"And then she promised me more. More money, more girls, anything I wanted. And all I had to do was find you, kill you ..."
He was babbling, but I didn't say anything. The longer he kept talking was the longer I kept breathing. My eyes flicked to the ground. One of my knives lay about two feet off to my right. I might be able to lunge for it and throw it at Stephenson before he shot me. I tensed. Only chance I had.
But Stephenson wasn't completely gone. He saw I wasn't paying attention to his ramblings. His eyes sharpened. "But this will fix it," he said. "This will fix everything.
I'll say you killed Alexis, and I killed you. It'll work. I can make it work."
Stephenson raised his gun-I dived forward, going for my knife and trying to get out of the path of the bullet- A shot rang out, then five more in rapid succession-
My head snapped up. Stephenson towered over me. He teetered to one side, then toppled to the ground like a mighty oak that had been felled by a lightning strike. I saw three small, neat wounds in back of the police captain's skull. The same place Brutus had wanted to shoot me a few days ago. Three more holes leaked blood in the giant's back: two in his kidneys, one in his heart. I raised my eyes to the man who'd been standing behind the giant. The one who still had his gun raised.
Donovan Caine.
He walked over to Stephenson's body and stared down at his dead captain. His hazel eyes darkened, his face drooped, and his whole body just sagged. Once again, the detective reminded me of Atlas, bearing so much on his lean shoulders.
I sat up, too tired and bloody to do anything else. I'd carried my share of the load tonight too.
Donovan's hazel eyes flicked to me, then to Alexis James's body. He moved toward me, gun still clenched in his hand. I reached down and palmed my knife. I wasn't going to let the detective kill me. Not because of Cliff Ingles. Not because of anything.
Survival no matter what. The very first lesson Fletcher had taught me. One I'd learned even before I'd met the old man.
Even if killing Donovan Caine would extinguish whatever light might still be left inside me. Caine stopped about three feet away from me. "You killed her. You killed Alexis."
I didn't say anything.
"How did you do it?" he asked. "I saw her magic. She was lighting up the whole quarry with it. And the wind you could hear the wind screaming. How did you avoid it?"
"I got lucky." My voice was weak and raspy.
"Alexis is dead. Stephenson's dead. Which means our truce is officially over." Donovan Caine raised his gun, pointing it at my forehead. My hand tightened around the hilt of the knife. "You killed my partner."
I didn't say anything. If he started to pull the trigger, it was over. I'd stab him and leave his body here with the others. I'd deal with Finn and Roslyn and the cops and the consequences later, along with my emotions.
"You're an assassin, everything that's wrong with this city, everything I hate." The detective tightened his grip on the gun. "I should kill you right here, right now. Do the city, the world, a favor."
I wondered if he thought killing me would be a public service. If the mayor would give him a medal for it. My chapped, blistered lips twitched, and I wanted to laugh.
Funniest damn thought I'd had all day. Hell, all week.
The silence stretched out between us. Seconds that felt like a lifetime.
Caine lowered his gun. "But I can't. I can't kill you. I feel something for you. Lust, gratitude, curiosity, I don't know what the f**k it is, but it won't let me kill you, no matter what you've done. So what does that make me?"
"A good man," I said in a soft voice.
Caine shook his head. "No. It just makes me stupid." He threw down his gun and walked away.
* * *
I sat there, wondering at my reprieve and trying to muster up the strength to move, when a car drove into the bottom of the quarry. The same car I'd stolen from the country club earlier this evening. The vehicle slid to a stop a few feet away, kicking up dust and blood. Finn bounded out of the driver's seat and ran over to me. Roslyn Phillips also got out of the car and followed him at a slower pace.
Finn stopped in front of me, his green eyes sweeping over my clothes, body, face.
Once he realized I was more or less in one piece, he relaxed.
"What happened?" I croaked. "How did you get away from Stephenson?" Finn jerked his head at Caine, who stood a few feet away brooding over the giant's body. "Roslyn and I ran into the detective. He exchanged a couple of shots with the good captain, who turned and ran like a scared little girl."
I nodded. So Caine had come back after Stephenson, not to save me. Not surprising, except for the disappointment that fluttered in my chest.
Finn kept staring at me. After a moment, he smiled. Amusement filled his green gaze.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing. But tell me, whose face do you think looks like shit now?" I touched my cheek and winced as pain shot through me. Alexis James had been stronger than she'd looked. She'd gotten in some solid whacks, not to mention the ugly, puffy blisters her Air magic had raised on my skin. Every part of me felt sore and raw and chapped from the intense magic I'd survived, and the bullet throbbed in my shoulder. "Mine."
"Yours," he agreed.
Finn held out a hand, and I let him pull me to my feet and into a tight hug. His arms closed around me, and hot tears stung my eyes.
"I thought I'd lost you too," he whispered in my ear.
I pulled back gave him a crooked smile. "You should know better than that." Roslyn Phillips stood off to one side. The vampire looked mussed and tired. Her dark gaze focused on the blood leaking out of Stephenson's back. Her fangs gleamed like pearls in the twilight.
"Thirsty?" I asked.
Roslyn snorted. "For that giant shit? I don't think so. I'm just sorry I didn't get to tear the bastard's neck out myself."
I grinned at her. After a moment, she smiled back.
Donovan Caine cleared his throat. I turned so I could see the detective.
"You and Finn need to leave. Now," he said. "Roslyn, you're staying with me."
"Why?" I asked in a soft voice.
Caine swept his hand over the bodies that littered the quarry floor. "Here's what happened. I went off the grid to investigate the Gordon Giles case. Men came to my house to kill me, but I escaped from them. I've been hiding low the last few days tracking down leads, one of which was Roslyn. Thanks to her, I discovered Gordon's files, but Alexis James found us. She brought us out here to kill us, but I managed to turn the tables on her instead."