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 cle**age, 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."
Her voice short-circuited my train of thought. I tried to grab hold of the wispy tendrils of memories, but they retreated back into the darkness - a darkness that was slowly swallowing me once more.
"Outside? Why? I want to take care of the bitch right now." The man sounded whiny and petulant.
"Because in case you haven't noticed, Tobias, I'm hosting a function for several hundred people. A dead body in the garden would put a damper on the evening, don't you think? Besides, you claim she came here to kill you. So you can take care of it. I have no desire to get my hands or any other part of my person dirty tonight. Besides, she's unconscious. No fun to be had there."
"Well, what do you want me to do with her?" the man asked again.
"I don't f**king care," the woman snapped. "Just get her off my lawn. Now."
Rough hands closed around my arms and yanked me up, but by that point, I'd sunk into the blackness once again.
The first thing I was aware of was the soft soil underneath my cheek, interspersed here and there with small pebbles. Tiny little stones that felt like smooth peas muttering against my skin. I concentrated on that sound, that faint muttering, letting it pull me out of the darkness I'd been floating in. After a few moments, I realized I was lying facedown, but I didn't try to move. My head hurt too much for that, the previous pounding now a hot, throbbing ache behind my left eye.
But I focused, and slowly the evening came back to me. Dressing up and crashing Mab Monroe's party. Killing Jake McAllister. Running into the Fire elemental herself, then Owen Grayson. I also remembered going out into the garden with Tobias Dawson, and the dwarf sucker punching me. And now, well, who knew where the hell I was. But I was still alive, which meant I still had a chance. To run, to fight, to cower in a cramped dark hole until the bad guys went away. Whatever it took to survive. The will to do so no matter what - the very first lesson Fletcher Lane had ever taught me. Something I'd known even before he'd articulated it to me.
So I focused on my body, assessing the damage that had been done. My face felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. Given the stiffness and constant throbbing, I was pretty sure my jaw was broken, maybe my left cheekbone too. A couple of my teeth felt loose, and the coppery tang of my own blood filled my mouth. I cracked my eyes open. A bit of light trickled into my vision.
Well, at least he hadn't ruptured my optic nerve.
Next I wiggled my fingers and toes. My arms felt sore, as though I'd been manhandled, which I probably had been. My knees were scraped and raw. So were my hands.
Minor annoyances. But to my surprise, I didn't seem to have any other injuries. No broken bones, no missing limbs, no trauma between my thighs. Which could only mean one thing. Tobias Dawson wanted to question me before he killed me - or the dwarf just wanted me awake while he tortured me. Neither option was a pleasant one, but I'd faced them both before and come out more or less in one piece. I'd survive this too.
"I think the bitch is awake," a voice said.
The low, deep baritone of a giant. But the most curious thing was the voice echoed like an organ, bouncing off the rock walls that surrounded us. I listened again, more closely this time, not just to the pea-size pebbles around me but also to the underlying stone beneath my body. And I realized it surrounded me. The ground was soft, but the ceiling and especially the walls were harder, rockier, and all made of stone. Given what I knew of Tobias Dawson, there was only one place I could be - inside the dwarf 's coal mine. Dawson Number Three. A place where no one would hear me scream - or ever find my broken body.