Charlotte kept staring at me, blinking and blinking, as if she were trying to process everything. Yeah, I knew how that felt.

I gave her a wink and my best, most mysterious smile. "See you around, Charlotte."

Then I raised my gla.s.s to her in a toast, drained the rest of my gin, and left the library.

Like her father before her, Charlotte didn't employ any guards. Something that I'd have to speak to her about some other night. I wouldn't want just anyone to waltz in here on her.

I walked out the front door of the mansion, ambled down the long driveway, and headed for the iron gate at the front of the estate. It was closed, but I had no problems scaling the stone wall and dropping down on the far side. After all, it was the same way I'd come in a couple of hours ago.

And just like all those years before, a car was waiting for me on the other side.

A momentary pang of loss shot through me that it wasn't an old, battered white van but instead a flashy silver sports car, the latest Aston Martin. I opened the door and slid into the pa.s.senger's seat.

"How did it go?" Finn asked.

I looked at my foster brother, with his green eyes, his walnut-colored hair, and his features that were so much like Fletcher's. Once again, I felt that pang in my heart, but it was softer now, more sweet than bitter.

"Charlotte and I agreed to keep each other's secrets."

He sighed, then rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Gin, could you be any more cryptic?"

"'And no matter what, you should never, ever tell someone all of your secrets,'" I said. "Do you remember that?"

Finn gave me a blank look. "Not particularly. Should I?"

"Yeah. You said it to me ten years ago about Sebastian."

His chest puffed up. "Well, then, I was totally right."

I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, though, what happened?"

I shrugged again. "Charlotte wanted to talk."

"About Sebastian? Or her father?"

"Both. And a lot of other things too." I hesitated. "She figured out that I've been keeping tabs on her all these years. She knows about the money you set up in that trust fund for her."

"Is she going to talk?" Finn asked, a worried look creasing his features.

"No. She's not going to talk. Not about any of it. She actually wanted to thank me."

Finn nodded. "I can understand that."

He stared through the gates at the estate. "All of this . . . it reminds me of that night with Dad, when Sebastian's giants busted into the house."

"Yeah."

Finn looked at me. "He'd be so proud of you, Gin. He was always proud of you, but never more so than after what happened with Sebastian."

"Do you really think so?"

He reached over and squeezed my hand. "I know so."

I stared into the dark of the night, thinking about Fletcher and all the lessons he'd taught me. "Yeah," I said. "I think you're right."

"Are you kidding?" Finn scoffed. "I'm always right."

I laughed at his never-ending confidence.

"Now, the night is still fairly young. You want to go get a drink at Northern Aggression?"

"Sure," I said. "I had plans to meet Owen there after . . . this."

"Then allow me to be your chariot," Finn said. "And chauffeur service."

He threw the car into gear and zoomed away from the curb.

I took one last look through the gate toward the Vaughn estate, my gaze settling on the lights that burned in the library. Despite everything, Charlotte had survived-and so had I.

Because that's what the Spider did.

Turn the page for a sneak peek at the next book in the Elemental a.s.sa.s.sin series.

POISON PROMISE.

by Jennifer Estep.

Coming soon from Pocket Books.

Even from across the parking lot, I could see the two vampires creep a little closer to Catalina, smiling wide and showing off their fangs. Troy's meaning was clear-get with the pill-pushing program or get drained.

Catalina lifted her chin and glared at Troy. She wasn't backing down, no matter what. I admired her for it, really, I did, but it was also stupid of her. She just should have accepted the pills and flushed them later. Oh, I knew Catalina since she worked as a waitress at the Pork Pit, and she seemed like a good kid. She didn't want to get sucked in with Troy and his thugs, but it was too late for that. This was about to get very ugly for someone.

Good thing that ugly was what I specialized in.

I could hear Owen talking through my cell phone. "Gin?"

Realizing that he had asked me a question, probably more than once, I focused on the sound of his voice again. "Sorry, babe. I've gotta go."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nah. I just see a bit of trash that needs picking up. I'll be there soon."

Owen and I hung up, and I slid my phone into my jeans pocket before opening the car door and throwing my bag into the pa.s.senger's seat. Then I slammed the door shut.

The sharp crack reverberated through the parking lot, and the three guys turned to stare at me. Catalina tried to edge away, but the two vamps spotted her furtive movements and flanked her, keeping her pinned against the fence. I pushed away from my car, stuck my hands into my jeans pockets, and ambled in their direction.

Of course, Catalina recognized me, her boss, at once. She let out a small gasp, her face paled, and she started shaking her head no-no-no, although I couldn't tell if she was trying to warn me off or was worried about what I was going to do to the three guys ha.s.sling her.

But Troy didn't see her reaction. Instead, his gaze slid past me to my car. When he realized I was driving an Aston Martin, a greedy smirk slashed across his face.

"Hey, hey, foxy lady," he called out. "You lookin' for some action? You lookin' to score a little sumthin' sumthin'?"

I smiled back at him, baring almost as many teeth as the two vampires behind him. "Sumthin' like that, sugar."

Behind Troy, Catalina kept shaking her head no-no-no. She opened her lips, but one of the vamps rattled the fence behind her, a clear sign for her to keep her mouth shut. But there was no need for her to waste any more of her breath on these fools, especially not to try to tell them who they were messing with now. Besides, Troy wouldn't have heeded a warning anyway. He was completely focused on me, a potential customer, and I could almost see the dollar signs churning in his head as he calculated how much he could take me for.

His smirk widened. "Well, you are in the right spot, baby. Because I have got just the thing for you."

He held out one of the bags he'd been shoving at Catalina, and I took it from him. A single pill lay inside the plastic, its deep, dark red color making it look like a drop of congealed blood. I flipped the bag over and realized that a rune had been etched into the surface of the drug, but I didn't take the time to squint and make out the details of the symbol.

Still, despite its b.l.o.o.d.y color and rune, the pill looked more like a kids' vitamin than a dangerous drug, but I knew all too well how deceiving looks could be. Most people didn't think that I seemed anything like a dangerous a.s.sa.s.sin-until my knife was cutting into their guts.

"What's this?" I asked.

Troy smirked even more. "It's the latest, greatest thing on the market, baby. It will rock your world. Nah, scratch that-it'll burn it down."

The two vamps snickered at his cheesy lines. Catalina rolled her eyes. Yeah, that's what I wanted to do too, but I decided to let things play out.

I tucked the plastic bag with its pill into my jeans pocket. Not because I had any intention of taking the pill, but because my sister Bria would no doubt be interested in it. Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland's few good cops, actually cared about things like trying to keep drugs off the streets. I tried to help her out whenever I could, despite my own life of killing and crime.

"Now that you've seen the goods, let's talk about payment, baby," Troy crooned. "Normally, a hit like that is three hundred a pop."

My eyebrows shot up. "Three hundred for one pill? That must be a h.e.l.l of a joyride."

"Oh, it is," Troy said. "Believe me, it is. But if you don't have that much cash on you, don't sweat it. I'm sure we can work out some other form of payment."

His brown eyes tracked up and down my body, taking in my black boots, dark blue jeans, and the tight black tank top that peeked out under my black leather jacket. Behind him, the two vampires did the same thing, licking their lips like I was a bottle of booze they were going to pa.s.s around.

Oh, everybody was going to get a taste of Gin Blanco, all right. Just not the kind they expected.

PHOTO ANDRE TEAGUE.

JENNIFER ESTEP is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea. Spider's Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, Tangled Threads, Spider's Revenge, By a Thread, Widow's Web, Deadly Sting, and Heart of Venom, along with the novellas Thread of Death, Parlor Tricks, and Kiss of Venom, are the other works in her red-hot Elemental a.s.sa.s.sin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series and is the author of the Bigtime paranormal romance series. For more on Jennifer and her books, visit her at www.JenniferEstep.com and @Jennifer_Estep.

FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Jennifer-Estep.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT.

SimonandSchuster.com.

DISCOVER MORE GREAT BOOKS AT.

BOOKS IN THE ELEMENTAL a.s.sa.s.sIN SERIES BY JENNIFER ESTEP.

Spider's Bite.

Web of Lies Venom.

Tangled Threads Spider's Revenge.

By a Thread Widow's Web.

Deadly Sting Heart of Venom The Spider.

NOVELLAS.

Thread of Death.

Parlor Tricks (in the Carniepunk anthology).

Kiss of Venom.

We hope you enjoyed reading this Pocket Books eBook.

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