Elemental Assassin 05 - Spider's Revenge

they trudged down the stairs and planted themselves in the kitchen. Finn, Xavier, Roslyn, Sophia, Eva, Warren, Violet, and finally Owen. I handed everyone a plate and forced them to eat, chattering inane pleasantries all the while.
    “Somebody’s had too much sugar this morning,” Finn mumbled into his coffee mug, waiting for the chicory fumes to rouse him from his postsleep stupor.
    “Nonsense,” I declared, mussing his walnut-colored hair. “I haven’t had nearly enough yet.”
    I ate more than anyone else, stuffing down as much food as I could stomach. I’d need the calories and energy boost before the day was through. Everything tasted fine, as long as I didn’t think about Bria and how Mab had tortured her last night, could still be torturing her. But there was nothing I could do to help her right now, nothing at all, so I made myself swallow biscuit after biscuit, even if they all plummeted to the bottom of my stomach like lead weights.
    Once everyone was finished, I got up and started to wash the dishes, but Warren grabbed the plate out of my right hand, while his granddaughter, Violet, snagged the one out of my left hand.
    “You sit right back down, missy,” Warren said in his high, thin, reedy voice. “Violet and I will wash the dishes.”
    The old man hadn’t combed his hair yet today, and the wispy white strands stuck up every which way over his forehead. The frizz in his hair matched the fuzzy mess of Violet’s blond locks, even though she’d tried to tame hers. A family trait, right along with their dark brown eyes and tan skin that hinted at their Cherokee heritage.
    The two of them moved over to the sink. I slipped back into my chair next to Owen, my eyes going to the clock on the wall. High noon already. The hours were ticking down until my meeting with Mab at dusk.
    Everyone saw me staring at the clock, and I forced myself to smile.
    “Don’t look so glum, folks,” I quipped. “My funeral isn’t officially for six more hours yet.”
    “What are you going to do, Gin?” Violet asked me, her dark eyes wide behind her black glasses. “About Mab and the meeting tonight?”
    I shrugged. “There’s nothing to do but go through with things and meet her. I imagine that once I trade myself for Bria, Mab will get on with the business of killing me.”
    The Fire elemental murdering both Bria and me was far more likely, but I didn’t voice that troublesome thought.
    “Mab isn’t going to kill you—not if we can help it,” Owen rumbled, putting his hand on top of mine and squeezing it tight.
    I frowned at him. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
    Owen looked at the others, then back at me. “It means that while you were cooking breakfast, we had a powwow upstairs. We’re all in agreement, Gin. You’re not going to meet Mab by yourself. We’re going with you—all of us.”
    I was just—stunned. Simply stunned that my friends would want to do such a thing, that they would even
consider
it. Trying to help me bring down Mab was just crazy on their part. Foolish. Insane. Stupid. Dangerous. Worry tightened my chest. So very, very dangerous.
    “You—you can’t do that,” I protested. “This is between me and Mab. It always has been.”
    “This is about family, darling,” Jo-Jo said in a firm voice. “You’re a part of us, a part of all of us, and we aren’t losing you without a fight, even if we do have to take on Mab and every single one of her giants.”
    The others nodded their heads and murmured their agreement. All I could do was just stare at them.
    Xavier with his massive frame. Beautiful, perfect Roslyn. Crotchedy, cranky Warren. Soft, pink Jo-Jo. Eva and Violet, who were both still so young, still so innocent. Sophia, who had been through more horrors than probably any of us really knew. Finn, with his bright green eyes that always reminded me so much of his father’s. And finally Owen, full of that strength and quiet inner confidence that had drawn me to him in the first place.
    Eyes hard, mouths set, faces tight. They all radiated the same stubborn determination, as immovable, implacable, and eternal as the mountains themselves. Emotion tightened my throat at their belief in me, that I could actuallypull this off, that I could actually kill Mab and save Bria at the same time—even though I knew better deep down inside.
    “You don’t have to do this,” I said in a rough, thick voice. “You all know the risks. Mab won’t let me slip through her fingers