect him.

Elliot Slater drew back and smiled down at me. ”Time to die, b.i.t.c.h-”

BOOM!.

Something slammed into Slater's chest and stomach, rocking him back. Blood sprayed onto my chest and face, and the acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air.

BOOM!.

Another sharp retort spat out, knocking Slater back and off me. Cradling my broken wrist, I immediately scooted away from the giant, who pulled himself up onto a silver-colored sofa. My head snapped around, looking for my mysterious benefactor.

Roslyn Phillips stood in the middle of the living room, a large shotgun cradled in her hands. The vamp popped two more red sh.e.l.ls into the gun and raised it up. I didn't know where the h.e.l.l she'd gotten the weapon or why she'd come back here when I'd told her to leave, but I was glad she had. Because the vamp had just saved my life.

Elliot Slater just looked at her in disbelief.

”What the f.u.c.k are you doing?” he snarled. ”You're supposed to be upstairs, b.i.t.c.h.”

”Sorry,” Roslyn replied. ”Gin was nice enough to arrange a change of scenery for me.”

While Slater was distracted, I got to my feet and picked up one of Owen's swords. The pain from my many injuries threatened to overwhelm me, but I ground my teeth together and pushed the hot, searing sensations down into the pit of my stomach. I'd deal with the agony later. Right now, I had Roslyn to think about.

I moved to stand beside the other woman. The vamp gave me a curt nod, but she never took her eyes off Elliot Slater.

The giant's gaze flicked from Roslyn to me. His chest looked like hamburger meat-raw, uneven, b.l.o.o.d.y. A steady torrent of blood gushed from his wounds, not enough to kill him, but more than enough to weaken him. Roslyn was a better shot than I'd realized. Then again, it was hard to miss with a shotgun. Still, I wasn't going to complain. Because I would have been dead by now if not for the vampire.

Slater knew the score just as well as I did, so he changed tactics. ”Come on, baby,” Slater crooned to Roslyn. ”Why are you doing this? I was just trying to teach you a lesson earlier. You know how much I care about you.”

”Yeah,” Roslyn spat out. ”I know exactly how much you care about me, Elliot. The same way you cared about those other women you told me about tonight-all the other ones that you brought up here and raped and killed when you got tired of them.”

Slater's chalky face tightened, and his hazel eyes narrowed with rage. ”And you're just another notch on my belt, b.i.t.c.h. You really think you're going to get away with this? Mab Monroe will hunt you down and burn you to a crisp. You'll all die for this. Put down the gun, Roslyn, and I'll spare you. I'll tell Mab that you were just trying to help me. She'll believe me. She trusts me. If you don't, you know what will happen. Mab will come after you, and then after that sweet little niece and sister you love so much. Xavier too. You'll all be dead and burned and gone. Charred to f.u.c.king ashes by Mab.”

Roslyn just stared at the giant, an unreadable expression on her face. I stood beside her, but I didn't say anything. This was the vamp's fight now. She had to stand up to Elliot Slater now, or what had happened these last few days would haunt her the rest of her life. More so, anyway, than it already would. Roslyn swayed side to side, and the shotgun shook in her trembling hands. For a moment, I thought that she was lost. That Slater had won this final round of cruel torture.

But then, Roslyn's face hardened underneath the blood and bruises, and a cold, terrible light filled her dark eyes. Her back straightened, her fingers tightened on the shotgun, and once again, I saw a glimmer of the hard-a.s.sed vampire that I remembered. The one who'd bared her fangs at me when I'd once dared to threaten her niece.

”Maybe I won't get away with it,” Roslyn snarled. ”But at least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're dead. Go to h.e.l.l, Elliot.”

Roslyn stepped forward and fired the gun.

BOOM! BOOM!.

Elliot Slater's head exploded in a ma.s.s of blood and brains and bone. The giant twitched once, fell to the floor, and was still.

29.

Roslyn just stood there, staring down at what had been Elliot Slater's melon-size head. I put my hand on the smoking gun and slowly lowered it.

”It's over, Roslyn,” I said in a soft voice. ”He's dead now. You killed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You did it. You took care of him-forever. He's never going to bother you again. Never. Do you understand me?”

After a moment, Roslyn pulled her gaze away from the dead giant and looked up at me. Tears filled her eyes, and her hands started shaking once more. I pulled the gun out of her hands, let it fall to the floor, and gingerly, slowly, carefully, put my arms around her, not sure if I should hold her, touch her. Not sure how I could help her through this, but determined to try nonetheless. The vamp sobbed and screamed and pounded her fists against my back. I let her, just let her get it all out. All the pain and fear and misery. All the rage and helplessness and terror. All the relief and horror and sorrow.

I don't know how long we stood there, Roslyn screaming and crying, me just holding her. But eventually, her sobs quieted, and the vamp drew away from me.

”He might be dead, but he's right,” she whispered. ”I'll never get away with this. Mab Monroe will come after me, after my family, after Xavier.”