I smothered the latest round of Fire, slowly straightened up, and glared at her. "No wonder you have all those stuffed animal heads in your office. You are one s.a.d.i.s.tic b.i.t.c.h."

Roxy crooked an eyebrow at me. "Well, Gin, if you don't want to play along, I guess I'll just have to use you for target practice after all."

Before I could snipe back at her, the b.i.t.c.h snapped up her gun and shot me again.

Crack!

This bullet punched into the meaty part of my left thigh. More of that d.a.m.n elemental Fire exploded and seared my skin, adding to the agony of the wound. Roxy hadn't grazed me this time, but she wasn't done playing with me either, since the bullet hadn't hit anything vital. A painful, through-and-through wound, but not debilitating.

Still, I screamed louder than I had before, staggered forward, and crumpled in a heap in the middle of the mud, as if I were done for. I thought it was pretty convincing, as far as pratfalls went.

"Mmm! Mmm!" My friends' m.u.f.fled shouts filled the air, but they could do nothing to help me.

Roxy grinned and strutted over to me, spinning her gun around and around in her hand, making the pearl handle and silver barrel flash, and doing all sorts of fancy trick moves with the weapon. I did my own trick move, digging my hand down into the mud, and curling my fingers around the hilt of my knife that was still buried there. I also reached for the last remaining sc.r.a.ps of my Stone magic, getting ready to pour the power out to harden my skin one final time. I'd only get one shot at this, and I had to make it count.

This time, Roxy kept coming until she was within arm's reach, looming over me. "You know, I don't have a human head in my office, but I think that I'll make an exception for you, Gin." Her eyes gleamed with sly satisfaction.

"Never going to happen, sugar-"

Before I could finish, she snapped up her gun and shot me in the face.

27.

At least, Roxy tried to shoot me in the face.

At the last second, I lunged out of the way, slithering forward through the mud. But the bullet from the close-range shot still punched into my left shoulder. I grunted at the hard, bruising impact and flash of Fire, but my Stone magic kept the bullet from actually tearing through my body. Roxy snarled and started to pull the trigger again, but I didn't give her the chance.

I gritted my teeth, raised my knife up out of the mud, and stabbed her booted foot. This time, Roxy was the one who screamed.

Such a sweet, sweet sound.

She tried to shoot me again, but I ripped my knife out of her foot and swiped it across her wrist, making her drop her trusty revolver. She staggered back, trying to get away from me and desperately reaching for the second revolver on her belt, but I threw myself forward, tackled her around the knees, and knocked her a.s.s down in the mud. She tried to kick me away, but I grabbed hold of her shiny rhinestone belt buckle and used it to pull myself up on top of her.

Then I raised up my knife again and slammed it into her chest, right next to that shiny silver sheriff's star pinned over her heart.

And I didn't stop.

I stabbed her once, twice, three times, each wound as deep, brutal, and deadly as I could make it. Her blood spattered against my face and hand, but I didn't mind the warm sensation. Not at all.

Roxy screamed and screamed, clawing for her gun all the while. She managed to get her fingertips on the pearl handle, so I raised up my knife a final time and snapped it down, driving it all the way through her hand and into the squishy mud below.

"Never bring a gun to a knife fight," I hissed.

Roxy gurgled once, as if agreeing with me, then her body went slack and still under mine.

As much as I would have liked to slump down in the mud next to her, Tucker and the guards were still here, still alive, so I yanked my knife out of her hand, rolled off her body, and staggered to my feet.

Tucker was already stabbing his finger at me. "Kill her, right f.u.c.king now-"

Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack!

More shots rang out, but this time, the Blanco gang were the ones firing.

With all the guards' attention on me, Silvio, Phillip, Lorelei, and Ira had finally decided to strike. Somehow, Silvio and Ira had managed to sneak up onto the second-floor balcony of one of the storefronts and were firing down at the giants, while Phillip and Lorelei were doing the same thing from their position behind a food cart down here on street level.

Finn, Bria, and Owen immediately threw themselves to the ground, out of the line of fire.

Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Crack!

One giant fell, then another one. Bria scrambled over and pulled a dead giant's gun out of his hand. She tossed it over to Finn, then fumbled to get the giant's second weapon out of the holster on his belt. Owen was also grabbing the weapon from the dead giant closest to him.

My friends battling the giants meant that only one man was left. I scanned the street for Tucker.

But the b.a.s.t.a.r.d wasn't here.

My head snapped left and right, searching for him. I hadn't gone through all this just to let him get away now. So where was he? Where was that sneaky rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d- I spotted a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head just in time to see Tucker leave the street behind and sprint into an alley. I started to head in that direction but stopped and glanced over at my friends.

Finn had seen the vampire too, and he ripped the bandanna out of his mouth and waved his still-tied hands at me. "We're fine!" he yelled. "Go! Get Tucker!"

I flashed him a grateful smile and did as he commanded, hurrying down the street after my enemy.

I was hampered by all the holes and burns in and on my body, especially the ones in my thigh, but I ignored the pain of my many injuries and limped along as quickly as I could. But Tucker was exceptionally fast, and he easily put some distance between us. He was at the far side of the staging area before I'd even stepped out of the alley. But instead of taking the path that led back to the hotel, he headed toward a different one. I frowned, wondering where he was going, but then I realized exactly where that path led-the boat dock down at the lake.

No doubt Tucker had his escape route already mapped out. Take a boat across the lake where he would most likely have a car waiting, then vanish into the night, along with the jewels.

I wasn't about to let him get away that easily.

So I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move faster. I was good at plowing through things, so that's exactly what I did, knocking over barrels, hay bales, tumbleweeds, and everything else that stood in my way. The good thing about running was that it got rid of the chill that had sunk into my bones from being dunked in the water trough. The bad thing was that it made my entire body scream with the pain of my burns and bullet wounds. But I ignored the agony as best I could and kept running.

I left the staging area behind and stepped onto the path that led down to the lake. With no obstacles here, I picked up my pace.

But I was still too d.a.m.n late.

In the distance, I heard a boat engine rumble to life. I snarled out a curse and kept going.

I left the woods behind and sprinted down a hill, straight toward the wooden dock that stretched out like an arrow into the water. Holiday lights had been wrapped around the dock too, letting me clearly see Tucker standing in a boat at the far end, casting off a rope, and gunning the engine. I put on an extra burst of speed, doing my best to catch up with him.

But it was no use.

By the time I reached the end of the dock, Tucker was already thirty feet out into the water, with the engine idling. With no guns and no magic left, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d knew that I couldn't kill him now, and he'd stayed behind just to taunt me.

Tucker shook his head. "You just don't know when to quit, do you, Gin?"

"Only losers quit. You? You're just going to die."

He smiled, his teeth flashing like opals in his face. "Not tonight."

"No," I muttered. "Not tonight."

"Tell me one thing, though," he called out.

"What?"

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the black velvet bag, letting it swing from his hand like a clock pendulum, mocking me with it. "Where did Deirdre hide the jewels? My men and I searched everywhere for them."

"They were in her suite. Hidden in a couple of snow globes like they were just worthless stones."

Tucker shook his head again. "That b.i.t.c.h. Deirdre was clever, but I'd never thought that she'd be that clever."

"Oh, I imagine that she got the idea the day the two of you paid my mother a visit in her office, right before her annual holiday party."

Tucker froze, the smug smile dropping from his face. "You remember that?"

"Yeah. I remember it. I especially remember the man you sent to hurt my mother that night."

He eyed me a moment, then shrugged. "It was just business. Surely, you of all people can understand that."

"Oh, I do understand it. And I'm going to make it my business to end you and the rest of the Circle."

The vampire smiled, his black eyes glittering in his face. "Careful what you wish for, little Genevieve. That's one can of worms you might not want to open."

"I-"

Tucker gave me a mock salute and gunned the engine, drowning me out. The vampire waggled the black velvet bag at me again, mocking me a final time, before steering the boat around, pushing the throttle, and gliding across the lake.

Tucker was right. He wasn't going to die tonight.

But soon-very soon.

I'd make sure of that.

28.

"Gin! Where are you? Gin!" My friends' voices drifted through the air to me in a loud, worried chorus.

"Over here!" I called out. "Down at the boat dock!"

A minute later, Finn, Bria, and Owen appeared, running down to the dock. I hobbled back in their direction, the pain of my injuries flooding my body with every single step. My friends skidded to a stop, guns in their hands, looking left and right.

"Where's Tucker?" Finn growled. "Where is he?"

I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. "He's gone. Got into a boat, zoomed away, and left me standing here like an idiot. That son of a b.i.t.c.h must be part cat, as many lives as he seems to have."

Bria gave me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Gin."

I shrugged. "It's okay. You guys are safe, and that's the most important thing. Besides, Tucker will show himself again sooner or later. And I'll get him when he does."

Owen stepped forward and cupped my face in his hand, his gaze steady on mine. "We'll get him when he does."

I smiled back at him. "You're d.a.m.n right we will."

Owen had insisted on scooping me up into his arms and carrying me over to Ira's house so I could get cleaned up, as well as use some of Jo-Jo's healing ointment to patch up all the burns and bullet holes that Roxy had inflicted on me. The ointment didn't completely heal me, but it stopped the constant, searing pain of the Fire burns and took the edge off the worst of my wounds. I'd be okay until we returned home to Ashland tomorrow and Jo-Jo could heal me herself.

Finn and Bria went back to the theme park to help Silvio, Phillip, Lorelei, and Ira deal with all the blood, bodies, and other destruction that we'd left behind. Well, that I had left behind.

Ira ended up calling the fire department to come put out the saloon fire, and they extinguished it before it damaged any more of Main Street. As for all the bodies in and around the saloon, Ira claimed that security footage showed the giants breaking into the theme park, and he told the authorities that they must have been searching for the hidden jewels. Naturally, the giants had turned on each other, started the fire, and gunned each other down when they hadn't found the precious stones. I don't know if anyone actually bought Ira's flimsy cover story, but Roxy, Brody, and the giants were all dead, so they couldn't say anything different, and my friends and I certainly weren't going to blab. Besides, the theme park was Finn's private property, so there wasn't much the cops could do once Ira told them that the owner wasn't going to pursue the matter, since the perpetrators were all deceased. It didn't seem like anything was going to lead back to us.

We all crashed at the dwarf's cabin, just in case Tucker decided to double back and take another run at us, but the rest of the night pa.s.sed quietly, and we all slept in late.

Just before noon the next day, I was standing in Ira's kitchen, flipping b.u.t.termilk pancakes on a griddle and frying loads of bacon, eggs, and potatoes in a couple of cast-iron skillets.

"Breakfast is served," I called out, then looked over at Ira, who was sitting at the dining-room table. "Please tell me there's a triangle around here somewhere that I can ring."

He chuckled. "I'm afraid not."

"Ah, well."

It was a tight fit, but everyone squeezed in around the table while I dished up the food. Golden, light-as-air pancakes, crispy bacon, fluffy scrambled eggs, and crunchy fried potatoes. It was the perfect hearty, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast, and we all dug into our feast.

Finally, after having three heaping plates of food, Ira pushed back from the table, sighed with contentment, and looked at me. "I should hire you to work at the Feeding Trough. None of my folks can cook like this."