Elemental Assassin 01 - Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Author:Jennifer Estep [Estep, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Contemporary, General, Fantasy Fiction, Assassins, Magic, Female Assassins, Urban Life, Supernatural
ISBN: 9781439147979
Google: JEj7x8eZC_oC
Amazon: 1439147973
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2010-01-26T06:00:00+00:00

17

With nothing left to do for the night, we crashed. I took my bed, while Finn claimed the one in the spare room. Donovan Caine made himself comfortable on the pullout sofa in the den. I rummaged around in the closet next to the spare bathroom, pulling out some blankets and pillows for my unexpected houseguest. Hostess with the mostest, that was me.

I walked into the den and handed the bedding to the detective. “Knock yourself out.”

“Thanks,” he said.

Caine shook out the blue and green blankets and started making up the sleeper sofa. I drifted over to the front door and pretended I was double-checking the locks. I pressed my hand against the stone, listening to its faint murmur. Low and steady, just like always. Once more, I traced small, tight curls onto the surface of the stone—the symbol for protection. The runes shimmered silver before sinking into the wall and fading away. I sent a burst of magic through the rock to test my magical trip wire. A sharp note of alarm sounded back to me, rising to an ear-splitting shriek. If someone attempted to open the door and enter the apartment, that same sound would wake me.

It would also ring out if someone tried to leave. Donovan Caine and I might have an agreement, but our tenuous partnership might not keep him from sneaking out in the middle of the night. Or trying to. The detective wasn’t going anywhere without me.

Caine put down one blanket and unfolded another. He wasn’t an elemental, wasn’t a Stone, so he couldn’t sense or hear the vibration.

He fluffed out the last pillow and set it on top of the outstretched sofa. He turned to face me. I nodded a good night at him and headed for my bedroom.

“Sleep well.” The detective’s deep voice rumbled out and touched me, like a silk rope flicking against my spine. “If you can.”

I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Why wouldn’t I sleep well? Because my conscience is troubling me? Hardly.”

“It should bother you.”

“Because of tonight?” I shrugged. “I did what needed to be done to save your life, detective. Even you shouldn’t fault me for that.”

“Not because of tonight. Because of Cliff.”

The old, predictable hatred flared in his hazel eyes, and his face tightened with determination. Caine was still counting down the minutes until he could come after me for his partner’s murder.

For a moment, I considered telling the detective exactly what Cliff Ingles had been like. About the protection money he’d extorted from various pimps. About the vampire hookers he’d forced to give him freebies in the back of his city-issued sedan while he was on duty. About the thirteen-year-old girl he’d so brutally raped, beaten, and left for dead. The knowledge would wipe that self-righteous sneer off Donovan Caine’s face. Burn it up like it had never existed.

But I held my tongue. That information was an ace up my sleeve, and I wasn’t about to throw it down just for spite. Let the detective keep his illusions about his partner.

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