Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(108)

still oozed out of the cuts that dotted her body, but her silverstone cuffs

were gone, and her face was smug now instead of fearful.

“I told you that she would double back and try to spy on you,” Deirdre said.

“Just like Fletcher would have done. You really need to quit being so

predictable, Gin.”

I huddled on my knees and focused on forcing air in and out of my frozen

lungs, even as my hands curled into the snow, searching for a rock or a piece

of metal or something else—anything else—that I could use to wipe that smirk

off her face.

“Deirdre convinced me to give her a chance to redeem herself,” Tucker said.

“Said that she could get you before you got out of the shipping yard. Looks

like she was right.”

So that’s why he’d been standing out in the open—as bait. He’d wanted me

to creep close enough for Deirdre to sucker-punch me in the back with her Ice

magic, and I’d fallen right into their trap. I wondered if Tucker’s call had

been fake too. No way to know.

He waved his hand at the Ice elemental. “Freeze her, and then my men can drop

her into the river.”

Deirdre loomed over me, the flames of her Ice magic burning cold and bright on

her fingertips. “I’m going to enjoy this,” she hissed.

I reached for my Stone magic, using it to harden my skin again, but she’d

already frozen part of me, and I didn’t have the strength to fend off more of

her magic.

Deirdre smirked at me a final time, then drew her hands back to unload on me—

Crack!

A black bullet hole appeared in the middle of Deirdre’s hand, snuffing out

her Ice magic and making her scream.

Crack!

Another hole appeared in her shoulder, driving her away from me.

Crack!

And a final kill shot, straight through her cold, cold heart.

Finn was here.

My brother was the only one who could make those kinds of shots, especially on

a snowy, moonlit night.

And he’d just killed his own mother so that I could live.

Deirdre toppled to the ground, her blood turning the snow a startling scarlet.

I scrambled forward on my hands and knees and yanked her icicle-heart rune

necklace from her throat. It was a foolish risk, but I wanted Finn to have it.

“Kill her!” Tucker ordered, ducking behind his own man for cover. “Kill her

now!”

The other giant stepped forward and snapped up his gun. I tensed, ready to

throw myself at his legs and try to spoil his shot—

Crack!

Finn put a bullet in the shooter’s head, and the man dropped to the ground

beside Deirdre. I snatched up his gun, scrambled to my feet, and fired off

shot after shot at Tucker and his other guard. I was backpedaling toward the

shipping containers the whole time, so my aim was lousy, but my wild shots had

them ducking down and running in the opposite direction.

Drawn by the gunfire, other giants sprinted from the warehouse in my

direction. I fired at them until my gun ran out of bullets, and I tossed the

weapon aside in disgust. I darted forward, grabbed the stolen phone and the

gun that I’d dropped earlier, and quickly emptied that weapon too.

The guards realized that I was out of ammo, and they quickened their pace,

trying to catch me before I could disappear into the shadows.

Crack!

Crack! Crack!

Finn put the guards down before any of them could get close to me. I sprinted

through the rows of shipping containers, looking right and left. Another giant

stepped out from behind a container ten feet in front of me, already raising

his weapon. I skidded to a stop and reached for my Stone magic again,

wondering if I could harden my skin before he pulled the trigger—

Crack!

The giant crumpled to the snow.

That shot had been much closer than any of the others, and my head snapped up.

Finnegan Lane stood on top of one of the shipping containers.

My brother was wearing a long gray trench coat over a gray suit. The fabric

glimmered like pure silver in the moonlight, which also frosted the tips of

his dark hair and brought out the hard planes of his handsome face. He looked

like a ghost come back for vengeance.

He waved me over, and I sprinted in his direction. He swung his legs over the

side of the container and dropped to the ground, then popped right back up,

slinging his rifle on top of his shoulder and grinning widely, his green eyes

glinting in his handsome face. In that moment, he looked so much like Fletcher

that it made my heart squeeze tight. He’d come to my rescue, just like the

old man had done so many times in the past.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I got your text about coming over to the Pork Pit,” Finn said, still

grinning. “I pulled up right as those giants were carrying you out of the

front of the restaurant. Looked like you could use a little help.”

He frowned, snatched his rifle off his shoulder, and fired off another round,