Elemental Assassin 05 - Spider's Revenge

at me, but I beat her to the punch.
    “Now, Finn!” I screamed. “Now!”
    Crack! Crack!
    Two more shots rang out, and one of the giants holding onto Bria collapsed in the snow, thanks to the bullets that Finn had just put through his eye. One down, one to go.
    Then the most surprising thing happened. Ruth Gentry pulled out her revolver and shot the other giant in the back of the head three times. He too dropped to the snow. Gentry reached forward and jerked Bria back, putting my sister behind her. Across the distance, the bounty hunter gave me another nod. For whatever reason, she’d changed sides. Hell, maybe this had been her plan all along. Let me and Mab duke it out, then sell Bria back to whoever was left standing at the end. Either way, she’d gotten Bria away from the giants and that much closer to safety. So this time, I nodded back at her.
    Startled by the shots, Mab’s head whipped around, wondering what had just happened to her two men, but everyone else was just as distracted as the Fire elemental. Except maybe Jonah McAllister. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lawyer staring at me, his face suddenly pale. He took a step back, then another one. What was McAllister up to? Running away? Or something more devious?
    A giant off to my right charged me, his hands arching into claws like he wanted to wrap them around my throat and just
squeeze
. I had no more time to think about McAllister. I palmed one of my silverstone knives and turned to meet him. The blade sank into his chest before I ripped it out and used it to lay open his throat. He died with a gurgling scream, and I shoved his body back into the ring of men surrounding me. They scattered like the vultures they were as he thumped to the ground at their feet.
    “Who’s next?” I snarled, the giant’s hot blood still dripping off my knife.
    A couple of the bounty hunters on the far edge of the ring looked at each other and started easing away from me. Apparently, my words hadn’t been enough, and it had taken more of a visceral display to make them see the light. However much Mab was paying them, the money wouldn’t do them a damn bit of good if they were dead.
    “Get her, you fools!” Mab screamed at her men. “Now!”
    The bounty hunters exchanged another glance. They hesitated, then bucked up their courage and started toward me once more. My hand tightened around my knife.
    Crack! Crack! Crack!
    Three more bounty hunters went down, each one sporting a neat, round hole right between their eyes. Warren Fox, no doubt, helping Finn with his sniper duties, just like we’d planned. The old man had proudly claimed that he was a hell of a shot and would be more than happy to help Finn thin out the ranks a bit. He hadn’t been lying about how good his aim was.
    From outside the ring of men, back behind Mab and even Gentry and Bria, a low, guttural battle cry sounded, rising to a fierce bellow that reminded me of a Viking horn. A moment later, Sophia ran into view, swinging her fists into every single person that she could reach. And she wasn’t alone. Owen charged into the fray right behind her, wielding his blacksmith’s hammer, while Xavier and his massive fists brought up the rear.
    “Get Bria!” I screamed at them, even though they were already moving in that direction.
    Given a choice between me and the new people in the courtyard, the bounty hunters and giants decided to take the easy way out—they all rushed by Mab, heading for Bria and the others. But the Fire elemental didn’t turn and follow her men. Not this time. Instead, she started walking toward me—and I toward her.
    We met there in the middle of the courtyard, only five feet of empty air separating us from each other.
    All around us, the courtyard was in total chaos, as Sophia, Owen, and Xavier fought the bounty hunters and giants, even as my allies slowly retreated and took Bria with them. This had been the plan all along. To make it seem like I’d come here alone, then let my friends sneak in behind and get Bria to safety while I battled Mab. I just hadn’t counted on Gentry making things a little easier for us, but I figured luck owed me at least this much. So did the bounty hunter for my sparing her and Sydney that night outside Mab’s mansion.
    Nobody had particularly liked the plan, especially the part about leaving me behind to face Mab by myself. But we all knew that this was how it had to be. I was the only one with a chance of stopping the Fire