Web of Death - (Elemental Assassin, #1.5) Page 0,3

the old man, how much my heart still ached from his loss, but I found myself actually wanting to help the other woman. Actually wanting to use my knives and deadly skills for something a little more worthwhile than money.

Besides, I thought, smiling a little. It sure as hell beat unpacking boxes tonight.

So I tightened my grip on my silverstone knives and stepped out from the shadows, walking forward into the clearing, whistling all the while. Both men's heads snapped around to me at the harsh, unexpected sound.

I stopped about ten feet away from them, my knives tucked up into my palms. The hilts of the weapons rested on the scars embedded in my palms. A small circle surrounded by eight thin rays. One on either hand. A spider rune. The symbol for patience. My assassin moniker and so much more.

"I hope you boys brought some shovels with you tonight," I said in a pleasant voice.

Tommy and Billy stared at each other, then back at me.

"And why is that?" Tommy asked in a guarded tone, clearly wondering who the hell I was and what the fuck I was doing out here in the woods.

I grinned. "Because otherwise, I'll just have to leave your bodies out here for the animals to gnaw on instead of burying you all proper-like. Ah, hell. Forget the shovels. The animals have to eat too. If they could even stomach the likes of two sick bastards like you, that is."

"Billy," Tommy said in a low voice. "I think we need to teach this bitch the same lesson that Jasmine just learned. See to it, please."

Billy nodded and dropped his grip on Jasmine's hair. The woman crumpled to the forest floor, still unconscious. Good. I didn't need an audience for this.

Billy let out a roar and charged in my direction, his hands reaching out to grab me and pull me into a bone-crushing bear hug. The poor bastard never even noticed my palmed knives.

Thud-thud-thud .

This time, instead of the sound of fists hitting flesh, the smack of my silverstone knives punching into Billy's chest and tearing through his organs filled the air. The giant screamed, much like Jasmine had done earlier, and stumbled back. His sharp movement jerked my knives out of my hands, but that was okay, because they were still stuck in his body-one in his stomach and the other in his heart. More than enough damage to kill him. Sure enough, Billy stumbled around the clearing for about ten seconds before his legs gave out and he thumped to the ground, well on his way to being dead.

I spotted a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye and ducked. Tommy's hammer whistled by my head. The vamp was quicker than I'd thought he'd be because even as his first blow missed me, he was pivoting and bringing the hammer back up for a second strike.

But I was anticipating his move, and I stepped into his body and grabbed his arm. I used the vamp's own momentum to flip him up and over my shoulder. Tommy slammed onto the ground. The hammer slipped from his fingers, and I grabbed it. Before the vamp could recover, I dropped to my knees beside him, brought the hammer up, and slammed the weapon into his windpipe, crushing it.

Tommy's eyes bulged so wide that I thought they might pop right out of his head. He made a series of choked, gurgling sounds, not unlike the ones that Jasmine had earlier when Billy was hitting her.

"You really should have found somewhere else to play your little game," I murmured. "Because this land belongs to Fletcher Lane. And now me, I suppose. And believe me when I tell you that I'm the only fucking predator allowed around here."

All Tommy could do was look at me and gasp for air.

I stayed where I was and watched him suffocate.

When Tommy was dead, I went over to Jasmine and crouched down beside her. The vampire prostitute was still unconscious, and I quickly ran my hands over her body, checking her for injuries. Her face was a mess, and she probably had some broken ribs and internal bleeding from where Billy had hit her. But she'd be okay until help arrived, and I knew just who to call about that.

I went back over to Tommy and rifled through the dead vampire's pockets until I found his cell phone. I dialed information and had them give me the number that I wanted. Four rings later, she picked up the phone.

"This is Roslyn," Roslyn Phillips' sultry voice filled my ear.

"Hello, Roslyn," I said. "One of your girls is out here in the woods. She and a couple of her friends had a nasty run-in with a black bear. At least, that's what you can tell the cops."

I told her what had happened and where to find Jasmine.

"Who the hell is this?" Roslyn asked when I finished.

"I think you know exactly who this is," I said. "And you owe me, remember? So quit asking questions and get your ass out here."

"Gin?"

I hung up without answering her. Because I knew that Roslyn Phillips had gotten the message and that the vampire would come and bring help for Jasmine. Roslyn did owe me-bigtime. Because she knew exactly what I'd done before I'd retired. She knew that I was an assassin. Hell, I'd even killed her brother-in-law, who'd been abusing her sister and young niece. Roslyn talking about such things was partly the reason that Fletcher Lane had been murdered in the first place-because the wrong person had learned about the old man and the fact that he was my handler.

I'd confronted Roslyn about all that at Fletcher's funeral a few weeks ago. I'd told the vamp in no uncertain terms that she would do whatever the hell I wanted her to until she'd worked off her debt to me-or else. And as much as I'd loved the old man, that would be a bloody long while indeed.

But I pushed Roslyn Phillips out of my mind and went about erasing any trace that I'd been here in the clearing tonight-including retrieving my silverstone knives from Billy's cooling body. Because while I might officially be retired from being the assassin the Spider, that didn't mean that I was going to be stupid or sloppy enough to leave any evidence behind.

As I worked, every once in a while, I looked over to check on Jasmine.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," I murmured even though she couldn't hear me. "The cavalry's on the way."

Sure enough, thirty minutes later, I heard the sharp crackle of heavy footsteps on the fallen leaves, and I knew that Roslyn had arrived with help for Jasmine, who was still unconscious. From my hiding place on the far edge of the clearing, I saw the bob of flashlights through the trees and heard the hoarse shout of voices.

"Over here!" a man rumbled. "I see them!"

"Where?" Roslyn Phillips' concerned voice drifted over to me. "Jasmine! Jasmine, are you okay?"

After that, things went pretty much as I'd expected them to. Cops arrived on the scene to try to figure out what the hell had happened. Not that they would work too hard at that though, since the majority of the members of the Ashland Police Department were known for their rampant laziness, avarice, and love of bribes.

Men and women moved through the clearing, collecting evidence. Jasmine was packed up and carted off to the closest Air elemental healer to get patched up. The coroner was called to come out and collect Tommy and Billy. And so on and so forth.

Once Jasmine had been stabilized, I saw no need to hang around any longer. Because I just killed people, after all. I didn't patch them up after the fact. I figured that I'd done my part by keeping Jasmine from getting dead in the first place.

So still softly whistling, I headed back through the woods to Fletcher Lane's house to start unpacking my boxes, feeling more cheerful than I had in weeks.