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As I looked at the crowd, I thought about walking away from the original plan - about finding Owen, grabbing Kincaid, getting them away from the mansion and lawn, and then just going on our way and leaving the sharks to Salina to feast on. Her killing them all would make my life so much easier. More than a few of the people here had sent their goons after me these past few months, and they'd keep right on doing it as long as they thought they had a ghost of chance of taking me out. But if all the power players were dead, there would be a lot fewer folks interested in coming after me, at least in the near future, and my family and friends would be safer too. Yes, letting Salina have her revenge on them was a very, very tempting idea.
But in the end, I couldn't do it. Sure, I was an assassin. I'd killed people for money, but I couldn't condone mass murder, and that was what Salina had planned. She wouldn't limit herself to just the folks who'd stood by and done nothing while Mab had tortured and killed her father. Salina would eliminate everyone there, from the gangsters to their husbands and wives to the waiters serving them all. As the Spider, I'd always tried to avoid collateral damage, but it seemed like Salina delighted in causing as much of it as possible, given what she'd done to Katarina and Antonio.
Assassins chose to kill specific people for specific reasons. I didn't know if that made me better than her, but it at least made me different - at least I had a smidge of soul and a scrap of conscience left.
But first, I had to find Owen. I turned away from the crowd and slipped into the mansion. Lights blazed inside, banishing the shadows I would have hidden in, so I tightened my grip on the staff and hurried forward, determined to find Owen and get him out of here.
I eased down first one hallway, then another. I'd expected to see empty rooms or dusty, sheet-draped furniture, but everything from the end tables to the light fixtures gleamed, as though they had all just been polished. According to Finn, the Dubois estate had fallen into severe disrepair after Benedict's death and Salina's forced defection, but the place before me was immaculate, as if it had just been cleaned from top to bottom.
This wasn't the work of someone who'd come back to town a few days ago. Salina must have been planning her return for months, to get her massive house in such pristine shape. I wondered if she'd decided to come back to Ashland before or after I'd killed Mab. Didn't much matter. All that did was making sure I put a stop to her.
Every once in a while, footsteps would sound, signaling that a waiter or guard was coming my way, and I'd have to duck into one of the rooms, slide behind the curtains, or crouch behind a piece of furniture. But everyone was preoccupied with making sure the dinner went smoothly, so no one noticed me. No one realized the Spider was in their midst.
I moved deeper and deeper into the mansion, checking every room and every hallway I came to. Finally, I reached the center of the structure, which featured an open-air courtyard surrounded by balconies on all four sides. Another fountain, this one also shaped like a mermaid, gurgled in the middle of the area, and a variety of pink, blue, and green roses clustered together in urn-shaped, white stone planters that had been arranged around the fountain.
I'd just started forward to check the rooms that were attached to the courtyard, when I heard voices murmuring, one soft and sweet, one deep and masculine. It took me a moment to realize the sounds were coming from above my head. I craned my neck up and spotted Salina and Owen standing on a balcony on the second floor.
Kissing.
Chapter 29
For a moment, everything stopped, and my heart clenched.
Salina looked as beautiful as ever, in a long, slinky dress made of aquamarine crystals sewn together in a scalloped, scale-like pattern. Her mermaid cuff bracelet flashed on her right wrist, and large diamond studs twinkled in her ears. She had her arms wrapped around Owen's neck, and her lips and body plastered to his. She let out a soft little moan in the back of her throat and pressed herself that much closer to him. Owen didn't seem to be returning her kiss, and his arms weren't even touching her, but still, it hurt all the same. I pushed the feeling aside and made myself stay cold, hard, and calm. That was what I needed to be right then to save Owen and everyone else there - whether they actually deserved to be rescued or not.
I'd just started forward to find a way up to the balcony when Owen pulled Salina's arms from around his neck and stepped away from her.
"Stop, Salina," he said. "Stop. "
She sidled right back up to him, a pleased smile on her face. "I knew you'd come. I knew you couldn't stay away from me, any more than I could stay away from you. "
Owen sighed, grabbed her hands from where they had crept back up to his shoulders, and stepped away from her. "That's not why I'm here tonight, and you know it. I came because you threatened to kill Gin. You need help, Salina. You're not well, and I think even you know it. "
The smile never left the water elemental's beautiful face, but her eyes narrowed a little at his blunt tone. "I need help? Why? Because I want revenge for what everyone did to my father? For the horrible way I was treated? For the horrible way you let your so-called friends treat me? I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, your friends are all still alive. "
She didn't add for now. She didn't have to.
Owen shook his head. "And what about Antonio? Or Katarina? They had nothing to do with your father's murder or anything else, other than that they were Phillip's friends - but you still used your water magic to kill them. That was a horrible thing to do. It seems like I'm always talking about the horrible things you do, instead of the good ones. "
Salina twined her arms around Owen's neck and raised her mouth to his, kissing him for all she was worth. He froze, apparently surprised by the fact that she just kept coming at him no matter what he said. I bit back a curse and scanned the courtyard, looking for the stairs that led up to where they were standing. Every few seconds, though, my eyes flicked up to Owen. I hated being indecisive, but I just couldn't stop myself from eavesdropping.
"Come on," Salina murmured against his mouth. "You remember how good it was between us? How alive we always made each other feel? I certainly do. No man I've been with has ever held a candle to you. I've spent too many nights to count dreaming about you, Owen. Dreaming about coming back to Ashland and being with you again. Can you tell me you haven't thought the same thing? Haven't dreamed the same thing? Haven't wanted the same thing?"
Once again, Owen pried off Salina's hands and mouth. This time, he pushed her away. "I'll admit I've thought about you over the years. Even dreamed about you and how things might have been. "
Every word he said was like a dagger in my heart. This - this was how he really felt about Salina. This was how much he loved her, how much he'd always loved her.
"But that was before I knew why you really left Ashland all those years ago," he continued. "That was before I knew you tortured Eva with your water magic. That was before you tried to kill Phillip and then Cooper and Gin. I can't forget that, any of that - ever. Not even for you. "
Owen took another step away from her.
Anger flashed in Salina's eyes, and her face tightened. "It's because of that assassin bitch, isn't it? That's why you're pulling away from me. Because of her. "
"Yes, I met her, and I finally decided to quit thinking about the past, about you, and get on with my life. " He stiffened. "Her name is Gin, and I love her, Salina. "
"Love her? You couldn't possibly love her," she snarled. "Not like you loved me. Not like you still love me. I know you still love me. Just give me a chance to remind you what it was like, what we were like - together. "
She reached for Owen again, but he shook his head and stepped even farther away from her.
