"Anyway, the next time you go off and kill the ultimate evil, remind me to wear sunglasses," Finn quipped, taking a sip of his latest cup of coffee. "Because that elemental light show of yours almost burned out my eyes, Gin."
"Sure," I said. "I'll stop and do that very thing the next time I'm fighting for my life against a Fire elemental with unimaginable power."
"Well, that shouldn't be anytime soon," he drawled. "Considering that you killed Mab. Your Ice flames or magic or whatever they were did just as much damage to her as her Fire did to you. Once you were in Jo-Jo's hands, Owen and I went back to the courtyard to make sure that she was dead. All that was left of Mab were a few bones-and this."
Finn got up and retrieved something wrapped in a thick towel off one of the counters. He placed it on the table in front of me, and I carefully unwound the thick fabric, revealing Mab's sunburst necklace. The symbol for fire.
Somehow, the necklace had survived Mab's elemental Fire and had come through unscathed. The wavy golden rays looked as bright and polished as ever, and the ruby set into the middle of the design gleamed like fresh blood. But more disturbing than that I could hear the gemstone's murmurs-its whispers of fire, heat, death, and destruction that were the essence of Mab herself. Enemy, enemy, enemy... that primal voice in the back of my head started muttering.
Emotion filled me then, terrible, terrible emotion that this piece of the Fire elemental had survived. I snatched up the golden rays and reached for my Ice magic. It took only a second for me to coat the necklace in elemental Ice.
And then I smashed it to pieces.
I slammed the frozen necklace down onto the table again and again and again, happily watching the rays snap off one by one, their golden glow choked to death by my Ice. Finally, all that was left of the design was the ruby. I grabbed the gemstone in my right hand, wrapped my fist around it, and blasted it with all the Ice magic that I could bring to bear.
The gemstone shrieked as it sensed what was being done to it, but I blocked the noise out and poured even more of my magic into it.
A second later, the ruby shattered with a tiny wail, the pieces zipping out between my hands like shrapnel. I listened to the broken shards, but I couldn't hear the ruby's murmurs anymore-only silence. Sweet, sweet silence.
Everyone stared at me, shocked by my violent outburst.
"Gin?" Jo-Jo asked.
"I'm okay," I said, breathing heavily. "I'm okay now that that thing is gone."
Everyone watched while I dusted the Ice-coated ruby shards off my hand. Without a word, Jo-Jo got the broom from the corner and cleaned up the mess I'd made destroying the necklace. Once all the pieces had been thrown in the trash, I felt myself relaxing once more.
It was over now-finally, truly over.
"We also found something else interesting," Owen said in a quiet tone when I'd regained my composure. "Something that I think you'll like a little better than Mab's necklace."
He handed me another towel. Once more, I carefully unwound the fabric, revealing a sharp, slender weapon. My silverstone knife-the one I'd used to kill Mab.
"I thought you might want it back," Owen said.
I nodded, staring at the metal. I must have done a better job of keeping it in one piece with the Ice magic than I'd thought, because the knife looked as solid and sharp as ever. My spider rune ring, the one that Bria had stored her magic in, had also survived Mab's elemental flames. Bria had slipped it back onto my finger the day I'd woken up for good, and I hadn't taken it off since. The thin band clinked softly against the knife as I picked up the weapon. To my surprise, the hilt felt cold in my hands-Ice cold.
"Your Ice magic is in the blade now," Owen said, seeing my confusion. "I can feel it in there, just waiting to be used. It's silverstone, after all. It must have absorbed your magic during your fight with Mab. Your other knives also contain your Ice power, although not as much as that one, the knife that you killed Mab with."
"Well, I suppose that they'll all come in handy soon enough."
"What do you mean?" Jo-Jo asked.
I shrugged. "All of Mab's men, all of the bounty hunters-they all know that I'm the Spider now. It won't be too long before someone tries to collect on some kind of bounty or reward on me."
"Correction," Bria said. "The ones who lived know that you're the Spider, but there probably aren't as many of those around as you might think. You and Mab took out almost everyone in the courtyard with your magic. The coroner is still finding bodies out there. It'll be weeks before they identify them all-if they can even do that to start with, given how badly everyone was burned."
"And Owen, Sophia, Xavier, Warren, and I took care of some of the other stragglers we found out in the woods," Finn said. "So mostly, there are a lot of rumors going around the underworld, but there aren't that many people around to confirm or deny them. I'd say the damage and exposure to us is fairly minimal, all things considered."
Well, that was something to be grateful for. It wouldn't do any good for me to finally kill Mab only to have a dozen other people show up in Ashland looking to settle old grudges or create new ones. Still, despite the others' words, I knew that sooner or later some of the folks who weren't very happy with the Spider would track me down. But I'd be ready for them-the way I always was.
"The only one who might make trouble for you right now is Jonah McAllister," Bria said in a thoughtful voice.
I frowned. "You mean that bastard got away? How did he do that?"
Jo-Jo stared at me. "Jonah McAllister might be a pompous little weasel, but he also knows how to survive. Don't forget, he managed to keep his position as one of Mab's number-two men for decades, something that wasn't easy."
"Which makes him dangerous in his own way," I murmured.
"But even he's a little busy these days," Finn cut in. "McAllister is a follower, not a leader. Word is that he's trying to find himself a new boss to work for-without getting dead first. Last thing I've heard, he's gone into hiding until things settle down in the city. It's gang warfare out there on the streets. Almost a month after Mab dies, and every shark in the Ashland underworld is still going at it trying to grab as much power as he can."
Bria nodded her agreement. "I know. Xavier and I have been pulling double shifts for weeks now."
"So see, Gin? No one's really even noticed your absence," Finn said in a cheery voice. "They're all too busy killing each other off right now to think about coming after the Spider."
"Terrific," I muttered. "Just terrific."
But after a moment, I started to laugh.
"What's so funny?" Owen asked.
I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just the fact I killed the most unkillable woman in Ashland, the strongest, most unbeatable elemental around, and no one seems to care because they're all too busy mowing each other down in the street with machine guns. It's just-funny."
I laughed again, but the others exchanged puzzled glances. They didn't understand what was going on. I laughed until tears streamed down my face, and my stomach hurt from the force of it. And then I laughed some more.
Irony. What a bitch.
I managed to quit laughing long enough to finish eating. Jo-Jo went to check on something in the salon, while Owen stepped outside to call Eva and update her on how I was doing. Their departures left me alone with Finn and Bria in the kitchen. The two of them sat at the table across from me, not quite touching, but obviously wanting to do so. Being alive had put me in a rather generous mood, so I decided to make things easy for them.
"So," I said. "Exactly how long have the two of you been together? I assume that you've been going hot and heavy ever since that night at Fletcher's house when the bounty hunters interrupted you. Am I right?"
Finn and Bria didn't look at me or each other.
"Right," Bria mumbled. "Although if it makes you uncomfortable-"
"Then Gin's just going to have to deal with it," Finn cut her off.
Bria stared at him in surprise.
"What?" Finn said. "I worked too hard and too long to get you into my bed to just cut you loose now, cupcake."
Bria's eyes narrowed. "Cupcake?"
"Cupcake." Finn grinned at her. "Or would you prefer snuggle bunny?"
Bria's hand drifted down to the gun on her leather belt, as though she wanted to pull it out and shoot Finn with it. Well, it was good to know I wasn't the only one who occasionally had that reaction to him.
I looked back and forth between the two of them, surprised and more than a little pleased by the emotions I saw sparking in their gazes. Annoyance. Desire. Heat. And something a little softer and more promising as well. I thought they might have a chance of making it together-forever. Bria was serious enough to keep Finn grounded, while my foster brother was carefree enough to get my sister to lighten up. Something that she needed now more than ever to help her get over the horrors of what Mab had done to her.
"I'm going to have to agree with Finn on this one," I said in a mild tone. "Especially since I've had to listen to him tell me how fantastic you are ever since Christmas."
Bria stared at my foster brother with a little more warmth. "You think that I'm fantastic? I'm not just another conquest to you?"
Finn's shoulders sagged, and he gave me a defeated look. "Geez, Gin. Talk about kicking a guy when he's down. Now you've gone and done it."
I arched an eyebrow. "What? I've let the world know that there really is a heart underneath that slick suit and shiny tie? We've all known that for a while now, Finn. No matter how much you try to hide it."
"Curses," Finn muttered. "Foiled again."
I leaned over and rumpled his walnut-colored locks. "As for me, the two of you have my blessing-and then some. So go, get out of here and have some fun-together. You've been cooped up in this house long enough, worrying about me."
Bria stared at me. "But what about before? That night at Fletcher's house? Finn and I being, um, distracted was what led to this whole mess. My getting captured by Gentry, your almost being killed by Mab. How can you just forget about that? You were so angry about it before."
I thought of what Fletcher had told me when I'd seen the old man in the Pork Pit. "You're right. I was angry before. But we all make mistakes, even the best of us. I like to think that it all evens out in the end."
Finn gave me a strange look. "That sounds like something that Dad would say."
I just smiled at him. "Yeah, it does, doesn't it?"
Then I fixed them both with a hard stare. "Just don't ask me to take sides when the two of you go at each other. Okay?"
They nodded, then looked at each other. Finn waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, and Bria snorted. But she couldn't stop a grin from curving her lips. Two minutes later, they both made excuses to leave. I only hoped they managed to make it to Finn's apartment before their clothes came off.
At that point, Jo-Jo strolled back into the kitchen and announced that it was time for me to go back to bed-whether I wanted to or not.
"I didn't spend the better part of a month putting you back together again for you to wear yourself out the first day that you're up," the dwarf announced.
Owen was still busy with his phone call, so I let Jo-Jo help me back upstairs. The dwarf stayed with me, even going so far as to tuck me in herself-something she hadn't done since I was a girl. She smoothed the covers down and stepped back. Jo-Jo stared at me with her clear, almost colorless eyes, and a soft smile creased her middle-aged face.
"I'm proud of you, Gin," she said. "So very, very proud."
"Why? Because I finally killed Mab?"
Jo-Jo shook her head. "No, not because of that. I'm proud because you finally believed in yourself, Gin. Because you finally fully embraced your magic. The way that the purest, the strongest elementals always do in the end."
For once, Jo-Jo's words didn't make me shiver with unease. Instead, I sat there and thought about them. The dwarf was right-and wrong too. Yeah, I'd finally embraced my power, finally used it the way that it had always been intended to be used, finally dueled and defeated Mab with it. But it wasn't just my magic that had helped me win-it had been Fletcher too. The old man's training, all the years of his molding me into the Spider, shaping me into a weapon-that was what had ultimately let me kill Mab. My magic had just been the means to the end. Fletcher was the one who'd prepared me to face the Fire elemental all along.
I told Jo-Jo as much, and she smiled again.
"Fletcher might have given you the tools, darling, but you're the one who used them. Don't ever forget that."
Something in her tone made me look a little closer at her. "What do you mean, Jo-Jo? It's over now. Done. Finished. Mab is dead. And if she somehow manages to crawl out of her grave, I'll put her right back down in it again."
The dwarf stared at me. "But your life isn't over, Gin. You're not through being an elemental just because you killed Mab. You're still growing, as a person, as an elemental, which means that your magic will keep on getting stronger."
My mouth fell open, and I struggled to come up with the right words. I'd never given much thought to what would happen after I killed Mab-mainly because I hadn't figured that I'd be around afterward.
"You mean-you mean that I'll have even more magic in the future? Even more than I did in the courtyard?"