Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(22)

do, in fact, happen to be Gin Blanco. And if you know anything at all about

me, then you know that you’ve just gotten yourself into a whole heap of

trouble.”

The robber snorted. He didn’t believe me any more than the grave robbers had.

But I kept staring at him, my face as hard as marble, my gray eyes glinting

with deadly intent, my fingers curling into tight fists. Whispers rippled

through the crowd, confirming my claim.

Confusion filled the robber’s eyes, along with the realization that I was

telling the truth, and his anger quickly melted into a horror that I found

quite satisfying. Everyone might not know me on sight, but they at least knew

my f*cking name—and the death that came along with it.

“Oh, shit,” he whispered. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“Yeah,” I drawled. “That about sums it up.”

Desperate, the robber glanced over his shoulder at the giant gunman for help.

But I didn’t give him the chance to get any advice.

The second the robber turned his head, I stepped up, punched him in the

throat, and yanked his gun out of his hand. I tossed the weapon over to Finn,

who easily caught it and aimed it at the next-closest robber, while I palmed

one of the silverstone knives tucked up my dress sleeves.

The robber I’d punched tried to stagger away, but I grabbed his arm, spun him

around, and pulled him up against my own body, using him as a human shield,

even as I jabbed my knife against his throat.

“If I were you, bitch,” I hissed in his ear, “I wouldn’t move. Unless you

want the closest and last shave of your miserable life.”

The robber started to nod but stopped as the blade dug into his skin. Once I

was sure that he wasn’t going to do anything stupid, I looked out over the

lobby. The other five robbers had their guns trained on me, except for the

giant leader, whose weapon was pointed at Finn. Weird. Sure, Finn had a gun,

but you’d think that the giant would be targeting me, since I was the one

with the knife at his guy’s throat. Maybe there truly was no honor among

thieves.

My stomach clenched at Finn being in the line of fire, but I didn’t let any

of my worry show. Instead, I fixed my gaze on the leader. “I’ll give you a

choice. You and your men drop your weapons, and I’ll let the cops deal with

you.”

The giant narrowed his eyes. “Or?”

I smiled again, my expression even colder than before. “Or you can be an

idiot and try to fight your way out of here. A few of you might even make it.

But you won’t be breathing for long, since I will make it my mission to track

you down and end you myself. Now, you seem to be a fan of precision timing, so

you have ten seconds to think it over.”

The giant’s mouth flattened out into a harsh line. He didn’t want to give in

to my demands. He couldn’t, not without looking weak in front of his own

crew. But he didn’t seem overly concerned by my threats either. No anger

sparked in his dark brown eyes, no fear either, just cold calculation as he

tried to think about the best way to get out of here.

All the while, I kept waiting for his gaze to skitter sideways, to lock with

Deirdre’s, and get some silent order from her.

But it didn’t happen.

The giant kept his focus squarely on me, and he didn’t so much as glance at

Deirdre, Tucker, or anyone else. Unease crawled up my spine. Could I be wrong?

Could Deirdre be innocent of planning the robbery? Could she be just another

rich target, like everyone else?

“Five seconds,” I called out. “Lay down your guns right now.”

The giant’s ski mask rode up on his face, as though he’d raised his

eyebrows. “Or?”

I tapped my knife against the neck of the robber who was still in front of me.

“Or I’m going to slit your man’s throat before I do the same thing to you.

”

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd at the poison promise in my voice.

The other five robbers shifted on their feet, staring at me, then at one

another. Two of them decided to be smart about things, slowly bending down and

setting their weapons on the floor. Those two robbers raised their hands and

stepped away from the people around them, so that they were standing side-by-

side near the middle of the lobby.

Those two robbers were close to Lorelei and Mallory Parker. More whispers

sounded as Lorelei slowly stood up, tiptoed forward, and picked up their guns,

staring at the other three robbers the whole time. But those three men didn’t

know whether to shoot her or me, and they kept swiveling their guns back and

forth between us.

Lorelei tiptoed back, so that she was standing in front of Mallory, shielding

her from harm. Mallory took one of the guns from Lorelei, and then the two

women trained their weapons on the three remaining armed robbers.

Lorelei gave me a short, sharp nod. I nodded back, then focused my attention