Elemental Assassin 04 - Tangled Threads

of any woman close to Roslyn who could possibly be the Spider. Pass along the information about Mab’s drug shipment in order to help us trap the Spider. But you just couldn’t do that, could you, Vinnie?”
    My eyes narrowed. So Mab had wanted Roslyn watched. Not surprising. As the Spider, I’d publicly taken credit for killing Elliot Slater, even though Roslyn was actually the one who’d pulled the trigger, using a shotgun to finish off the giant. But Mab must have reasoned that since I’d supposedly saved Roslyn that night, I must care about the vampire. That maybe even I was her friend—or at least someone who knew her. All of which meant that the Fire elemental was getting closer to learning who I really was, if she didn’t know already.
    Oh, Mab didn’t know that Gin Blanco was the Spider.Otherwise, she would have tried to kill me herself by now. But I often wondered if she remembered Genevieve Snow, the little girl she’d tortured seventeen years ago—and the spider rune medallion that she’d melted into my palms. The jury was still out on that one. Mab had tortured and killed a lot of people since then. Must be hard for her to remember every single one of them. Still, the Fire elemental was hunting for me now, which just gave me more reason to off Mab and her minions sooner, rather than later.
    Starting with the men in front of me.
    “You didn’t ask. You threatened me,” Vinnie said in a low voice. “Threatened to kill me if I didn’t do what you wanted. Natasha too.”
    Brown shrugged. “Details. But you owed Mab, remember? Through our mutual Russian friends, you approached her organization for a favor, and we helped get you and your little girl into the country, green cards and all.”
    “But I paid her,” Vinnie protested. “I paid for all that. You took everything that we had to bring us over here.”
    The vampire ignored his words. “And now that Mab’s trying to collect on that favor you owe her, what do you do? Run away the first chance you get. Shame on you, Vinnie. Shame on
you.
”
    So Mab and her mob connections had helped Vinnie and his daughter emigrate to Ashland from Russia, and the Fire elemental had decided it was time to collect—in spades. Despite Vinnie’s betrayal of Roslyn, I could understand his motives. He’d only wanted to protect his daughter, to keep both of them safe. I might have donethe same thing in his situation. Because I’d do anything for the people that I loved. Protect them, kill for them.
    I was even going to die for them, for Bria, when I finally went up against Mab.
    “Since you’ve been less than cooperative, Vinnie, Mab’s decided to pull the plug on this whole operation. Starting with you.”
    Despite the chill in the air, sweat rolled down Vinnie’s forehead, mixing with the blood on his face. “What about my little girl? What about Natasha? She didn’t have anything to do with this. Please. Leave her alone.”
    Brown let out another low, evil laugh. “Like I said before, I like them young. So I’m going to go pay sweet little Natasha a nice, long visit, once we get through with you. After that, well, Mab has plans for her. Big plans. Mab’s starting up a new venture, you see, something that will make Northern Aggression look as tame as a preschool, and Natasha will fit in just fine there. Why, she might just even be the star of the whole show, if you know what I mean.”
    Grief and rage and helpless anguish filled Vinnie’s eyes, along with a faint flicker of blue-white magic. Even though he’d been severely beaten, the bartender wasn’t completely out of things yet.
    “
Das vidania
, Vinnie,” the vampire smirked, flashing his fangs and getting ready to sink his teeth into the Ice elemental. “I’ll be sure and say hello to your daughter for you—after I get through fucking her.”
    And that was my cue to finally make my presence known. I stepped out of the shadows, walked over to the swing set, and let out a loud wolf whistle. Startled,the men’s heads snapped around to me. Brown bared his fangs, while the giants’ hands tightened into fists. Vinnie stayed on his knees in the sandbox, his eyes wide with surprise, fear, and just a hint of Ice magic.
    I walked toward them, stopping beside the metal swing set.
    The vampire’s eyes narrowed as he took in my dark clothes and the silverstone knife in my hand. “Who the hell are you?”
    I gave him a cold, hard smile. “The bitch who’s here to kill