Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(103)

*

I looked at Tucker, then at Deirdre, then back at Tucker.

“So you’re the man behind the curtain,” I said. “Hiding in plain sight all

along.”

He shrugged. “Something like that.”

I’d wondered why he didn’t act like a typical assistant, and now I knew.

Deirdre had been working for Tucker this whole time, not the other way around

like they’d led everyone to believe. But even more interesting was Deirdre’s

reaction to her boss. Her body trembled, her fingers curled tightly around the

arms of her chair, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. Whoever Tucker

really was, Deirdre was practically shaking in her boots at the sight of him.

Then again, he’d been torturing her for the last few days. Prolonged pain was

enough to break just about anyone.

“You’re probably wondering why I brought you here, Ms. Blanco.”

Instead of the bland, polite murmur I remembered, Tucker’s voice was rich and

deep, with a sophisticated slant and the faintest hint of a Southern drawl.

Not only that, but he seemed taller, more interesting and vibrant than before.

Even his suit was brighter, a royal blue that brought out the bronze color of

his skin. He’d been playing the part of the harmless assistant this whole

time, and now the snake was shedding its skin to reveal its true, venomous

nature.

“Not particularly. I imagine that you want to kill me for f*cking up your ice

heist.”

He arched an eyebrow at my snarky tone. “Yes, well, I did warn Deirdre about

the dangers of involving Mr. Lane and, by extension, you in her scheme.

Repeatedly, I might add. Of course, Deirdre and I have already had a long

discussion about that.”

Deirdre couldn’t hide the shudder that wracked her body.

“Despite my many warnings, Deirdre insisted that she could handle you.

Obviously, she was wrong about that.”

I grinned. “Why, Tuck, you flatterer. Are you saying that I’m a badass?

Because I totally am. I told Deirdre as much the first day she sashayed into

the Pork Pit, but she didn’t believe me. And now look where she is. Why, you

couldn’t have ended up in a better spot, Mama Dee.”

I smirked at Deirdre, who struggled against her handcuffs again. “You bitch!

This is all your fault!” She looked at Tucker. “My plan was solid. It would

have worked, if not for her.”

The vamp arched his eyebrow again. “Would haves are for other people,

Deirdre. Not you, and especially not us. All you got from the bank was a lousy

two million in cash, not the hundreds of millions that you promised us, that

you owed us. You risked everything on this plan, and it has blown up quite

spectacularly in your face. You know what that means.”

Deirdre had already been horribly tortured, had already sat in that chair and

suffered for days on end, but her face still paled, and a sheen of sweat

popped out onto her forehead at Tucker’s casual promise of her impending

death.

“So,” I drawled, “you’ve already tortured Mama Dee, and now you’re going

to kill her. Why, exactly, am I here, then? Not that I’m complaining, mind

you, as I’ll be quite happy to sit here and witness her death. Bring me some

popcorn, and I’ll even do the play-by-play commentary.”

“But?” Tucker asked.

“But this is a weeknight, and I’ve got a barbecue restaurant to open in the

morning. Couldn’t y’all have just called and told me where to find her body?

”

For the first time, a spark of anger shimmered in Tucker’s black eyes,

belying his polite words and calm expression. “You’re here because we wanted

you here. To see this. To see what happens when people displease us.”

“And who, exactly, is us?”

His lips twitched, as though I were a child who’d done something to amuse him

and he was holding back a laugh at my expense. “You really don’t know

anything, do you? About how things actually work in Ashland?”

I shrugged. “Ostensibly, I’m the head of the underworld. So that means that

everything goes through me.”

This time, Tucker let loose with a hearty, amused chuckle that almost made him

seem likable. Almost. “Mab never told you anything, did she?” he asked.

“And neither did your mother.”

I couldn’t have been more shocked than if his goon had doused me with another

bucket of water. Of all the things he could have said, of all the names he

could have dropped, I wasn’t expecting him to bring up my mother. This time,

my hands were the ones that curled around the arms of my chair as I struggled

to hide my surprise. “What does my mother have to do with anything? She’s

been dead for almost twenty years now.”

“You always thought that Mab killed your mother because of some long-standing

family feud between the Monroes and the Snows.” Tucker gave me a look that