"Careful, now," I warned Owen as I twisted the knob. "Vanessa's probably expecting Dekes or his men."
He nodded and backed up against the wall so he wasn't directly in front of the opening. I threw open the door and did the same thing, leaping back against the opposite side of the hallway.
Good thing, since a ball of elemental Fire blasted out of the open doorway a second later.
I could feel the intense heat of the Fire as it streaked past my position, slicing down the hallway right between me and Owen. If we had been standing directly in its path, we would have been badly burned at the very least. Dekes must not have fed off Vanessa in the last few days - or maybe he just hadn't taken as much of her magic as he had mine, because it looked like she had plenty of elemental juice right now.
The ball of Fire kept going and going, seeming to grow larger and brighter as it sucked more and more oxygen into itself before finally slamming into a wooden door at the far end of the hallway. It exploded on impact, spewing red-hot flames everywhere. I heard Callie scream with fear and surprise, but since she and Donovan were around the corner, the elemental Fire had passed them by without touching or hurting them. The same couldn't be said for the other end of the hall, though. The flames quickly consumed the door and started spreading out along the walls, licking at the paintings, drapes, and furniture.
Yep, Vanessa was definitely in the room. The trick now was getting her to realize that we were friends, not foes.
I waited a few seconds, then leaned forward so that she could see my face.
Another ball of Fire immediately blasted out of the room.
I cursed and jerked back, barely managing to keep my eyebrows from being singed off. I hated having singed eyebrows. The flames once again slammed into the opposite end of the hall, adding more fuel and power to the ones already burning there. I'd wondered before if Vanessa would have enough elemental power to help us, but it looked like her magic had fully replenished itself. It made me feel a little better about my own power eventually coming back.
"Vanessa Suarez!" I called out. "We came here to rescue you, not be burned to a crisp! If you want to get you and your sister out of here, stop using your magic! Right now!"
No response.
I waited a few more seconds, then eased my head forward once again.
This time, nothing happened. I put my hands up in a placating gesture and tiptoed forward so that she could see me and I could see her.
Vanessa stood in the middle of a large bedroom, wearing a sleek black pantsuit and matching heels, along with her diamond-and-pearl choker and cuffs. Another ball of elemental Fire crackled in her hands. Even though I was twenty feet away from her, I could still feel the pulsing power of her magic. The feel of it lashed against my skin like a red-hot whip, making me grind my teeth in discomfort, and the spider rune scars embedded in my palms began to itch and burn, the way that they always did when I was exposed to Fire magic.
Two elements always complemented each other, like Air and Fire, and two elements always opposed each other, like Fire and Stone. Vanessa's magic was the antithesis of my own cool Ice and Stone power, hence my discomfort. But she wasn't my enemy, not like Mab had been, and I wanted to help her, not hurt her. Now the only question was whether I could convince her of that.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed at the sight of me. Surprise and wariness flashed across her face, while black fire burned in the depths of her gaze as she decided whether to go ahead and toss the ball of Fire at me and toast me where I stood. After a second, she frowned with recognition.
"You!"
"Me," I agreed. "Back from the dead again."
"You're the woman from the library last night. The one that Dekes said had Ice and Stone magic. How did you - " Her eyes narrowed a little more. "Wait a second. Cold skin, blue lips, Ice magic. You used your Ice power to make me think you were dead. Clever. Very clever."
"I do try."
"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.
I grinned at her. "Why, I'm here to kill your dear husband, of course."
Vanessa shook her head. "Wasn't one round with Randall enough for you?"
My grin widened. "What can I say? I'm a slow learner and a sucker for punishment. But before I track down your husband and ram my knife through his heart, I thought I'd swing by and see if you wanted some help getting out of here. Think of it as my good deed for the day. So are you coming or what?"
Vanessa didn't have to think twice about my offer. "Not without my sister. I'm not going anywhere without Victoria."
"Good answer," I said. "Because that's exactly what I would say."
I eased into the room, and Owen came with me. Vanessa eyed us and curled her fingers around the elemental Fire still burning in her hand, ready to unleash her deadly power if we made one wrong move.
Victoria lay on a bed in the corner, wearing a white silk negligee and robe and looking just as still and lifeless as she had in the library. She wasn't wearing the choker and cuffs, and I could see the puncture wounds and splotchy purple bruises from where Dekes had bitten her over and over again.
"That son of a bitch," Owen growled. "She can't be more than twenty, twenty-one. She's still a kid."
His violet eyes grew dark and stormy, and I knew he was thinking about his sister, Eva, who was around the same age.
Owen handed me his silverstone staff, then carefully scooped Victoria up off the bed, taking as much care with her as he would have if it had been Eva lying there. Vanessa watched him the whole time, but she could see the concern and anger in his face just as I could. She sighed, and the Fire burning in her hand flickered and went out. Owen nodded at her and stepped out of the room, carrying Victoria's still deadweight. I started to go after him, but Vanessa grabbed my arm. I could feel the heat of her fingers through my sleeve.
"You're really here to kill Randall?" she asked, her voice catching on the last two words.
Although she tried to hide it, one emotion flickered in her eyes now, overpowering all the others - hope. A small, tremulous hope that I really would be able to kill Dekes and end this nightmare that she and her sister had been trapped in for so long. In that moment, I knew I would have tried to save them even if the vamp hadn't attacked me. Hope. It was the one thing that kept suckering me in time after time, the one thing that always seemed to make everything I went through worthwhile in the end.
"You'd better believe it, sweetheart," I said. "I'm the Spider. If you haven't heard of me, well, you should know one thing - I never, ever go back on my word."