Before I could pull the blade free, the third and last giant dug his fingers into my hair and yanked me up and off his friend. He drew his hand back, as though he was going to drive his fist into my stomach, but I lurched forward, grabbed hold of his arm, and sank my teeth into the soft web of his hand between his thumb and index finger.
The giant screamed and tried to shake me off, like a cat attempting to snap a mouse’s neck. I pulled back just long enough to bite him again. This time, he flung me away, sending me flying into the opposite side of the elevator car. But I bounced off like a wrestler on the ropes and went right back at him.
The giant held his hand up, trying to block me from getting close enough to bite him again, but that wasn’t my intention. Instead, I darted forward, plucked the gun from the holster on his belt, put it against his chest, and pulled the trigger three times.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The giant’s body muffled the blasts, although it still sounded like I’d let off a series of firecrackers inside the elevator. The giant slid to the floor, joining his two dead friends.
Ding!
The elevator doors kept trying to close, but they couldn’t, given the arms and legs of the dead men that were blocking them. I pulled my knife from the giant’s neck and kept the gun in my other hand. Then I stepped over the bodies, went to Finn’s door, raised my hand, and rapped politely on the wood with the bloody barrel of the gun.
No answer.
I raised the gun and rapped again, a little more forcefully this time.
“Go away.” Finn’s voice rumbled through the wood, along with the faint sounds of smooth jazz. “We’re busy.”
A soft, feminine laugh accompanied his statement.
“Put your pants back on and open the damn door,” I growled, loudly enough for him to hear. “Right now, Finn.”
Silence. Finn let out a curse, but the door cracked open, and I found myself staring into his green eyes—eyed that widened when he noticed all the blood, dust, and grime on me.
“We have a problem—”
Ding!
The elevator cut me off. Finn opened the door wide enough to stick his head outside. His gaze flicked to the dead giants sprawled in the elevator. He sighed and shook his head.
“You just had to come here and make a mess, didn’t you?” he sniped. “I’ve only had this apartment for three months. Now I’m going to have to move.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “We have a situation. The old man’s in danger.”
26
Finn opened the door and let me inside. I left my bloody knife and the giant’s gun on a table just inside the door, then followed him through the hallway and into the living room in the back of the apartment. Too bad I’d forgotten that he wasn’t alone.
Roslyn Phillips, the vampire he had been ogling at the party earlier, sat on the overstuffed white couch. Up close, she was even more beautiful, and I could see why Finn had been so keen on getting her attention. A couple of glasses of red wine perched on the table in front of her, while jazz music oozed out of the sound system in the corner. But it seemed as though I’d interrupted them before anything had happened, since she still had on her dress and Finn had only shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket.
The vampire’s toffee-colored eyes widened as she took in my ruined dress, bare feet, and the blood spattered all over me. Her crimson lips pursed together in thought, but she didn’t say anything, and she didn’t ask any of the obvious questions. Finn stepped forward and plastered a smooth smile on his face, as if a blood-covered woman showing up at his apartment in the middle of the night was a common occurrence.
“Roslyn Phillips, this is my foster sister, Gin,” Finn said. “Gin, Roslyn.”
“Pleasure.”
“Me too,” she murmured.
“Gin’s been in a bit of an . . . accident,” he said, trying to explain.
Finn hurried over to a phone on one of the tables and picked it up. I knew that he was trying to reach Fletcher, so I decided to distract Roslyn from what he was doing.
“A car accident,” I said in a sweet voice. “Just down the street. That’s why I came here.”
Concern darkened Roslyn’s eyes, and she kept staring at all of the blood on me. “Are you all right?”
“Sure,” I deadpanned. “You should see the other guys.”
Finn winced, but he didn’t say anything. A minute later, he shook his head and hung up the phone. Seemed like there was no answer at Fletcher’s.
“You need to take me home. I was headed over there to check on the old man when I had my . . . accident.”
Finn gave the vampire his most winning smile. “Roslyn, I’m afraid that I’m going to have to cut our evening short. Family comes first. You understand, don’t you?”
“Of course,” she murmured, getting to her feet. “Just let me get my purse.”
I looked at Finn. “But the elevator’s broken right now.”
He blinked, remembering the dead giants and their blood splashed all over the elevator walls.
“Ah, Roslyn, why don’t you make yourself comfortable in here?” Finn said. “Gin and I have something to take care of, but I should be back in an hour—”
I rammed my elbow into his side.
“Or two.”
He gave her another bright smile. “Regardless, there’s no reason for you to leave.”
Roslyn looked at him, then at me, her gaze lingering on the blood that covered me like confetti from a party. But she sat back down on the couch. I couldn’t tell if she really wanted to stay until Finn got back or if she just didn’t want to get involved in whatever problem I was dragging him into. Smart woman.
“Anyway, Roslyn, help yourself to a drink, watch TV, flip through a magazine, raid the fridge, whatever,” Finn said, grabbing his tuxedo jacket and car keys.
He disappeared into the bedroom, then reappeared two minutes later carrying a black duffel bag that I knew contained at least a couple of guns, along with other pertinent items. I had a similar bag hidden behind one of the freezers at the Pork Pit.
I jerked my head toward the kitchen. Finn frowned, but then he realized what I wanted, and he headed in there. I stepped in front of Roslyn, so she wouldn’t see him grabbing rags and a bottle of bleach from under the sink and stuffing those into his duffel bag.
An amused smile flitted across Roslyn’s face, as if she knew exactly what I was up to, but I didn’t care at this point.
Finally, Finn stepped back into the living room. “All set.”