Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(70)

I gasped, shock zipping through me like a lightning bolt, and I almost dropped

my binoculars. Everything just stopped, as though Deirdre had frozen me in

place with her Ice magic. Even my brain ground to a complete halt. When it

finally started sputtering again, I frowned, wondering if I’d heard her

right. If she’d actually said my name. If she knew that I was watching her.

Deirdre stared out the windows again, and this time, she did look straight at

me, her face smug with triumph. More shock zipped through me, and the

revelations hit me one after another, each one as brutal as a fist to the

face.

She’d been playing me this whole time. She had realized that I would be

suspicious enough to spy on her. It was what Fletcher would have done, and it

was exactly what the old man had taught me to do. Even more than that, it was

the predictable move, just like she said. I was betting it was part of the

reason she’d taken up residence in this particular penthouse—to make it

easier for me to keep tabs on her.

And for her to keep tabs on me.

I cursed, scrambled to my feet, and whipped around. Lights blazed on,

illuminating me as clearly as if it were noon, and men stormed out of the

access door and onto the roof. I threw my binoculars aside, palmed a knife,

and stepped forward, ready to drive the blade into the chest of the first man.

But he was closer than I’d expected, and he was already swinging the butt of

his gun straight at my face.

I reached for my Stone magic to harden my skin and tried to twist out of the

way of the coming blow, but I wasn’t quick enough.

His gun slammed into my temple, and the world went black.





20

I woke up in a cage.

My eyes fluttered open, then snapped shut again as the bright glare from the

bare bulbs overhead stabbed into my brain. My head was already pounding from

the hard hit I’d taken, but I swallowed down the groan that threatened to

escape my lips. Because I had no idea where I was, only that I was in serious

trouble.

And so was Finn.

My eyes snapped open again at the thought of Finn. I had to warn him that

Deirdre had finally shown her true self. That she was up to something—

something big. So I forced myself to blink and blink until my eyes adjusted to

the light and I could examine my surroundings without adding to the constant

throbbing already in my head and face.

I was in a warehouse, sprawled across a cold, dirty concrete floor. The walls

were made of gray cinder blocks, but the sloped roof was metal and soared

about fifty feet overhead. Forklifts of all shapes and sizes squatted here and

there in the warehouse, along with heavy-duty wooden pallets that supported

large crates and shrink-wrapped boxes. I had no idea what the containers held,

but some of the writing on the sides was in another language. Russian, maybe.

I was lying in the center of a cage made out of bars that stretched from the

floor all the way up to the ceiling. It probably served as a secure storage

space for more valuable items like guns, drugs, and money. I looked from one

side of the warehouse to the other. No guards, no gangsters, no goons of any

sort. The lights were on, but nobody was home except me. Good. That gave me

time to escape.

I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, then staggered to my feet and took

stock of my injuries. Aside from the continued ache in my head and face, I was

in one piece. After I was knocked out, they hadn’t done anything other than

drag me in here. Fools. They should have already put a bullet in my head.

And that wasn’t their only mistake. The cage was sturdy, and the bars didn’t

move at all when I tried to rattle them, but they were made out of regular

iron and not silverstone. That meant that I could blast my way out of here

with my Ice and Stone magic if I needed to.

But I decided to try something a little quieter first. I went over to the cage

door, which was secured with a heavy padlock on the outside. Whoever had put

me in here had taken my phone and all five of my knives, so I couldn’t jimmy

it open that way. I could easily freeze the lock and then shatter it open with

my Ice magic, but I didn’t know where Deirdre might be lurking, and she might

sense me using a large, sudden burst of power like that.

So I reached for the smallest trickle of my magic, letting it pool in the palm

of my hand, until I had a single shard of Ice about as long and thick as a

needle. I held my breath, looking and listening, but no one came running into

the warehouse, so I felt safe enough to add another layer of Ice to my needle,

then another, then another . . . until I had formed my usual Ice pick. I

stopped, looking and listening again, but the warehouse was as silent and

empty as before, so I reached for another trickle of magic and made a second

Ice pick.

Once I had two picks, I released my magic, stuck my arms through the gaps in

the bars, and went to work on the padlock. It was an awkward position, and the