I'd just started forward to find a way up to the balcony when Owen pulled Salina's arms from around his neck and stepped away from her.
"Stop, Salina," he said. "Stop."
She sidled right back up to him, a pleased smile on her face. "I knew you'd come. I knew you couldn't stay away from me, any more than I could stay away from you."
Owen sighed, grabbed her hands from where they had crept back up to his shoulders, and stepped away from her. "That's not why I'm here tonight, and you know it. I came because you threatened to kill Gin. You need help, Salina. You're not well, and I think even you know it."
The smile never left the water elemental's beautiful face, but her eyes narrowed a little at his blunt tone. "I need help? Why? Because I want revenge for what everyone did to my father? For the horrible way I was treated? For the horrible way you let your so-called friends treat me? I don't see anything wrong with that. Besides, your friends are all still alive."
She didn't add for now. She didn't have to.
Owen shook his head. "And what about Antonio? Or Katarina? They had nothing to do with your father's murder or anything else, other than that they were Phillip's friends - but you still used your water magic to kill them. That was a horrible thing to do. It seems like I'm always talking about the horrible things you do, instead of the good ones."
Salina twined her arms around Owen's neck and raised her mouth to his, kissing him for all she was worth. He froze, apparently surprised by the fact that she just kept coming at him no matter what he said. I bit back a curse and scanned the courtyard, looking for the stairs that led up to where they were standing. Every few seconds, though, my eyes flicked up to Owen. I hated being indecisive, but I just couldn't stop myself from eavesdropping.
"Come on," Salina murmured against his mouth. "You remember how good it was between us? How alive we always made each other feel? I certainly do. No man I've been with has ever held a candle to you. I've spent too many nights to count dreaming about you, Owen. Dreaming about coming back to Ashland and being with you again. Can you tell me you haven't thought the same thing? Haven't dreamed the same thing? Haven't wanted the same thing?"
Once again, Owen pried off Salina's hands and mouth. This time, he pushed her away. "I'll admit I've thought about you over the years. Even dreamed about you and how things might have been."
Every word he said was like a dagger in my heart. This - this was how he really felt about Salina. This was how much he loved her, how much he'd always loved her.
"But that was before I knew why you really left Ashland all those years ago," he continued. "That was before I knew you tortured Eva with your water magic. That was before you tried to kill Phillip and then Cooper and Gin. I can't forget that, any of that - ever. Not even for you."
Owen took another step away from her.
Anger flashed in Salina's eyes, and her face tightened. "It's because of that assassin bitch, isn't it? That's why you're pulling away from me. Because of her."
"Yes, I met her, and I finally decided to quit thinking about the past, about you, and get on with my life." He stiffened. "Her name is Gin, and I love her, Salina."
"Love her? You couldn't possibly love her," she snarled. "Not like you loved me. Not like you still love me. I know you still love me. Just give me a chance to remind you what it was like, what we were like - together."
She reached for Owen again, but he shook his head and stepped even farther away from her.
"No, Salina," he said. "Whatever we had was over the second you hurt Eva. I'm just sorry I didn't know what you were really like back then so I could have protected my sister from you and tried to get you the help you need. But know this: our history together is the only reason I'm not killing you myself for what you did back then and everything you've done since you came back to town. You can either get yourself some help, or you can leave Ashland and never return. There is no other option."
Let Salina leave Ashland? That wasn't what we'd talked about - not at all. Looked like I wasn't the only one who hadn't been completely honest about my intentions toward the water elemental.
If it comes down to Owen and Salina in the end, he won't be able to kill her - and then she'll murder him.
Eva's voice whispered in my mind. She'd said those words to me the night she'd told me what Salina had done to her. I hadn't wanted to believe they were true, but it looked like Eva had been right all along.
I stood there in the courtyard, torn between stepping back out into the hallway to find the stairs that led up to the second floor and staying put. Part of me wanted to continue eavesdropping on their conversation, but I also didn't want to leave Owen alone with the water elemental. Not now, when he'd just rejected her. If worse came to worst, and she made a move against him, I could blast her with my Ice magic from down here. It wouldn't be as good as ramming one of my knives into her heart, but it would probably buy me enough time to find the stairs, sprint up them, and get Owen to safety.
Salina looked stunned that Owen was rejecting her, that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. The anger that had been simmering in her eyes boiled up into full-on fury, until her gaze was burning as bright as the bulbs in the crystal chandelier over her head.
"I can't believe you're taking her side over mine!" she hissed. "Do you know what a hypocrite that makes you? Your whore of an assassin's hands aren't any cleaner than mine. In fact, I'd be doing the world a favor by taking her out of it. How many people do you think she's killed over the years, Owen? And for what - money? How cheap."
Owen squared his shoulders. "Maybe that's true, but Gin has a good heart, something you lost a long time ago, Salina. She might have killed people, yes, but she would never hurt a child, and she would never hurt anyone I cared about. I'm sorry, but it's over. I love Gin, and she's who I plan on building my future with. Not you."
My heart lifted at his words, even as Salina's crashed and burned. She stared at him in shock, still not quite believing that things hadn't gone exactly how she'd wanted them to, how she'd imagined they would in her head. Then, all of the prettiness suddenly drained out of her face, replaced by something cold, ugly, and slightly unhinged.
"Very well," she said in a stiff voice. "You've made your choice."
Owen nodded his head, and some of the tension eased out of his shoulders. He didn't notice the devious smile that curved Salina's lips - but I did.
"Guards!" she called out.
Heavy footsteps sounded, and a few seconds later, two giants stepped out onto the balcony. They must have been stationed right outside the door, waiting for Salina to summon them. Even though she'd expected the best, expected that Owen would come back to her, she'd still planned for the worst too. There was definitely a method to her madness.
"Salina, what are you doing?" Owen asked in a warning voice.
"Are the others in position?" she asked the giants.
"Yes, ma'am," one answered.
"Good. Make sure my darling Owen stays here until after I've seen to my other guests. Do whatever you have to in order to keep him under control - short of killing him."
Owen fought back when the two giants surged toward him, his fist connecting with the taller one's jaw, knocking him back. Owen growled and drew back his fist for another punch, but the other giant threw himself on top of him. All three men went down to the floor in a heap of arms and legs. I couldn't see exactly what was happening, not from this angle, but I heard Owen's grunts of pain.
"Don't struggle so hard, darling. You're only hurting yourself. It's most unbecoming," Salina murmured.
Then the water elemental turned and left the balcony.
"Salina!" Owen yelled. "Salina!"
But she didn't order the giants to stand down, and she didn't come back. He kept fighting to get free, even as the other men kept hitting him. They were all tangled together, which meant that I couldn't risk using my Ice magic. I also abandoned my plan of searching for the stairs. That would take too much time now. Instead, I laid my staff down on the floor, grabbed a chair from against the wall, carried it across the courtyard, and put it right below the balcony where Owen was still struggling. I backed up to the opposite side of the courtyard, calculating the height and angles. Then, I ran forward, jumped up into the seat, leaped onto the very top of the chair, and launched myself into the air.
I managed to get high enough to grab hold of the bottom edge of the stone balcony. I hung there for a moment, like a spider dangling in the breeze, and then pulled myself up and over the side. The giants were too busy trying to pin Owen to the floor to notice me come up behind them, knives ready.
I fell on top of one, my blades punching into his back. He screamed with pain and clawed at me with his right hand. I pulled my knives out and plunged them into his body again, sawing through his thick muscles.
The other giant's head snapped around at his buddy's screams, and he lashed out at me with his fist. I managed to dodge his blow, yank my knives out of the first guy, and get back up on my feet. The giant I'd wounded tried to stand, so I kicked him in the head as hard as I could. He groaned and slumped back down on the floor.
The second giant scrambled to his feet and held up his hands in a classic boxer's stance.
"If I were you, I'd be running at this point," I hissed.
He came at me anyway. He swung his fist at my face in a quick jab, but I dodged the blow and stepped in closer to his body, ramming my knife into his chest. The giant screamed as I pulled the blade out and stabbed it into his chest a second time. He put his hands on my shoulders, trying to throw me off him, so I drew my blades across one of his arms, then the other. The giant fell to his knees, blood pouring out of his wounds. I kicked him in the head as well, and he flopped on top of his friend. Neither man was dead, but they'd bleed out soon enough. All I cared about right now was making sure Owen was all right - and stopping Salina.
I slid my bloody knives back up my sleeves and dropped to my knees beside Owen, who was on his back on the floor. "Owen! Are you okay?"
I helped him sit up. His face had already started to swell from where he'd been hit, and blood trickled out of his now-broken nose.
"Gin?" he said, struggling to focus on me. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you. And everyone else here, despite my own best interests."
"What?" he asked, his eyes clearing and his voice sharpening. "What do you mean? What's going on?"
"Salina has a little more planned than just a simple dinner party and business powwow. I'll tell you about it on our way out of here. Let's move."
I managed to get Owen up onto his feet. My lover swayed back and forth, still dazed by the giants' blows. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I had no choice. Salina said - "
"That she'd kill me," I finished. "I know. Eva found the note."
I put my arm under his shoulder, and we left the balcony and stepped out into a hallway. I finally spotted a set of stairs, and I helped Owen walk in that direction and then down to the ground floor, filling him in on what Salina was planning and why she'd really asked all the Ashland crime bosses here tonight.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "Killing all those people is extreme, even for Salina."
"The fountains, the location, the guest list, it all fits. You told me yourself that Salina changed after her father's murder. I think this is the real reason she came back to Ashland - to get her revenge. I think this is all that she really cares about, except for you."
Owen stopped walking and looked down at me. "How much of that did you see on the balcony?"
"Enough." I couldn't keep the hurt out of my voice.
He sighed. "I'm sorry, Gin. Let me explain - "
I held up my hand, cutting him off. "We can talk later. Right now, I have to go after Salina. I have to stop her - "
A scream shattered the night air.
Chapter 30
Owen and I stared at each other.
"Salina," I said, moving over to grab my staff from where I'd left it on the floor by the fountain. "She's started it already. Get out of here! Go!"
Owen shook his head. "No, I'm coming with you. Maybe there's still a chance I can talk her out of this."
I wanted to yell at him that it was too late for that, that Salina wouldn't stop until everyone was dead, but it was something he had to realize for himself. "Come on, then."
We hurried through the mansion and made it back to the side door that led out to the north lawn. The screams had quieted down by this point, and I forced myself to creep up, open the door a bit more, and peer around it.
Several giants stood on the lawn, positioned in the gaps between the bubbling fountains. Each had guns pointed in at the crowd they'd shepherded into a tight knot in the middle of the ring of fountains. Given the incredulous looks most of the folks were giving the giants, I was willing to bet these were the men Salina had stolen from the other underworld players the past few days. The water elemental had hired the giants to murder their own bosses, promising them who knew what to get their cooperation.
Whatever else she was, Salina was exceptionally clever. She played for keeps, and she never did anything halfway. I had to admire that about her. In her own way, Salina was as ruthless as Mab had been. No surprise, since she'd been twisted by the Fire elemental's cruelty, just as I had been.
