Elemental Assassin: Unraveled Part 21

"Do you understand me?" Mom's voice came out softer this time, more of a desperate plea than a direct order.

"I understand," I whispered, even though I didn't.

But I would have done anything in that moment to take away her fear.

She smiled at me, but it was a wobbly expression. "Good. That's good. Don't worry, Genevieve. I'll take care of this. Everything will be the same as it's always been. You'll see. No one will ever come in here and hurt you again, not as long as I have breath and magic left in my body."

I just nodded, not sure what she expected me to say. Not sure what I could say that wouldn't be an outright lie.

Mom stared at me, then her shoulders shook again, and a choked sob escaped her lips before she was able to swallow it. She reached over and pulled me into her lap, her arms going tight around me, hugging me close and rocking me back and forth, back and forth. Trying to comfort me-and herself.

"Everything's going to be all right," she whispered. "You'll see."

Mom kept repeating those two phrases over and over, as if she was trying to convince herself, even more than me. . . .

"Gin?" a soft voice asked. "Gin, are you awake?"

For a moment, I could still feel my mother's arms around me, still feel her warm breath in my hair, still feel her Ice magic coiled in her body, ready to strike out with it at anyone who dared to hurt me. In an instant, the feelings faded, and she was gone, lost to the dark corners of my mind. Although fresh pain, loss, and longing kept knifing through my heart.

"Gin?" that same voice asked again.

I opened my eyes to find Silvio standing beside me. "Yeah," I said, my voice thick with heartache, sleep, and memories. "What's up?"

"Ira says that the park is closing in thirty minutes. It's time."

23.

We all checked and made sure that we had our weapons and other supplies at the ready. Then we all gathered in front of the fireplace, me in my black clothes, my friends still in their trucker garb, and Ira in his Christmas sweater, although he'd turned off the lights on it.

"No matter what happens to me, get Finn, Bria, and Owen to safety," I said.

Silvio, Phillip, and Lorelei nodded back at me. Ira patted his shotgun.

"Be careful," Silvio said, worry filling his gray eyes.

I flashed the vampire a confident smile and winked at him. "Always."

I opened the door and left the cabin. My friends did the same, although they stepped onto the path heading up to the hotel, while I took the one that wound past the lake and back over to the theme park.

According to Ira, Bullet Pointe closed at eight o'clock sharp, and it was just after seven thirty now. Darkness had already cloaked the landscape, blacker than coal in some places, but since it was the holiday season, strands of small white lights had been wrapped around many of the trees, lighting my way. Still, I kept to the shadows as much as possible, walking just inside the tree line instead of out on the path itself.

I reached the staging area and slid behind the stagecoach, crouching down and peering out from behind one of the back wheels. The area was deserted, but I knew that would soon change.

"Attention, y'all," a voice boomed through the park's loudspeaker system. "The theme park will be closing in fifteen minutes. Attention, the park will be closing in fifteen minutes. Please gather your belongings and head for the nearest exit or the hotel. Thank you."

Over the next fifteen minutes, more than two hundred folks streamed into the staging area, everyone from the costumed characters to the people who manned the food carts to the ticket takers at the front gates. The workers moved through the pavilions, opening their footlockers and exchanging their cowboy boots, chaps, and hats for regular old sneakers, jeans, and toboggans to ward off the winter chill. They all looked like snakes shedding their skins for something far more comfortable.

I looked out over the crowd, but I didn't see Roxy, Brody, or any of their giants. They'd be here soon enough, though.

And I'd be ready for them.

I held my position behind the stagecoach and waited for the workers to clear out. It didn't take long. Ten minutes later, everyone was bundled up, their phones in one hand and their car keys in the other, ready to go home to their families after a long day of dealing with everyone else's. They left the pavilions, headed down the alleys, stepped out onto Main Street, and vanished. Five minutes later, I was all alone, and I didn't even hear the faint murmurs of their conversations anymore.

Good.

I got to my feet, stepped out from behind the stagecoach, and moved through the pavilion, gathering up the supplies I'd scoped out earlier and stuffing them into the empty black duffel bag that I'd brought along for this purpose. I wasn't supposed to meet Tucker until midnight, but the vamp would send Roxy, Brody, and their giants into the park after me as soon as the last of the tourists and workers cleared out. I had maybe half an hour, tops, to prepare for them.

So I slung my duffel bag of supplies over my shoulder, walked down the alley, and stepped out onto Main Street. As in the rest of the park, white lights were wrapped around practically everything, from the iron benches to the hitching posts to the signs overhead. On a normal night, I was guessing that the lights would have been turned off by now, but Tucker wouldn't want his men stumbling around in the dark after me. But I didn't mind the lights because they would give my enemies false confidence-and there were still plenty of shadows to hide in.

I glanced up and down the street, surveying all the shops and storefronts, thinking about the items that each one sold, and how I could potentially use them to my advantage. Some of the shops had absolutely nothing that would help me, like the Silver Spur, with its fancy designer clothes and oversize belt buckles, or the Gold Mine, with its display cases full of jewelry. My gaze went past those two shops down the rest of the street to the barbecue restaurant, the candy store, the saloon . . .

The saloon.

I focused on the Good Tyme Saloon, a grin spreading across my face. Now that could be interesting. So I walked over to it. The swinging doors were shut, and two normal doors were closed and locked behind them. But I'd grabbed a gold miner's pickax from the pavilions earlier, and a couple of swings from that were more than enough to break the locks on the doors.

I pushed through the busted doors and stepped into the saloon. More white lights glimmered in here, casting plenty of illumination. I stuffed my pickax back into my duffel bag and dropped the whole thing on the floor before going around behind the bar and staring at the old-fas.h.i.+oned bottles of liquor on the mirrored gla.s.s shelves. I picked out a couple, pulled out the stoppers, and sniffed the contents inside. Every time, the caustic whiff of alcohol wafted up to me. Not just for show then. Excellent.

I spread several bottles around the saloon, slapping them down on the tables in the corners like they were centerpieces. I also lined up four bottles on the bar itself, then reached into my duffel bag and came up with a crisp white cowboy s.h.i.+rt that I'd grabbed from one of the clothing racks. A couple of pa.s.ses with my knife reduced the s.h.i.+rt to long strips, which I stuffed into the tops of those bottles. I also plucked a stolen cigarette lighter out of my bag and put it on the bar next to the bottles.

Once that was done, I grabbed my duffel bag and left the saloon. My next stop was the water tower at the entrance to Main Street. I peered up at the tower, which was also decked out with holiday lights. The st.u.r.dy structure sat on four legs of thick, solid wood-at least until I gave the two legs facing the street a couple of swipes with a battery-powered electric saw from my supplies. I didn't cut all the way through the wood, and the tower remained standing, but I'd weakened those two supports enough for my purposes. I also grabbed a nearby water hose and opened the nozzle wide, letting water cascade out all over the walkway in front of the tower.

I checked my phone. Twenty minutes had pa.s.sed since the park had closed. I probably had ten more minutes before it was open season on Gin Blanco, so I headed into the alley across from the water tower. This time, I pulled several long la.s.sos out of my duffel bag and uncoiled them one by one. I was no cowboy, but I could tie a decent enough knot, and I'd made plenty of traps over the years. Once I had the la.s.sos arranged, it was time for me to get into position.

I hid my duffel bag behind one of the water troughs, then jogged down the path that would take me to the main theme-park entrance, since that was the most logical place for my enemies to gather. Right before I reached the entrance, I stepped off the path and into the woods, slipping from one pool of shadows to the next, until I was within spitting distance of the main gate. It was locked up tight for the night, just like I expected, but I didn't care.

I didn't want to get out.

I wanted people to come in.

I moved through the woods until I found a tall tree-one that was not wrapped in white lights or close to any others that were illuminated. I climbed up it twenty feet until I found a st.u.r.dy branch that I could sit on without being easily seen from below. I didn't want to be down on the ground when Roxy, Brody, and the giants first entered the park, and my perch would let me see them coming. Besides, they would a.s.sume that I was hiding somewhere deeper in the park, not right here at the entrance.

My roost also let me look out beyond the gate, which opened up into a concessions area, with a series of empty parking lots beyond that. All the workers had gone home, and the tourists had done the same or trudged up the hill to the hotel if that's where they were staying. Even the giants who'd been guarding the entrance to keep me from sneaking out had vanished, now that Tucker knew that I wasn't leaving without my friends. So I was all alone.

But it didn't stay that way for long.

I'd only been in position for about five minutes when several giants rounded the corner of the concessions stands and approached the main gate. That area was lit up with holiday lights, just like the rest of the park, so I could see Brody leading the pack of them. He was dressed in his usual cowboy outfit, all in black, just like me.

There was no sign of Roxy, though. She must be staying behind with Tucker to guard my friends. Or maybe she was waiting for Brody to flush me out for her, like he'd done on their previous hunts. Either way, she wasn't here, so she wasn't important right now.

Brody didn't waste any time going over to the main gate and pulling out a key, which he slid into the padlock.

The Dalton gang had come for me.

Brody got the padlock open easily enough, but the chains wrapped around the gate slid through the metal bars and crashed to the ground, creating a series of loud clank-clank-clanks. The giant winced and let out a muttered curse at the noise. If he'd wanted to slip into the park quietly, he was doing a lousy job of it. I would have heard those chains all the way over at the saloon on Main Street. But I held my position and watched Brody bend down and drag the chains out of the way. I checked my phone. Just after eight thirty. Right on schedule. Tucker hadn't wasted any time in sending his men into the park after me.

I texted Silvio. Party time here at the main gate.

He hit me back a few seconds later. In the lobby with the others. No sign of our friends or Tucker yet.

I'd expected as much, but disappointment still filled me. I wanted-needed-to know that Finn, Bria, and Owen were safe. Nothing else mattered.

Not even whether I lived or died here tonight.

Brody got the last of the chains out of the way and threw the gates open so that his men could stream inside. All of them were giants, and they were all still dressed in their cowboy costumes, complete with boots, chaps, jeans, and even hats in some cases. Several of them, including Brody, were also wearing large silver belt buckles, and a few had silver tips on their boots. I shook my head. Idiots. They should have been dressed all in black like me. All that s.h.i.+ny metal just made them that much easier to spot in the glows from the holiday lights.

Easy to see, easy to kill.

Brody waited until all the men were inside before shutting and locking the gate behind them. I did a quick head count. Thirteen giants in all, including Brody, for a baker's dozen. As I watched, the giants all pulled out their guns, checking to make sure that they were ready to rock 'n' roll. No fakes here tonight. Once again, I wondered if any of them had Roxy's Fire-coated bullets loaded in their guns, but there was no way to know until they started shooting at me. But I had weapons and tricks of my own, and I was ready to unleash them.

Brody turned to his men. "Remember, this Blanco b.i.t.c.h is sneaky. So I want you to stay together in teams of three and be in constant contact on earbuds at all times. If you find Blanco, you can wound her, but don't kill her. Tucker still needs to question her first. Understand?"

Brody didn't mention the jewels. Probably because he realized that his men would kill me, take the gems off my body, and skedaddle instead of handing them over to him like they were supposed to.

The giants all murmured their agreement, then started making sure that their earbuds were working, as well as splitting up into four teams of three, except for Brody's team, which had him as the fourth and extra man. Four hit squads of giants just to kill little ole me. Tucker wasn't messing around. I was flattered.

I sent Silvio another text, letting him know exactly how many men Brody was bringing into the park. He texted me back a few seconds later, saying that he, Phillip, Lorelei, and Ira were still in the lobby, holding their positions until they spotted Tucker or our friends.

I slid my phone back into my jeans pocket and focused again on the men below, studying them more carefully than before. I didn't sense any elemental magic emanating off any of them, but they didn't need it. Not with all those guns, not to mention their own inherent strength and toughness. I would have to be quiet about how I killed them, at least at first, until I'd thinned the herd out a bit. Otherwise, they'd gang up and take me down. Then the party would be over before it even got started.

"Spread out," Brody said, checking his guns. "And watch your backs. This isn't a regular person we're dealing with. This b.i.t.c.h is an a.s.sa.s.sin, and one of the best. Got it?"

Well, at least he was giving me my props. And he was right. I was one of the best.

And I was going to kill every single son of a b.i.t.c.h here tonight.

The men nodded back to Brody, and the four teams spread out, slowly heading down the walkway that led from the main gate into the park. I studied the men again, concentrating on how they moved, and who seemed like the biggest threat. That was obviously Brody, and the three guys with him looked just as tough and strong as him. But there were three giants who had teamed up at the back of the pack who were a bit shorter and leaner than all the others, so I decided to go after them first.

I waited until all the men had moved down the walkway, well away from my position, then climbed down the tree and followed them, still staying in the woods and off the path.

The four teams of giants reached the first big fork in the theme park and split up, with each team heading in a different direction. I palmed a knife and headed after the three men that I'd picked out to kill first.

The giants moved down the walkway, dutifully searching behind every food cart, barrel, and hay bale. But they were so busy looking at what was in front of them that it never even occurred to them that I could be trailing along in their wake. Oh, every once in a while, they would glance over their shoulders, but they mostly focused on what was up ahead, and not the Spider silently creeping along behind them.

The three giants reached the end of this walkway and stopped to regroup. I crouched down in the shadows behind a couple of prop tumbleweeds and watched them.

"Maybe she's not in here," one of them suggested. "Maybe she got out of the park with the tourists earlier."

A second giant shook his head. "No way. We reviewed all the security footage and checked every single person who left all afternoon long. Blanco wasn't one of them. She's in here somewhere. We just need to find her. Let's keep looking."

The final man nodded, and the three of them started forward again, heading down a new path. My knife still in my hand, I got to my feet and followed them.

With a lot of ground to cover, even along this one walkway, the giants did the inevitable thing that was going to get them killed-they split up.

Two of the giants headed over to check behind some food carts that were cl.u.s.tered together, while the other stepped into a short alley, peering behind every single barrel and water trough that lined the walls. I waited until the lone man was deep into the alley, then darted over to the entrance and stopped, hiding behind a tall cardboard sign of a cowboy playing a banjo.

Then I waited-just waited for him to come back this way.

The alley was a dead end, and it didn't take the giant long to search it. A minute later, he headed back toward my position. The other two men were still checking the food carts and completely ignoring their friend.

My knife in my hand, I readied myself, slowly breathing in and out, drawing air deep down into my lungs for the explosive burst of energy that I would need to take down all three giants.

The lone giant moved past the sign that I was hiding behind, not bothering to search behind it again. His second-and last-mistake. In a hunt like this one, you always had to check places coming and going, because you never knew who might be sneaking up on you.

The giant stopped at the end of the alley and raised his hand to his ear. I held my position and waited, knowing that he was going to check in with Brody.

"Rattlesnake Alley is clean," the giant said. "Heading over to help Ellis and Clyde check some food carts."

He waited a second for Brody's reply, which I couldn't hear, then nodded. "Roger that. We'll keep searching."

I slithered out from behind the sign. Despite all the holiday lights, the giant never noticed my shadow creeping up alongside his, and I was able to get right up behind him. He stopped to look around, and that's when I struck. I reached up, dug my fingers into his hair, yanked his head back and down, and cut his throat.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

But I was already moving, jumping over his body and sprinting across the walkway toward the food carts, plastering myself up against the side of one just as the other two giants came around the far end. Those men were still looking for me, so it took them a few seconds to spot their buddy's body lying at the alley entrance.

"What the-" one of them sputtered.

I stepped around the cart and threw my knife at him. The blade zipped through the air and sank into his throat, cutting off the rest of his words. He staggered back against one of the carts, his legs sliding out from under him, already closer to dead than alive.

The third and final giant whipped around in my direction, raising his gun, but I darted forward, snapped up my hand, and sent a spray of Ice daggers shooting right into his face and throat. The man's gun slipped from his hand and clattered on the ground as he coughed and coughed, trying to dislodge all the sharp, jagged pieces of Ice from his throat. I closed the distance between us, palmed another knife, and sliced the blade across his stomach, right above his ghastly dinner plate of a belt buckle.

He couldn't even scream as he flopped to the ground, trying to shove his guts back in where they were supposed to be. I ended his struggles by driving my knife through his heart, then ripping it back out again.

I whirled around, staring at each giant in turn, but they were all dead, so I looked past them at the walkways beyond. But everything was quiet, and no one had heard me eliminate this first team of men.

So I went over, pried my thrown knife out of the giant's throat, wiped it clean on his plaid s.h.i.+rt, and slid it back up my sleeve. Still holding my other knife in my hand, I stepped over their bodies and headed deeper into the theme park.

Three down, ten to go.

24.