Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

hadn’t taken any concrete action against the Fire elemental. Hell, 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 lastfive 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 damn 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 thehard 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 bastard yet.”
    Once Roslyn and I squared away the details, I went to the back of the restaurant and told Xavier and Finn that theycould 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 lasso 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