I turned to Sophia and shrugged. "Looks like she's not going to show. She must be busy chasing the Spider's ghost tonight, instead of plotting to kill Gin Blanco."
The Goth dwarf grunted and went back to her wiping. It didn't look like anyone else was going to drop by, so we started closing down the restaurant for the night. Turning off the French fryer, doing the same to the griddle and the ovens, putting the leftover food into the refrigerators-all our usual routines.
When all that was done, I grabbed the day's trash, opened the back door of the restaurant, and stepped outside into the alley behind the Pork Pit.
The crackle of electricity in the air immediately told me she was here.
I could feel Elektra LaFleur's elemental magic leaking off her like water dripping from a faucet. Some elementals were like that-they constantly gave off magic, even when they weren't consciously using their power. They just oozed magic at all times. That's why I always felt red-hot needles pricking my skin whenever I was in Mab's proximity. The Fire elemental radiated power just like LaFleur was doing right now.
Even if LaFleur hadn't been dripping with elemental power, my own Stone magic would have clued me in to the fact that something was wrong in the alley. Instead of their usual slow, clogged murmurs, the bricks of the restaurant had taken on sharp, muttered notes of worry. Something had disturbed the stone, and I knew exactly what it was-the twisted, shocking intentions of the assassin lying in wait for me. The new, harsh vibration overpowered the bricks' usual sighs of contentment.
My eyes scanned over what I could see of the alley. Dumpsters, the backs of other buildings, and a small crack barely big enough for a child to squeeze into, an old hiding place of mine back when I'd been living on the streets. Slushy puddles of oil and other stains coated the alley floor like glossy black varnish. But I'd give LaFleur credit. She was just as good at hiding as I was, because I didn't immediately spot her lurking in the shadows. Still, I knew she was there-and I was more than ready for the assassin.
I put the trash bags in the Dumpster, banging open the metal hatch like I didn't have a bloody care in the world, but when I closed it and turned around, ready to go back inside the warmth of the restaurant, there she was, standing in the alley behind me.
Elektra LaFleur.
She wore the same dark green peacoat that she'd had on the last time she'd come to the Pork Pit, along with a pair of black pants and stiletto boots. That seemed to be her outfit du jour. LaFleur could afford to be a little more colorful with her wardrobe than I could, since she just fried people with her electrical magic and didn't get up close, bloody, and personal as I did with my knives. As always, her emerald headband held back her black hair, and the white orchid tattooed on her neck gleamed like a ghost in the semidarkness.
She gave me a wide, toothy smile, as though us two gals had just run into each other shopping at the mall. "Remember me, Gin?"
"How could I forget?" I murmured, staying where I was, my arms loose by my sides, knees slightly bent, my weight on the balls of my feet, gathering my strength for what was to come.
Evidently LaFleur thought that I would be surprised, at the very least, at her just popping up out of seemingly nowhere. Maybe she was hoping I'd immediately scream, run, or do something else stupid like that, because her crimson lips turned down into a pout, as though I was ruining all her fun. Too damn bad.
"You don't seem surprised to see me," she finally said.
I shrugged. "Jonah McAllister hates me. I figured he would send someone like you after me sooner or later. I see he decided on sooner."
I suppose that I could have strung her along, played the little game, and danced to the same old boring tune. I could easily have pretended to be nothing but a restaurant owner, an innocent, helpless woman with a smart mouth that had gotten her into trouble with the wrong people. But I was tired of running and hiding. From Elektra LaFleur, from Jonah McAllister, and most especially from Mab Monroe.
Elektra raised an eyebrow. "Someone like me?"
"An assassin," I clarified. "That is what you do, isn't it? Kill people?"
Her eyes narrowed in thought, and she tilted her head to one side, studying me. "It is. But what I'm wondering now is how someone like you could possibly know something like that."
She wasn't the first person to ask me that. Nobody ever thought someone like me, Gin Blanco, could be someone like the Spider. I looked like such a nice, simple, sweet gal-from a distance anyway. Up close, the perpetual winter in my cold gray eyes tended to shatter that particular illusion, along with many others.
I shrugged again. "I run a restaurant. I hear things. Word on the street is that you're Mab Monroe's newest little minion."
Anger flashed in her gaze at my mocking tone. "I'm nobody's f**king minion."
I cocked an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden unexpected show of emotion, especially since I'd never seen her be anything but smug before now. "Really? Because it looks to me like you're standing here in the middle of this dirty, dingy alley ready to kill me on someone else's order and dime. Isn't that the very definition of the word minion?"
She stood there, considering my words. "You know, I suppose it is. But my pay is much, much better than that of any mere minion."
Elektra let out a low chuckle. Elemental power crackled in her pealing dulcet tone, like an electrified church bell. It made me grind my teeth together, even as that primal little voice in the back of my head started up its chorus once again. Enemy, enemy, enemy. Or maybe it was just the constant, static feel of her magic snapping up against my skin that put me on edge-and the very real possibility that I wouldn't be able to overcome a frontal assault by her, no matter what Jo-Jo Deveraux said. No matter how much Ice and Stone magic the dwarf claimed I had.
"You know, you're far more interesting than you appear, Gin. Or is it Jen? I wasn't quite clear on that. Call it a quirk, but I always like to know exactly who I'm killing."
"It's Gin. Like the liquor." I quipped my usual line.
"Ah. Thanks for clearing that up."
We stood there in the alley staring at each other. Elektra brought her finger up and tapped out a pattern on her crimson lips, as though she was considering something important. Green sparks of lightning flickered like fireflies in the air around her. She wasn't even trying to hide her power now. Arrogant bitch. She never even considered the possibility that I might have magic of my own. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy of her.
"I am rather surprised that you haven't started screaming for help yet, Gin. Or tried to run away, at the very least. Not that it would do you any good." She nodded at something over my shoulder. "I brought along a few friends just in case you were quicker than you looked."