* * *
While my friends talked among themselves, I roused myself out of my worry and stepped back so that I was in the doorway of the salon, my gaze sweeping over the interior. The blueprints, the names scribbled on the dry-erase board, the duffel bags full of guns and ammo, even the old copies of the Ashland Municipal Codex that were stacked around Rosco’s basket.
As I looked at first one thing, then another, I thought and thought and thought about things, my mind whirring a hundred miles an hour. Trying to picture how it would all go down. Trying to see if there were any holes in or problems with my plan that I hadn’t accounted for. Trying to anticipate how Madeline and the underworld bosses might react when they realized that I was still alive.
Trying to figure out if I was dooming myself and my friends to a short, pain-filled night that would end with all our deaths.
But this was how it had to be. I was only going to get one shot at Madeline, and this was it. So I thought about Fletcher and what he might have done in my place. I thought that the old man would have approved of my plan and all the lessons I’d learned that night so long ago when we were trapped in those metal barrels. The ones that I’d largely forgotten about until Madeline had so cruelly reminded me of them.
The others realized that I was staring at them, and they quieted down and looked back at me.
“Well,” I said, grinning wide, “I think we’re ready to give Madeline and the rest of the Ashland underworld a night that they will never, ever forget. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
23
The next evening, I got ready for the most important party of my life.
Or at least, what might be left of it.
According to what Jo-Jo had learned, Madeline was going to be wearing some fancy, haute couture gown to her shindig, but I dressed the way I always did—to kill.
Tonight, that meant black boots and thick black coveralls that zipped up to my neck. I also tucked my five knives into their usual slots, since Silvio had returned them to me. My spider rune ring was back on my right index finger where it belonged, with the matching necklace resting in the hollow of my throat underneath my coveralls. Both pieces pulsed with more of my Ice and Stone magic than ever before, since I’d spent a good portion of my time hiding out at Jo-Jo’s pouring my power into the silverstone. They were the two most important parts of my plan, even more so than my knives. Tonight, my jewelry would determine whether I lived or died.
The others geared up in similar style, and we packed the rest of our supplies into black duffel bags. I wanted to hang on to the element of surprise for as long as possible, so weapons weren’t the only things we were going to need tonight.
Finally, when we were all ready, we gathered in the salon to check everything one last time. Me, Owen, Bria, Finn, Xavier, Jo-Jo, and Sophia. Phillip, Silvio, and Roslyn were also in on the plan, but they were going in another way. Eva, Violet, and Catalina had wanted to help as well, but we’d voted them down, and the girls were up at Country Daze, with Warren and Cooper watching over them. If things went wrong, the guys would protect them from the fallout.
And things could go so horribly wrong tonight.
Owen came over and slid his arm around my waist. “Are you ready for this?”
I let out a breath. “Yeah. I’m ready, consequences and all. Finally.”
He nodded and held me close until it was time to leave.
* * *
We grabbed our gear, piled into our various vehicles, and drove over to the Monroe estate.
But we didn’t stop and try to ram our vehicles through the closed gate that fronted the mansion. I didn’t want to announce our presence until the last possible second, so we cruised on by, although Sophia slowed her convertible down long enough for me to peer in through the gate and take note of the dozens of limos and expensive town cars that were parked in the long driveway that led up to the house. It looked like the party was just getting started. Good.
Sophia drove to the next house over. The gates here opened as the dwarf steered her convertible up to them. Behind us, the others followed in their own cars. We drove up to the mansion, then parked in the driveway in front of the house. The door opened, and Charlotte Vaughn stepped outside.
While the others pulled their gear out of the cars, I strolled over to her. Charlotte eyed my friends for several seconds before turning to me.
“You can imagine how surprised I was to get your call,” she said. “Considering that I just went to your funeral yesterday.”
I’d seen Charlotte there, and she’d been one of the few folks who seemed genuinely sad that I was gone. Although whatever kindness or affection she felt for me would always be mixed with anger at how I’d killed her father, and rightfully so.
I grinned. “I do like to do the unexpected. What can I say? Coming back from the dead is a specialty of mine.”
“What are you planning, Gin?” she asked, suspicion flaring in her brown eyes. “I heard about the party that Madeline Monroe is throwing tonight.”
I shrugged. “I’m going to do what I do best.”
“And why do you and your friends need access to my estate to do it?”
“Because I don’t want Madeline to realize what’s happening until it’s too late.”
Charlotte arched a black eyebrow. “I see. Did you know that I had a visit from Madeline a few days ago? It was right after the fire at the Pork Pit. She wanted to talk about me giving her an interest in Vaughn Construction, the one that Mab used to own.”
“Silvio, my assistant, might have mentioned that to me. It shouldn’t be a problem, after tonight.”
After a moment, Charlotte grinned back at me. “Still looking out for me, Gin?”
“It’s another one of those things that I do best.”
Charlotte let out a soft laugh. She waved her hand at everyone, then disappeared back into her mansion.
The others were waiting on me, so I grabbed the bag of gear that Owen passed me, and we all headed for the woods on the far side of the estate. We reached the tree line. I took the lead, while the others fell in step behind me.
“Are we there yet?” Finn groused after we’d been walking for all of three minutes.
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see me, and we trudged on.
It took us about forty-five minutes to reach my makeshift tree house. I climbed up into the top, drew a pair of night-vision goggles out of my bag, and focused them on the back of the estate.
The iron lamps that lined the pool and the patio were all lit, casting a soft golden glow over the shimmering surface of the water and the gray stone that surrounded it. The area was quiet, with only three bored-looking guards making their circuits around the lawn. Exactly what I’d expected and hoped for. Now that I was dead, Madeline wasn’t worried about anyone’s slipping onto the estate or trying to assassinate her from the trees. Why have your guards stationed outside when the folks gathered inside the mansion were the real danger here tonight?