I’d always thought Tucker had been playing his own game with both me and my uncle, and now I knew exactly what it was. He’d tried to help Fletcher take down Mason, but the two of them had only managed to get some of Mason’s money, instead of killing him outright. Then, for whatever reason, Fletcher and Tucker had made a fake ledger and buried it here in the Circle cemetery.
I wondered why Fletcher had drawn the ring-of-swords rune on Tristan’s tombstone pointing me to the fake ledger’s location. Maybe he’d thought I could use the book to somehow trick Mason.
Either way, Tucker had been too much of a coward to help me finish the job he and Fletcher had started all those years ago. Instead of telling me the truth, Tucker had let me flounder around for months, as well as search high and low for a ledger that was probably lost forever. Now Mallory and Mosley’s reception had been ruined, my friends had been put in danger again, and I was going to face my uncle’s wrath. All because of Tucker’s lies.
Anger sizzled through me with the heat of a thousand suns. I had never wanted to murder the vampire more than at this moment.
Tucker must have seen the realization and the rage dawn in my eyes, because he shifted on his feet, suddenly uncomfortable. He probably expected me to start shouting accusations, but I kept my mouth shut. If Mason knew the true depths of Tucker’s betrayal, he would kill the vampire in an instant. Tucker wasn’t getting off that easy. Oh, no. Let the duplicitous bastard live with the guilt of my death just like he had lived with my mother’s death all this time. Maybe that would finally prompt him to act against Mason, although I doubted it. Fucking coward.
I glared at Tucker a moment longer, then focused on Mason again. “I didn’t know the ledger was a fake. I thought it was the real deal and that Fletcher was being clever by burying it in your own backyard, so to speak.”
“You actually seem to be telling the truth for a change. Good for you, Gin.” Mason paused. “But it’s not going to save you.”
“If you think I gave you a fake because I know where the real ledger is, then you’re wrong.” I gestured out at the cemetery. “This was my last option, the last place I thought it might be. If that ledger is a fake, then the real one is gone for good, because I don’t know where else to look.”
He tilted his head to the side, staring at me as though I were, well, a spider he was contemplating crushing under the toe of his shiny black wing tip. “I really do think you’re telling the truth.” His face hardened. “But it’s still not going to save you.”
Magic erupted in his eyes, making them burn a bright, eerie gray. Mason snapped up his hand, and the tombstone closest to me exploded into a hundred pieces.
* * *
Even though I had been expecting the attack, even though I used my own Stone magic to harden my skin, Mason’s power still cut right through mine like a knife tearing through a tissue. He didn’t just shatter the marker—he also grabbed hold of the broken bits and chunks of stone and hurled them at me.
The shards and shrapnel slammed into my body one after another. I grunted with pain and tried to push back with my own magic, tried to stop—or at least redirect—the bits and chunks of stone, but it was no use. Mason was so strong in his power that the busted rocks punch-punch-punched into my body one after another.
Finally, it stopped.
I swayed on my bare feet, my dress torn, my skin cut, bruised, and bleeding. Sweat poured down my face, and pain radiated out through every single part of my body. Mason had only used a small fraction of his power, but I felt like he’d just dropped a house on me.
And it was only going to get worse—so much worse.
Mason tilted his head to the side again, studying me even more dispassionately than before. “And to think that Mab was actually afraid of you. That you actually managed to kill her.” He shook his head. “I always suspected she was a weak, silly fool.”
He waved his hand again, and the next tombstone over—Mab’s, ironically enough—exploded. Once again, he pummeled me with the resulting chunks and shards, despite my protecting myself with my Stone magic.
And that was just the beginning.
Mason shattered tombstone after tombstone, then used his power to throw the resulting rubble at me. One by one, all those sharp corners and broken edges plowed into my body, opening up deep cuts and making bruises bloom. In less than a minute, I was a bloody, tattered mess, and my Stone magic was the only thing keeping the rocky rubble from completely crushing my bones.
It wasn’t just that Mason was stronger than me—he was also incredibly skilled in his power. He waved his hands up and down and back and forth, directing the bits of stone through the air like a maestro conducting an orchestra. Only instead of music, the resulting notes were the sharp shrieks of pain that spewed out of my lips.
I’d suspected this would happen, had been dreading, fearing, and worrying about it for days, ever since I’d seen my father’s autopsy photos. But now that the moment was finally here, the sharp, certain realization shredded my heart just like the stones were shredding my body.
My uncle was going to kill me—and there was nothing I could do to stop him.
Through the hazy clouds of granite and marble dust that filled the air, I looked at the people gathered around to witness my slow execution. The giants wore bored expressions, as though they had seen their boss do this sort of thing many times before. They probably had. Emery was grinning widely with smug glee, as though she was watching a football game and her favorite team was absolutely destroying its hated archrivals. Liam was chewing on his lip, and he kept glancing back and forth between Mason and me.
And then there was Hugh Tucker.
The vampire looked from me to Mason and back again. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his hands were clenched into fists. Even though he had tried to kill me himself, Tucker didn’t like watching Mason literally stoning me to death. It must have reminded him of what Mason had done to Tristan. Or maybe Tucker was thinking about how Mab had burned my mother to death. Whatever thoughts were running through his mind, for once, the vampire’s blank mask had fallen away, and he actually looked sick to his stomach, as though he might vomit.
The latest onslaught of stone stopped, and the cemetery was utterly, eerily quiet.
Somehow I was still standing, but just barely, and I’d pretty much exhausted my Stone magic. All I had left was my own natural Ice power, including the reserves stored in my spider-rune pendant and the matching ring on my finger. But I didn’t know what good my Ice magic would do me. Mason wasn’t going to let me get close enough to stab him with an Ice knife. Even if I did, he could simply harden his skin and block the attack.
Mason stared at me, his lips puckered in thought. “Perhaps you are a bit tougher than I gave you credit for, Gin. Tristan was already screaming and blubbering by this point. You could start begging me for your life like he did. I might be a little more lenient to you, since you didn’t betray me nearly as badly as your father did.”
It took me a moment to get my breath back enough to answer him. “You might…make me…scream. You might…pummel me…to dust. But I…will…never…beg for anything…from you…you blackhearted son of a bitch.”
Mason shrugged, then lifted his hand again. “Suit yourself. Either way, you’ll still be dead, Genevieve—”
“Enough,” a harsh voice snarled. “That’s enough.”
For a moment, I thought I’d only imagined the voice, but then Mason turned to his right, and I realized who had spoken.
Hugh Tucker.
Mason regarded the other man with a cold expression. “It’s only enough when I say it’s enough. Remember your place, Hugh.”
Instead of being frightened, Tucker let out a low, ugly laugh, with years of pent-up anger rippling through that one harsh note. “Remember my place? You never let me forget my fucking place. Not for one moment ever since we were kids. It’s one of the reasons I despise you so much.”
Mason returned Tucker’s laugh with an equally harsh
one of his own. “Do you really think I’m an idiot? That I don’t know how much you hate me? I enjoy your scorn. It’s as sad, pathetic, and impotent as you are. You’re like a whipped dog, Hugh. No matter what I do, you always come back to me.”
Tucker shook his head. “You might have been right about that in the past but not now. I’m sick of you and your games and especially your cruelty. You could have banished Tristan from Ashland all those years ago, but you didn’t. Instead, you killed your own brother. And not because he betrayed you, not because he tried to oust you from the Circle, but because you’re a weak, insecure, jealous son of a bitch. A sadistic bastard who enjoys making people fear him.”
Mason didn’t respond, but a muscle ticked in his jaw. Tucker’s sharp words were hitting him as hard as those stones had punched into me.
“Tristan might have been your twin, but everyone knew he was the better man, the stronger man in every way that really matters,” Tucker continued. “People actually liked Tristan and wanted to follow his leadership. Not because he made them afraid like you did but simply because he respected them. And that infuriated you to no end.”
Mason’s eyes glittered with a cold light. “You are dangerously close to making me forget how useful you can be, Hugh. And how much I enjoy torturing you.”
Tucker stared the other man down, his black eyes just as cold as Mason’s. Tension filled the cemetery, and everyone looked back and forth between them. Liam and the giants stayed frozen in place, but Emery sidled forward, putting herself in the open space between the two men, ready to defend Mason if it came down to that.
But it didn’t.
After several long seconds, Tucker bowed his head, capitulating once again to Mason. Disappointment washed through me, along with more than a little bitterness. For one brief, fleeting moment, I’d thought that Tucker might actually do the right thing and try to make up for some of the wrongs he’d done to me and my family. That he might break away from Mason and finally be his own man. But once again, the vampire had chosen his own survival above everything else, even his own dignity. Fucking coward.
Tucker must have seen the disgust on my face, because he flinched and looked away from me.
“And now, Gin, it’s time for you to join your parents,” Mason purred. “Don’t worry. I’m sure there’s enough space in my pavilion for your tomb. I’ll put it right next to Tristan’s. That way, you and your traitorous father can finally be reunited.”
He waved his hands again, and more and more tombstones exploded, the shrapnel flying through the air, punching into my body, and slowly shredding me to pieces. I staggered back and forth like a ship listing in a storm, trying to avoid the worst of the flying rubble, but I couldn’t. I also couldn’t push away the pain any longer, and more hoarse screams spewed out of my lips.
Through the clouds of dust, I could see Mason smiling, Emery too, but Tucker had a different reaction. He dropped his head and turned around as though he couldn’t bear to watch my death. Emery smirked at him, then stepped forward so she would have a better view of my execution.
And that’s when Tucker finally struck.
Quick as a blink, he closed the distance between himself and Emery, wrested the gun out of her hand, whipped around, and shot Mason in the back with it.
Crack!
The sound of the shot booming out was even louder than the rubble still pummeling me, but Mason didn’t fall. My uncle had more than enough Stone magic to harden his skin and pummel me at the same time.
Mason turned to the side and let out a low laugh. “Please. I always watch my back whenever you’re around, Hugh. Now that you’ve finally shown your true insolence, I’m going to make you watch Gin die before I kill you.”
Tucker’s shot might not have killed Mason, but it had distracted him, and some of the rubble landed at my feet instead of punching into my body. I staggered to the side, once again trying to catch my breath.
We might not be richer or stronger than our enemies, so we have to be smarter, and we have to fight smarter.
Fletcher’s voice whispered in my mind. I wasn’t sure why the thought popped into my head. Maybe because he had been talking about Mason that night on Jo-Jo’s porch, and Mason was slowly stoning me to death. Despite the pain pounding through my body, I forced myself to think about Fletcher’s words. My Stone magic hadn’t worked against Mason, hadn’t fazed him at all, but I still had my Ice power. But how could I use it to save myself?
Another bit of rubble flew at me, propelled by the last lingering traces of Mason’s magic. Instead of trying to deflect it with my Stone power like I had the other pieces, I coated this chunk with my Ice magic instead. The second the cold crystals covered the rock, it dropped harmlessly to the ground.
My eyes widened, wondering if it was a fluke, but I covered another incoming bit of shrapnel with my Ice, and it too dropped harmlessly to the ground. And I realized something important, something I should have known all along.
Mason had to be able to actually feel the tombstones in order to use them against me.
An idea took root in my mind, and my gaze darted around, searching for a place where I could test out my theory and make my last stand. The cemetery was far too open. I needed someplace more secure, more enclosed, more like…
The pavilion.
Everyone was still staring at Tucker, who had his stolen gun aimed at Mason’s head. No one was paying attention to me, so I gritted my teeth, ignored the pain shooting through my body, and sprinted toward the pavilion. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two giants snap up their guns.
“No! Don’t shoot!” Mason yelled. “She’s mine!”
I kept running. Behind me, I could feel Mason reaching for even more of his magic, more power than he had used so far. He was going to toss another tombstone at me—or worse.
Someone—Tucker, I think—let out a vicious curse, and several more gunshots rang out. I cringed, but no bullets slammed into my back, so I kept going, my gaze focused on the pavilion. I was thirty feet away.
Twenty feet. Ten. Five, four, three, two, one…
Even though every single muscle in my body protested, I leaped up the steps. Behind me, I could sense the cold, hard strength of Mason’s power rolling this way. I stepped under the pavilion roof, then whirled around and reached for my Ice magic, hoping that my desperate gambit would work.
Yes, the pavilion was made of stone, but maybe I could crouch down behind my father’s tomb, cover it with my Ice magic, and use it to block and shield myself from Mason’s power long enough for me to run out the far side of the pavilion and escape into the woods beyond.
I started backing toward the tomb even as I kept an eye on my enemies. I didn’t know if I could save myself, but I might delay my death—at least until my Ice magic ran out.
Liam, Emery, and the giants were hunkered down behind a couple of intact tombstones, as was Tucker. The vampire rose up to fire off another shot at Emery, but his stolen gun made a small, empty click. Tucker cursed and tossed the weapon away.
Mason didn’t care about the battle raging off to the side. He stalked through the grass toward the pavilion, his magic crackling through his eyes like streaks of gray lightning. “You’re not getting away that easily,” he hissed.
Tucker’s head snapped around, and his mouth set into a hard, determined line. He surged to his feet and started running toward Mason, moving faster than I had ever seen him move before.
In the distance, Emery cursed. “Mason! Behind you!”
But my uncle was completely focused on killing me. He waved his hand again, and the tombstone closest to the pavilion exploded, the pieces zipping through the air toward me. This stone was larger and heavier than the others, and if it hit me, it would almost certainly kill me outright. I reached for even more of my Ice magic to try to block the attack.
Tucker reached Mason. But instead of tackling the other man, the vampire ran right past my uncle, his black gaze locked on me.
“Gin! Watch out!�
� Tucker yelled.
Then, at the last possible moment, right before the shattered stones would have hit me, Tucker leaped into the pavilion, darted in front of the projectiles, and wrapped his arms around me, shielding me with his body.
Thwack-thwack-thwack.
The stone shrapnel hit his back and tore into his body with loud, wet, sickening sounds.
Tucker screamed with pain, but he churned his legs, shoving us both deeper into the pavilion. I hit the ground hard and slid back a few feet, with Tucker sprawled on top of me.
“Use your…Ice magic,” he rasped in a weak voice. “Don’t try to fight…his power. Block it instead…”
Tucker’s voice trailed off, and his body went slack and still on top of mine. I hesitated, torn about what to do, but I slapped my hands down onto the vampire’s back and sent out a blast of Ice magic, freezing his gruesome wounds. Tucker didn’t even scream at the brutal assault, telling me what bad shape he was in. But I’d done all I could for him right now, so I craned my neck to the side.
In the distance, outside the pavilion, Mason raised his hand again. My uncle grinned at me, and another wave of Stone magic started to roll off him—
Crack!
Another shot rang out. For a second, I thought Emery, Liam, or one of the giants was firing at Tucker and me, but Mason grunted and spun away from me.
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
More and more shots rang out, this time targeting Emery and the giants. My friends were here. They had found me, and they were trying to take down Mason.
My uncle raised his hand, probably to shatter more tombstones and send the shards shooting out at my friends, but Liam darted forward and grabbed his arm.
“There are too many of them! We need to get out of here!” Liam screamed.
He yanked Mason back while Emery and the giants hunkered down behind the remaining tombstones and fired at my friends. Mason wrenched away from Liam and whirled back around to me. His gray eyes burned with hate, and his magic swirled around him like an invisible storm.
Sharpest Sting: An Elemental Assassin Book Page 28