"Come on!" Owen roared. "Come on! Which one of you bastards is next?"
The three remaining giants exchanged uneasy looks, but none of them dared to step up and get their head bashed in like their buddy just had. In that regard, they were smarter than they seemed-but not smart enough to do something as simple as look behind them.
With an angry hiss, I leaped out of the shadows and slammed my knives into the giant closest to me. The blades flashed silver in the firelight just before they ripped into his broad back. One cut, then two, and he was dead. The giant gurgled out a weak scream before he went down, and the others' heads snapped around at the surprise attack from the rear.
I didn't hesitate, and neither did Owen.
He moved forward and slammed his hammer into another giant's knee, before whipping around and plowing his weapon into the man's other knee. The giant howled with pain, staggered back, and did a header onto the pavement. I grabbed his hair, yanked his head back, and cut his throat before letting him flop to the ground once more.
That left only one giant, who started backing away from us, eyes wide with surprise and more than a touch of fear. Normally, I would have charged after him and put him down, but there was no point in it. Not tonight. Not when Mab and Jonah McAllister had both already seen my face and knew that I was the Spider.
Owen tightened his grip on his hammer and started after the giant, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back toward the car.
"Forget him," I rasped, my throat burning from the effort of talking. "We need to get out of here. Now!"
Owen nodded, and the two of us hopped into the car. He cranked the engine and threw the BMW in reverse. By this point, more people filled the parking lot, taking refuge from the flames that had skipped from one roof to another of the country club's buildings. Most of the people wore dazed, shocked expressions, but there were several of Mab's giants in the mix-men determined to find us, to find me.
The giant who'd gotten away from Owen and me waved his arms and screamed at his brethren before pointing in our direction. The other giants got the message and raced forward. Those who had guns raised them up and took aim at Owen's car.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Bullet after bullet slammed into the vehicle. One splintered the windshield in between us, while the others thudded into the metal hood.
"Go!" I told Owen. "Go!"
He threw the car in gear, stomped on the gas, and roared out of the parking lot. The car raced down the hill and took a turn on two wheels. One of Mab's giants must have gotten the bright idea to alert the man in the guardhouse at the bottom of the hill, because up ahead, I could see the club's iron gates closing. Owen spotted them too and slammed his foot on the gas pedal so hard that I thought he might punch it through the floorboard. He knew as well as I did that getting trapped on the grounds would seal our fate. But for once, luck actually smiled on us, because the BMW shot through the gates just before it was too late. A few sparks flashed into the night air where the iron scraped against the sides of the car, but I didn't care because we were out of the country club and safe-at least for the moment.
But the others weren't. Not by a long shot.
"Phone," I rasped. "I need your phone. Now!"
Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Owen used the other to dig into his pants pocket and hand me his cell phone. I flipped it open and hit a number that I'd programmed into his speed dial.
"Pick up," I muttered. "Pick up, pick up, pick up."
Just as I was starting to worry that I was already too late, she answered on the fifth ring.
"Hello?" Jo-Jo Deveraux's warm, friendly voice filled my ear, making me want to weep with relief.
But there was no time for that. No time to give in to emotions of any kind. Not now, when Mab finally knew who I was. No doubt, the Fire elemental was already mobilizing her army of giants and bounty hunters. So I said only one word to Jo-Jo.
"Run."
Chapter 19
"Mab?" Jo-Jo asked, her sweet voice sharpening as she heard the tight worry in mine.
"Not dead," I said. "She saw me, Jo-Jo. She knows who I am. So does McAllister. So get Sophia and go to the safe house just like we planned. Right now. Owen will go pick up Eva. He'll meet you there. I'm going to call Finn and Bria next."
"Who else do you want me to round up?" the dwarf asked.
I thought about the other people that I'd helped over the last few months, all my friends and even friends of friends. "Tell Xavier and Roslyn, and call Violet and Warren Fox, just to be sure. I don't want anyone left behind that Mab can snatch and use as leverage."
"Got it."
We both hung up.
"What now?" Owen asked, driving away from the country club as fast as he dared on the slick, snowy road.
I didn't answer him. I was too busy dialing. But instead of picking up like he should have, Finn's cell went to voice mail. I tried again, with the same result. One missed call I could understand, given what a sprawling labyrinth Fletcher's house was, but not two. My stomach flipped over and started tying itself into tiny, worrisome knots.
I tried a third time. Same result. No answer, only voice mail. Why wasn't Finn picking up his phone? He knew what was going down tonight, what was at stake for us-for all of us. Had Mab, her giants, or the bounty hunters gotten to him and Bria already? Maybe, if Mab had put out the call to her minions immediately after our fight at the country club. Now that the Fire elemental knew who I was, Fletcher's house would be one of the first places she'd start looking for me.
The thought that Bria and Finn could already be in trouble-could already be dead-made me sick, made me physically ill, but I forced myself to remain calm. To be as calm and rational as I had ever been as the Spider. To remember all of the old man's training over the long years, everything Fletcher had taught me about how to survive and make sure that my enemies didn't. It took a minute, but my breathing slowed, and I felt the cold, hard, unending blackness fill my heart once more. I embraced the cold, welcomed it, reveled in it, even. Because this was the only way I had any hope of living to see the sunrise-and making sure that the people I loved did the same.
"Gin?" Owen asked in a quiet voice, sensing the change in me. "What's wrong?"
"Finn's not answering me," I said. "Which means that something's going on with him and Bria. Either they've both gotten on the other's nerves and killed each other in a fit of rage or something bad is happening at Fletcher's house and they can't answer me. I have to go there, Owen. Right now."