I picked up my glass of gin and took a swallow. The cold liquor burned its way down my throat before turning into a pleasant heat in the pit of my stomach.

"What?" Finn asked again.

Next to him, Roslyn Phillips nodded her head in understanding. The vampire had no problem hearing me since enhanced senses were one of the many benefits that came along with drinking blood. Normal human blood was enough to give any vamp excellent eyesight and hearing, while those who drank from giants and dwarves received the great strength of those two races. Vampires could even absorb Air, Fire, and other forms of magic if they had access to an elemental's blood. Besides, this was Roslyn's gin joint, her nightclub. She'd had years to grow accustomed to the noise level.

She leaned forward and put her mouth close to his ear. "Gin wants to know the name of Bria's source."

Finn's face cleared, and he held up his martini glass. "After I finish my drink."

I gave him a sour look and sat back in my side of the booth that we were parked in. Instead of pressing the issue, I contented myself with another swig of gin. From past experience, I knew that absolutely nothing could convince Finn to do something before he was good and ready. The man was stubbornly implacable that way.

Across from me, an amused smile lifted Roslyn's lips. She'd been around Finn long enough to appreciate and sympathize with my dilemma, especially since the two of them had been friends with benefits for years, before she'd gotten serious with Xavier a few months ago.

If Bria was beautiful, then Roslyn Phillips was simply extraordinary. Everything about her was exceptional, from the creamy smoothness of her toffee-colored skin to the bright, matching color of her eyes to the way the cut of her sleek black hair framed her stunning features. Her body was just perfection itself, with toned muscles and svelte proportions that would put any supermodel to shame. Tonight, the vamp wore a tight, fitted, scarlet pantsuit that outlined her figure in a way that was somehow sexier than the skimpiest lingerie could be. Lots of hungry eyes strayed in Roslyn's direction, but she was one of the few things not on the club's menu.

Like so many vampires in Ashland, Roslyn had spent a good part of her life hooking on the Southtown streets before she'd saved enough money to become an uptown girl and start Northern Aggression. Vampires pretty much had the corner on the skin trade in Ashland. All vamps needed blood to live, of course, just the way that humans needed food and vitamins. But for some of them, having sex was just as good as downing a pint of O-positive and gave them a great, healthy high. Besides, vamps could live a long time, and prostitution was the world's oldest profession. It was always nice to have a skill to fall back on, especially given these tough economic times.

I finished my drink, pushed the glass aside, and looked at Bria.

My sister sat at the end of the Ice bar, nursing a mojito. She wore the same clothes that she'd had on earlier, although she'd tucked her detective's badge and her gun into her coat pocket. Bria's outfit was chaste compared to the skimpy clothes that the women on the dance floor sported, her demeanor nunlike when contrasted with those who openly made out with or even fucked their paramours in and under the club's booths and tables. But my sister still got her share of attention. Every other minute, some guy would sidle up and offer to buy her a drink, but Bria always shook her head and declined.

I wasn't the only one who noticed Bria's popularity. Finn stared at my sister as well, his mouth tightening as a handsome man wearing a three-piece suit tried to buy her another mojito. Finn grumbled something under his breath.

I hid a grin and continued scanning the area around the bar. Finally, my eyes landed on the woman standing behind it. The Ice elemental responsible for making sure that the bar stayed in one piece for the night, given all the bodies pressed up against it and the accompanying heat that went with them. The elemental's eyes glowed a dim blue as she sent a trickle of her power into the bar. Even across the room, I could feel the cool caress of her magic. It made me want to reach for my own Ice magic-and think about the last time I'd been here at Northern Aggression.

"How are Vinnie and Natasha doing?" I asked Roslyn.

"Good," Roslyn said. "Real good. I hooked Vinnie up with a job tending bar in a club in Savannah. He's liking the warmer weather down there, especially this time of year, and Natasha's doing well in school. Vinnie said to tell you hello, Gin. He said that if you're ever in Savannah, the drinks are on him."

I nodded. Vinnie Volga was the Ice elemental who used to tend bar for Roslyn-until Mab had blackmailed him into spying on the vampire in an effort to find me, the Spider. Mab had had Vinnie's daughter, Natasha, kidnapped and used for leverage, before I'd rescued the girl and saved Vinnie from being beaten to death by Mab's goons. Another good deed that I'd done pro bono. The only ones that seemed to matter these days.

At the bar, Bria shot down the guy in the suit, who moved on to another, easier prospect. Finn nodded his approval.

I arched an eyebrow. "Are you finally ready to get down to business, then?"

"So demanding," Finn said.

I just looked at him.

"Fine, fine," he muttered, pulling out his cell phone and scrolling through a couple of screens.

After a minute, Finn found what he was looking for.

"Bria's source is one Lincoln Jenkins," he said, talking just loud enough so that I could hear him above the pounding music. "Quite the rap sheet he's got. Dozens of arrests for all sorts of petty crimes, most of which have to do with being caught with things that didn't belong to him very close to houses that had just been broken into."

"So he's a thief, then," Roslyn said.

We'd filled the vamp in on why we were staking out the club. A common courtesy among friends. Roslyn knew who I was, of course. We had a history together, stretching back to last year when I'd killed her abusive brother-in-law and then more recently, when I'd helped her take care of Elliot Slater, the giant who'd been stalking and terrorizing her. Even if we hadn't clued Roslyn in on what was happening, Xavier would have kept her in the loop, since he and Roslyn were hot and heavy these days. The giant cop also moonlighted as the club's head bouncer and was currently working the front door, determining who got in past the red velvet rope and who was left standing outside in the cold. Another reason that he'd suggested that Finn and I back up Bria tonight, since he wouldn't be around to help her if things went bad.

Finn sniffed, "If you call boosting radios out of gang-bangers' cars and swiping rhinestone necklaces out of grandma's jewelry box stealing. Some of us prefer to work on a larger, more professional scale."

Being an investment banker, con artist, and all-around swindler, Finn had far higher standards than most of the crooks in Ashland-and a much bigger ego. He preferred to rob his clients while wining and dining them rather than holding them up at gunpoint. He was rather fussy that way. His twisted version of snobbery was one of the odd quirks that I loved about my foster brother, although I'd never admit it to him.

Finn also excelled at digging into people and finding out every little thing about them, from where they got their teeth cleaned to how much money they had stashed in their safety deposit box to how many bodies they had buried in their backyards. After Bria had told us when and where she was supposed to meet Lincoln Jenkins, I'd had Finn dig up all the info that he could on the small-time crook.

And, keeping my newfound promise to Owen, I'd called my lover as well and told him that I was backing up Bria tonight. The conversation between us had been stilted and awkward, but Owen had seemed relieved that I didn't have my sights set on Mab again. At least not for tonight. I didn't tell him that I hadn't given up on my plan to kill the Fire elemental. There was no need. Owen knew how badly I wanted her dead, how much I needed her dead to keep everyone that I loved safe-

"Jenkins is late," Finn said, cutting into my thoughts. "Ten minutes late, to be exact."

"He's a thief," Roslyn answered. "He probably hocked whatever watch he stole."

Finn snorted his agreement. "Maybe. But if he was so excited and the information that he had was so big, you'd think that he'd be early. Waiting at the bar, smoking a cigarette, drinking a beer, whatever, wanting to get things over with. Instead, he's a no-show, so far at least. Which looks like it's seriously pissing off sweet, sweet Bria."

Sure enough, Bria seemed impatient, tapping her hand on the Ice bar, turning the silverstone rings around on her finger, and continually scanning the crowd-all the obvious signs of a woman being stood up and getting angry about it. Then Bria's hand stilled, and she frowned before reaching down and pulling her cell phone out of her jacket. She held the phone up to her ear, sticking her finger in her opposite one so she could hear the person on the other end. She said a few words, then hung up. Bria didn't look in our direction; she was too smart for that, but a moment later, Finn's cell phone lit up.

He peered at the text message on the screen. "Bria says that Jenkins just called her. He wants to meet outside in the west parking lot. She's going to meet him right now."

This time I frowned. Why would a small-time hood like Jenkins want to meet outside on a night as cold as this one? There was more than enough of a crowd to get lost in, here in the nightclub, where it was nice and warm with lots of booze to consume and eye candy to lust after. I was starting to get a bad, bad feeling about this. Finn looked at me and nodded. He was having the same nagging doubts that I was.

"Roslyn, it's been a pleasure as always, but duty calls," I said, sliding out of the booth and getting to my feet. "If you don't mind, tell Xavier what's up, okay?"

"You need some help?" Roslyn asked, concern tightening her beautiful features as she got to her feet as well.

I shook my head. "Nah. If Finn and I can't handle a simple lowlife like Jenkins and whatever tricks he might have tucked up his crooked sleeves, then it's time for us to find another line of work."

Bria stood up, paid her tab, and headed for the front door. Instead of following her, Finn and I walked behind Roslyn, who opened a door set into the back wall of the club. The vampire madam led us through a series of narrow hallways that made up the outer wall of Northern Aggression-a hollow shell of space that wrapped all the way around the building. The passageways gave Roslyn, her hookers, and the giant bouncers who watched out for them peepholes and access to every part of the building without having to fight their way through the crowd. I'd taken advantage of them as well a few months back when I'd been stalking the people responsible for Fletcher's murder.

Roslyn led us to the back side of the building and opened a door for us. The February cold stung my face, but I welcomed the chill after the overbearing heat of the club. Beside me, Finn shivered and tucked his chin down deeper into his jacket.

Roslyn pointed to the left. "If they're meeting in the west lot, there are a couple of Dumpsters you can hide behind. There's some cracked, broken pavement that needs to be fixed, so we moved the bins over there to keep folks from driving across it and blowing out their tires."

I nodded. "Thanks, Roslyn. For everything."

She nodded back. "I'll go get Xavier," the vampire said and disappeared inside.

Finn and I stayed where we were, both of us reaching into our coat pockets and pulling out black ski masks. Before I'd retired, I'd never worn a mask while working as the Spider. I didn't need to-none of the people who saw my face were ever around to talk about it after the fact. But ever since I'd declared war on Mab, I'd taken to sporting a mask during my nocturnal activities. It was one more little thing that I did to protect my true identity as Gin Blanco-and the lives of everyone I cared about. If Mab found out who I was, the Fire elemental wouldn't be content just hunting me down. She'd kill everyone she could get her hands on who might be close to me. Finn, Bria, the Deveraux sisters, Owen, even Roslyn and Xavier. I might be rather cavalier about my own life, but I wasn't risking the others like that.

Once I pulled the mask down over my face, I turned to stare at Finn. "You ready to do this?"

"Just like Bonnie and Clyde." He grinned, his teeth a gleaming white against the black fabric. "Although let's try not to get shot to pieces tonight, okay? This coat is imported leather."

I snorted, and the two of us moved off into the darkness.

Chapter 9

The Dumpsters were crouched at the edge of the west parking lot, just where Roslyn had said they would be. Finn and I slipped behind the metal containers. The stench of sour beer, fried food, and vomit hung over the area like retched fog. I started breathing in through my mouth, even though the cold air burned my throat and lungs. That was still far preferable to the frontal assault on my nose.

"You know, Gin, this would be a perfect place for an ambush," Finn murmured.

He was right. The Dumpsters cordoned this area off from the rest of Northern Aggression, and the parking lot in front of us was deserted. Someone had made an effort to clear away the snow, letting me see several deep, jagged cracks that zigzagged through the pavement. A cluster of snow-covered trees butted up against the far side of the lot. Next to them, a flat piece of land stretched out parallel to the ice-crusted street beyond. Two SUVs were parked out there off to the right. Their owners must have driven them to the club tonight because the tinted windows were clean and defrosted. The music of the club pulsed out here, but the thumping beat was softer than it had been inside. Still, it was more than loud enough to soak up a scream or two.

The bad feeling in my stomach arched up, gaining force, and I palmed one of my silverstone knives.