"How long will it take Dekes to bail them out?" I asked Donovan.
He watched the blue and white lights fade away. "Not long enough."
"That's what I thought."
We didn't speak for a minute. A breeze blew in from off the ocean, plastering Donovan's suit to his side and outlining his firm body. He stared out into the semidarkness as though the night held all the answers to his questions. I could have told him not to bother, that the shadows only whispered of lies, when they bothered to speak at all, but he wouldn't have listened to me. He never had. Not before. Not about anything that had really mattered.
Still, I'd felt something for him once and I hoped that he had for me. I owed him something for that, even if I knew that he would probably reject me just the way he always did.
"You know, my offer still stands," I finally said.
"And what offer is that?"
I didn't know if it was intentional or not, but his voice dropped to a low, husky whisper, and his eyes glimmered like pure gold in his strong face. I realized that we were alone for the first time all night - and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
I wasn't good with feelings. I never had been, and everything that I'd seen and done as the Spider had only made me guard my heart that much more carefully. The more you cared about someone, the more and the easier they could hurt you, whether it was with words, actions, or the lack thereof. But I'd thought that Donovan had potential, that we had potential, so I'd opened myself up to him, or at least tried to. But he'd turned his back on me and walked away with no hesitation and seemingly no regrets. Donovan's leaving had hurt me far more than I'd let on to anyone - even Owen.
"To help Callie with Randall Dekes. To get him to back off - or else."
"I thought you were retired."
The old, sharp accusation flared in Donovan's voice, and it surprised me how much it still stung to realize just how little he thought of me.
I shrugged. "Assassins don't ever really retire. But eventually, some of us decide to use our particular skill set for things besides killing people for money. Better things. That's what I'm doing these days."
"Really? Is that what you did to Mab Monroe?" Donovan asked. "I heard, you know. About an assassin named the Spider killing Mab a few weeks ago in Ashland. Was that one of your better deeds?"
"No," I said. "Mab was personal, and the bitch got exactly what was coming to her."
Donovan shook his head and let out another laugh - that hard, caustic, bitter laugh that felt like acid eating away at me. After a moment, he looked at me again, his face remote, his eyes cold.
"Stay away from me, and stay the hell away from Callie. I'll keep her safe from Dekes. I don't need your help, Gin," Donovan snarled. "I didn't back in Ashland, and I certainly don't now. Got it?"
"Yeah," I said. "I got it."
Donovan glared at me another second before he stalked into the restaurant, turning his back on me - again.
Chapter 6
Bria came outside a few minutes later, and we drove back to the Blue Sands hotel in silence. It was still early, not quite nine o'clock, but we both went through the motions of getting ready for bed. Pulling robes and pajamas out of our suitcases. Laying out clothes for tomorrow. Showering.
Eventually, I wound up on the patio, staring out at the endless black sea from three stories up. A light, steady breeze blew in off the ocean, carrying the tang of salt and sand with it. It was full dark now, but the night was warm, pleasantly so, and the humidity felt like a welcoming hug instead of the hot, suffocating embrace of earlier in the day. The silvery moon was as big and bright as I'd ever seen it, and the stars burned with pure, white light, like they were seconds away from falling from the sky. All around me, the stone of the hotel drowsily whispered of another day of fun in the sun and the promise of more of the same tomorrow.
But the revelry wasn't over for everyone. Down below, tiki torches blazed around an enormous, palm-tree-shaped swimming pool. Palm trees were a common rune in these parts, being the symbol for coastal beauty, and the elaborate shape of the pool was in keeping with that theme. More than a few folks had decided to go for a late swim, relax in the lounge chairs, or down some more daiquiris from the bamboo-and-grass-covered bar nearby. Couples swayed to cheerful calypso music on a patio on the far side of the pool. Beyond that, a few bonfires flickered on the beach, the folks milling around them backlit by the orange flames.
Bare feet whispered on the patio behind me, and Bria came up to lean next to me on the wrought-iron railing. We watched the swimmers, dancers, and drinkers until the song ended and the live band decided to take a brief break.
"So what's the deal with you and Donovan Caine?" Bria finally asked.
I sighed. Bria was a cop, a good one, and she could be just as tough and tenacious as me when she set her mind to it. I'd known that the questions about Donovan were coming - I just hadn't figured out what the answers were to them yet.
"We used to have . . . a thing."
"A 'thing'?"
I sighed again, a little deeper and a little longer this time. "I've told you about Alexis James, the Air elemental who killed Fletcher and framed me for a murder I didn't commit?"
Bria nodded.
"Well, Donovan was a detective with the Ashland Police Department back then. He got caught up in the conspiracy and found out that I was the Spider. But one of his superiors was working for Alexis, so we joined forces to take them both down. Later, he helped me out a bit with Tobias Dawson when Dawson was threatening Warren and Violet Fox. Along the way, Donovan and I slept together a few times."
"Until . . ."
"Until Donovan decided that he couldn't be the kind of man he wanted to be and still be with me at the same time. Basically, his chose his morals and his sense of right and wrong over me, the evil assassin who'd seduced him."
Bria winced. "Ouch."
"Yeah, ouch."
We lapsed into silence, listening to the laughter and splashes that floated up from the pool and the lively, pulsing beat of the calypso music as the band members returned from their break and picked up their instruments again.
"So what are you going to do now? About Donovan," Bria asked.
I shrugged. "Donovan made it perfectly clear when he left Ashland that he didn't want me, that he didn't want anything to do with me, and he did the same thing again tonight at the restaurant. We've both moved on. He has Callie, and I have Owen. Donovan also made it clear that he didn't want my particular brand of help in dealing with Randall Dekes."