Elemental Assassin 02 - Web of Lies

death. Jake did fishing expedition. I decided to play along—for now. have a bit of a heart condition, but there were also some “What is this meeting all about?” My voice came out suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. Hapsomewhere between a whiny wheeze and a phlegmy rasp. pened a couple of weeks ago.”
    “Are you taking up Jake’s bad habit of assaulting innocent Suspicious circumstances? I assumed that was polite people?”
    talk for a sucking stab wound to the chest. But I kept my Jonah McAllister’s face hardened at my insult. As face blank and ignorant.
    much as it could, anyway. Despite his sixty-some years,
    “Why the fuck would I know anything about Jake’s McAllister’s features were as smooth as polished marble, death?” I asked. “The last time I saw the little punk was thanks to a vigorous regimen of expensive Air elemental the day he brought his old man there down to the Pork Pit facial treatments. “I would hardly consider you innocent, to threaten me into dropping the charges against him.”
    Ms. Blanco. And you’re the one who assaulted my preLies, of course. I’d run into Jake McAllister one more cious boy first.”
    time after that—at Mab Monroe’s party. Even though I’d
    “Your precious boy came into my restaurant, tried to been gussied up as a hooker, the bastard had still recogrob me, and almost killed two of my customers with his nized me. Since I’d been there to kill someone else, I’d Fire elemental magic.” I spat out the words, along with lured sweet little Jakie into a bathroom, stabbed him to some phlegm. “All I did was defend myself. What does death, left his body in the bathtub, and washed the blood it matter now anyway? Your boy is dead because of some off my dress before going back out to the party. Nothing weird heart condition. At least, that’s what was in the I hadn’t done a hundred times before as the assassin the newspaper.”
    Spider. I certainly hadn’t lost any sleep over it. Jonah McAllister stared at me, trying to see if I knew But right now, it looked like I might lose a whole lot more than I was letting on about his son’s untimely demore. mise. I used the lull to blow my nose—again. Fucking “See, that’s the problem. My good friend Jonah doesn’t microbes.
    believe you. So he asked me and some of my boys to come McAllister’s mouth twisted with disgust at the sight down here and see if perhaps we could jog something free and sound of my sniffles. Admittedly, it wasn’t my most from your memory.” Slater smiled. His lips drew back, Estep_Web of Lies_1P EP.indd 406-407
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    giving me a glimpse of his pale pink gums. The giant’s could do practically anything I wanted to with the elegrin reminded me of a jack-o’-lantern’s gaping maw—
    ment. Like make bricks fly out of the wall of one of the completely hollow. “We’re going to pay these sorts of vissurrounding buildings and use them to brain the giants its to anyone Jake might have had a problem with. And in their watermelon-size heads. Splat, splat, splat . It’d be your name was at the top of the list.”
    easier than using an Uzi. Hell, if I really wanted to show of course it was. I was probably the only person in off, I could just crumble all four of the buildings that Ashland who’d ever dared to stand up to Jake McAllister. ringed the quad down on top of them.
    Now his daddy was going to make me pay for it—and I was also one of the rare elementals who could conthere wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. trol more than one element. Stone and Ice, in my case. Slater took off his suit jacket, handed it to Jonah Until recently, my Ice magic had been far weaker than my McAllister, and started rolling up his shirtsleeves. Stone power. But thanks to a series of traumatic events, I sniffled, blew my nose again, and considered the I could do a little more with it now. Like create a wall situation. Four-on-one odds were never terrific, especially of Ice knives to fling at the bastards. I’d sliced through since three of the four men were giants. The oversize a dwarf’s skin doing just that. Giants weren’t quite as goons were hard to bring down, even for a former assassin tough as dwarves, at least when it came to cutting into like me. None of the giants showed any obvious elemental them. Even if they did have more blood to spare that their abilities, like letting flames flicker on their clenched fists shorter compatriots.
    or forming ice