Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(23)
on the giant gunman again. I made a show of twisting my knife point into the
neck of the man I was still holding on to, deep enough to draw blood this
time.
“Time’s up,” I called out.
“Santos, man, just give up already!” My robber sputtered out the giant’s
name. “I don’t want to die just for some lousy jewelry!”
“No names, you idiot!” Santos snarled.
He pointed his gun at the other man and shot the robber three times in the
chest.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Everyone screamed and kissed the floor again. The robber’s blood sprayed
everywhere, the coppery stink of it filling the air, and he slipped from my
grasp and hit the ground, dead weight now.
Santos gave me an evil grin and raised his gun again. I reached for my Stone
magic, hardening my skin, but instead of shooting me, he whipped around and
fired at the two robbers who had surrendered.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Santos coolly executed his own men, putting two bullets in the chest of each.
More screams sounded as the men toppled to the floor, blood pooling underneath
their bodies.
“Run, you idiots!” Santos screamed at the remaining robbers.
The three men sprinted for the front doors. I was too far away to stop them,
but Lorelei and Mallory both stepped up, guns still in their hands.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
Lorelei got one of the fleeing robbers in the back, and he toppled to the
floor. Mallory shot a second, also in the back, and he hit the ground too, but
the third man managed to dart outside unscathed.
Knife still in my hand, I headed toward Santos, who was backing toward the
doors.
Santos fired off a couple more shots. At first, I thought he was targeting the
partygoers huddled in the middle of the lobby, but his aim was too wide for
that, and the bullets harmlessly punched into the floor. But the shots made
everyone panic, rise to their feet, and stampede toward the back of the lobby,
running over and even knocking one another down as they tried to scramble to
safety behind the tellers’ counter.
I stormed after Santos but got caught in the crush of people going the other
way. Every time I took a step forward, someone bumped into me and shoved me
back.
“Move! Move! Move!” I yelled, but the continued screams drowned out my
words.
Santos took advantage of the chaos. He made it all the way over to the doors
before stopping and raising his gun again. I didn’t care if the bastard shot
me, but I was shoving other people out of the way, hoping that I could at
least get everyone else out of his line of fire.
But Santos had other ideas. He whipped his gun to my right, aiming it at
someone else. I looked over my shoulder, my blood freezing in my veins as I
realized whom he was targeting.
Finn.
“Gin! Gin!” Finn shouted. “I’m coming!”
Gun in hand, he was also fighting his way through the crowd, trying to come
help me. Bria and Owen were doing the same thing, but Finn was the closest,
about ten feet behind me. He pushed one of the waiters out of his way and
skidded to a stop, realizing that Santos was aiming at him. Finn snapped up
his own gun, but he wasn’t going to get the other man first.
Santos shot me a wicked grin, then focused on Finn again, his finger curling
back on the trigger. He realized that shooting Finn would hurt me more than if
I were wounded myself.
I raced in Finn’s direction, but I was no superhero, and I wasn’t even close
to being faster than a speeding bullet. My foster brother was going to die,
and it was all my fault.
“Finn!” I screamed. “Finn!”
Too late.
Santos pulled the trigger.
7
The shot rang out, that one sharp, single crack seeming louder than all the
previous ones put together.
All the while, I could hear myself screaming—Bria too—but it was like I was
underwater, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Finn’s eyes
widening, his mouth falling open, his entire body tensing, waiting for the
bullet to tear through his chest.
But it never happened.
At the last instant, Deirdre shoved Finn out of the way, making him fall to
the floor. The bullet hit her instead, and she screamed and spun around before
stumbling into a cluster of chairs. She bounced off a chair and slid down,
landing on her ass and clutching her left arm, her face white with shock.
Given her scarlet dress, I couldn’t tell how badly she might be injured.
And I didn’t care. Finn was okay.
Santos’s lips moved, but I couldn’t hear the curses he was spouting. He
turned tail, pushed through the front doors, and disappeared.
I kicked off my black stilettos, palmed a second knife, and sprinted after
him. I wanted to end this now, before Santos escaped, holed up somewhere, and
started plotting his revenge against me. Not only that, but I wanted to know