Black Widow Read Free Page B

dwarf and her bodyguard and wandered back over to me.
    â€œI need a drink,” I growled.
    He perked up. “Now you’re talking.”
    We left the newly crowned Monroe Memorial Parkbehind and walked about half a mile until we came to a gray, featureless building that looked like it might house corporate offices. A large sign of a heart with an arrow through it was mounted over the front doors, the only clue that there was more to this gin joint than met the eye. Northern Aggression, Ashland’s most decadent nightclub, was run by Roslyn Phillips, a vampire friend of ours.
    It was barely past one in the afternoon now, so the neon sign was dark, although it would light up as soon as the sun set, a glowing red, orange, and yellow beacon that would invite folks from near and far to step right on inside and indulge themselves in all the hedonistic pleasures the club offered—blood, liquor, sex, smokes. You could get all that and more inside, in as small or large quantities as you desired, as long as you had enough money to pay to play.
    Roslyn knew that Finn and I were going to the dedication, so she’d invited us to swing by afterward. I knocked on one of the doors, but there was no answer. I rang the buzzer too, in case Roslyn hadn’t heard my sharp, loud raps. Still, no answer.
    â€œYou think something’s wrong?” I asked, worry replacing my earlier anger. “That someone’s holding Roslyn inside?”
    That’s exactly what had happened a few weeks ago when Beauregard Benson, a vampire drug dealer, held Roslyn hostage and forced her to lure me over to the nightclub.
    â€œI’m sure that Roslyn is fine,” Finn said. “Not everything in life is part of a dastardly plot against you, Gin.”
    I gave him a flat look.
    He sighed. “But, given your past experiences, I suppose that it wouldn’t hurt to check and make sure that everything’s kosher.” He held out his hand. “If you will be so kind?”
    Just like Madeline, I was an elemental with powerful magic. And, just like Madeline, I had a rare talent—being gifted in not one, but two of the main areas, Ice and Stone, in my case. So I held out my own hand and reached for the cool power running through my veins. A silver light flared, centered in the spider rune scar in my palm, before fading away. A second later, I handed over two long, slender Ice picks to Finn.
    He bent over and inserted the picks into the lock. Ten seconds later, the tumblers click-click-click ed into place, and the door snick ed open. Finn tossed the Ice picks onto the asphalt to melt away.
    He grinned. “Child’s play.”
    I shook my head and followed him inside.
    The interior of Northern Aggression was dim, with only a few low lights on here and there, and the VIP section off to one side was completely dark. Finn strolled forward, walking out onto the springy bamboo dance floor in the center of the club, but I took a more circumspect route, hugging the thick, red velvet curtains that covered the walls and scanning the shadows, looking for any hint of danger. I also palmed a silverstone knife, one of five that I always carried on me—one up either sleeve, one against the small of my back, and one tucked into the side of either boot.
    Just because I didn’t think that Madeline would strikeout at me somewhere like Northern Aggression made it all the more likely that she would. That was just the way my perpetual bad luck went. I was fully expecting some sort of sneak attack from her, a proverbial knife erupting from out of nowhere and stabbing into my back again and again until I was down for the count and bleeding out. That she’d been in town for more than a month and hadn’t made an obvious move yet only set me that much more on edge.
    Oh, yeah, waiting for the black widow to strike was definitely the worst sort of torture.
    â€œWhat do you mean there’s a problem?” a loud, angry