Elemental Assassin 02 - Web of Lies Read Free

Lance pleaded with his friend.
    “No one’s making any trouble. It’s going just like you said it would. Quick and easy. Let’s just get the money and go.”
    Jake stared at me, the flames dancing in his red eyes matching the movement of the ones on the knife blade.
    Pure, malicious glee filled his crimson gaze. Even if I hadn’t been good at reading people, that emotion alone would have told me that Jake enjoyed using his magic, loved the power it gave him, the feeling of being invincible.
    And that he wasn’t going to be satisfied just stealing my money. No, Jake was going to use his Fire power to kill everyone in the restaurant just because he could, because he wanted to show off his magic and prove he was a real badass. Unless I did something to stop him.
    “Jake? The money?” Lance asked again.
    After a moment, the fire dimmed in Jake’s eyes. He lowered the glowing blade a few inches, giving the girl some much-needed air. “Money. Now.”
    I opened the register, grabbed all the wrinkled bills inside, and held them out. All Jake had to do was let go of the girl long enough to step forward and grab the cash, and I’d have him. Come on, you bastard . Come and play with Gin .
    But some sense of self-preservation must have kicked in, because the beefy half giant jerked his head. Lance left his post by the injured woman, tiptoed forward, snatched the money out of my hand, and stepped back. I didn’t bother grabbing him and using him as a hostage. Guys like Jake weren’t above leaving their friends twisting in the wind—or stuck on the edge of my blade.
    Jake licked his thick, chapped lips. “How much? How much is there?”
    Lance rifled through the green bills. “A little more than two hundred.”
    “That’s it? You’re holding out on me, bitch,” Jake snarled.
    I shrugged. “Monday’s a slow day. And not many people like to get out in this kind of cold weather, not even for barbecue.”
    The Fire elemental glared at me, debating my words and what he could do about them. I smiled back. He didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into—or whom he was messing with.
    “Let’s just go, Jake,” Lance pleaded. “Some cops could come along any second.”
    Jake tightened his grip on his flaming knife. “No. Not until this bitch tells me what she did with the rest of the money. This is the most popular restaurant in the neighborhood. There had to be more than two hundred dollars in that cash register. So where did you hide it, bitch? You wearing a money belt underneath that greasy blue apron?”
    I shrugged. “Why don’t you come and find out, you pathetic fuck?”
    His eyes grew darker, redder, angrier, until I thought the sparking flames flickering inside might actually shoot out of his magic-tinted irises. Jake let out a furious growl.
    He shoved the girl away and charged at me, the knife held straight out.
    My smile widened. Finally. Time to play.
    I waited until he got in range, then stepped forward and turned my body into his. I slammed my elbow into his solar plexus and swept his feet out from under him.
    Jake coughed, stumbled, and did a header onto the floor.
    His temple clipped the side of one of the tables as he went down, and a resulting bit of blood spattered onto my jeans. The sharp blow was enough to make Jake lose his grip on his Fire magic. The prickling power washing off him vanished, and the flames snuffed out on the knife in his hand. The hot metal hissed and smoked as it came into contact with the cool floor.
    I looked to my right. The woman Jake had thrown across the room scrambled to her feet and prepared to launch herself at Lance. But Sophia grabbed the girl’s waist and pulled her back. The woman started to struggle, but the Goth dwarf shook her head and stepped forward, putting herself in front of the customer. Lance swallowed once and backed up, ready to turn and run.
    But Sophia was quicker. The dwarf punched him once in the stomach. Lance went down like an anvil had been