But the last bastard just wouldn't die. Again and again, he came at me. He was quick for a giant and had good instincts, which was why he managed to sidestep my blows time after time. I was so busy fighting him that it took me a few seconds to realize he'd managed to force me all the way down the hallway and back into the library.
I risked a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure no more giants were waiting inside to sneak up on me from behind. A blur of books filled my vision before I focused on the danger in front of me once more.
"There's nowhere left to run, bitch," the giant snarled, bobbing and weaving like a boxer.
"You're the one who should think about running," I snapped back. "Seeing as how badly I've f**ked up your two friends already. They'll both bleed out in another minute, two tops. And so will you."
The giant let out an angry roar and rushed toward me.
Swipe-swipe-swipe.
I managed to duck his first two blows, but the third one connected with my chest. It felt like someone had slammed a telephone pole into my stomach. The blow forced all the air from my lungs, cracked the cell phone in my vest pocket, and threw me five feet across the library. I hit a table and rolled across it, dropping to the other side, and the silverstone staff slid out of my hand and clattered across the floor. But instead of immediately getting up, I stayed down. Partly because I was trying to suck precious oxygen back into my lungs, and partly because I was tired of whacking at the giant with the staff. It was time to put him down for good. So I palmed my silverstone knife and waited.
The giant laughed, delighted that he'd finally managed to hit me. He didn't waste any time stepping around the table. He thought he had an advantage, and he was determined to finish me as quickly as he could. I let him have his little victory. It would be the last thing he'd ever smile about.
The giant bent down, dug his fingers into my shoulder, and flipped me over onto my back. "Not so tough now, are you, bitch - "
I lunged up and drove my knife into his chest. I hit an empty spot between one of his ribs, and my blade slashed through his heart like it was made of warm butter. The giant screamed with pain, but I was already yanking my knife out of his chest and slashing it across his throat. Blood poured out of the wounds, the coppery heat of it splattering onto my face, hands, and clothes, but I didn't care. Maybe it was gruesome of me, but the familiar sensation told me one thing - that I was still alive and my enemy wasn't.
The giant fell forward onto me, his eyes already going glassy, and I wiggled out from underneath his heavy weight. I got to my feet and stood there, still breathing hard, a bloody knife in one hand and the other hand resting on the back of the table that I'd rolled over.
Behind me, someone started clapping.
I whirled around and found Randall Dekes waiting for me.
The vampire stood in front of the fireplace, still clapping. He wore another pair of dapper gray pants topped by a matching shirt. Once again, that palm tree diamond nestled in the exact center of his silk tie. He must have been working in some other part of the mansion, perhaps his office, because he wasn't wearing a jacket, and he'd rolled his shirtsleeves up to his elbows. No dart guns up his sleeves tonight. Good.
He'd cleaned the blood off his face since the last time I'd seen him, but he hadn't bothered to hide the elemental power glowing in his eyes. All that stolen magic made the vamp's gaze burn with emerald green fire - a fire that I was looking forward to snuffing out forever.
I hadn't seen Dekes before when I'd done a quick scan of the room, and a second later, I realized why. A door along the back wall was standing open, one I hadn't noticed before because it was hidden in one of the bookcases. The vamp had slipped into the library from some other part of the house while I'd been fighting the giant. I would have preferred to backstab Dekes from the shadows, but I supposed this saved me the trouble of looking for him.
"What is that? Some sort of secret passageway?" I asked, finally getting my breath back. "Isn't that a little cliche?"
Instead of being pissed that I was still alive and mocking him, the vampire's face split into a sinister smile.
"Ah, Gin. What a delightful surprise this is," Dekes practically purred. "I'm so very happy you're still alive. More so than you can possibly imagine."
I raised an eyebrow. "I doubt you'll be thinking it's so f**king delightful when you're choking on all that stolen elemental blood running through your veins."
Dekes let out a mocking laugh. "Ah, if only you'd known how many people have said something like that to me over the years."
Instead of responding to him, I tightened my grip on my knife and took a step forward. I was about twenty feet away from the vampire, which meant I was too far away to cut him with my knife, and, with his fast reflexes, he'd be quick enough to duck out of the way if I threw the weapon at him. And of course, I didn't have enough Ice magic to freeze him where he stood. No, I had to keep Dekes talking while I whittled down the distance between us and got him within arm's reach.
"I'm sure lots of people have wished you dead over the years, given what a sick, sadistic bastard you are," I said. "It's just a shame no one's been able to make it happen - until now."
Dekes gave me a small, patronizing smile, as if I were a child whom he was indulging in a temper tantrum.
"You don't have any hostages to hold over my head now," I continued, taking another step forward. "My friends have Callie, along with Vanessa and Victoria, and they're getting them out of the mansion as we speak. And I can tell you aren't packing your charming little tranquilizer gun up your sleeve tonight. So the way I see it, there's absolutely nothing to keep me from gutting you where you stand."
"Ah, but there is," Dekes said. "You, Gin. Specifically all that lovely, lovely magic I took from you yesterday."
The vampire held out his hand, and a silver light began to flicker over his palm. I recognized that light - it was the cool glow of my own Ice and Stone magic. Even across the room, I could feel my own power, my own stolen magic, calling out to me. It was one of the most bizarre sensations I'd ever felt, so twisted and wrong and utterly confusing that it put me off my game for one precious second.
A second that cost me dearly.
It was one thing to know that the vamp had my stolen magic running through his veins. It was another to come face-to-face with him - with it. Dekes smiled at the growing horror in my eyes. I rushed forward, trying to close the distance between us and stab him to death, but it was already too late. The silver light coalesced into a ball of power.