“All I need is one more minute,” I said.
“And I’m telling you that you don’t have one more minute. Get out of there, Gin. Get out of there now!” Bria yelled at me.
But I couldn’t go. Not yet. I’d blown my cover with Rivera, and I couldn’t leave him alive to tell Hugh Tucker that I’d been here and had killed his men. Tucker would realize that I’d identified Rivera as one of the Circle members, and the rest of them would start closing ranks. So I might as well stay and get the answers that I wanted—needed—about the Circle.
It was worth the risk.
“Tell me about Mason,” I called out, as I crept closer to Rivera. “Is he your boss? Is he the one who runs the Circle?”
Rivera gave me another sloppy grin, but his eyes sharpened, telling me that he wasn’t quite as drunk as I’d thought. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He frowned, as though some odd thought had just crossed his mind. “Although I’m wondering how you found out that I was a member of the Circle. That’s most upsetting.” He paused. “Isn’t it, Porter?”
Porter. I’d forgotten all about Bruce Porter, but he’d driven Rivera to the bank, which meant that he’d come back to the mansion with his boss.
A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye, and Porter hurtled out from behind a bush, catching me square in the chest and driving us both down to the ground. My knives flew out of my hands, but I channeled my Stone magic into my fists, making them as hard and heavy as concrete blocks, and started pummeling Porter.
But he was a dwarf, and a tough one at that. Porter grunted under my blows, but they didn’t do much more than bruise his thick hide.
Then it was his turn to pound on me.
Thwack-thwack-thwack.
The dwarf hit me over and over again. My silverstone vest took the worst of the blows, but I still felt every hard, bruising punch. I tried to wriggle out from underneath him, but he locked his arms around my body and flipped me over, so that his back was pressing into the ground and I was lying on top of him, my arms and legs sticking up into the air like a turtle that was upside down on its shell and couldn’t right itself. I couldn’t even reach down far enough to touch and blast him with my Ice magic.
That was bad enough, but the view didn’t make me any happier. By this point, the guards Bria had warned me about had made it around the side of the mansion and all the way back here. More and more men darted past Rivera to surround Porter and me, their guns drawn and leveled at my head.
Fletcher had a saying: Arrogance will get you, every single time. I should have listened to Bria and left while I had the chance, but I’d thought that I could get my answers and escape too. And what had my arrogance gotten me? Nothing but caught.
“Hit her with the stun gun!” Porter yelled, still holding on to me, even as I struggled against him. “Quick—I can take it!”
Uh-oh.
I reached for my Stone magic, ready to send it rushing out through my entire body and harden my skin again, but one of the men was quicker. He threw himself down onto the ground and slammed a stun gun into my side. Electricity surged through my body, hot and caustic, singeing every single one of my nerve endings and making me scream and scream.
In an instant, my vision went white, then gray, then utterly, finally black.
24
I headed for the canyon, running as fast as I dared through the dark woods. Off to my right, the Snow family mansion continued to burn, but the flames were slowly weakening and taking their precious orange-red light along with them. Soon I wouldn’t be able to see anything up ahead. With what little light there was I still kept tripping over rocks and tree roots, and my bare feet were a bruised, bloody mess that throbbed with every step.
Another rock stabbed into my big toe, making me hiss with pain and finally forcing me to slow down to a quick walk. I glanced back over my shoulder, but I didn’t see the giant behind me, not even the yellow beam of his flashlight sweeping through the trees. I took another step forward and put my foot down.
But there was nothing there to hold me up.
My head snapped around, and I spotted the dark, gaping chasm in front of me. At the last second, I managed to windmill my arms and lurch back away from the edge. My heart pounded, and cold sweat slid down my spine, as I realized how very close I’d come to falling to my death.
I carefully tiptoed forward and peered down into the canyon. But the distant firelight couldn’t penetrate the ink-black shadows down there, and all I could make out were the vague, murky shapes of the stones below.
I thought back, trying to remember what the canyon looked like in the daylight. Wide and deep, with slick, jagged pieces of moss-covered rocks running down the sides and lining the bottom like spikes. But would the fall and the rocks be enough to kill the giant? I didn’t know. I just didn’t know—
Crack.
A branch snapped behind me. I whirled around, my eyes wide, my breath caught in my throat.
Crack.
Another branch snapped, followed by a muttered curse, and a bright beam of light sliced through the trees, quickly heading in this direction. The giant must be following the trail I’d left.
I whirled back around and stared down into the canyon again. Sure, I’d almost stepped off the edge, but I hadn’t been watching where I was going. So how could I trick the giant into doing the same? Especially when he had a flashlight?
Think, Gin, think! I silently shouted at myself again, shifting back and forth on my feet, my fingers twisting in the ruined, tattered fabric of my nightgown—
My hands stilled, and I looked down. Despite the eerie gloom, I could still see my nightgown, since the fabric was so much lighter than everything else in the woods. What color was it? White? Blue? I couldn’t even remember. But if I could see it, so could the giant, and maybe, just maybe, it could help me trick him.
“And I’m telling you that you don’t have one more minute. Get out of there, Gin. Get out of there now!” Bria yelled at me.
But I couldn’t go. Not yet. I’d blown my cover with Rivera, and I couldn’t leave him alive to tell Hugh Tucker that I’d been here and had killed his men. Tucker would realize that I’d identified Rivera as one of the Circle members, and the rest of them would start closing ranks. So I might as well stay and get the answers that I wanted—needed—about the Circle.
It was worth the risk.
“Tell me about Mason,” I called out, as I crept closer to Rivera. “Is he your boss? Is he the one who runs the Circle?”
Rivera gave me another sloppy grin, but his eyes sharpened, telling me that he wasn’t quite as drunk as I’d thought. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He frowned, as though some odd thought had just crossed his mind. “Although I’m wondering how you found out that I was a member of the Circle. That’s most upsetting.” He paused. “Isn’t it, Porter?”
Porter. I’d forgotten all about Bruce Porter, but he’d driven Rivera to the bank, which meant that he’d come back to the mansion with his boss.
A shadow moved out of the corner of my eye, and Porter hurtled out from behind a bush, catching me square in the chest and driving us both down to the ground. My knives flew out of my hands, but I channeled my Stone magic into my fists, making them as hard and heavy as concrete blocks, and started pummeling Porter.
But he was a dwarf, and a tough one at that. Porter grunted under my blows, but they didn’t do much more than bruise his thick hide.
Then it was his turn to pound on me.
Thwack-thwack-thwack.
The dwarf hit me over and over again. My silverstone vest took the worst of the blows, but I still felt every hard, bruising punch. I tried to wriggle out from underneath him, but he locked his arms around my body and flipped me over, so that his back was pressing into the ground and I was lying on top of him, my arms and legs sticking up into the air like a turtle that was upside down on its shell and couldn’t right itself. I couldn’t even reach down far enough to touch and blast him with my Ice magic.
That was bad enough, but the view didn’t make me any happier. By this point, the guards Bria had warned me about had made it around the side of the mansion and all the way back here. More and more men darted past Rivera to surround Porter and me, their guns drawn and leveled at my head.
Fletcher had a saying: Arrogance will get you, every single time. I should have listened to Bria and left while I had the chance, but I’d thought that I could get my answers and escape too. And what had my arrogance gotten me? Nothing but caught.
“Hit her with the stun gun!” Porter yelled, still holding on to me, even as I struggled against him. “Quick—I can take it!”
Uh-oh.
I reached for my Stone magic, ready to send it rushing out through my entire body and harden my skin again, but one of the men was quicker. He threw himself down onto the ground and slammed a stun gun into my side. Electricity surged through my body, hot and caustic, singeing every single one of my nerve endings and making me scream and scream.
In an instant, my vision went white, then gray, then utterly, finally black.
24
I headed for the canyon, running as fast as I dared through the dark woods. Off to my right, the Snow family mansion continued to burn, but the flames were slowly weakening and taking their precious orange-red light along with them. Soon I wouldn’t be able to see anything up ahead. With what little light there was I still kept tripping over rocks and tree roots, and my bare feet were a bruised, bloody mess that throbbed with every step.
Another rock stabbed into my big toe, making me hiss with pain and finally forcing me to slow down to a quick walk. I glanced back over my shoulder, but I didn’t see the giant behind me, not even the yellow beam of his flashlight sweeping through the trees. I took another step forward and put my foot down.
But there was nothing there to hold me up.
My head snapped around, and I spotted the dark, gaping chasm in front of me. At the last second, I managed to windmill my arms and lurch back away from the edge. My heart pounded, and cold sweat slid down my spine, as I realized how very close I’d come to falling to my death.
I carefully tiptoed forward and peered down into the canyon. But the distant firelight couldn’t penetrate the ink-black shadows down there, and all I could make out were the vague, murky shapes of the stones below.
I thought back, trying to remember what the canyon looked like in the daylight. Wide and deep, with slick, jagged pieces of moss-covered rocks running down the sides and lining the bottom like spikes. But would the fall and the rocks be enough to kill the giant? I didn’t know. I just didn’t know—
Crack.
A branch snapped behind me. I whirled around, my eyes wide, my breath caught in my throat.
Crack.
Another branch snapped, followed by a muttered curse, and a bright beam of light sliced through the trees, quickly heading in this direction. The giant must be following the trail I’d left.
I whirled back around and stared down into the canyon again. Sure, I’d almost stepped off the edge, but I hadn’t been watching where I was going. So how could I trick the giant into doing the same? Especially when he had a flashlight?
Think, Gin, think! I silently shouted at myself again, shifting back and forth on my feet, my fingers twisting in the ruined, tattered fabric of my nightgown—
My hands stilled, and I looked down. Despite the eerie gloom, I could still see my nightgown, since the fabric was so much lighter than everything else in the woods. What color was it? White? Blue? I couldn’t even remember. But if I could see it, so could the giant, and maybe, just maybe, it could help me trick him.
