Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

Bria reached into her jacket and drew out a small business card. “But if you
fall down
again and jog your memory about what really happened that night, give me a call. Day or night. I’ll take care of everything. I promise. No one will know you talked to me.”
    Maybe it was the sincerity in her voice. Or the fact that she seemed so serious about helping people and making a difference. But instead of another dry remark, I merely nodded and took the card from her, trying to end our meeting at least on a neutral note, trying to salvage something good from this.
    Our fingers brushed. For a second, the cold caress of Bria’s Ice magic touched my skin. Baby sister’s magic radiated off her body the same way that Mab Monroe’s Fire power did, although the sensation was much weaker. Bria’s power felt soothing to me, like a cool washcloth on a feverish forehead. It was nothing like the hot, pricking sensation of Mab’s magic.
    Bria frowned at the contact, as though it bothered her in some way, but she didn’t say anything. I wondered if she’d felt my own Ice magic or even my Stone power. Some elementals literally leaked magic, which meant thatother elementals like me could sense their power even when they weren’t embracing or using it. Some magic escaped in drips and drabs, while others like Mab Monroe’s was a slow, constant burn. My elemental magic was self-contained, unless I did something with it, used it in some way. Still, I wondered if Bria had felt something, sensed something about my magic that was so similar to her own power. After all, we’d both gotten our Ice magic from the same source—our mother.
    Bria nodded to me and Finn. She stared at Roslyn a moment, then turned on her boot heel and headed for the front door. The bell chimed once more, signaling her exit.
    “That went rather well, don’t you think?” Finn asked after the door had closed behind her.
    “What part? You hitting on her? Or me telling her to stay out of my business?”
    Finn considered my question. “Well, the two of you didn’t come to actual blows. And nobody got arrested. That’s always a bonus.”
    “Yeah,” I replied, watching Bria stick her hands in her jacket pockets and walk down the street. “But she knows we’re hiding something, and I don’t think she’ll let it go until she finds out exactly what it is.”
    Once it was apparent that Bria wasn’t coming back, Roslyn Phillips took her previous seat at the counter next to Finn.
    “What was that all about?” the vamp asked.
    I snorted. “Please. Like you didn’t hear every word. I know you have enhanced hearing, Roslyn. Most vamps do.”
    She shrugged. “One of the benefits of drinking blood. Makes some of your senses really come alive.”
    Vampires were just like elementals in that some were stronger than others, and the blood they drank often had different effects on them, depending on their own power level and whose vein they were chugging from in the first place. A regular pint of O-positive from a normal human would give any vamp a little buzz, enough to sharpen their hearing and improve their eyesight. Give a strong vamp access to a Fire elemental’s blood, and, well, that’s when you got vampires who were as tough as giants and dwarves—with flames dripping from their fangs to boot. And of course, vampires could be elementals themselves, if they had the inherent magic flowing through their veins, instead of siphoning the ability out of whomever’s blood they were drinking.
    There weren’t many things that turned my stomach, but the thought of sucking down someone else’s blood—hot and fresh from his neck or cold and frosty in a glass—was more than enough to do it. Despite whatever extra juice it might give me. But I had other things to think about. Like the fact it was closing in on four o’clock, and I had a giant to stalk and kill this evening.
    “Back to our previous conversation,” I said. “Roslyn, I want you to do exactly what Elliot Slater wants you to tonight. Go out with him to the event on the
Delta Queen.
I know it’s going to be hard, but do you think you can do that?”
    Another shudder rippled through the vamp’s body, and she didn’t say anything.
    “I know I’m asking a lot, after everything you’ve beenthrough. If you can’t, I understand,” I said in a soft voice. “There’s still time for you to leave town. We can find another way—”
    “No,” Roslyn said in a grim voice so low I had to strain to