Thread of Death - (Elemental Assassin #5.5) Page 0,2

breaking apart. Owen held me tight for a moment before finally dropping his hands from my waist.

“Come on,” he said. “If you’re still determined to do this, then we need to go. We wouldn’t want to be late.”

I snorted. “Oh, no. We definitely wouldn’t want to be late for this.”

We walked downstairs, where the others were waiting in the den of Fletcher Lane’s house—my house now. Finnegan Lane, my foster brother, had his arm slung around the shoulders of Detective Bria Coolidge, my baby sister, no doubt murmuring sweet nothings into her ear, since Roslyn Phillips was looking at them both with an amused grin. Jolene “Jo-Jo” Deveraux was sitting on the plaid sofa, flipping through a beauty magazine, while her sister, Sophia, was looking at the rune drawings that were propped up on the mantel: a snowflake, an ivy vine, a primrose, and the neon pig sign outside the Pork Pit. All symbols of people I’d loved and lost over the years.

My friends and family were all dressed in somber, serious black, just like Owen and I were. Finn wore one of his many Fiona Fine designer suits, while Bria sported a jacket and white silk blouse over a skirt. Roslyn also wore a black jacket and skirt, both of which highlighted her gorgeous curves. Jo-Jo had on a dress topped by her usual strand of pearls. A small black hat sporting a white lily perched on the side of the dwarf’s head, pinned to her white-blond curls.

For once, we all matched Sophia’s usual dark clothes. The Goth dwarf wore a pantsuit similar to mine, although she’d accessorized hers with heavy boots and a black leather collar around her neck. Black lipstick covered her lips, and pale gray glitter glistened in her hair.

I cleared my throat, and everyone turned to look at me. “Well,” I said. “I guess this is it.”

“It’s about time,” Finn groused. “We’ve been waiting down here forever.”

Bria glanced at the clock on the wall. “Yes, if by ‘forever’ you mean five minutes.”

Finn smiled at her, a sly look in his green eyes. “Time is money, cupcake, especially when it comes to my time, what I do with it, and particularly who I do it with.”

He leaned over and whispered something in her ear, which made Bria stiffen and caused her cheeks to explode in a fiery blush. They were a new couple, having hooked up shortly before Mab’s death, and Finn still had the ability to shock my sister. Still, despite her blush, her features softened into a smile as she looked at him. Finn gave her a slow, shameless, saucy wink. He liked teasing her.

It was nice to see my sister smile, something she hadn’t done much of lately. I wasn’t the only one who’d suffered at Mab’s hands. Despite my efforts to keep her safe, a bounty hunter had kidnapped Bria and delivered her to Mab’s mansion, where the Fire elemental had spent a long, long night using her magic to torture my sister. Burning Bria with her cruel, cruel Fire.

Finn and the others had rescued Bria while I battled Mab, and Jo-Jo had used her Air magic to heal all of Bria’s wounds, but the damage had still been done. My sister had been quiet and withdrawn these past few weeks. I knew she was still trying to come to terms with that horrible night and all the fresh, painful scars it had left on the inside, just like I was—scars that no amount of magic could ever heal. My guilt over Bria’s capture and torture was like a knife in my stomach, one that twisted in a little deeper every time I saw the dark memories in her eyes. I wanted to make it up to my sister, wanted to ease her pain, but I just didn’t know how.

“It’s time to go,” Owen said again.

Sophia turned and left the room. Finn and Bria followed her, along with Roslyn and Owen. That left just me and Jo-Jo in the den. The middle-aged dwarf got to her feet and walked over to me, her black heels clacking on the floor.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Jo-Jo asked in her slow Southern drawl. “It might be harder than you think it’s going to be.”

I nodded. “I know, but today’s the day, and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

Jo-Jo reached out and grabbed my hand, gently squeezing my fingers with hers. I breathed in, and her perfume tickled my nose with its sweet