"Care to tell me what the f.u.c.k you're doing up here on my land?" Slater asked.

"Technically, it's not your land, is it? It belongs to your boss, Mab Monroe. You're just the caretaker of the place, so to speak. Part of the cleanup crew. Just like you've always been."

Finn finished his insult with a toothy grin. Slater's fingers stilled on the fabric of his shirt sleeve, as though he was thinking about lunging forward and punching Finn, but the giant wasn't that easily baited.

"I'll ask you again," Slater said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for a friend of mine," Finn said. "Roslyn Phillips. I think you know her. Care to tell me where she is?"

This time, it was the giant's turn to smile. "Oh, Roslyn's a bit tied up at the moment, just like she's been for the past few hours. Just like she's going to be for some time to come. Until I get tired of the b.i.t.c.h and break her neck with my bare hands."

Finn couldn't help himself-he spat at the giant and his vile words. Slater calmly wiped the spittle off his face, then backhanded Finn. The sound of the giant's palm striking Finn's skin was as loud as a gunshot in the quiet house. Finn grunted with pain, and Slater closed his hand into a fist and punched him. A cut opened up above Finn's left eye, and blood covered that side of his face.

My hands tightened on my knives, but I didn't make a sound. I wanted to give Roslyn as much of a head start as possible, in case Slater and his men killed Finn and me and realized that the vamp was missing. Which meant that Finn was going to have to get slapped around some more. My stomach twisted at the thought, but it was something that we both were just going to have to endure. Wouldn't be the first time.

"You know, I thought I was just going to have some fun tonight with Roslyn," Elliot said. "But imagine my surprise and delight when you show up on my doorstep to add to the festivities."

"I know," Finn replied. "I decided to come to you. Save you some trouble. Since you turned tail and ran the last time we met."

Slater froze for a second. The giant finished rolling up his remaining shirtsleeve before he looked at Finn again. "And when was that?"

Finn stared at the giant. "Why, the night you went to kill Detective Bria Coolidge," he drawled. "That didn't end so well for you, if I remember. How many men did you lose that night? Three? Four? It was hard to keep track with all the blood and bodies everywhere."

This time, Slater's hazel eyes were the ones that narrowed with rage. "That was you?"

Another smile spread across Finn's battered face. "Oh yes. Most fun I've had all week."

Slater studied Finn for several seconds. "You were the one with the gun. The one who shot Jim in the face."

Finn tipped his head in acknowledgment.

"I see."

Slater stepped forward and drove his fist into Finn's stomach. It happened so fast, with such speed, I thought for a moment that I'd imagined it. Until Finn spit up a mouthful of his own blood. Elliot Slater had some of the quickest hands that I'd ever seen.

But Slater didn't stop with one blow. Instead, the giant slammed one fist into Finn's face. I heard the crack as his nose broke all the way up here on the balcony. Slater's other fist plowed into Finn's stomach again. Finn moaned, and more blood spewed out of his lips. That cold ball of rage began to burn in the pit of my stomach once more.

"I can keep this up for hours, Lane. Hours," Slater rumbled. "Until you are begging me to stop the pain, to just end you. Now, you're going to tell me exactly why you were at Coolidge's house that night, and why you're so f.u.c.king interested in my business."

The giant didn't have to add an or else to his threat. He and Finn already knew how to play the game-and they both realized that Elliot Slater currently held all the cards. Except for one. Me. The queen of spades.

Finn's head rolled back and up as he tried not to choke on his own blood. I scooted forward just a bit, so that the edge of my knife caught the light and flashed silver. Finn saw the gleam. His green eyes widened for a second before he shuttered them and slowly lowered his head.

"All right," Finn mumbled. "I'll tell you why I was there. Because I know about Bria Coolidge. Because I know who she really is."

That got Slater's attention. The giant's whole body stilled. He didn't even blink. "And just who is she, Lane?"

Finn looked up at him. "Her real name is Snow. Bria Elizabeth Snow."

Elliot Slater didn't react. Didn't move, didn't flinch. h.e.l.l, he didn't even take a breath. Then the giant abruptly turned away from Finn and walked around the stone column, moving out of Finn's line of sight. I drew back into the hallway so that Slater wouldn't see me lurking on the balcony above. The other two giants maintained their positions below me, watching the show with detached interest. They looked like the same two goons who had held me up for Slater that night at the community college. Didn't much matter. They were getting dead regardless.

But what I didn't understand was what Finn thought he was doing telling Elliot Slater that he knew who Bria really was. Did he want the giant to kill him before I could take Slater out? Had the giant's blows scrambled Finn's brains even more than they already were? Because Finn was dangerously close to singing not only his swan song but mine too. To telling Slater everything about us, what we did, and why.

Finn coughed up some more blood and spat it on the carpet. "Come on, Elliot," he said in a friendly voice. "You're not going to deny it, are you? That's hardly sporting, considering that I'm the one in cuffs and you're not."

The giant finished his circuit around the stone column and stopped in front of Finn once more. "So what if Coolidge's real name is Snow? That doesn't mean anything to me."

"Sure it does," Finn countered. "Because that's why you were there to kill Bria. That's why your boss, Mab Monroe, wants her dead. Because she's Bria Snow, and because Mab murdered her family seventeen years ago."

Silence.

Slater held his position, as still and quiet as the stone column before him. But Finn wasn't finished dropping bombs on the giant-or me.

"You've been working for Mab a long time now, haven't you, Elliot?" Finn murmured. "Twenty-five years by my calculation. You've been her right-hand man from the very beginning. Which means you were there that night. You were there the night that Mab murdered the Snow family."

I flashed back to that night, to my frantic run through my burning house, to the giant's fist slamming into my face. I'd only seen him a second before he'd punched me. Just long enough to notice how pale he was. Almost... albino.

Slater didn't say anything, but a muscle twitched in his chalky cheek. All the confirmation that I needed. My breath rushed out of my lungs as I realized what Finn was up to. My foster brother was trying to get some answers for me-answers about what had really happened the night that Mab Monroe had murdered my mother and older sister. And I'd be d.a.m.ned if I had the willpower to stop him right now.

Elliot Slater recovered from his shock, and a cruel smile spread across his face. "You're a smart guy, Lane. Figuring all that out for yourself."

Finn shrugged again. "Not too hard. I've had the file on the Snow family for a while now. Mab's one of the few Fire elementals who had enough magic-then or now-to do what she did that night."

The giant circled around the column once more. This time, Finn's green eyes flicked to the other two men standing in front of him. They stared at him without expression, and Finn turned his attention back to Slater, who stopped in front of him once more. Finn didn't look up at me. He knew that I'd make my move when I was ready.

"What do you want, Lane?" Slater barked out. "What's the f.u.c.king point of this? You're dead, and you know it. Why all the questions about something Mab did years ago?"

Finn shrugged. "I'm curious. A trait my father instilled in me. Because it doesn't say in the file exactly why Mab killed the Snow family. What she gained from it. Or why she wants Bria Coolidge dead today."

Slater tilted his head to one side. "You might be smart, Lane, but you really don't have a clue, do you? Not about Mab, not about Coolidge, not about anything."

"Please," Finn said in a wry tone. "Enlighten me."

Elliot Slater leaned forward so that his pale face was level with Finn's b.l.o.o.d.y one. "Mab killed that family because of Bria Coolidge's magic. Because that b.i.t.c.h's Ice and Stone magic was and still is a threat to her."

Despite my years of training, I couldn't help the small gasp of surprise that escaped from my lips. Mab thought Bria had Ice and Stone magic? Why would the Fire elemental think that? I'd been the only one of us to inherit both our mother's Ice magic and our father's Stone power as well- A horrible, horrible thought filled my mind. So horrible, so ironic, so f.u.c.king wrong I wanted to scream. To weep and wail and lash out and kill everything and everyone that I could get my hands on. But even as the bitterness filled my mouth at the realization, I knew that it was true-and the real reason why Mab Monroe had killed my family. The awful, horrible reason my mother and older sister were dead.

That night, when the Fire elemental had been torturing me, she'd asked me question after question about Bria, demanding to know where my baby sister was above all else. Because Mab had thought that Bria was me-that Bria was the one with both Ice and Stone magic.

Mab Monroe had really been there to kill me-not Bria.

I wasn't the only one surprised by the revelation. Finn's mouth dropped open at Slater's confession. Finn regarded the giant with thoughtful eyes, and I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. He realized what the giant's words meant as well as I did.

"Mab Monroe thinks that Bria Coolidge has both Ice and Stone magic?" Finn asked. "That's why she wants Bria dead so badly?"

Slater frowned. "Why else would Mab care about the b.i.t.c.h?"

"Surely there's more to it than just that," Finn scoffed. "Mab Monroe is the strongest elemental to be born in five hundred years, if you listen to the rumors. She killed a whole family because one little girl had the power to control two elements? Come on, Elliot. We both know that I'm a dead man. Indulge me. Tell me the rest of the story."

Slater c.o.c.ked his head to one side, trying to read Finn's expression, trying to figure out what he was up to, why he was so curious about something that had happened so long ago. Hard to get a good read on someone's emotions when blood and bruises covered his face like an extra layer of skin. After a few seconds of study, Slater shrugged.

"Mab wanted to kill the mother, Eira Snow, ever since they were kids. The Monroes were always part of the underworld wheeling and dealing, while the Snows were always real straight arrows. Naturally, the two families got involved in some kind of elemental feud along the way. It stretched back decades from what I understand. h.e.l.l, it goes so far back that I don't even think Mab really knows how it started in the first place. But somebody killed someone over something, and it just kept going from there. You know how elementals are. Most of 'em can't get along to save their lives, especially the opposing elementals, like Fire and Ice." Disgust filled Slater's voice. Evidently, he didn't hold his boss in quite as high regard as he led everyone to believe. "f.u.c.king elementals. Always fighting over something."

Finn nodded his head in agreement.

"Mab and Eira Snow grew up together," Slater continued. "Even as kids, they were enemies. Mab made sure of that. And when they got older, well, they both went after the same man-a Stone elemental. Supposedly, Snow actually loved him, but Mab, well, she just wanted his Stone magic, wanted to pa.s.s it on to their kids."

The giant stared across the living room, staring back into the distant past. He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops on his pants and rocked back on his heels. Lost in his memories.

"But why?" Finn asked, breaking into Slater's reverie. "Maybe the kids would have gotten daddy's Stone magic. Maybe they wouldn't. There was no guarantee of that."

Slater chuckled. "I tried telling that to Mab myself, but she wouldn't listen to me. Magda's the only one that Mab ever took advice from."

Finn frowned. "Who the h.e.l.l is Magda?"

The silent same question I was asking myself.

Slater shrugged. "Some crazy old aunt of Mab's who lived up in one of the hollows. Magda was an Air elemental. Seeing into the future was her thing. Writing down prophecies, casting stones, reading tea leaves, looking at moss on trees, drinking chicken's blood. b.i.t.c.h was into some really crazy s.h.i.t. She told Mab that Snow would have a kid who would be an even stronger elemental than Mab was. Someone with Ice and Stone magic. Someone who would one day kill Mab."

Kill Mab? Well, the mysterious Magda had gotten one thing right. Because that was certainly my plan now.

"After Snow popped out three brats, Mab decided to make her move," Slater finished.

Finn just stood there, digesting the information. On the balcony above, I did the same, trying to swallow the cold, cold bitterness that coated my mouth and heart.

Slater smiled. "So I got some of my boys together, and we went over to the house late one night. My boys and me took care of the servants, while Mab lit up the mother and one of the brats. It was beautiful."

Finn looked at the giant. "But things got out of hand, didn't they? Otherwise, Bria Coolidge wouldn't be alive today."

"The middle brat managed to hide Coolidge somewhere. So I found the brat and took her to Mab to get some answers. Mab tortured the brat, but she didn't squeak," Slater said. "So we left to look for Coolidge, but the little b.i.t.c.h used her Stone magic to weaken the foundation of her own house. Mab and I barely got out before the whole d.a.m.n thing came crashing down."

"And you thought Bria buried herself in her own tomb," Finn deduced. "Until she came back to town a few weeks ago and Mab realized that she hadn't died that night all those years ago. I bet Mab f.u.c.king freaked when her sources in the police department told her about Bria, that the detective was digging up dirt on her family's murder. I bet Mab was absolutely livid when she realized who Bria really was. That's how Mab even knew it was her in the first place, right?"

"More or less." Slater shrugged again. "But it's all just a small setback, one I'm going to rectify after I'm finished having my fun with you-and sweet Roslyn."

Instead of getting angry again, Finn just stared at the giant, his green eyes gleaming with secrets that Slater couldn't even begin to guess. Finn's lips twitched, but not with pain. A small chortle sounded, then another, then another, until he was guffawing with laughter. Tears of hysterical amus.e.m.e.nt cascaded down his bruised cheeks, mixing with his scarlet blood.

Slater looked at Finn, then at his two flunkies. The other giants shrugged their shoulders. They didn't know why he was laughing either.

"What's so funny?" Slater rumbled, turning back to face Finn. "Most men don't laugh when they're about to die."

My foster brother ignored the giant and kept right on laughing. The loud, merry, confident sound grated on Slater's nerves, because he moved closer, grabbed Finn's chin with his ma.s.sive hand, and shoved his mouth closed, cutting off his gleeful chuckles. It took some effort, but Finn's chest finally quit shaking with chuckles. Slater stepped back and eyed the other man, still wondering at the cheerful outburst.

"You know what, Elliot?" Finn asked. "You're a pretty smart guy yourself, to help your boss cover up such brutal murders for so long. But in the middle of telling your little bedtime story, you forgot one small thing."

"And what the f.u.c.k would that be?" Slater growled.

"You know that night that I stopped you from killing Bria Coolidge?"

The giant nodded.

Finn just smiled. "You forgot that I had a partner then-and still do now."

28.

That was my signal to move. So I pulled myself up onto the banister that overlooked the living room and leaped. I hung in midair for a moment before gravity took over. On my way down, I grabbed the edge of the iron chandelier. My momentum propelled me forward, like I was on a old-fashioned rope swing, and I pumped my legs to get the arc I wanted. Elliot Slater's head snapped up at the noise, but the two giants were too focused on their boss to do the same. Slater shouted a warning. Too f.u.c.king late.

I dropped right on top of the two giants. One of them stumbled to the left and slammed into a table. My silverstone knife ripped into the other one's back and sliced all the way down, like I was a sailor and his flesh was some sort of heavy canvas I was cutting into to slow my own fall.

He screamed with pain and bucked like a bronco, but I jumped up, grabbed his hair, and climbed on his back. The man tried to throw me off, but I had a death grip on his greasy locks. The giant paused a second to scream and gather his strength, and that's when I reached around and slit his throat. His scream turned into a gurgle, and I felt the fight and power drain out of his body, along with his blood. The man pitched forward, and I got off the rodeo ride.

One of my knives was still stuck in the giant's back, and the other had fallen from my grasp when he'd lurched forward. So I grabbed the two knives hidden in my boots and turned to face the other man. He'd picked himself up and was getting back into the thick of the fight. The giant roared with rage, charged, and swung at me. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. I slithered forward and popped up inside his nonexistent defense. One knife went into his heart. The other severed his jugular. I shoved him away and whirled, ready for Slater's onslaught.

But Elliot Slater stood in front of the column where Finn was chained, just staring at me. His hazel eyes regarded the dead bodies of his men, then flicked up to my face. It took him a second to recognize me through the grease and blood that coated my features like a rubber Halloween mask. But once he did, the giant's eyes narrowed, and a red flush crept up his pale, chalky neck.

"Blanco!" he hissed.

"You were expecting someone else?" I mocked. "And here I thought the idea that all giants were big and dumb was just a vicious stereotype."

My eyes flicked behind him to Finn, who was jumping up and down, trying to slip his handcuff chain off the peg that secured it to the stone column above his head.

"I'm the big dumb b.a.s.t.a.r.d who's going to rip you to pieces," Slater snarled, his hands curling into fists.

"Promises, promises," I mocked again.

I needed the giant to focus on me. Not do something smart and use Finn as a human shield.

Elliot Slater charged at me. I waited until the last second, then threw myself to one side and rolled up. I turned and immediately flung one of my silverstone knives at him. The weapon sank into the giant's chest. With a low snarl, he ripped it out and threw it to one side. I grabbed the knife in the small of my back and tossed that one at him too. It also landed in his chest, but I wasn't done yet. Two more knives came out of the pockets on my vest and whistled in Slater's direction as well.

Solid chest hits, all of them. If Slater had been human, he would have been dead by now. But he was a giant and a tough one at that. He merely pulled out the knives and let them drop to the floor at this feet. Once that was done, he smiled and started in my direction.

And that's when I drew the swords.

Elliot Slater had kicked my a.s.s twice now-once at the community college when I'd let him and then again at Bria's house the night that he'd come to kill her. But I'd taken something away from both of those beatings-the fact that I couldn't let the giant put his hands on me. Not if I wanted to win. Not if I wanted to live.

Sure, I could use my elemental Stone magic to harden my skin, to make it tougher than granite. But Slater was arguably the strongest man in Ashland. He could keep punching me until my magic wore down. And when it was gone, when my strength and magic were exhausted and my concentration slipped that one precious second, my skin would revert back to normal. And then the giant could kill me with one well-placed blow. I couldn't let that happen, couldn't let him get close to me. Which is why I'd grabbed the two long swords from Owen Grayson's wall of weapons. I needed a way to cut Elliot Slater down piece by piece and keep out of reach of his long arms at the same time.

Now I was going to see if Owen was as good a craftsman as I thought he was. Going to stake my life on it, as a matter of fact.

Slater pulled up short at the sight of the silverstone swords glinting in my hands. Then a cruel smile spread across his face. "You think those little toothpicks are going to stop me?"

I twirled the swords in my hands. "Come here, you sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d, and we'll find out."