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Hands rolled me onto my side to make it easier for me to breathe. I just lay there, cold and half-frozen by my own Ice magic, my fingers curled into the dirt, my face resting on a bed of dried, cracked leaves, sucking down breath after breath. After a few moments, I managed to open my eyes and found a face right there on the dirt next to mine - but it wasn't the one that I expected. His eyes were blue, not violet, and his hair was as light as the sunshine kissing the forest.
Kincaid gave me a crooked smile. "Don't think you're going to weasel out of our deal just by dying, Gin. "
Deal? We didn't have any deal. I'd never agreed to kill Salina for him. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but the words just wouldn't come. The blackness rose up in my mind again, and I was helpless to resist it once more.
The girl had finally quit screaming - if not crying.
Even though her father was dead and had been for a while now, the girl was still slumped over his body - or what was left of it - and sobbing like she would never, ever stop. Each one of her loud, wild, soul-wrenching cries was like a knife piercing my own heart. I knew that pain, I knew those screams all too well - they were the same ones that had torn my heart to pieces and spewed out of my mouth after the murder of my family.
I was still a little shocked by what had happened. Mab Monroe had spent the better part of an hour torturing Benedict Dubois, burning him with her elemental Fire, delighting in his tearful pleas and whimpers as he begged her to stop. And she'd made everyone watch - all the dinner guests, all the chefs, all the waiters, even Dubois's own daughter.
It had been like a nightmare come to life.
At first, Mab had toyed with Dubois, jabbing her red-hot fingers into his arms like they were slender cigarettes she was stubbing out. Then, she'd used her elemental Fire to burn the rest of him - his chest, his legs; she'd even used her power to singe all the hair off his head like she was scalping him.
Still, no matter what Mab did, I made myself watch the whole thing just like Fletcher did beside me. These were the realities of life in Ashland, especially for an assassin-in-training like me. Because if I was ever captured, especially by someone like Mab, I would face the same sort of torture. Fletcher didn't say the words. He didn't have to. Not tonight. Not when I was faced with something like this.
Once Dubois was dead, I'd thought the Fire elemental would turn her wrath on the girl to quiet her down, but Mab just let her scream and scream, as though the sound amused her. It probably did, given all the cruel things I'd seen the Fire elemental do tonight. Finally, the girl broke free of the boy holding her, threw herself on top of her father's body, and started crying, her sobs just as loud as her screams had been.
When it was finally over, Mab dusted the pieces of ash and burned flesh off her hands and turned to face the horrified crowd.
"Am I going to have any more problems from the rest of you?" she asked. "Or has this been an adequate enough display of my position in Ashland? I'm happy to demonstrate further, if you like. "
No one said a word.
Mab let out a pleased, pealing laugh. "I thought not. "
She turned and snapped her finger at one of her giants. "Bring the car around. I'm finished here. "
And then she walked away - just picked up the skirt of her long, forest-green evening gown and calmly walked away like she hadn't just burned a man to bits and enjoyed every second of it.
Less than a minute later, the Fire elemental slid into the back of a black limo. One of her men shut the door behind her, then scurried around and got in the front. The driver put the vehicle in gear, and the limo coasted down the long driveway. Even when the car had disappeared from sight, everyone stood where they were, afraid to move, afraid that Mab might come back and do the same thing to them that she'd done to Dubois.
All the while, the girl kept crying. The boy who'd been holding her back went over, crouched down beside her, and put his hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what to do or say anymore than anyone else did. After a few seconds, the girl turned and threw herself into his arms, almost knocking him over onto the grass. He stroked her long blond hair and whispered words to her that I couldn't hear, although I imagined they were your usual sort of comforting lies about how everything was going to be okay.
I eyed Dubois's still smoldering body. No, everything was a long, long way from okay.
Eventually, the guests roused themselves out of their stunned state and began murmuring to each other.
"Can't believe Benedict thought he could really kill Mab . . . "
"He should have known better. . . . "
"If you ask me, he got what he deserved for being so foolish. . . . "
The last voice was a little louder and snider than the others had been - loud enough for the girl to hear. Her sobs stopped, and her head snapped around. She shoved the boy away and got to her feet, her hands curling into fists by her sides.
"Why didn't you help him?" she yelled at the crowd. "Why did you all just stand there? You were supposed to be his friends! Cowards! You're nothing but dirty rotten cowards! The whole lot of you!"
No one answered, but the guests edged away from her and dropped their eyes in shame.
Finally, a giant stepped forward, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. I recognized him as one of Dubois's bodyguards.
"Calm down, Salina," he said. "You know we couldn't save your father. Not from Mab. Not without dying ourselves. There was nothing we could do. "
The girl stared up at the giant a moment, then smiled - a bright, sunny smile that was at odds with her red, tear-streaked face. Something about her expression made me uneasy. I started to move forward, but Fletcher grabbed my arm and held me still. The old man shook his head at me.
"You're right, Carl," the girl said in a sweet voice. "You couldn't do anything - but I can. "
