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It was a good plan - a smart plan. I'd thought that Clementine was all about brute strength, raw force, sheer power, given what had happened in the rotunda earlier, but she was also clever. The more I learned about her, the more I admired her, sort of like appreciating a copperhead's coiled beauty on the green forest floor, knowing that it would bite you the second you were in range of its curved, venomous fangs.
Owen shook his head again. "I'm telling you that I can't do it. I don't have enough magic for that sort of thing. "
"This isn't about strength, Mr. Grayson, it's about finesse. A small, controlled, precise manipulation of metal and magic. Something you do exceptionally well, judging from what I've seen of your work. You can shape, mold, and work with silverstone like nobody else I've ever seen. "
Owen didn't respond.
"Believe me, I know that you're not the strongest elemental out there," Clementine said. "Now that Mab's dead, I imagine that title would go to your girlfriend. If Ms. Blanco were still alive, that is. "
Owen stared at her - just stared and stared at her. His face pinched, his body stiff and straight, his hands clenched into fists. The giant noticed his shock, distress, and anger. She smirked at him, her pretty features twisting into an arrogant sneer. All at once, Owen let out a wild, angry roar, put his head down, and charged at Clementine.
He barreled into the giant, throwing her back against the vault door. Clementine snapped her fist forward, but Owen caught her hand in his. Owen didn't have her giant strength, but he was no lightweight. Working all those long hours and years in his forge had made him strong. More than that, though, he was a smart fighter. While their hands seesawed back and forth, Owen brought his other fist up and punched her in the face with it.
The solid, heavy smack of his hand cracking against her skin made me smile.
Clementine grunted with surprise and annoyance, but Owen wasn't done. He managed to hit her in the face three more times before two of her men stepped forward, grabbed his arms, and dragged him away from her. Even then, Owen fought back, kicking, bucking, and trying to break loose. But the giants tightened their holds until he realized he couldn't get free. Slowly, his struggles ceased, although I could hear his quick, ragged breathing through the camera feed.
Clementine straightened up and pushed away from the vault door. She pressed a hand to her face, pulled it away, and stared at the smear of blood on her fingers. Owen had split her lower lip open with his last punch.
"I'll give you that one," she said. "Although the next time you lay a hand on me, you'll wish that you hadn't. "
One of the giants holding Owen shivered at her words, but he raised his chin in defiance.
"Now, enough talk," Clementine said. "It's time for you to get to work. "
"And if I can't do it?" he asked in a low, angry voice. "Or refuse to?"
She shrugged. "Then I'll let Dixon and the rest of my men take turns with your pretty little sister out there. She'll die screaming, along with the rest of your friends. So I'd figure it out if I were you, Mr. Grayson. "
Owen sucked in another angry breath, but he forced himself to let it out and slowly unclench his fists. "Fine," he muttered. "You win. "
He would do anything to protect Eva, even help the giants break into the vault.
&
nbsp; Clementine let out a delighted laugh. "Of course I win. I always win. Now, get started. Time's a-wasting. "
Once again, Owen didn't respond.
Clementine went over to one of her men. "I'm going to go check in with the others," she said. "You three get started. And don't stop until the door is ready to be moved. You understand me?"
The giant nodded.
Clementine moved to the back of the room, out of sight of the camera, and a few seconds later, I heard a door shut, telling me that she'd left the vault.
One of the giants drew several pairs of safety goggles out of his duffel bag. He handed a pair to Owen, which he reluctantly slipped on, along with some heavy work gloves. He stood by while all three of the giants put on their own goggles. Then one of the men handed Owen a torch and carefully fired it up. Another giant fired up the second torch and turned toward the vault door while the last one reached for his Fire magic, making flames dance across his fingertips once more.
Owen hesitated, staring first at the lit torch in his hand, then at the giants. I knew he was thinking about using the torch to toast the three men. I would have been.
But I wasn't surprised when he finally faced the vault door, stepped forward, and used the torch to start heating up the silverstone lock. Because I would have done the same thing then too. I would have played along nicely until I was sure the others were safe, then I would have laid into Clementine and her crew for all I was worth, even if I knew that I wouldn't survive the fight. But the giant had her hand clutched around Eva's and the others' throats, and she and Owen both knew it. He had no choice but to go along with her scheme - for now.
I studied the monitor for a few more seconds. I didn't have Owen's elemental talent for metal, so I didn't know how long it would take him to get through the silverstone. Forty-five minutes, maybe an hour, given what I'd heard Clementine tell Opal and Dixon earlier. It depended on how slowly he decided to work, and he would probably drag things out as long as possible, in hopes of figuring out some way to turn the tables on Clementine and her men.
But Owen didn't have to worry about that - because I was going to do it for him.
Clementine might claim that Mab's gold was stored inside the Briartop vault, but I didn't necessarily believe her. Maybe it was gold, maybe it was diamonds, maybe it was something else entirely. But whatever it was, Clementine wanted it.
And I was going to take it from her.
