Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

stand-up guy. And he owes me.”
    “You tell Vinnie to watch the door and to call the cops as soon as Slater shows up. Specifically, your partner, Detective Bria Coolidge.”
    Finn and Sophia both stared at me, surprised by my order. I didn’t want Bria anywhere close to Elliot Slater, but she was the only cop I knew who’d take on the giant and his men. Who would do something besides stand there and let Slater beat Xavier to death. Like it or not, I had to get my sister involved in this. Bria could keep Xavier alive long enough for Jo-Jo Deveraux to get to the giant and heal him. After that, Sophia would be there to watch over everyone.
    Xavier nodded. “All right. I’ll tell Vinnie. One question, though. What will you be doing during all of this?”
    “Following the bastard,” I replied in a cold voice. “Tomorrow night, the second he’s alone, I go after him with everything I have.”
    Everyone knew their part in the drama that was about to unfold, and there wasn’t anything else to say. So we stayed in the kitchen, drinking tea, sipping coffee, and eating muffins in silence.
    A few minutes later, Jo-Jo came down the stairs. The middle-aged dwarf looked at Xavier. “Roslyn’s asking for you,” she said. “Second door on your left.”
    The giant nodded, put down his tea cup, and headed up the stairs. Finn wandered in that direction and waited until the heavy tread of Xavier’s footsteps stopped and the upstairs door creaked closed before he turned back to me.
    “Correct me if I’m wrong, Gin,” Finn said. “But you didn’t explain exactly
how
we’re all going to get free andclear of this after you make a pincushion out of Elliot Slater.”
    I nodded. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Xavier, but we’re going to make Mab Monroe forget all about Roslyn.”
    “How?” Sophia rasped.
    “We’re going to give her someone else to worry about.”
    I told Finn, Sophia, and Jo-Jo exactly what I was planning on doing after I killed Slater. The crazy, dangerous way that I was going to take the heat of Mab’s fury off Roslyn and direct it squarely on me. I laid it all out for them. Everything I was going to do—now and when I finally made my move against the Fire elemental.
    When I finished, the three of them looked at me. Finn’s eyes a bright green. Sophia’s face flat and expressionless as usual. Jo-Jo’s head cocked to one side, a thoughtful light in her pale gaze.
    Finally, Finn let out a low whistle. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    I shrugged. “If you can think of a better plan, please, enlighten me.”
    “Don’t get me wrong,” Finn said. “I think it’s brilliant. Stupid and dangerous and cocky, but brilliant too. Even though it goes against everything that Dad taught us about drawing attention to ourselves, everything that he taught
you.
”
    I blew out a breath. “I know. Which is why I need to know if you’re all on board with me or not. Because it’s not just me who’s going to be on the line this time. You guys will all be on the hook too. If Mab figures it out before I’m ready to deal with her, she’ll come afterus—all of us. And she won’t stop until we’re all dead. If you don’t want to be a part of it, I understand. This thing with Mab, it’s my fight, my problem, not yours. It always has been.”
    Finn, Sophia, and Jo-Jo didn’t even have to look at each other.
    “Nonsense,” Jo-Jo said. “We’re family, darling. Always will be.”
    “Family,” Sophia repeated.
    “Family,” Finn echoed.
    I stared at them. Handsome Finn, who looked so much like his father that it made my heart twist in my chest. Dark, remote Sophia, who kept all her secret dreams and hurts and fears to herself. Soft, pink Jo-Jo, the smartest and wisest of us all. I’d already lost Fletcher Lane. I didn’t want to lose them too. But my confrontation with Mab Monroe was inevitable now. Hell, maybe it had been ever since the night she’d murdered my family. Like Oedipus killing his father, no matter how hard he struggled not to. Nobody did tragedy like the Greeks. Or me.
    “I’m glad you’re with me on this.” My voice shook only a little. “But mostly, I’m glad that you
are
my family.”
    I turned away from them and took my tea cup over to the sink so they wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes. When I turned back to face them, I was cold, calm, and composed once more.
    “All right,” I said. “Let’s get this party started.”

22

    We all spent the night