Elemental Assassin 01 - Spider's Bite

the other man. Barbecue Man smashed the brick against the stranger’s head three more times. Blood spurted everywhere. I clapped my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming.
    “Fucking clients,” Barbecue Man muttered. “Always wanting to double-cross you just so they can save a little money.”
    He dropped the brick and wiped his bloody hands on his blue apron, further staining the greasy material. Then he turned and walked over to me. I shrank back into my crack, my hands tightening around the brick in my lap.
    Barbecue Man leaned down until his eyes were level with mine. Not for the first time, I noticed how bright and green his gaze was. Like the lights on a Christmas tree. It would be Christmas soon, but I wouldn’t have a tree this year. No presents, no family, nothing. All of it gone, burned to ash by the Fire elemental.
    “Thanks, kid,” Barbecue Man said. “You helped me out of a tight spot there. What’s your name?”
    Barbecue Man wasn’t doing anything threatening, but I could still sense the strength in his body. He was a dangerous man. I didn’t want to do anything to upset him.
    “Gen    Gen   ” It was all I could get out. My full name was too much to say right now.
    “Gin?” he asked. “Like the liquor?”
    I nodded, too afraid to do anything else. Barbecue Man studied me, taking in my ripped jeans and the too-big shoes I’d dug out of the trash.
    “Where’s your family?” he asked in a not-unkind voice, considering the blood on his hands and apron.
    “Dead,” I whispered. “Everyone’s dead and gone.”
    Barbecue Man studied me for a moment longer, then nodded, as if he’d decided something. “You look hungry, Gin. Would you like to come inside and get something else to eat? Maybe clean up a bit? It’s warm inside the restaurant.”
    Oh, to be warm, if only for a little while. But I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t trust Barbecue Man. Not after what I’d just seen him do. But I had my magic and my will to survive. If he tried anything, well, I supposed one more death on my conscience didn’t much matter at this point. How much hotter could they make hell?
    I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
    Barbecue Man straightened and held out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet, leading me inside …
    “Gin?”
    A pair of fingers snapped in front of my face, breaking through my memories. I jerked back and looked at Finn.
    “Are you still with us?” Finn asked.
    I shook away the rest of the old memory. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
    He nodded his head at the casket. “I was asking if you wanted to throw your flower in now. Before they start covering up the casket.”
    Sometime during my trip down memory lane, the preacher had finished speaking, and the service had ended. A couple of guys in dirt-stained coveralls leaned on shovels in the distance, impatient to get on with their grungy work.
    “Of course,” I murmured.
    I stepped forward. Finn had already tossed his flower in, and a white rose rested on top of the golden wood. So did two others, a pink rose from Jo-Jo and a black one from Sophia. I clutched my red rose. The thorns dug into the spider rune scar on my right palm, pricking my skin, drawing my blood, but I didn’t care. I let out a deep breath and threw my rose on top of the others.
    The petals spread out when they hit the surface of the casket, kissing it like I had the old man’s face just before they’d shut the lid on him.
    “Good-bye, Fletcher,” I whispered. 

32
    One by one, the other mourners came over to Finn to pay him their respects and tell him how sorry they were about the old man. A few offered me their condolences as well, but most of the attention focused on Fletcher’s son, not the stray girl he’d taken in off the streets. As it should be, I supposed.
    During a lull, I wandered over to Roslyn Phillips. The vampire wore a somber black suit, but the subdued fabric did little to disguise the lush curves of her body. A matching pillbox hat perched on top of her head, and a faint breeze made the lacy veil flutter against her cheeks. I moved to stand beside her, and we both watched Finn talk to a dwarf bent double with rheumatism, arthritis, and old age.
    “Good of you to come,” I said in a soft voice. “I know it means a lot to Finn.”
    Roslyn nodded. “I wanted to be here for him. The least I could do.”
    “You mean since you inadvertently got his father killed?”
    The vampire stiffened like I’d just stabbed her with one