Elemental Assassin 04 - Tangled Threads

elemental’s voice was still soft, still mild, but there was no mistaking the stinging rebuke in her words. Mab was pissed that LaFleur hadn’t bagged me yet. It was probably the first time in a long time that the Fire elemental hadn’t gotten exactly what she’d wanted exactly when she’d wanted it. Yeah, my heart really bled for her.
    Elektra recognized the barb in Mab’s tone as well. Her eyes narrowed, and a bit of green lightning flickered in her gaze. Even through the metal of the car, I could feel the electrical charge in the air around her.
    “Getting that bartender to mouth off about your so-called drug shipment was a solid plan,” Elektra said. “It was just the kind of thing that the Spider would go after, according to what you’ve told me of her previous attacks against you and your organization. It wasn’t my fault she didn’t take the bait this one time.”
    Mab’s own eyes narrowed at the assassin’s casual insolence. “And you promised me the bitch would be dead before Christmas. Something I paid you a great deal of money to accomplish. Something you haven’t done yet.”
    I was mildly curious as to exactly how much Mab had paid LaFleur to hunt me down and kill me. From Fletcher’s file, I knew that the assassin’s going rate was three million for the simplest of hits. But there was nothing simple about taking on the Spider. So how much had Mab given the other assassin to entice her to come to Ashland and try? Four million, maybe? Five? More? I would have liked to know, if only so I could tell Finn and watch his eyes gleam at the thought of that much money and what he could do with it.
    “I don’t like people who don’t deliver on their promises to me,” Mab continued in a soft voice. “I don’t think I have to tell someone of your skills and qualifications what happens when one of my employees displeases me.”
    Black fire flickered in Mab’s eyes as she embraced her elemental magic. Even though the metal of the car separated us, I could still feel the intense heat of it, pricking my skin like red-hot needles. Add it to the electrical charge of LaFleur’s magic, and it made for one uncomfortable sensation. Not to mention that the feel of their power, which was so different from my own Ice and Stone magic, made a small, primal voice start muttering in the back of my head.
Enemy, enemy, enemy
… I ground my teeth together to keep from snarling.
    Elektra kept twirling the white orchid in her hand, as though the two of them were talking about something as simple and mundane as the weather. If she was afraidof Mab and what the Fire elemental could do to her, the assassin didn’t show it.
    “You know, you never did tell me the real reason why you want the Spider dead so badly in the first place,” Elektra murmured.
    “She killed Elliot Slater and has been picking off my men like they’re flies,” Mab snapped. “That’s why I want her dead.”
    Elektra tilted her head to one side and studied Mab, sly intelligence glinting in her green gaze, along with the flashing sparks of her electrical magic. “If that was all there was to it, then you would have hired someone far less expensive to come in and do the job, instead of paying top dollar for me. No, I think there’s something else going on between the two of you. Care to tell me what is it?”
    I studied the Fire elemental. A rare bit of emotion flickered in her black eyes, but I couldn’t tell if it was annoyance at LaFleur or concern about what the assassin had deduced so far. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if Mab herself had put two and two together yet, if she even remembered Genevieve Snow, the little girl she’d tortured all those years ago, and the spider rune necklace she’d used to do it with. She probably had. No matter how much I hated Mab, she was far from stupid or oblivious. Even though I didn’t have any real information to support my theory, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that Mab knew exactly why I was after her, especially since Bria had come back to town.
    I only wondered if the Fire elemental knew that I was the one that she really wanted to kill. The Snow sister thatwas the threat to her, the one with both Ice and Stone magic, the little girl who had grown up with desire, skills, and perhaps even the power to kill her.
    Mab’s lips curved up, but the result wasn’t pleasant. Death probably had a more inviting smile than she did. “I pay you to kill people, Elektra, not ask