Elemental Assassin 05 - Spider's Revenge

trapped in that coal mine with Tobias Dawson after the dwarf knocked me out at your party a few months ago? I used my Ice magic to collapse his own mine right on top of his head and then my Stone power to help me find my way out after the fact. That’s how. Ask Bria. She’ll tell you the same thing. Or better yet, get her to use her magic. Because she only has Ice, not Ice and Stone like I do.”
    More silence. A swishing sort of noise filled my ear, and it took me a moment to figure out what it was—fabric rubbing together, like Mab was walking across whatever room she was in.
    “What kind of magic do you have?” the Fire elemental hissed.
    No answer.
    My heart twisted in my chest, and I wondered if Mab was just playing a game with me. Why wasn’t Bria answering her? Was she in such bad shape already? Was she—was she dead already? That paralyzing, icy numbness began to fill my body again, one cold inch at a time—
    “Ice,” Bria finally mumbled, her voice sounding faint and far away, so very far away. “I only have Ice magic. Gene—Gin’s the one with both Ice and Stone magic.”
    Relief punched me in the gut, doubling me over. The others stared at me in alarm, and Finn started toward my side, but I waved him off. I couldn’t stop the cold tears of relief from streaming down my face, though. Alive—Bria was still alive. Which meant that I still had a chance, however small, however remote, to save her. As long as Bria was still breathing, Jo-Jo could fix whatever damage had been done to her.
    More noises sounded, more voices, and then something crackled. Whatever happened, whatever Bria said or did, Mab didn’t like it. The Fire elemental hissed out a scream of rage and frustration that was so loud that even the others in the cabin heard it through the phone.
    Despite the situation, I smiled. It always felt good to rattle your nemesis.
    “Say that I believe you,” Mab said, coming back on the line. “How do I know that this isn’t some trick? Over these past few months, I’ve learned a lot of things about you, Spider, one of which is your rather uncanny ability to trick your opponents, to sense their weaknesses and exploit them to your own advantage.”
    “It’s not a trick, Mab,” I replied. “Once again, you were just too stupid to make sure that you were targeting the right sister. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, letting me keep on breathing all these years.”
    “I could kill Bria right now for your insolence,” she snapped.
    “You could, and that would be the end of you—of
everything
. Because there would be nothing left for me—nothing left for me to do but get my revenge on you.”
    This time, Mab laughed. “Something that you haven’t had any success with so far. You’ve missed me twice already this week.”
    “True. But if you kill Bria, then I promise you this—I will
destroy
you. No matter how long it takes, no matter what it costs me. I won’t sleep, I won’t eat. I won’t do anything but plot your downfall. I will mow down your men like they’re weeds. I’ll kill so many of them so viciously, so brutally, so horribly that no one will dare to work for you.And sooner or later, I’ll get you too. We both know that you can’t hide in that big, fancy house of yours forever. I almost got you there this week. You really think that you can keep me out forever?”
    Mab didn’t respond.
    “Face it,” I said. “Bria’s not the one who’s a threat to you—I am. Me. Gin Blanco, Genevieve Snow, the little girl that you tortured all those years ago. And if you kill my sister, I will stop at nothing to end your existence.
Nothing
. And by now, you should know exactly how good I am. I’m the Spider, bitch—I’m the best there is.”
    More silence.
    In the cabin, the others stared at me, shock filling their faces at my harsh words—and the fact that I meant every single one of them. My hand tightened around the phone. I turned away from my friends and stared out the window into the dark. I needed to be hard right now, as cold, hard, and unfeeling as winter itself. That was the only way that I was going to buy Bria some more time.
    “What are you proposing?” Mab finally asked.
    “A simple trade. My life for Bria’s.”
    My friends gasped, but I kept my eyes fixed on the blackness. This was the way it had to be—the way it was always going to be.
    Trading myself for Bria was a price that I was willing to pay—a price I’d been paying ever since Mab had duct-taped my own