Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom (8 page)

Roslyn had taken our heart-to-heart seriously. When I’d come calling a few weeks ago, she’d given me everything I’d needed to masquerade as one of her hookers and sneak into Mab Monroe’s exclusive party so I could get
close to Tobias Dawson—and she’d held up when Elliot Slater and his men had come to question her after the fact. I figured we were pretty much square now, but I wasn’t about to tell Roslyn that. Especially when she was staring at me like she was considering something important.

“Is there something I can do for you, Roslyn?” I asked.

Roslyn chewed her lip for a few more seconds. Then she nodded. “Yeah, actually there is—”

“I thought I told you to wait in the back for me, baby,” a low voice cut through the crowd.

Roslyn’s eyes widened, and she froze. Pure, undiluted fear filled her toffee eyes. The emotion rolled off her the way magic might an elemental. I could feel the cold chill of it just like I could the one emanating from the Ice bar several feet away.

I looked past Roslyn to the man speaking. Seven-foot frame. Pale, albino features. Light hazel eyes. And fists the size of hams. Elliot Slater regarded the lovely vampire with a cold expression that indicated that she’d done something very, very wrong.

Fuck. What was the giant doing here? I palmed one of my silverstone knives under the table. Beside me, Owen Grayson frowned, but he didn’t move or say anything. Smart man. If he even hinted to Slater that I had a weapon, Owen would find himself drinking through a straw for the rest of his life—at the very least. Despite the hot tingle of attraction that still sizzled in my stomach.

Roslyn plastered a fake, strained smile on her face and turned to face the giant. I scooted a little closer to the edge of the booth, just in case I needed to get up and stab Slater in a hurry.

“Hello, Elliot.” Roslyn’s voice was as silky as ever, but an undercurrent of fear and stress colored her tone.

Before I knew what was happening, Elliot Slater reached forward, grabbed Roslyn by her neck, and yanked her up against his body. “I told you to wait in the back for me, baby. Not be strolling around out here for every dick to get a good look at you. You’re mine now. Or have you forgotten that?”

His? Roslyn was his? What the hell was going on here?

Roslyn tried to smile, but it didn’t come off very well. “Now, Elliot, we’ve talked about this. You know I have to come out into the club at night and mingle with people. It’s expected of me.”

The giant shook her the way a terrier might snap a rat’s neck. “And I’ve told you that nobody sees that hot ass of yours but me. Understand, baby?”

By this point, other people had noticed the confrontation, including Finn. He’d pushed away from the bar and the blond hooker and was headed in Roslyn’s direction. What did he think he was going to do? Other than get beaten to a bloody pulp by Elliot Slater?

Somebody else was also interested in the situation. Xavier, part-time cop and the nightclub’s main bouncer, pushed through the crowd. The giant stepped up to Slater.

“Let her go,” Xavier’s voice boomed out through the club. The giant’s hands clenched into fists, ready to lay a hurt on the other man. “You’re not welcome here anymore.”

A hush fell over the crowd. The dancers stopped dancing, the smokers stopped smoking, the drinkers stopped drinking. Even the people getting busy under the tables
paused in their passionate embraces. Everyone focused on the scene before them, and everyone backed away from the two men. Nobody wanted to get in the middle of a dispute between two giants.

Elliot Slater regarded Xavier with the same cool expression he had Roslyn a moment ago. Then he used his incredible speed to sucker punch the other giant. Xavier didn’t see it coming, and Slater’s fist hit him square in the throat with enough force to kill a cow. Xavier crumbled to the floor, gasping for air. A couple of the club’s other bouncers stepped forward to come to their boss’s defense. Slater snapped his fingers, and two giants shouldered through the crowd so that they stood behind him, guarding his back. They were the same goons who’d held my arms while Elliot Slater had beaten me two nights ago.

Xavier wheezed on the bamboo floor, and Elliot had Roslyn’s neck pulled so far back he could snap it with a thought. I looked at Finn. He grabbed a beer bottle off the closest table and nodded at me. I nodded back. Underneath the table, Owen Grayson’s hand settled on my leg. I glanced at him. The businessman had his hand wrapped around his glass of scotch, ready to use it as a weapon. Grayson winked at me. Whatever Finn and I were going to do, he was up for it. I had to admit the wink was kind of sexy. It made me like him a little more.

Elliot turned his attention back to Roslyn. “Now, baby, we’re going to go in the back and talk about you disobeying me yet again.”

Elliot leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Roslyn’s trembling lips, as though she was the love of his
life. As though she was actually
precious
to him—and he wasn’t an inch away from ending her existence.

I tensed, getting ready to strike while he was distracted.

But before I could move, I heard the distinct
click
of the hammer being thumbed back on a gun in the hushed silence. Well, that certainly made things much more interesting.

Slater heard it too. He broke off the kiss and turned, moving his body enough that I was able to see past him and get a look at the person pointing a gun at his head—Bria.

5

Elliot Slater didn’t seem particularly concerned that Bria had a gun leveled at his head. No real reason to be. Giants had thick skulls. Only way to do much damage was to put something through their eyes and up into their brain. Most people just couldn’t shoot that well under pressure.

As for her part, Bria didn’t seem particularly concerned that Slater was looking at her like he was going to rip her head off her body, scoop out her spine, and eat it for dinner. Instead, she regarded him with a cold gaze, her eyes like sapphire chips of ice in her lovely face.

“I think the lady wants you to leave her alone,” Bria said in a hard voice. “So why don’t you do that? Right
now
.”

Elliot released his hold on Roslyn, who stumbled away. Owen slid out of the booth and caught the vampire before she hit the floor.

“Do you know who I am?” Slater rumbled. “Who I work for?”

Bria smiled, and her eyes iced over even more. “Elliot Slater. Head of security for Mab Monroe. And, given what I’ve seen here tonight, a prime-A bastard who enjoys intimidating women.”

The giant’s hazel eyes narrowed with malice. Shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd. No one could believe what they were seeing—someone standing up to Slater and his goons.

“In case you don’t know who I am, let me share.” Bria reached into the pocket of her black leather jacket and came up with a gold badge. She held it up so the crowd could get a look at the shiny metal. “I’m a detective with the Ashland Police Department.”

Despite the situation, I couldn’t help the spurt of warm pride that filled me. Not because I had any great love of the police, but because of Bria. My little sister was actually standing up to Elliot Slater, actually trying to help Roslyn, who was so obviously in trouble. It might have been stupid, taking on someone as powerful and well connected as Slater, but I didn’t see any fear in Bria’s face—just cold, hard determination. She wasn’t a pushover any more than I was, which made me like her all the more. Maybe we had more in common than I’d thought. Maybe a lot more.

“Aren’t you off duty tonight, detective?” Slater asked.

“I was enjoying the music and a mojito—until you started making trouble,” she snapped. “But cops like me never really go off duty. So unless you leave the premises immediately, Mr. Slater, I’m going to arrest you for assault, among other things.”

Slater crossed his arms over his chest, considering the
situation. I gathered my legs under me, ready to leap up and strike. If Slater made a move toward Bria, he was dead. I’d climb on his back, reach around, and slit his throat if he so much as touched her. The giant wasn’t going to hurt my sister like he had me at the community college. I’d deal with the consequences—and Mab Monroe—later.

I glanced at Finn. He still held the beer bottle down by his side. He’d slipped through the crowd so that he was behind the two giants Slater had brought along for backup. Finn and I had tag-teamed more than a few people in our time. He’d deal with the underlings and keep them busy, while I went after Slater.

Elliot stared at Bria a few more seconds, then uncrossed his arms. “Fine. I’ll leave. Wouldn’t want you to have to work any overtime tonight, detective.” The giant turned toward Roslyn, who huddled on the floor next to Owen Grayson. Slater put two fingers to his lips and blew a kiss to the vampire. “Later, baby.”

People scurried to get out of Slater’s way as he strolled across the dance floor. His two goons gave Bria the hard stare a moment longer, before they followed their boss out into the night.

Bria kept her gun level with the giants’ broad backs until the three men exited the club. Then she lowered and holstered her weapon. Bria let out a breath and tucked her blond hair back behind one ear. Her fingers twitched with the motion. Natural to feel a little shaky after threatening to kill one of the most dangerous men in Ashland.

But Bria put her game face back on and went over to check on Roslyn. My sister knelt down beside the vampire and murmured to her. Roslyn shook her head and hugged her arms to her chest. Once again, that spark of warm pride filled me at Bria’s caring actions. She really was good, strong, determined. Reminded me of me. Well, except for the good part.

Since I didn’t want to get in the middle of the two of them, I drained the rest of my gin, dumped the ice in a cocktail napkin, and went over to Xavier. The giant slumped against the side of a booth, just trying to breathe. His black eyes looked dull and defeated underneath the club’s soft lights. A sneer twisted Xavier’s lips, as though he was disgusted at himself for not being able to get rid of Slater all by his lonesome.

“Here,” I said, holding out the ice-filled napkin. “Put this against your throat. It’ll help with the swelling.”

The giant still couldn’t talk, but he nodded his head and took the napkin. Finn worked his way through the chattering crowd and hunkered down beside us.

“Is he going to be okay?” Finn asked in a soft voice.

“He’s still breathing, isn’t he?” I snapped.

Normally, I wouldn’t have been so harsh with Finn. But now I knew exactly why he’d dragged me to Northern Aggression tonight and what that little problem was that Finn had promised to help Xavier with—Elliot Slater’s creepy fixation on Roslyn Phillips. Finn had brought me here so I’d see it firsthand, so I’d see exactly how terrified Roslyn was of Slater. Finn had set me up. Brought me here to have my heartstrings plucked.

And it had worked.

I stared at Finn, the knowledge blazing in my eyes. He dropped his gaze from mine. Guilty as charged.

“Is there anything I can do for him?” Finn asked in a low tone.

“Go get that tub of Jo-Jo’s healing ointment you keep stashed in your car. Xavier needs it more than you do tonight.”

Finn nodded, got to his feet, and left. I turned back to the giant, who was staring at Roslyn. Concern filled his dark gaze, along with other soft, warm emotions. The poor guy could barely squeeze in enough air through his bruised throat to keep going, and his only thought was the vampire. If he could have, I imagined Xavier would have crawled over to her and cradled her in his massive arms. Xavier’s being in love with Roslyn was going to make all this that much more difficult.

“Xavier.”

The giant’s head swiveled back around to me.

“I want you and Roslyn to come down to the Pork Pit tomorrow for lunch so we can talk about some things,” I said. “Understand?”

Xavier slowly nodded. Surprise flickered in his black gaze, along with another emotion that made my stomach twist. Hope.

“Let’s make it a late lunch, say around two o’clock.”

The giant nodded again.

“Good,” I said. “See you then.”

It wasn’t long before the music cranked back up, and everyone returned to their previous occupations. Smoking, drinking, dancing, fucking. As though the events of a few
minutes ago had never happened. Some folks in Ashland had real short attention spans.