"Go help her, Xavier. Now."

Finn opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off. "You too, Finn."

The two men grumbled, but they got to their feet and shuffled over to Sophia, who led them through the swinging doors and into the back of the restaurant. The dwarf would keep them occupied while I talked to Roslyn. Once I'd settled myself in the booth again, I stared at the vampire.

"Now that the boys are gone, you want to tell me what that little scene at Northern Aggression was about last night? And why Elliot Slater thinks that the two of you have some kind of relationship?"

Roslyn tapped her fingers on the tabletop. After a few seconds, her hand stilled. She drew in a breath and raised her dark eyes to mine. "Because the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's stalking me."

8.

"Stalking you?" I asked.

The news wasn't unexpected, given the creepy display of affection I'd seen last night, but I was mildly surprised that she came right out and said it. Roslyn Phillips wasn't my biggest fan, especially since I'd threatened to kill her if she ever talked about me being an a.s.sa.s.sin to anyone ever again. The vampire must be more upset or desperate than I'd thought to spill her problems to me with so little provocation. I hadn't even given her the hard stare yet.

Roslyn bit her lip and nodded. "Stalking, domination, possession, call it whatever you like. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d's obsessed with me."

"When did this happen?"

"It started a couple of weeks ago," the vampire said. "When Elliot Slater came to question me about Mab Monroe's party and how someone was able to get their hands on one of the invitations for my girls-and her heart-and-arrow rune necklace. After that, well, I guess you could say he took a liking to me."

The beginnings of a migraine stirred behind my eyes. Elliot Slater had come to question Roslyn because she'd helped me get into Mab's party so I could go after Tobias Dawson. Slater had seen, gotten close to, and become obsessed with the vampire because of me. All of which meant that Roslyn's suffering was my fault. All my fault. The vamp had kept up her end of our deal-given me the help I'd needed and kept quiet about it after the fact-and now she was being stalked as a result.

I'd done a lot of bad things in my time. Killed a lot of people, had a lot of blood on my hands. But Roslyn suffering like this because of me-it made me sick to my stomach. Physically ill. Because she didn't deserve it. Even when she'd blabbed about Fletcher Lane to the wrong person, Roslyn had only been trying to help someone else. This time, she'd listened to me about keeping quiet, and look what it had gotten her. My stomach twisted a little more at the thought. I didn't often feel this particular emotion, but I knew what it was. Guilt.

"At first, I thought it was just a pa.s.sing thing, you know?" Roslyn said in a low tone. "Slater's not the first guy who's wanted to f.u.c.k me. I've had my share of wacko stalkers over the years. I always make it crystal clear that I don't hook anymore. That all I'm interested in doing is running my club. Then I steer them to one of my girls. Usually that's the end of it. If someone persists or really starts bothering me, Xavier encourages him to reconsider the matter."

"But not Elliot Slater." A statement, rather than a question.

"No," she whispered. "Not Slater. After he questioned me about Mab's party, he started coming to the nightclub. He'd get one of the booths on the main floor, order some drinks, and just watch me. All night long. He tried to get me to sit with him a couple of times. Dance with him too. I always politely refused. I sent other girls over to him to try to distract him, but Slater just pa.s.sed them off to his giant friends. He never so much as looked at them."

"So when did he go from watching you to something else?"

Roslyn dropped her eyes and stared at the tabletop again. "One night about a week ago. I sent Xavier home early and stayed late to go over some of the books. I thought n.o.body else was in the club but me. I was wrong. Slater came into my office. He said he was tired of waiting for me to realize what a good thing we could have together." The vamp's voice was hard, brittle, remote, as if she was talking about something that had happened to someone else. "I tried to get him to leave. Tried to leave myself, tried to fight him off. Nothing worked."

Although I didn't want to cause the vampire any more pain, there was a question I had to ask. Something I needed to know. "Did he rape you?" I made my voice as soft and gentle as I could.

Roslyn raised her toffee gaze to mine. Her eyes were dull and empty, even though a grim smile tightened her beautiful face. "Not exactly. Slater grabbed me and made me sit on his lap. He was so f.u.c.king strong. I couldn't move, I couldn't break free, I couldn't do anything. I screamed, over and over again, but I could tell that... excited him, so I made myself stop. I thought he was going to rape me then, but Slater just sat there, watching me. Waiting for me to realize there was nothing I could do to stop him. And when that happened, when he had me where he wanted me, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d made me kiss him-over and over again. And the whole time, he told me how beautiful I was. How f.u.c.king special. He rubbed my back for a while, and then, he stroked my hair. It was almost like... I was some sort of doll he was playing with. Some real-life Barbie he could do anything he wanted to. Slater had this look in his eye-this sick, satisfied look. It was the scariest d.a.m.n thing I've ever seen."

There was no sorrow in her voice, no pity, no feeling sorry for herself. Just a cold recitation of the facts. A calm retelling of the way she'd been forced to submit to Slater. The way he'd overpowered, controlled, and humiliated her. The way he'd made her feel so helpless. Maybe there hadn't been any body parts involved, but Slater had subjected Roslyn to his own twisted form of rape.

Two tears rolled down Roslyn's lovely face. She used a crumpled, discarded napkin to wipe them away, then took off her silver gla.s.ses and started cleaning them. The only thing that gave her away were the slight tremors that shook her hands as she worked.

The cold, sharp knife of guilt in my stomach twisted in a little deeper at all the things Roslyn had endured because of me. All the horrors that I hadn't even known about until right now. All the pain that I'd accidentally inflicted on her without even knowing it.

But as much as I might want to, I couldn't change the past-only the future. So I leaned back in the booth. Waiting. Just waiting for Roslyn to pull herself together enough to tell me the rest of it. I'd been the a.s.sa.s.sin the Spider for years. I was very good at being patient.

After about two minutes, Roslyn put her gla.s.ses back on and set the crumpled napkin to one side of the table.

"Since then, Slater's been at the club every night," Roslyn said. "Now he gets a private room. As soon as he comes in, I go and meet him. He usually stays about two hours. I don't leave until he does, and no one interrupts us. No one."

"What does he make you do?" I asked.

"Everything, nothing. Slater makes me sit on his lap and fix him drinks while he tells me about his day. About working for Mab Monroe. Then he asks me about the club. It's like we're playing f.u.c.king house or something. Hi, honey, how was your day? But he always has his hands on me, touching me, stroking my hair, kissing me. Every night, he kisses me a little harder, touches me a little longer. It's only a matter of time before-"

Roslyn bit off her words, but I knew what she'd been about to say. That it was only a matter of time before Elliot Slater raped her. It was clear that was what the sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d was building up to. I was willing to bet it was a game he'd played before with other women. Stalking them, dominating them, and finally raping them. Like a cat playing pat paw with a mouse until the poor creature was broken, b.l.o.o.d.y, and dead.

Except in this case, Roslyn Phillips was the mouse. How Roslyn had endured Slater's twisted attentions this long, though... that was something else. The inner strength that took... it was something I couldn't even begin to imagine. Something I didn't know if I would have been able to do, if our situations had been reversed.

"What about Xavier?" I asked. "The man's paid to protect you and the club. Why hasn't he gone after Slater himself?"

"Because I asked him not to. I told him that I had a special arrangement with Slater. That the giant was paying me good money for my time and to leave it alone."

I stared at the vamp. "Why would you do that? Xavier's a bouncer and a cop and a giant. He can take care of himself-and you too."

"Because Elliot told me that he'd kill Xavier if he tried to interfere. If he ever interrupted one of our dates." She let out a disgusted snort. "That's what he calls them. Dates. And I-I just couldn't bear it if Elliot ever hurt Xavier. I can bear anything else he does to me, except for that."

Pain darkened Roslyn's eyes, but there was also another soft emotion shimmering in her tight gaze and face.

"You're in love with him," I murmured. "With Xavier."

That same grim smile curved her lips again. "Come on, Gin. Everyone knows it's not love when you're a former hooker," she said, trying to make light of her feelings.

"When did it happen?"

Roslyn shrugged. "I don't even know. Xavier's worked for me for almost five years now. Maybe it was this thing with Slater, maybe it was something else. But one day, I looked up and it was just there. I just cared about him more than I have anyone in a long time. And now I can't do anything about it."

"You know he loves you too, right?" I asked.

Roslyn nodded. "I do."

I thought about what the vamp had said. "So if you told Xavier that you had an arrangement with Slater, why did he tell the giant to leave last night?"

Roslyn sighed. "At first, Xavier was too hurt to question my arrangement with Elliot, which was exactly the way I wanted it. Xavier thought I was just seeing the giant because I wanted to. But two nights ago, Elliot told me I didn't show enough... enthusiasm when he was kissing me. So he hit me, backhanded me with that diamond pinkie ring he wears. Xavier saw the cuts and bruises before I could get myself cleaned up and healed."

"And he realized that you were with Slater against your will."

Roslyn nodded. Weariness made her features sag. "And so here we are."

"Here we are," I murmured.

Silence.

I stared at Roslyn, who kept her gaze on the tabletop. The vamp had spilled her guts to me, held nothing back, but there was still one more thing I wanted to know.

"That first time when Elliot Slater came to question you about the party invitation, why didn't you tell him that it was me?" I asked. "Why didn't you give me up? Why did you really keep quiet?"

Roslyn lifted her eyes up to stare at me. "I didn't tell Elliot it was you because I made a promise to you, Gin. I opened my mouth about what you do once before, and Fletcher Lane died as a result of it. Finn told me how Alexis James tortured Fletcher before he died. Finn was sick over it. So were you. I know that's why you threatened me the way you did at Fletcher's funeral. He was a good man, and once I'd realized what I'd done, how I'd helped cause his death, I was sick over it too."

"Still," I persisted, not quite ready to let the matter lie. "If you'd told Slater, they would have come after me. They might have even gotten to me before I figured out what was going on. Then at least our arrangement would have been at an end."

Roslyn shrugged. "Finn and I have had some nice times together, and I know how important you are to him. How much like a sister you are to him. Call me sentimental, but I didn't want to hurt Finn again."

Finn and Roslyn were what I referred to as good-time buddies. They often got together for a little evening delight when they were between relationships-or when their current paramour was off doing something else. But more than that, Finn and Roslyn had a real friendship besides the s.e.x. They genuinely cared about each other, much to my amazement.

"So I've answered your questions." Roslyn hesitated. "I know-I know I don't have the right to ask it, not after what happened to Fletcher. But I don't have anyone else to turn to, Gin. I thought maybe if I just put up with Slater for a little while, that he'd get bored with me and move on. But he hasn't. And he won't. Not until he kills me."

Tears gathered in Roslyn's eyes again, but she blinked them back. "I don't care so much about myself and what Slater will do to me. But I'm worried about Catherine and Lisa, what will happen to them if I'm not around to protect them. Lisa looks a lot like me, and Slater, he... he might..."

Roslyn's voice faded away as she thought about what the giant might do to her younger sister, Lisa, and Lisa's daughter, Catherine. The vamp clasped her hands together, trying to contain her emotions, trying to stop the tremors that shook her body and present her usual calm facade.

I didn't ask Roslyn if she'd gone to the cops about what Elliot Slater was doing to her. She knew as well as I did that the large majority of the Ashland po-po could be bought for a song. Since Slater worked for Mab Monroe, his pockets were a lot deeper than Roslyn's to start with. Not to mention the fact that the giant could just use the Fire elemental's influence and connections to get everyone to look the other way. Unless someone decided to stand up to him. Unless someone decided to stop him.

Unless I stopped him.

This was it. The moment of truth. Up until now, all my talk about getting even with Mab Monroe for murdering my family had been just that-talk. I hadn't taken any concrete action against the Fire elemental. h.e.l.l, I still didn't even really know why Mab had murdered my mother and older sister in the first place-other than the fact that she enjoyed that sort of thing.

But if I went after Elliot Slater, if I killed the giant for what he was doing to Roslyn, there would be no going back. Offing Slater would be the same as declaring war on Mab and her organization. And then it would be me against the most powerful woman in Ashland. There was only one way that was going to end-with one of us dead. Mab Monroe was rumored to have more magic, more raw Fire power, than any elemental born in the last five hundred years. So I wasn't too optimistic about living through any confrontation with her.

But really, there was only one thing I could do now. Sometimes I wondered if it had all been set the night Mab had murdered my family. If I was like one of the heroes in mythology books I constantly read. Like Oedipus, destined and inevitably drawing closer to doing the thing I was trying so very hard to avoid in the first place.

"The first thing you need to do is send your sister and niece out of town," I said to Roslyn. "Treat them to a trip to Myrtle Beach or something. Make them pack enough clothes and cash for at least two weeks. And tell them to keep quiet about where they're going."

Roslyn stared at me. For the first time, an emotion crept back into her dull gaze. Hope. The one d.a.m.n thing that made sticking my knives out for others worthwhile. She slowly nodded.

"And you need to pack your bags and go with them."

Instead of nodding her agreement once more, Roslyn shook her head. "No."

I looked at her. "No?"

"No," she said, bitterness coloring her tone. "I know how these things work, Gin. Slater's men know what he's been doing to me. If I leave town, and he's suddenly murdered, how's it going to look? The police will come knocking on my door first thing, if Mab Monroe doesn't beat them to me. No, I have to stay here in Ashland. I have to keep playing along with him."

Roslyn was right, of course. That was exactly what would happen, but I was more concerned about getting her away from Slater right now. Yet I could tell by the hard slant of her mouth and the determination flaring in her eyes that Roslyn wasn't going to leave town.

"You sure you want to do that?" I asked in a soft voice, giving her one more chance to back out. "Are you sure you can handle that?"

Roslyn shuddered, but she nodded her head again. "I can do it. I can... stand it a few more days. Besides, I want to be here. I need to be here."

In other words, the vamp wanted to be around when I killed the giant so she could make sure he was good and dead. That he would never hurt her again. Couldn't blame her for that.

"All right," I said. "You can stay. But you're going to have to do exactly what I say when I say it. Xavier too. No matter how strange or hard it seems. With no questions and no hesitation. Can you do that? And get him to do the same?"

"I can do it." Her voice was a little stronger now.

"Good," I replied. "We'll start working on it today. Stick to your normal routine, but keep your cell phone with you at all times. You might not see much of Finn and me, but we'll be watching you and Slater."

Roslyn bit her lip. Suddenly, the vamp lurched over the table and grabbed my hand. Her fingers felt like ice against my own. "Thank you, Gin," she whispered. "Thank you."

I squeezed her cold fingers, then drew my hand away. "Don't thank me. I haven't killed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d yet."

Once Roslyn and I squared away the details, I went to the back of the restaurant and told Xavier and Finn that they could return to the storefront. The two were more than happy to stop working for Sophia. The Goth dwarf had the pair rearranging bottles of mayonnaise and defrosting the blood stains out of the freezers.

I told Finn and Xavier what Roslyn and I had agreed to. To my surprise, the giant leaned down and enveloped me in a gentle hug.

"Thank you, Gin," Xavier rumbled in my ear.

All these thank-yous and sentiment were making me uncomfortable. You'd think I'd just promised to la.s.so the moon or something the way Roslyn and Xavier were carrying on. Instead of just dragging out the deadly skill set I'd perfected over the years.

I stared at Finn, who grinned and shrugged. So I patted what I could reach of Xavier's back, and the giant pulled away. We said our good-byes, I unlocked the front door, and Roslyn and Xavier left the restaurant.

I watched them walk down the street, and Finn moved to stand beside me.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Nothing much," I replied. "I'm just wondering how exactly I went from being the Spider to the Robin f.u.c.king Hood of the greater Ashland area. Three months ago, I was killing people for money. Lots of money. Buckets of it. Now, tell me a good sob story instead and I'll take care of all your problems for free. Instead of stealing from the rich, I'm stabbing them to death for the poor."

"Well, we are going to have to work on the pro bono part," Finn admitted. "But there's nothing wrong with helping people. Dad used to do it from time to time."

I looked at Finn, with his walnut hair, ruddy skin, and green eyes that always reminded me so much of Fletcher. "Maybe, but the old man's little hobby was something neither one of you ever shared with me."

Finn shrugged. "Dad never told me much about it, either."

"Probably because he knew you wouldn't approve of the free part."

Finn grimaced and clutched his chest. "Please, Gin. You know how the word free pains me."

There was a reason Finnegan Lane was one of the best investment bankers in Ashland-he loved money. The feel of it, the smell, manipulating it, watching it grow, and, of course, all the pretty things he could buy with it.

"But as much as it hurts me to say it, I hardly think we can charge Roslyn for this job," Finn said.

"You mean since I'm the one who brought Elliot Slater down on her to start with? That Roslyn's situation is all my fault? That her pain and everything-everything-she's had to endure is all my fault?"

Finn grimaced again. "I didn't say that, Gin."

"No, but we both know it's true. So let's get to work."

Finn squeezed my shoulder and moved off to get a refill of his chicory coffee. I stood in front of one of the storefront windows. Roslyn and Xavier had long since disappeared, but I peered through the gla.s.s and brooded about my latest a.s.signment.

f.u.c.king pro bono work. Going to get me killed one day.

Maybe even today.