Sharpest Sting

by Jennifer Estep

  But I wasn’t.

  Now that I was really looking at the symbol, I could clearly see the circle and the nine lines capped with arrowlike points.

  Fresh hope bloomed in my chest, and I used my phone to snap several close-up photos of the symbol. I should have done this the other night when Owen and I were here. Maybe I would have, if Mason’s giants hadn’t interrupted us. Either way, I knew what the symbol truly was now.

  I finished taking photos, then placed my palm over the rune and reached out with my magic, listening to the murmurs in the tombstone, hoping to pick up another clue. Fletcher must have carved the symbol years ago, because I didn’t sense any emotional vibrations that he or anyone else had left behind. The tombstone only sighed about the rush of wind, the patter of rain, and the fall of snow on it over the years.

  Frustrated, I dropped my hand and leaned back on my heels. Fletcher might have left me a clue, but I had no idea what it meant. Was he trying to tell me the Circle had been involved in my father’s death? Or did this have something to do with Mason’s ledger? But how could the Circle rune possibly lead me to the hidden ledger?

  I also couldn’t discount the possibility that the symbol didn’t mean anything. Maybe Fletcher had been angry or frustrated or bored and had carved the rune on a lark one day. No way to know for sure.

  My phone beeped, and I read the message from Owen.

  You coming? We could still have fire, food, and wine tonight.

  I snorted, but a smile lifted my lips, and I texted him back. On my way, Romeo.

  I got to my feet and slid my phone into my jeans pocket. My gaze darted back to the Circle rune, but this time, I finally did turn away from the tombstone. Fletcher might have left me a clue, but I wasn’t going to figure out its meaning now, and Owen and Silvio were waiting.

  So I trudged down the hill, crossed the lawn, and stepped into the woods, taking the familiar route back to Owen’s car. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts about Fletcher, the Circle rune, and the missing ledger that it took me a while to notice the stones’ mutters.

  I jerked to a stop and looked around, but the trees, ice, frost, and shadows were the same as before. The wind wasn’t blowing, and I didn’t hear the rustle-rustle of some small animal scurrying through the underbrush. So what had upset the stones?

  Still looking for signs of danger, I reached out with my magic, listening. The stones were definitely muttering, each sound full of dark, deadly intent. I tilted my head to the side, listening even more carefully, and trying to pinpoint the exact location of the disturbance. The rocks buried in the leaves weren’t the ones that were muttering. No, the sound was coming from…the stones that lined the road at the edge of the woods. The spot where we’d parked the car earlier.

  The place where Owen and Silvio were right now.

  In an instant, all thoughts of Fletcher and the missing ledger fled from my mind.

  I started running.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I sprinted through the woods, my boots crashing through the ice, twigs, and leaves and thump-thump-thump-thumping against the ground, but I didn’t care how much noise I was making. All that mattered was getting to Owen and Silvio before something bad happened.

  And something bad was going to happen—the stones were screaming about it now.

  I quickly reached the edge of the woods. Even though my heart was yelling at me to rush past the tree line and charge forward, I tamped down the frantic urge. Instead, I palmed a knife and slid behind a tree, listening to everything around me.

  Nothing—I heard nothing but silence.

  I waited for my heart to slow and the pounding roar of blood in my ears to fade. Then I listened again, but I heard the exact same nothing as before. My knife still in my hand, I crouched down and peered around the tree.

  Owen’s car was right where we had left it, pulled off in the hard-packed dirt on the side of the road with a white trash bag stuck in the driver’s window, as though we’d had engine trouble.

  But it wasn’t the only vehicle here now. A black SUV was parked in front of Owen’s car, its headlights on and its hood pointing toward the smaller vehicle.

  Emery Slater was standing in the dirt beside Owen’s car, cracking her knuckles. The two male giants who’d been at the Pork Pit earlier were flanking her, their guns pointed at Owen and Silvio, who were standing on the opposite side of Owen’s car, next to the road.

  “Where’s Blanco?” Emery demanded, still cracking her knuckles. Each sharp snap-snap-snap of her bones sounded as loud as a gunshot.

  “I told you already,” Owen said, a sharp edge to his voice. “Gin isn’t here.”

  Emery snorted in disbelief. “I find that hard to believe, since you’re her little boy toy. She wouldn’t send you two here by yourselves.”

  “That’s exactly what she did,” Silvio replied, trying to sell Owen’s lie. “Gin sent us here to look for the ledger while she kept searching Fletcher’s house.”

  Emery snorted again.

  “The better question is what are you doing here?” Owen asked.

  She shrugged. “Since Blanco killed Mason’s men here the other night, I figured she wanted something in the cemetery and would come back for it sooner or later. So I had my guys set up a couple of security cameras and motion sensors around the perimeter. And what do you know? I got a text alert saying that some people were lurking around.”

  I bit back a curse. I’d been so busy looking for people stationed in the cemetery that it hadn’t occurred to me that Emery might be monitoring the area remotely. Smart of her, sloppy of me.

  Owen shook his head. “But Mason gave Gin until midnight Saturday to find the ledger. This is Thursday night. It’s not even close to the deadline yet.”

  Emery sneered at him. “I don’t give a fuck what Mason wants. I only took this gig so I could have another crack at Blanco. I still owe her for killing Elliot and Madeline. Uncle Elliot took care of me growing up, and Madeline was like my sister.” Her face hardened. “Blanco’s going to pay for taking them away from me.”

  So Mason hadn’t sent her after me. Good to know my uncle was going to keep his word and honor the deadline. Then again, he seemed to want the missing ledger more than anything else, even my death.

  Still, I should have realized that Emery might go rogue and try to take me out. Sure, Elliot Slater and Madeline Monroe had hurt my friends and tried to murder me first, but I could understand Emery’s rage at losing them, and I would have done the same thing if I’d been in her shoes. Oh, yes, I could appreciate the giant’s anger, but it wasn’t going to stop me from killing her. The bitch had tried to barbecue me alive inside the Pork Pit.

  Emery cracked her knuckles a few more times, and then her hands stilled, and a cruel smile spread across her face, brightening her hazel eyes. “You know what? It doesn’t matter if Blanco is here.”

  “And why is that?” Silvio asked.

  Her smile widened. “Because I’ll be quite happy to beat you both to death and leave your bodies lying on the side of the road.”

  Owen and Silvio both tensed, while a chill slithered down my spine.

  “Maybe I’ll even stick around and hide in the woods,” she purred. “Wait for her to show up and find you. I would love to hear Blanco’s screams when she realizes the two of you are dead.”

  Owen and Silvio didn’t respond, but their hands curled into fists. They were both ready to fight.

  Emery snapped her fingers. Owen and Silvio both flinched at the sound. So did I.

  “Actually, I have a better idea,” she said. “Boys, get our two new friends to head on out into the middle of the road.”

  She waved her hand, and the two giants moved over to where Owen and Silvio were standing. The giants gestured with their guns, and my friends had no choice but to step away from Owen’s car. The two of them stopped on the double yellow lines in the center of the road.

  “Let’s play a game of chicken,” Emery said, looking up and down the road. “
That’s a pretty sharp curve up ahead. Someone could easily come flying around it in their car and not even see you two idiots standing there. And then smack!” She slammed her right fist into her left palm. “The two of you would literally be roadkill.”

  Owen and Silvio both blanched. So did I.

  Emery smiled again. “Oh, yeah, I like that idea much better than beating you boys to death. Besides, if I can’t torture Blanco, I might as well have some fun with the two of you.”

  I looked up and down the road, just like Emery had done. She was right. The way the pavement curved, someone could come barreling around that corner at any second, plow into Owen and Silvio, and kill them where they stood.

  I tightened my grip on my knife. Emery was right about something else too. Fuck Mason and his détente. I was taking her out now.

  The two male giants stepped over to the edge of the road and kept their guns trained on Owen and Silvio. The giants were far enough away that my friends couldn’t charge forward and tackle them without getting shot. Owen and Silvio glanced at each other again, clearly trying to figure a way out of this. Well, they didn’t have to worry, because the Spider was here.

  The two giants were so focused on Owen and Silvio that they didn’t bother looking around to make sure I wasn’t really here. Emery was smarter than that, though. She moved so that she was standing close to the road, then crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the side of the SUV. Every few seconds, though, she would glance around, still clearly searching for me.

  I needed to take out Emery and the other two giants before a car barreled around the curve and slammed into Owen and Silvio, but how could I do that? The giants were so spread out that I couldn’t plow into all three of them at once, and I wasn’t fast enough to sprint out of the woods, move past the cars, and tackle the two men with guns before they shot Owen and Silvio. I needed to do something to distract all three giants at the same time. But what?

  A breeze whistled through the woods, ruffling the white trash bag stuck in Owen’s car window. My eyes narrowed, and an idea popped into my mind.

  I waited until Emery turned her head in the opposite direction, then slithered out of the woods. Keeping low, I hurried forward and darted over to a clump of bushes near the rear of Owen’s car. I waited a few seconds, but no one screamed or shouted a warning, so I peered around the branches. Everyone was in the same places as before. Emery by the SUV, the giants a few feet away from her, Owen and Silvio out in the road.

  When Emery turned her head again, I skirted around the bushes and crept forward, plastering my body up against the side of Owen’s car. Then I raised my head so that I could peer through the windows at the three giants.

  I waited for Emery to look away again, then sidled forward, reached up, and grabbed hold of the white trash bag in the driver’s window. It rustled a bit, but Owen hadn’t closed the glass all the way, and the bag easily slid out of the crack. The second I had a good grip on it, I hunkered back down beside the car.

  I waited a few seconds, but no shouts sounded. Emery and the giants hadn’t heard the bag rustling. Good.

  I searched the area around me until I found a heavy, fist-sized stone smooshed into the dirt. I pried the rock out of the ground and coated it with my Stone magic, the same way Mason’s magic coated the sapphire paperweight I’d experimented with in Fletcher’s office. Once that was done, I pried a smaller, gravel-sized stone out of the dirt. I coated it with my magic as well and slid it inside the trash bag. Then I set the bag down at the back end of the car and opened it up wide. The wind started ruffling the bag, just like I’d hoped it would.

  I made sure the bag was in position, then sidled along the side of Owen’s car and crouched down beside one of the front tires. Once again, I waited for Emery to turn her head, then darted across the open space between the two vehicles and kept going until I was all the way at the back of the SUV.

  I leaned down and peered underneath the vehicle, staring at everyone’s feet, but they were all in the same positions as before. Emery by the SUV, the giants a few feet away from her, Owen and Silvio out in the road. No one seemed to have noticed my skulking around. Excellent.

  I stood up and looked over at the trash bag, which was still sitting at the back of Owen’s car. I reached out with my Stone magic and focused on the gravel inside the plastic, imagining that I was shoving the small stone away from me, as though the gravel was a tiny punching bag that I was pummeling with my power.

  I wasn’t sure if it would work—but it did.

  My magic moved the gravel, and then the wind picked up the plastic bag and sent it tumbling end over end down the asphalt. The two giants spun toward the snapping, rustling bag, pointing their guns at it instead of at Owen and Silvio. Emery jerked upright, although she relaxed again when she caught sight of the bag.

  “Don’t tell me you two are afraid of a little piece of plastic,” she said, sneering.

  The giants gave her sheepish looks. Emery sighed and shook her head. Owen and Silvio both tensed again. They knew it was far more than just a little piece of plastic.

  Still hidden behind the SUV, I focused on the bag again. I sent out another wave of magic, and the gravel exploded like a firecracker, tearing the bag to pieces.

  Emery jerked upright again. “What was that?”

  I darted around the back of the SUV so that I was standing next to the road, close to everyone else. Then I reared back my hand and threw the fist-sized rock straight at the two giants with guns. As the rock arched through the air, I blasted it with my Stone magic, and the rock exploded like a grenade right between the two men, who both yelped and stumbled away in surprise.

  The second the rock exploded, Owen and Silvio rushed forward, each tackling one of the giants. All four men tumbled down to the ground on the side of the road.

  My knife still in my hand, I reached for my Stone magic, hardening my skin, and sprinted forward, heading straight at Emery. The giant saw me coming, snarled, and stepped up to meet me. She raised her forearm and blocked my first attack with my knife, so I snapped up my free hand and flung a spray of Ice daggers out at her.

  Emery wasn’t expecting the quick secondary attack, and several needles of Ice stuck in her face and neck, making her look like an oversize porcupine. She screamed in pain and staggered away. I palmed a second knife and hurried after her, but Emery lurched around the side of the SUV, snapped open the passenger’s-side door, and slammed it into my chest.

  The move surprised me, and Emery put her considerable giant strength behind the blow, making the door break away from the frame. The impact threw me back five feet and knocked me on my ass. Even worse, the door landed on top of me, punching the air out of my lungs. If not for the protective shell of my Stone magic, the blow probably would have shattered my ribs.

  I grunted with pain, but I managed to wiggle out from underneath the heavy metal door. I expected Emery to surge forward and kick me while I was down, but she threw herself into the passenger’s side of the SUV and slithered over into the driver’s seat. The key must have still been in the ignition, because the engine rumbled to life.

  Emery threw the vehicle into drive, hit the gas, and yanked the steering wheel. She cranked the SUV in my direction, and I barely managed to roll out of the way of the churning tires. The second the vehicle zoomed past me, I staggered up and onto my feet, my knives still in my hands, even though they wouldn’t do me any good against the SUV.

  But Emery had other ideas. Instead of stopping and trying to back into me, she stomped on the gas again. The SUV fishtailed wildly through the dirt and grass, but she regained control and steered it back onto the road. She floored it, and the SUV disappeared around the curve.

  A curse tumbled out of my lips, but Emery was gone, so I focused on my friends.

  Silvio let out a low, angry snarl and positioned himself on top of the giant he was fighting on the side of the road. The vampire’s fangs glinted like razors in his mouth, and he snapped his head do
wn and punched them into the giant’s neck. The other man screamed and started beating at Silvio with his fists, but the vampire must have hit an artery, because blood spewed everywhere, and the giant’s struggles quickly grew weaker and weaker.

  Silvio was taking care of business, so I looked over at Owen, who was still battling the other giant. The two of them had rolled back out to the middle of the road and were fighting for control of the giant’s gun. Owen punched the other man in the face, stunning him, and grabbed the weapon. Then he flipped the gun around and shot the giant twice in the chest. That man screamed and crumpled forward.

  Owen tossed the gun aside and shoved the other man off him. Then he slowly stood up and leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees to try to get his breath back.

  “You okay?” I called out.

  “Yeah,” he rasped. “You?”

  “I’m good. Silvio?”

  The vampire rolled off the other dead giant. He sat up and spat out a mouthful of blood. A disgusted look twisted his face, and Silvio swiped his hand across his lips, trying to scrub off the blood, although all he really did was smear it across his face. “I’m okay.”

  I went over, held out my hand, and helped Silvio to his feet. “Let’s get out of here—”

  An engine rumbled in the distance, cutting me off and getting closer and louder with each passing second. I whirled around. Through the trees, in the curve up ahead, I saw the gleam of headlights barreling this way. Emery must have turned around somewhere out of sight, and now she was headed back in this direction.

  I spun around to Owen, who was still standing in the middle of the road. “Owen! Move!”

  I surged forward to try to tackle and knock him out of the way, but I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I tripped over the giant Silvio had killed. I stumbled and rammed straight into Silvio, making him fall back down. My own body pitched forward, my knives tumbled out of my hands, and I landed hard on my knees on the side of the road.

  “Owen!” I screamed again.