Black Widow (35 page)

It took the bosses several seconds to recognize me, but when they did, the entire ballroom went absolutely, completely, deathly quiet, even more so than when Madeline had been killing Montoya with her magic. Faces paled, sweat beaded on temples, and people almost
swooned
. Folks hurried to back away from me, and I gave them all a cold, thin smile before I turned to face Madeline, Emery, and Jonah, who had finally realized who I was—and that I was still alive.

Jonah's mouth gaped open, and he reached for the handle of the terrace door behind him, as if that was all that was keeping him from toppling over in a dead faint.

Emery jerked up to her full, seven-foot height, her hands curling into fists and her body bristling with a mixture of surprise and anger.

But Madeline had the most interesting reaction. Her face whitened with shock, and she blinked and blinked and blinked, her eyes snapping open and shut faster than a camera lens, as if I were some ghost that she could will away if only she focused hard enough.

Despite all her initial suspicions and speculations that I might have survived the fire, she'd lowered her guard and let herself finally, fully believe in the illusion of my supposed death. She'd been so smug, satisfied, and secure in her triumph—a triumph that I had just ripped away during the most important moment of her life.

My grin widened.

“Why, it's so very nice to see y'all again,” I said, addressing
the crowd. “I thought that my funeral yesterday was festive, but this—
this
is something else.”

People shifted on their feet, mouths still gaping open, but everyone kept staring at me, wondering how I could possibly be alive and what I was going to do next.

Finally, when everyone had gotten a good, long look at me, I faced Madeline again. Her shock was rapidly fading, and I could almost see the wheels spinning in her mind as she tried to figure out what I had planned.

“Oh, yes,” I said in another loud, sneering drawl, “I say that we all raise a glass and toast to the new queen of Ashland.”

25

I raised my champagne glass high, but no one in the crowd followed suit. I glanced around, then shook my head and clucked my tongue, as if I were saddened by the sudden lack of support for Madeline.

“Actually, Maddie,” I drawled again, “I wouldn't celebrate your victory just yet. It looks to me like there's still some question as to who the biggest, baddest bitch in Ashland actually is. After all, you told everyone that you'd orchestrated my murder. But here I am, just like usual, just like
always
, so I think we can all see that that's simply not the case. I don't want to call you a liar but . . .” I gave a delicate shrug of my shoulders.

Madeline's eyes narrowed to slits. “How the hell did you survive that fire?”

“Frozen peas,” I quipped. “Who knew they were so good for you?”

Her face creased into a frown, and confused whispers
trickled through the crowd. No one got the joke but me. Maybe someday I'd explain it to them. Maybe not. A girl should always keep a few secrets to herself.

Madeline kept staring at me, so I decided to answer at least some of her questions.

“I survived because I'm a badass bitch. That's all you need to know.”

“But—but—but there was a
body
!” she sputtered, finally losing her composure.

“There was, wasn't there? And I have
you
to thank for that, Maddie. Remember your maid? That poor woman you sent into my restaurant to kill me knowing full well that I would take her out instead? The one whose body you sent Dobson into the Pork Pit to find, but that he never did? Well, she was on ice in one of my freezers. She came in handy when you started tossing Molotov cocktails into my restaurant.”

Madeline's frown deepened. “But the coroner confirmed that it was you. And your friends, your family, your funeral . . .” Her voice trailed off as her mind began to whirl at how thoroughly I'd fooled her and everyone else.

“Did you really think that you were the only one who could plan, set, and execute a trap?” I snorted. “Please. You were so sure that you'd won that you never even thought that I could be playing you, that I could be setting you up the same way that you had me. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, Maddie. Your mama would certainly have never made such a mistake. Oh, wait. Actually, Mab did make the same exact mistake back when she tried to kill me and my sister when we were kids. She assumed that
we were dead, but we escaped her, and we made her pay for what she'd done to our family. And now I'm here to do the same to you. Like mother, like daughter, after all.”

I
cluck-cluck-cluck
ed my tongue, mocking her even more. A few laughs sounded at the edges of the crowd, but they dried up when Madeline turned her gaze in that direction. Two red spots bloomed on her pale cheeks, her body trembled with barely restrained fury, and her hands clenched into fists. A drop of green acid squeezed out from between her tight fingers and fell to the floor, causing the white marble to shriek, wail, and start smoking.

But she quickly regained control of herself. She couldn't afford not to. Not with this crowd of sharks gathered around her. She might be the strongest among them, but they could still sense weakness, and weakness would get you killed quicker than anything else in Ashland.

So Madeline unclenched her fists and favored me with a dazzling smile. “Well, Gin, it's all well and good that you survived the fire. Actually, it rather pleases me.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Her smile widened. “Because it will make killing you now all the better.”

She looked past me at the crowd that had now formed a circle around us. “Some of you were questioning my strength. Well, what better way than to kill Blanco right now? Surely, there would be no more unpleasant disputes then. Are we agreed?”

All around me, the bosses nodded, looking back and forth from me to Madeline.

“Well, then, now that that is settled . . .” Madeline glanced at Emery.

Emery waved her hand at the giant waiters. “What are you waiting for? Get her! Now!”

I'd thought something like this might happen, and we'd prepared for it. Before the giants could take one threatening step toward me, my friends erupted from the corners of the room, guns drawn. Xavier drew a bead on the three giants closest to him. Bria did the same to the ones near her corner, as did Phillip and Owen. Jo-Jo pulled a small revolver from her white patent-leather purse, while Sophia stepped out of the crowd, flexing her fists, obviously wanting to use them on someone. Up on the second floor, Roslyn brandished a gun and watched Finn's back while he grabbed his own weapon and put his red sniper laser sight right in the middle of Emery's throat. She froze, as did the rest of her men.

“You didn't really think that I'd come in here without some sort of plan, did you?” I asked Madeline in a soft voice.

She stiffened. “What have you done?”

I ignored her and turned to look at the crowd of people gathered all around us, their eyes on the guns pointed at them.

“My friends and I own this room, along with the rest of the mansion. All the perimeter guards are dead, and, as you can see, we have more than enough firepower to make a serious dent in the lot of you. So if I were you, I'd be good, be quiet, and stay out of the way.” I shrugged. “Otherwise, some unfortunate accidents might happen. And wouldn't that just be a shame.”

I kept my cold, wintry gaze on the crowd until people started dropping their eyes from mine and lowering their
heads. They wouldn't do anything stupid, at least not right now, and they wouldn't try to interfere. Not when they realized what I had in mind.

When I was sure that the ballroom was under our control, I crooked my finger at the closest waiter. He swallowed and stepped forward, clearly nervous, but all I did was place my champagne flute on his tray and give him a dazzling smile. I waited until he had scurried back into the crowd before I turned and faced Madeline again.

Her eyes darted around, no doubt her mind spinning and spinning as she tried to figure out what I was up to—and whether I was going to kill her now.

“So,” Madeline said, “you've stooped to taking me hostage in my own home. I'd think that something like that would be beneath you, Gin. After all, don't you prefer to stay hidden in the shadows? Creeping around like that little spider you claim to be? Hmm? Rather cowardly, if you ask me.”

I chuckled. “You think that eliminating two dozen guards, taking over your mansion, and holding all of your guests hostage is
cowardly 
? I think you need to study up on what that word actually means, Maddie. Then again, we all know what you're doing. Trying to wiggle out of a sticky situation that you've suddenly found yourself trapped in. You've set up so many of your webs for other people, including me. Looks like the black widow doesn't like to get caught up in the very thing she's created. I'd say that's the sort of thing that's truly
cowardly
, wouldn't you?”

That hot, angry blush spotlighted Madeline's cheeks again. She didn't like my mocking her, especially when
she didn't have a ready answer or plan of attack. Finally, she just gave up.

“What do you want?” she snapped. “What is the point of this . . .
display
?”

Instead of answering her, I slowly peeled one black satin glove off my arm, then the other one. I clutched them both in one hand, raising them high so that everyone could see them. Speculative murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“The point? The point is that I can get to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Even an elemental as powerful as you. I thought it would be a good idea to remind everyone of that small fact. Just in case they'd forgotten, what with all those silly rumors going around about my death.”

Madeline ground her teeth together. “Well, then, you've made your point. Is there anything else?”

“There's
always
something else. You've spent the last few weeks tormenting me and mine. Accusing us of things that we didn't do, causing problems, and in general doing your best to fuck with us all on the sly.”

She didn't respond.

“Now, I could have done what I usually do. Set up a sniper's perch out in the woods, put a spray of bullets through your pretty face the next time you stepped outside, then come over and cut your throat just to make sure that you were good and dead.” I gave her a thin smile. “But I know how very fond of playing games you are, so I decided to give you a sporting chance.”

Unease flickered in Madeline's eyes. “What are you saying?”

I paused a moment for dramatic effect, just like she
always did, then stepped forward and threw my black gloves down onto the dance floor at her feet. “Isn't it obvious? I'm challenging you to an elemental duel, you sadistic bitch.”

*  *  *

Madeline's face paled again, and shocked gasps rang out through the crowd, louder than any others that I'd heard all night long. I didn't know if it was because everyone had already seen how strong Madeline was in her magic or the black gloves I'd tossed onto the floor. They knew what the gloves meant, even if she didn't.

“A duel?” Madeline scoffed. “You've got to be kidding me. Nobody fights
duels
anymore.”

“If you're going to try to take over an entire city, then you really should read up on your local history,” I said. “Elemental duels have been fought in Ashland for more than a hundred and fifty years. They've always been a popular way to settle disputes, especially during the Civil War. A lot of the old family feuds started back then, since whole generations killed each other off one by one by one in various duels. I've always wondered if that was how our families, the Snows and Monroes, started their own blood feud. But I guess we'll never know for sure.”

She scoffed again, not appreciating my history lesson. “But you can't challenge me to a duel. I won't
allow
it.”