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"Because I've been dealing with suspicious bastards like that since I was thirteen," I murmured.
Bria stared at me a moment longer, then started twisting her handcuffs, trying to find some way to break the metal. I thought about telling her not to bother, since the handcuffs were made of silverstone, but decided against it. Better that she was focused on trying to escape than the horrors that waited for us with LaFleur otherwise. Still, part of me was proud of my sister because she was thinking about escape, just like I was, instead of curling into a ball, giving up, and waiting for her death.
I took a few moments to study every part of the railcar, from the floor to the ceiling to the walls to the door that I knew at least one giant was guarding. Not much to see. Bria and I were the only things inside, and the giants hadn't been stupid enough to leave anything helpful in here, like power tools. I didn't know how long LaFleur would mess around before she came back and started torturing us, but one thing was for sure-I needed these handcuffs off long before then.
I stared at the metal linking my hands together. They were ordinary handcuffs, except that they were made of silverstone. If I'd been by myself, I might have tried using my Ice magic to flash-freeze the cuffs, then snap them off. But Bria was here trapped with me, and using that much magic was sure to bring LaFleur running. So I'd just have to be a little more circumspect. Small and quiet was always better than big and flashy anyway. Being the Spider had shown me that.
So I drew in a breath and reached for my Ice magic. Once again, I was surprised by how easily it came to me now and how much stronger it seemed, even since my swan dive into the river the other night. My power was growing just as Jo-Jo had said it would. I hoped the dwarf was right about all the other things she'd told me about my magic-namely that I was the strongest elemental she'd ever seen.
Because I was going to have to be to kill Elektra LaFleur and keep Bria safe.
I grabbed hold of my magic. The silverstone cuffs around my wrists immediately responded, absorbing my small trickle of power before I could even think about using it.
"Gin?" Bria asked, stopping her own struggles with the handcuffs as she sensed me using my power. "What are you doing? Do you-do you have magic?"
I didn't answer her, mainly because I couldn't do that and concentrate on my power at the same time. The silverstone snapped around my wrists made it hard-so hard. Every time I grabbed my Ice magic, every time I tried to form the particular shape that I wanted with it, the handcuffs would absorb all my power before I could even get started.
I glared at the cuffs around my hands. Such a small thing, but they were keeping me contained, just as LaFleur had wanted them to-and she hadn't even realized I had elemental magic to begin with.
I had a shitload of silverstone melted into my hands when I was a kid, and I'd overcome that block, blasted my way right through it when I'd needed to the most. I could get through this one too. These measly handcuffs were nothing compared to the silverstone that Mab had seared into my palms the night she'd murdered my family. Nothing. I wasn't going to die because I was chained, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let the same thing happen to Bria.
But that didn't mean I couldn't make things a little easier on myself. I grabbed the handcuffs and slid them down my arms as far as they would go. Not far, but it gave me another two inches between the magical metal and my palms, where I would release my magic.
Once again, I reached for my Ice magic, and a cold silver light flickered in my palm, centered on the spider rune scar there. I immediately felt the handcuffs come to life, as the silverstone metal hungered to absorb my magic. I gritted my teeth against the constant power drain, focused, and forced my Ice magic away from my palm, trying to move it up into the very tips of my fingers, which was as far away from the silverstone cuffs as I could get it.
It worked.
Slowly, snowflake-shaped crystals spread up my fingers, and the cold, silver light began sparking there on the tips of my fingers instead of farther down in my palm. A small thing, but it took all the control I had to do it with the silverstone cuffs on my wrists continuously soaking up my magic. Quickly, before I lost the thin grasp I had on it, I forced the magic into the particular shapes I wanted-two slender Ice picks.
When they were finished, I let go of my Ice magic, let out a long, tense breath, and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. Such small, simple shapes, but those had been the two hardest things I'd made with my elemental power. Ever.
"You're an elemental?" Bria asked, her blue eyes narrowing. "With Ice magic?"
"Yeah," I said, grabbing the Ice picks and working on my handcuffs with them. "Just like you are. "
Bria frowned. "Just like me? How do you know that I have Ice magic, Gin? I've never done any magic in front of you. "
"Yes, you have," I said in a gentle voice.
For a moment, I flashed back to our childhood. Bria had loved using her magic when we were kids, making all kinds of Ice sculptures and flowers and other shapes just because she could. Just because she found it fun and entertaining. I wondered if she still did that. I wondered a lot of things about my sister-including how horrified she was going to be with me before the night was through. Hell, before we even got out of this metal car.
The picks did the trick, and the handcuffs popped open. Although I wanted nothing more than to sling them away, I forced myself to set them down quietly on the floor. I stood up, and Bria did the same.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" Bria asked, curiosity in her voice. "Even I have a hard time doing that sometimes. "
"Finn," I said. "The man can pick a lock like you wouldn't believe. Now hold out your hands, and I'll help you slip out of yours. "
She obeyed, and I used m
y Ice picks on the cuffs. A few seconds later, the lock clinked open, and the silverstone cuffs popped off Bria's hands. I scooped them up, along with the other pair, and stuck them both in the back pocket of my jeans. I didn't know what I might do with them, but I'd learned a long time ago how to improvise and turn even the simplest things into deadly weapons.
Bria stood there, rubbing the circulation back into her wrists. I drew in a breath, my heart starting to squeeze in on itself. Because now it was truth time-whether I was ready for it or not. I couldn't do what needed to be done, couldn't make sure that we both lived through the night, without revealing exactly who and what I was to Bria.
Without telling her I was the Spider.
"I need you to listen to me, Bria. "
She looked at up at me, still massaging her wrists. "Okay. "
