"After that, Eira showed more gumption than I'd ever thought she'd had. Every time I made a move to gain power after that, she countered it, undercutting me. But I took care of her in the end."
Mab's eyes darkened that much more, and I got the sense that she was having her own flashbacks, remembering her own battles against my mother. I wondered if she was as haunted by them as I was by her. But the moment passed, and the Fire elemental stared at me once more.
"As for your being stronger than me? Please," Mab scoffed. "Says who?"
I straightened. "Jo-Jo Deveraux, for starters. For years, the dwarf has been telling me that I have more raw magic than any elemental that she's ever seen-including you, Mab."
Something almost like uncertainty flickered in her face. Around us, a few of her men shifted on their feet, the scrape of their shoes as loud as gunshots in the absolute quiet. They didn't know what to make of my threatening their boss-or the fact that she didn't immediately dispute my outlandish claims.
Mab stared at me, hate twisting her features. I wondered if this was how my mother had seen her. The two of them had grown up as part of two opposing elemental families. I wondered if this was what my mother had noticed in Mab that had made Eira stand up to her-the evil and hate that turned the Fire elemental into something small and black and ugly.
Mab snapped her fingers. I tensed, ready to reach for my Ice and Stone magic, expecting her to throw a ball of elemental Fire at me just like she had in the country club. But instead, a small red dot popped up on my chest, just level with my heart.
Well, well, well. Someone had a sniper rifle handy. I wondered if it was Sydney or one of the other bounty hunters. Didn't much matter, though. I'd taken the precaution of putting on one of my heavy silverstone vests before I'd walked into the courtyard. No mere sniper's bullet could get through the hard shell of the magical metal that shielded my chest.
"As you can see," Mab sneered. "I learned from my past mistakes. As you said before, I didn't come here alone, and now, it's your turn to die-for good this time."
I just smiled at Mab. "Wow, you really must be afraid of me if you can't even bring yourself to use your magic to kill me. Going to have one of your boys do it instead, are you? I was wrong before. You're no bully. You're nothing but a cowardly bitch."
Mab's eyes narrowed to slits, but she didn't respond to my taunt. "Good-bye, Genevieve."
Mab snapped her fingers again, and a shot rang out, shattering the silence of the falling snow.
Chapter 27
The bullet ripped through the air on its deadly course-but not at me.
Instead, a sharp, startled cry sounded. A second later, a man rolled down a pile of rubble that he'd been perched on top of about thirty feet off to my left. His body came to rest in the base of the courtyard. For a moment, everyone was stunned. Just stunned.
Then Mab turned back to me, fury rolling off her in palpable waves so hot that the snow under her stilettos started to ooze and melt from the constant, invisible drip of her elemental Fire power.
"You didn't really think that I came here alone, did you, Mab?" I mocked her. "That's one down. Which one of your men wants to die next?"
Mab opened her mouth, no doubt to direct some other cutting retort at me, but I beat her to the punch.
"Now, Finn!" I screamed. "Now!"
Crack! Crack!
Two more shots rang out, and one of the giants holding onto Bria collapsed in the snow, thanks to the bullets that Finn had just put through his eye. One down, one to go.
Then the most surprising thing happened. Ruth Gentry pulled out her revolver and shot the other giant in the back of the head three times. He too dropped to the snow. Gentry reached forward and jerked Bria back, putting my sister behind her. Across the distance, the bounty hunter gave me another nod. For whatever reason, she'd changed sides. Hell, maybe this had been her plan all along. Let me and Mab duke it out, then sell Bria back to whoever was left standing at the end. Either way, she'd gotten Bria away from the giants and that much closer to safety. So this time, I nodded back at her.
Startled by the shots, Mab's head whipped around, wondering what had just happened to her two men, but everyone else was just as distracted as the Fire elemental. Except maybe Jonah McAllister. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lawyer staring at me, his face suddenly pale. He took a step back, then another one. What was McAllister up to? Running away? Or something more devious?
A giant off to my right charged me, his hands arching into claws like he wanted to wrap them around my throat and just squeeze. I had no more time to think about McAllister. I palmed one of my silverstone knives and turned to meet him. The blade sank into his chest before I ripped it out and used it to lay open his throat. He died with a gurgling scream, and I shoved his body back into the ring of men surrounding me. They scattered like the vultures they were as he thumped to the ground at their feet.
"Who's next?" I snarled, the giant's hot blood still dripping off my knife.
A couple of the bounty hunters on the far edge of the ring looked at each other and started easing away from me. Apparently, my words hadn't been enough, and it had taken more of a visceral display to make them see the light. However much Mab was paying them, the money wouldn't do them a damn bit of good if they were dead.
"Get her, you fools!" Mab screamed at her men. "Now!"
The bounty hunters exchanged another glance. They hesitated, then bucked up their courage and started toward me once more. My hand tightened around my knife.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Three more bounty hunters went down, each one sporting a neat, round hole right between their eyes. Warren Fox, no doubt, helping Finn with his sniper duties, just like we'd planned. The old man had proudly claimed that he was a hell of a shot and would be more than happy to help Finn thin out the ranks a bit. He hadn't been lying about how good his aim was.
From outside the ring of men, back behind Mab and even Gentry and Bria, a low, guttural battle cry sounded, rising to a fierce bellow that reminded me of a Viking horn. A moment later, Sophia ran into view, swinging her fists into every single person that she could reach. And she wasn't alone. Owen charged into the fray right behind her, wielding his blacksmith's hammer, while Xavier and his massive fists brought up the rear.
"Get Bria!" I screamed at them, even though they were already moving in that direction.
Given a choice between me and the new people in the courtyard, the bounty hunters and giants decided to take the easy way out-they all rushed by Mab, heading for Bria and the others. But the Fire elemental didn't turn and follow her men. Not this time. Instead, she started walking toward me-and I toward her.