It burned even brighter than his desire had a moment ago.
"Oh, I'll introduce you to Dawson, just to see what you're up to." Amusement colored Grayson's voice, and he held his arm out to me for a second time. "Shall we, Gin?"
Owen Grayson's curiosity might cause me problems later on, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
So I placed my hand on his arm. "Let's."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Owen Grayson escorted me back into the ballroom. We stood by the terrace door, looking for Dawson. Finally, I spotted the cowboy dwarf, standing near the long, crowded bar. Tobias Dawson drank a shot of what looked like whiskey, chased it with a mug of beer, belched, and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand. Classy.
"You sure you want to do this?" Grayson murmured.
I paused. Grayson probably thought I was reconsidering approaching Dawson, given the dwarf 's obvious disregard for napkins. But really, I was remembering Violet Fox and the way Trace Dawson had bashed her face in.
The way Tobias Dawson had spit tobacco juice on the floorboards of the country store. The way that diamond in his office safe had practically sung. The way Warren Fox's shoulders had drooped when I'd told him what Dawson really wanted his land for.
"Yeah, I'm sure."
Owen escorted me through the crowd. We passed Mab Monroe, who was now speaking to an elderly Asian vampire. The Fire elemental saw me on Grayson's arm and raised her champagne glass in a silent toast. I must have made more of an impression on her than I'd realized.
Not good, but I smiled and tipped my head to acknowledge her. More importantly, Mab's toast also told me she hadn't found Jake McAllister's body in the bathtub.
Which meant I still had enough time left to kill Dawson.
We also swept past Finn and Roslyn. Finn's bright green eyes flicked from Grayson to me, and he raised his eyebrow in a silent question. I shook my head the tiniest bit, telling him that I was okay. Still, Finn's eyes stayed on the two of us, even as he and Roslyn chatted up some Hispanic giant with legs that seemed to go on forever.
It took us about two minutes to maneuver our way over to the bar. Owen arranged it so I stood between him and Tobias Dawson, whose back was turned to me. Grayson ordered a Scotch.
"And for the lady?" the bartender asked.
"Gin," I said. "With a twist of lime."
Owen's mouth twitched with amusement, but he didn't say anything about my choice of drink. The bartender handed us our orders. I took a sip of the gin. The cold liquid burned down my throat, before spreading a pleasant warmth through my stomach. After we'd put a dent in our drinks, Grayson reached across me to tap Tobias on the shoulder. The dwarf turned. I made sure the first thing he saw was my boobs, pushed to new heights by Roslyn's power bra.
Dawson blinked.
"Hello, Tobias," Grayson said. "How are you this evening?"
The dwarf looked around me at the other man. "Oh, hello, Owen. I'm fine. And yourself?"
"Marvelous," Owen replied in a glib tone. "Allow me to introduce my acquaintance. This is..."
"Candy," I said in a flirty tone. "Because I'm so sweet."
The dwarf 's eyes latched onto my boobs, then flicked up to my blond hair, thick makeup, and blue contacts.
He must have liked what he saw, because he smiled. His yellow teeth matched the dirty, sandy color of his hair and mustache. The dwarf tipped his oversize cowboy hat at me. "My pleasure, ma'am."
Given what Roslyn Phillips had told me about Tobias Dawson's cowboy fetish, I decided to play the part of a hooker with a heart of gold. "Aw, aren't you just the perfect gentleman." I lowered my lashes and batted them.
"Handsome too."
Dawson's smile grew a little wider, but his pale blue eyes took on a sharp, predatory look. I'd interested the dwarf. Time to reel him in - or at least let him pretend he was the one doing the reeling.
I turned to Owen and put a big, fake pout on my lips.
"So when are we going to dance? You promised me a dance."
Again, Grayson's lips twitched with amusement.
"Sorry... Candy, but I'm not much of a dancer."
"Perhaps I could dance with the lady," Tobias Dawson offered. "If you don't have any objections, Owen."
Grayson waved his hand. "Of course not. I've already had my fun with Candy this evening. She's all yours, Tobias."
Owen's violet eyes met my narrowed gray ones. More amusement danced in his light gaze. He was actually enjoying this little charade.
The cowboy dwarf offered his short, stubby arm to me. "Shall we, Candy?"
I sniffed at Owen, turned my back to him, and beamed at the dwarf. "Thank you, Mr. Dawson. At least someone here still knows how to treat a lady."
The cliched patter made me want to gag, but I'd said worse to get close to targets before. I could drop a few more groaners if it meant eliminating Tobias Dawson.
My fingers skimmed down the dwarf 's arm before settling on his bare, brown hand. For some reason, Dawson frowned at the contact. Something flickered in his eyes, but it was gone before I could interpret what it was. But he suddenly looked at me with far more interest. Perhaps I'd static-shocked him or something, although if I had, I should have felt it too.
But I shrugged away my unease and let the dwarf lead me onto the dance floor. Dawson was barely five feet tall, which meant his eyes were just level with my boobs. But his soaring cowboy hat reached up over my teased wig.
The orchestra began a classical waltz, and Tobias Dawson pulled me close. The only thing that kept him from burying his head between my boobs was the crinoline in my skirt. It was too stiff and thick for him to maneuver in the way he wanted to. I'd have to remember to thank Roslyn Phillips for that small favor.
We danced in silence for a few moments. I kept my smile steady as we whirled around. Dawson's hand tightened on mine. His palm felt curiously warm against mine, something I'd expect from a Fire elemental, but not a Stone like the dwarf.
"You know Candy, you're a very attractive woman," Tobias Dawson said. "Then again, I've always been partial to blondes."
I let out a small, girlish giggle. "Aren't you just the sweetest thing? You're a real charmer, if I do say so, Mr. Dawson. I'll have to tell the other girls here tonight to watch out for you."
The dwarf smiled, but his eyes were cold and distant in his face. Again, I got the feeling I'd done something wrong, but I couldn't imagine what it could be. There was no way Dawson could know who I was, that I used to be an assassin called the Spider, that I was working for the Foxes, that I'd come here tonight to kill him. There was no way he could know all that - could he? The dwarf had been smart enough to find a mountain full of diamonds and use a slab of granite as a safe. There was no telling how clever he was.
We lapsed into silence again. The dwarf stared at me.Then his eyes went to the rune necklace around my throat. The dance ended, and we both applauded politely.
The orchestra started another tune, something a little jazzier.
I held my hand out to Dawson. "Could I interest you in another dance?"
"Perhaps you'd like to go somewhere more private," Dawson suggested. "I hear Mab's gardens are lovely in the moonlight."
I thought of the secluded gazebos, copses of trees, and thickets of rose bushes I'd spotted outside. I easily could drop Dawson in the garden. With any luck, no one would stumble across him until morning. It was my best option at this point, unless I could somehow maneuver the dwarf back to the bathroom where I'd killed Jake McAllister. Given the way Dawson was staring at my boobs, I doubted he'd wait that long before he forced himself on me.
I smiled at him again. "I'd love to go out to the gardens."
I put my hand on Tobias Dawson's arm, and we left the dance floor. Across the room, I saw Finnegan Lane staring at me. He still stood next to Roslyn, but I saw the relief in his green gaze. Finn knew the longer I stayed the more risk there was of someone trying to proposition me for real - and the slimmer my chances got to take care of Dawson.
Finn wasn't the only one staring at me. So was Owen Grayson. He nodded his head to me as we walked by. I smiled at him in return.
Tobias Dawson opened one of the double doors for me, and we stepped outside. The night air had grown even chillier since I'd been out here with Owen Grayson, and I shivered.
"Cold?" the dwarf asked, closing the door behind us.
"A bit."
He smiled at me. "Don't worry. What I have in mind will warm you right up."
Dawson was saying all the right things, but again, his smile didn't reach his pale eyes. But I brushed off my unease.
All I had to do was get him away from the doors, and the job would be done. Dawson offered me his arm again, and I took it. With my free hand, I palmed one of my silverstone knives.
We walked down the terrace steps and onto a stone pathway that meandered into the dark gardens. A woman cried out softly in a gazebo to our left. A moment later, another woman joined her throaty chorus.
Dawson ignored them and moved on. I let him lead me farther into the shadows that cut through the garden like black knives.
The dwarf didn't stop until he reached a gazebo hidden underneath the tendrils of a weeping willow tree.
I glanced over my shoulder. We were two hundred feet away from the terrace, well out of sight of anyone looking through the glass doors. I tightened my grip on my knife and got ready. Dawson led me over to a long wooden bench inside the gazebo. I sat down, but the dwarf didn't join me. Instead, he stood before me and rocked back on the heels of his cowboy boots.
"You look like a smart girl, Candy," the dwarf rumbled.
"So I think it's pretty safe to say you know who I am and what I do for a living."
I didn't know where he was going with this, but I smiled. "Of course I've heard of you, Mr. Dawson. You're one of the biggest coal miners in all of Ashland. A very respectable businessman. Very smart. Very strong." A little over the top, but flattery never hurt.
He nodded. "I am very strong and very smart. I'm also a Stone elemental, did you know that?"
I shook my head. "No. I'm afraid I don't pay much attention to magic."
Dawson nodded again. "Fair enough. As you said, I'm very powerful. But what few people know is that I have another elemental talent. Something small but very handy at times."
I kept smiling, although by now, my cheeks hurt from the effort. The dwarf needed to step closer so I could come off the bench and stab him, not talk me into a glassy-eyed coma. "And what would that be? A talent for metal perhaps?"
Dawson shook his head. "Oh no, nothing that grand. But I do have the ability to sense others' magic and know exactly what their power is, just by touching their skin. Almost like a magical fingerprint, if you will." His face hardened. "And your sticky palms were all over the safe in my office, bitch."
Uh-oh.
Tobias Dawson had sensed my magic - and worse, he knew I was the one who'd broken into his safe at the mining office.
I immediately came up off the bench, already bringing my hand up, ready to drive my silverstone knife deep into the dwarf 's chest. But Dawson was quicker. His fist slammed into my face, and the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Are you sure it was her, Tobias?"
A female voice sounded somewhere above my head, although it seemed far away. I couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. The pounding in my head drowned out just about everything else, although I felt dew-covered grass underneath my back, and the cool kiss of the night wind on my face. Why was I lying down? I couldn't remember anything through the ache in my skull.
"I'm positive," a man muttered. "This is the bitch who broke into my office. She has the stench of that Stone magic all over her. Then there are these."
Something rustled. I wanted to open my eyes to see what it was, but for some reason, my eyelids just wouldn't lift.
"Is that silverstone?" the woman asked again.
Some small part of my mind frowned in thought. I knew that voice, that soft, breathy voice that resonated with so much raw power. I just couldn't remember whom it belonged to.
"Yeah," the man replied. "She had five of them on her."
"And you really think she lured you out here to kill you?" the woman asked. "Perhaps she was just carrying them for protection. Hookers tend to do that, you know."
"I know it was her. I've seen her before. She was at Fox's store yesterday, along with a cop. She must be working for the old man."
Silence. Again, I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on. Once again I failed. The pounding in my head intensified, as though another drum had been added to the band.
"What a pity," the woman said in a mocking tone.
"She had such potential."
I sensed someone crouching beside me, and a sweet, slightly noxious smell filled my nose - like jasmine mixed with smoke. A finger trailed down the side of my cheek.
Hot needles of pain stabbed my skin, but I couldn't even cry out. No part of me seemed to be working. The burning finger skirted down my cleavage, before sliding off my stomach.
A soft laugh echoed above my head. The sound made me think of fire, smoke, ash. Rough hands holding me down. The spider rune heating up between my palms.
Questions. So many questions about Bria. The silverstone searing my skin, melting into my flesh. The Fire elemental laughing as the rune burned me. Laughing.
The Fire elemental. Mab -
"Very well," the woman said. "Do whatever you want to with her - outside."