Salina looked stunned that Owen was rejecting her, that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. The anger that had been simmering in her eyes boiled up into full-on fury, until her gaze was burning as bright as the bulbs in the crystal chandelier over her head.
"I can't believe you're taking her side over mine!" she hissed. "Do you know what a hypocrite that makes you? Your whore of an assassin's hands aren't any cleaner than mine. In fact, I'd be doing the world a favor by taking her out of it. How many people do you think she's killed over the years, Owen? And for what - money? How cheap."
Owen squared his shoulders. "Maybe that's true, but Gin has a good heart, something you lost a long time ago, Salina. She might have killed people, yes, but she would never hurt a child, and she would never hurt anyone I cared about. I'm sorry, but it's over. I love Gin, and she's who I plan on building my future with. Not you."
My heart lifted at his words, even as Salina's crashed and burned. She stared at him in shock, still not quite believing that things hadn't gone exactly how she'd wanted them to, how she'd imagined they would in her head. Then, all of the prettiness suddenly drained out of her face, replaced by something cold, ugly, and slightly unhinged.
"Very well," she said in a stiff voice. "You've made your choice."
Owen nodded his head, and some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. He didn't notice the devious smile that curved Salina's lips - but I did.
"Guards!" she called out.
Heavy footsteps sounded, and a few seconds later, two giants stepped out onto the balcony. They must have been stationed right outside the door, waiting for Salina to summon them. Even though she'd expected the best, expected that Owen would come back to her, she'd still planned for the worst too. There was definitely a method to her madness.
"Salina, what are you doing?" Owen asked in a warning voice.
"Are the others in position?" she asked the giants.
"Yes, ma'am," one answered.
"Good. Make sure my darling Owen stays here until after I've seen to my other guests. Do whatever you have to in order to keep him under control - short of killing him."
Owen fought back when the two giants surged toward him, his fist connecting with the taller one's jaw, knocking him back. Owen growled and drew back his fist for another punch, but the other giant threw himself on top of him. All three men went down to the floor in a heap of arms and legs. I couldn't see exactly what was happening, not from this angle, but I heard Owen's grunts of pain.
"Don't struggle so hard, darling. You're only hurting yourself. It's most unbecoming," Salina murmured.
Then the water elemental turned and left the balcony.
"Salina!" Owen yelled. "Salina!"
But she didn't order the giants to stand down, and she didn't come back. He kept fighting to get free, even as the other men kept hitting him. They were all tangled together, which meant that I couldn't risk using my Ice magic. I also abandoned my plan of searching for the stairs. That would take too much time now. Instead, I laid my staff down on the floor, grabbed a chair from against the wall, carried it across the courtyard, and put it right below the balcony where Owen was still struggling. I backed up to the opposite side of the courtyard, calculating the height and angles. Then, I ran forward, jumped up into the seat, leaped onto the very top of the chair, and launched myself into the air.
I managed to get high enough to grab hold of the bottom edge of the stone balcony. I hung there for a moment, like a spider dangling in the breeze, and then pulled myself up and over the side. The giants were too busy trying to pin Owen to the floor to notice me come up behind them, knives ready.
I fell on top of one, my blades punching into his back. He screamed with pain and clawed at me with his right hand. I pulled my knives out and plunged them into his body again, sawing through his thick muscles.
The other giant's head snapped around at his buddy's screams, and he lashed out at me with his fist. I managed to dodge his blow, yank my knives out of the first guy, and get back up on my feet. The giant I'd wounded tried to stand, so I kicked him in the head as hard as I could. He groaned and slumped back down on the floor.
The second giant scrambled to his feet and held up his hands in a classic boxer's stance.
"If I were you, I'd be running at this point," I hissed.
He came at me anyway. He swung his fist at my face in a quick jab, but I dodged the blow and stepped in closer to his body, ramming my knife into his chest. The giant screamed as I pulled the blade out and stabbed it into his chest a second time. He put his hands on my shoulders, trying to throw me off him, so I drew my blades across one of his arms, then the other. The giant fell to his knees, blood pouring out of his wounds. I kicked him in the head as well, and he flopped on top of his friend. Neither man was dead, but they'd bleed out soon enough. All I cared about right now was making sure Owen was all right - and stopping Salina.
I slid my bloody knives back up my sleeves and dropped to my knees beside Owen, who was on his back on the floor. "Owen! Are you okay?"
I helped him sit up. His face had already started to swell from where he'd been hit, and blood trickled out of his now-broken nose.
"Gin?" he said, struggling to focus on me. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you. And everyone else here, despite my own best interests."
"What?" he asked, his eyes clearing and his voice sharpening. "What do you mean? What's going on?"
"Salina has a little more planned than just a simple dinner party and business powwow. I'll tell you about it on our way out of here. Let's move."
I managed to get Owen up onto his feet. My lover swayed back and forth, still dazed by the giants' blows. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I had no choice. Salina said - "
"That she'd kill me," I finished. "I know. Eva found the note."
I put my arm under his shoulder, and we left the balcony and stepped out into a hallway. I finally spotted a set of stairs, and I helped Owen walk in that direction and then down to the ground floor, filling him in on what Salina was planning and why she'd really asked all the Ashland crime bosses here tonight.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Killing all those people is extreme, even for Salina."
"The fountains, the location, the guest list, it all fits. You told me yourself that Salina changed after her father's murder. I think this is the real reason she came back to Ashland - to get her revenge. I think this is all that she really cares about, except for you."