Web of Lies (Elemental Assassin 2)

"What a pity," the woman said in a mocking tone.

"She had such potential. "

I sensed someone crouching beside me, and a sweet, slightly noxious smell filled my nose - like jasmine mixed with smoke. A finger trailed down the side of my cheek.

Hot needles of pain stabbed my skin, but I couldn't even cry out. No part of me seemed to be working. The burning finger skirted down my cleavage, before sliding off my stomach.

A soft laugh echoed above my head. The sound made me think of fire, smoke, ash. Rough hands holding me down. The spider rune heating up between my palms.

Questions. So many questions about Bria. The silverstone searing my skin, melting into my flesh. The Fire elemental laughing as the rune burned me. Laughing.

The Fire elemental. Mab -

"Very well," the woman said. "Do whatever you want to with her - outside. "

Her voice short-circuited my train of thought. I tried to grab hold of the wispy tendrils of memories, but they retreated back into the darkness - a darkness that was slowly swallowing me once more.

"Outside? Why? I want to take care of the bitch right now. " The man sounded whiny and petulant.

"Because in case you haven't noticed, Tobias, I'm hosting a function for several hundred people. A dead body in the garden would put a damper on the evening, don't you think? Besides, you claim she came here to kill you. So you can take care of it. I have no desire to get my hands or any other part of my person dirty tonight. Besides, she's unconscious. No fun to be had there. "

"Well, what do you want me to do with her?" the man asked again.

"I don't fucking care," the woman snapped. "Just get her off my lawn. Now. "

Rough hands closed around my arms and yanked me up, but by that point, I'd sunk into the blackness once again.

The first thing I was aware of was the soft soil underneath my cheek, interspersed here and there with small pebbles. Tiny little stones that felt like smooth peas muttering against my skin. I concentrated on that sound, that faint muttering, letting it pull me out of the darkness I'd been floating in. After a few moments, I realized I was lying facedown, but I didn't try to move. My head hurt too much for that, the previous pounding now a hot, throbbing ache behind my left eye.

But I focused, and slowly the evening came back to me. Dressing up and crashing Mab Monroe's party. Killing Jake McAllister. Running into the Fire elemental herself, then Owen Grayson. I also remembered going out into the garden with Tobias Dawson, and the dwarf sucker punching me. And now, well, who knew where the hell I was. But I was still alive, which meant I still had a chance. To run, to fight, to cower in a cramped dark hole until the bad guys went away. Whatever it took to survive. The will to do so no matter what - the very first lesson Fletcher Lane had ever taught me. Something I'd known even before he'd articulated it to me.

So I focused on my body, assessing the damage that had been done. My face felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. Given the stiffness and constant throbbing, I was pretty sure my jaw was broken, maybe my left cheekbone too. A couple of my teeth felt loose, and the coppery tang of my own blood filled my mouth. I cracked my eyes open. A bit of light trickled into my vision.

Well, at least he hadn't ruptured my optic nerve.

Next I wiggled my fingers and toes. My arms felt sore, as though I'd been manhandled, which I probably had been. My knees were scraped and raw. So were my hands.

Minor annoyances. But to my surprise, I didn't seem to have any other injuries. No broken bones, no missing limbs, no trauma between my thighs. Which could only mean one thing. Tobias Dawson wanted to question me before he killed me - or the dwarf just wanted me awake while he tortured me. Neither option was a pleasant one, but I'd faced them both before and come out more or less in one piece. I'd survive this too.

"I think the bitch is awake," a voice said.

The low, deep baritone of a giant. But the most curious thing was the voice echoed like an organ, bouncing off the rock walls that surrounded us. I listened again, more closely this time, not just to the pea-size pebbles around me but also to the underlying stone beneath my body. And I realized it surrounded me. The ground was soft, but the ceiling and especially the walls were harder, rockier, and all made of stone. Given what I knew of Tobias Dawson, there was only one place I could be - inside the dwarf 's coal mine. Dawson Number Three. A place where no one would hear me scream - or ever find my broken body.

Footsteps scuffed on the ground behind me, and I started rocking back and forth and moaning. No need to let the bastards know I had my wits about me just yet. I also opened my eyes and started blinking away the white spots that swam in and out of my vision like lazy catfish.

Slowly, I pushed myself up to my hands and knees, then leaned back on my heels. My head and face pounded, but I blocked out the pain, even as I huddled there with my head in my hands.

A pair of boots appeared before me. Cowboy boots.

Black snakeskin with red flames and pointed, silverstone tips. I looked up to find Tobias Dawson looming over me.

As much as a five-foot-tall dwarf could loom.

"About time you woke up, bitch," he said and hit me again.

I didn't have time to reach for my Stone magic to harden my skin into a rocky shell. Besides, that was a card I didn't want to play just yet. Tobias Dawson might have sensed my magic, might have been able to finger me as the one who broke into his safe, but he probably didn't realize how strong I was. Otherwise, he would have done the smart thing and killed me while I'd been unconscious in Mab Monroe's garden.

But all that knowledge, all that planning, didn't help me with the fist whistling toward my body at warp speed.