Elemental Assassin 05 - Spider's Revenge

steering wheel like he wanted to rip it to pieces. He knew I was right, and he didn’t like it one bit. I understood his anger, his frustration, because I was feeling it too. So I put my burned, blistered fingers on top of his, trying to soothe him—and myself—in some small way.
    “I—I appreciate your concern and the fact that you want to come with me. But we both know that it has to be this way. I would never forgive myself if something happened to Eva because of me. Because of the fact that I missed Mab tonight. I know what it’s like to think thatyour sister is dead, and I don’t ever want you to have to go through that pain. I care about you too much for that, Owen.”
    “I know you do,” he said in a soft voice. “And I care about you too, Gin.”
    “Good. Then pull over into that parking lot.”
    Owen did as I asked, steering into a lot that fronted one of the many upscale shopping centers that populated this part of Northtown. A few folks had decided not to try to drive home in the snow, because a couple of cars remained in the lot, despite the late hour. Owen parked his BMW next to a late-model sedan.
    “What are you going to do?” he asked. “First of all, I’m going to boost that sedan right there,” I said. “Then I’m going to drive over to Fletcher’s house, hide the car at the bottom of the hill, and hike my way up to the top of the ridge. If everything looks kosher, I’ll go in and get Finn and Bria and see why they weren’t answering the phone.”
    “And if it’s not kosher?” Owen asked.
    I shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll be killing people until it is.”
    He just nodded, and we fell silent. Both of us bruised and bloody, and me with burns covering my hands and arms. Mab hadn’t completely melted my leather jacket with her elemental Fire, but she’d singed the sleeves in places, letting me see the raw, blistered skin that lay underneath. Something else that made me sick. Unfortunately, the night was far from over—for me or Owen.
    “I’m sorry, Owen,” I said in a low voice, staring at myburned flesh instead of at him. “So, so sorry. All of this is my fault. If only I hadn’t missed Mab tonight. If only I hadn’t missed her
again
—”
    Tears scalded my eyes, and frustration burned my throat, even harsher than Mab’s elemental Fire. Fucking emotion. Something that I didn’t need. Not now, not if I wanted to survive—and save the others.
    Owen understood what I was feeling because he put his arms around me and pulled me over into his lap. For a moment, I buried my head in his chest, and he rocked me back and forth like a child.
    “It’s okay, Gin,” he whispered against my hair. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to make it okay. I know that you will. You always do.”
    His words gave me the strength to blink away my tears, lift up my head, and look at him. Moonlight painted his chiseled face in soft lines and dappled shadows, and I trailed my fingers down his bruised jaw. Owen winced, since he’d taken a couple of the giants’ punches there, but he didn’t pull away.
    I leaned forward and kissed him as hard as I dared, given our mutual injuries. I poured all of my pent-up emotions into the kiss, trying to tell him everything that I felt just by touching his lips to mine, just by pressing my body against his. Trying to tell him how much I cared, even if the words always seemed to get stuck in my throat.
    I don’t know if it worked, but Owen kissed me back, his arms tightening around me. The familiar heat filled my stomach just by being near him, but there was no time for that. No time at all.
    I drew back and stared into his violet eyes, wondering,as I always did, at the concern that shone there for me and what the hell I’d ever done to deserve it.
    “I’ll see you at the safe house,” I whispered.
    “You’d better,” he murmured back. “Or I’ll come get you myself—no matter what.”
    Owen called his younger sister, Eva, and told her what was going on. She was at home with her best friend, Violet Fox, and Owen told the two college girls that he’d be there to pick them up as soon as possible. While he did that, I rummaged around in the trunk, pulling out the tins of healing salve I’d gotten from Jo-Jo.
    In addition to healing with their hands, Air elementals could also infuse their magic into certain products, like creams and ointments, and give them an extra kick. When Jo-Jo had come over to Fletcher’s house earlier to