I didn't have time to slow down, and my body punched through the layers of icy snow before slamming into the frozen ground. I grunted at the hard, bruising impact, but thanks to my Stone magic, my swan dive didn't do any real, lasting damage. I was already rolling, rolling, rolling, churning through the snow, before using my momentum to pull myself back up onto my feet.

I'd taken only two steps when a thin scream sounded, growing louder and sharper with each second, like a train's whiny whistle. I looked up just in time to see the body plummeting toward me. I dived out of the way, and a man splattered onto the ground where I'd been standing. Looked like someone had misjudged the ice on the roof in his haste to get to me and had paid the price for it. The blood and brains splashed across the snow reminded me of the pale pink color of the girl's prom dress, but I didn't give the man more than a passing glance as I rolled back up onto my feet once more.

Because now it was time to run-for my life.

It didn't take long for the alarm to be raised. I wasn't even halfway across the wide, white expanse of the lawn before lights snapped on inside the mansion. One by one, they winked on, like dominos tumbling over each other, each bright blaze taking more and more of the precious darkness with it. Footsteps scraped, scratched, and scuffled on the mansion's stairs and balconies above my head, but I was more concerned with the ones that crunched into the snow on the ground behind me. The cracking sounds made me think of bones breaking-my own, if I didn't get out of here.

"Security alert! Security alert!" a mechanized voice boomed.

The alarm sounded five more times before someone shut it off, but hoarse shouts immediately replaced the blaring, distorted voice. The giants who made up the bulk of Mab's security force had been alerted to my presence and were on the hunt. I could hear their startled, angry bellows even above the thump-thump-thump of my quick footsteps in the snow.

"She's here! The Spider's here!"

"She tried to kill Mab!"

"Find the bitch! No matter what it takes! She won't get away this time!"

I'd at least hoped to make it into the woods before Mab sent every single one of her giants after me, but luck had never, ever been my friend.

Still, I didn't slow down, not even for an instant. Now that they knew I was here, the giants would rush in from all directions, trying to trap me in their security net. If they did that, if the web tightened around me, I was dead. Right now, speed was preferable to stealth-

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Bullets thunked into the snow behind me, sending up cold, icy sprays that pelted my legs and back, but I kept running, my eyes locked onto the shadow-strewn tree line up ahead.

Since it had been snowing for the last week, and Mab's mansion was as frozen and frosted as the rest of Ashland, I'd forgone my usual black assassin clothes-boots, pants, sweater, vest, ski mask-in favor of light gray ones to help me blend in better with the soft shadows. But movement was still movement, and the giants were aiming at anything bigger than a squirrel skittering through the snow tonight.

Still, unless there was a sniper perched somewhere on the grounds with the world's best aim, I wasn't too worried about getting dead from the giants' shooting. Most people couldn't hit what they were aiming at in broad daylight, much less drop a moving target at night, when the snow and shadows painted the landscape in murky shades of gray. Even if someone did manage to hit me, they wouldn't do any real damage. I was still holding on to my Stone magic, still using it to harden my skin, which meant that any bullet that did come my way would just bounce off my body and keep right on going-

The fist came out of nowhere.

I'd just reached the edge of the dense forest when a thick arm swung out of the darkness and the attached fist plowed into my face. The hard, sharp blow rocked me back, and my feet slid out from under me. I stumbled into a tree, hitting it so hard that a few ice-covered pine cones popped off their brittle branches and pinged me in the head. I fell to one knee, the snow soaking through my heavy cargo pants and the many layers that I had on underneath them.

But more important than my discomfort was that the attack took me by surprise. So much so that my hold on my Stone magic slipped, and my skin reverted back to its normal texture-and vulnerability-once more. Which meant that I could now be injured by bullets, fists, or whatever other dangers came my way. Plenty to go around tonight.

"Wow, I thought you'd be tougher to take down than that," a man rumbled and stepped out of the shadows to my left. "Kind of disappointing, if you ask me, you not living up to all the hype, Spider. "

He was one of Mab's giants, almost seven feet tall with a big, bulky frame that was ghostly pale in the wintry moonlight, thanks to his silver snowsuit. I recognized him-I'd slid past him on my way toward the mansion earlier. He smiled at me, revealing two rows of capped teeth that were even more dazzling than the frosted landscape around us.

I stayed where I was, down on one knee, as though I were still dazed from his hard hit. The giant's grin widened, his hand clenched into a fist once more, and he stepped toward me, ready to knock my head the rest of the way off my shoulders. He didn't see my right hand fall to my side or the glint of metal that suddenly appeared there.

Arrogance will get you, every single time.

As soon as he was in range, I reached up and slammed my silverstone knife into his chest. I drove the blade in as hard and deep as I could before yanking it out and plunging it into him again. The giant needed to get dead-now. I could still hear my other pursuers behind me, racing ever closer to the pine-filled woods and the freedom that they represented.

The giant screamed in pain, telling everyone exactly where we were, and fell to his knees. He reached for me, trying to hold on to me until his buddies could come and watch him die, but I eluded his groping grasp. Normally, I would have moved in for the kill then and slit his throat, but I just didn't have the time-

Crack! Crack! Crack!

More bullets zinged in my direction, thunking into the trees. Splinters zipped through the air, and the sharp, sticky scent of pine sap burned my nose. I jumped over the wounded giant and darted deeper into the woods, trying to escape the web of death that was slowly tightening around me.

Chapter 3

I ran through the forest, leaping over snow-covered logs, stumbling over icy rocks, and shoving through frozen thickets full of sharp, brittle briars. All the while, I held my breath, hoping that my next step wouldn't be my last. That my boots wouldn't slip too badly on the snow and ice, that I wouldn't break my ankle, that I wouldn't make the single misstep that would mean my death.

Making my way over the hidden, treacherous terrain wasn't the only thing that I had to worry about. Man-made traps littered the woods as well as magical trip wires, elemental Fire bombs, and other nasty things just waiting for me to stumble into them so they could blast me off to hell. I moved as fast as I dared, keeping to the path that I'd scouted before and skirting around the traps I'd already found on my way in. I kept my pace quick and steady, but I didn't run blindly, even though the back of my neck itched as though there was a gun pointed right there, right at the sweet spot that would end me.

Paranoia was never a good feeling, especially for an assassin on the run from a botched hit.

Tags: Jennifer Estep Elemental Assassin Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net