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I heard Finn pass the walkie-talkie over Eva, who was in the car with him. I hadn't been able to stop her from coming, but I'd made sure she was on the outside looking in and well away from Salina and the danger the water elemental posed.
"I'm fine, but I'll be better when that bitch is dead. You promised me, Gin. You promised. "
"I know," I said in a soft voice. "But I promised Owen too. "
Eva sighed. "But he has such a blind spot when it comes to Salina. He always has. "
I didn't tell Eva that I was planning to end that blind spot tonight - permanently. She knew as well as I did that Salina had to be put down. All that remained to be seen now was what Owen would think of me after the fact.
I looked through the binoculars a final time, then put them into the sack of supplies I'd grabbed from Finn's car. I pulled a few things out of the bag, including some extra knives, and slid them into the pockets on my vest, before hiding the bag in a pile of leaves. As a final touch, I picked up a long staff that Finn had gotten when he'd swung by Fletcher's house earlier - a staff that hummed with my Ice magic.
A few weeks ago, I'd used the staff to defeat Randall Dekes, a nasty vampire who'd wanted to keep me as his pet. Dekes had stolen my magic by forcibly drinking my blood, but I'd tricked him into using my own power against me, and I'd had the staff ready when he did. Since the staff was made of silverstone, it had absorbed all the magic Dekes had thrown at me. Even now, all these weeks later, the metal felt cold to the touch.
My silverstone knives also contained my Ice magic, from my fights with both Dekes and Mab before him, and they were my backup plan, just in case I couldn't overcome Salina with the power within the staff. But if that was the case, I'd probably already be dead. Salina wouldn't be giving me second chances to kill her.
"All right," I said. "Stand by. I'm going in. "
"Good luck," Eva whispered back.
I tucked the walkie-talkie into another pocket on my vest. I didn't tell her that I was wishing for every scrap of luck I could get tonight - and then some. We all knew what was at stake.
Fortunately, the area between the woods and the lawn was still a bit overgrown from all the years of neglect during Salina's absence, and several large holly and rhododendron bushes had sprang up, providing plenty of cover. I crept from the shadow of one bush to another, easing closer and closer to the mansion. I hadn't spotted Owen in the crowd with my binoculars, so I had to assume he was already inside - and that Salina was with him, since she hadn't put in an appearance yet.
The staff made it difficult to be as invisible as I wanted to be, since it was such a large weapon and the silverstone that it was made of gleamed in the sunset. But the movers and shakers were busy bullshitting and sizing each other up, while their guards all eyed each other. The waiters were just trying to keep everyone happy and their heads attached to their shoulders. So no one noticed the dark figure slinking through the shadows.
Finally, I came to the most dangerous part of my journey - a bush that was right by one of the Ice bars. It was far too close to the crowd for my liking, but it was the only way I could get to one of the mansion's side doors. I waited until everyone was looking in the other direction, then left my hiding spot and sprinted the few feet over to the bush, crouching down behind it and making myself as small as possible.
I counted off the seconds in my head. Ten . . . twenty . . . thirty . . . forty-five . . . As the minute mark passed and no one came to investigate, I figured I was safe enough to make the final sprint from the bush over to the door.
I'd just started to move toward the house when someone planted himself on the other side of the rhododendron I was crouched behind, so close that I could see his legs through the green, glossy leaves.
"Girl," a cold, familiar voice said.
I stiffened. I knew that voice, knew exactly who it belonged to - Jonah McAllister. Had he somehow spotted me?
"Girl," McAllister repeated. "Come here. "
I frowned. Those weren't the words of the man who'd just spied his mortal enemy somewhere she shouldn't be. I peered up through the branches at him and realized that he was addressing someone else. He hadn't seen me after all.
The smarmy lawyer wore an impeccable tux like everyone else, and his wing tips had a higher shine than some of the necklaces the women wore. McAllister's silver coif of hair glittered with a hard, brittle light in the setting sun, and his face had an unnaturally smooth, almost waxy look to it. Jonah really needed to cut back on the Air elemental facials or soon he wouldn't have any skin left to exfoliate.
For a moment, I considered killing him where he stood. After all the trouble he'd caused me, I would have loved nothing more than to rise up and stab McAllister to death with my knives. But I couldn't do that without drawing attention to myself. With all the guards in attendance, I wouldn't get three steps before one of them realized what happened, pulled out a gun, and started shooting. Besides, I wasn't here for McAllister. No, tonight was about saving Owen and killing Salina - nothing else. So I swallowed my hatred of McAllister and kept quiet as a waitress shuffled over to him.
"Yes, sir. Champagne, sir?" she asked.
McAllister sniffed. "It's about time. I was wondering if Salina was going to make us all thirst to death. "
I listened to the faint bubble of the fountains in the distance. I didn't think there was any danger of that tonight.
His champagne fix satisfied, McAllister dismissed the waitress with a wave of
his hand and moved toward the center of the crowd. I waited until the woman had turned back toward the bar before racing over to the side door.
The door was standing open, and I slid behind it, using it to shield me from anyone looking in my direction. I paused and peered around the edge, making sure no one had noticed me and was coming my way, but I'd made it undetected. My eyes scanned over the crowd, taking in all the underworld sharks like Ron Donaldson, Beauregard Benson, and Lorelei Parker and the bodyguards they'd brought along with them.
I also spotted Kincaid, standing by himself next to an Ice bar. His blond ponytail glimmered in the sunset. Looked like he'd used the right conditioner after all. I wasn't surprised he'd shown up, even though Salina had tried to murder him. If everyone cut themselves off from all the folks who'd tried to kill them over the years, no one in the entire underworld would be able to do business.
The food, the guests, the lawn - the scene was disturbingly similar to the one I remembered from all those years ago when Mab had murdered Benedict Dubois, right down to the blue-green tablecloths gently flapping in the breeze. Everyone was a little older and grayer, but they still could have stepped out of one of the snapshots in Fletcher's file. Back then, everyone had laughed and talked and drunk themselves stupid right up until Mab had started barbecuing Dubois on the very spot they were standing on once again. I wondered if any of the guests were thinking back to that night. I wondered if any of them would appreciate the cruel irony of what Salina wanted to do to them.
