In addition to being my best friend, Finn was the son of my mentor, Fletcher Lane, the old man who’d taken me in off the streets years ago. An assassin himself, Fletcher had taught me everything I knew about my former profession. Finn was like a brother to me and one of the few people I trusted since the old man’s murder a couple of months ago. Even though I’d retired from being the assassin the Spider, Finn was also my handler now, for lack of a better word. I might not be dealing in the shady side of life anymore, but Finn kept me informed of any goings-on that might impact me — as well as his own lucrative schemes in the corporate world of investment banking that he inhabited.
Finnegan Lane squatted down beside me and stared into my face. His green eyes swept over my bloody features, analyzing and assessing the damage just like his father, Fletcher, would have done once upon a time.
“Geez,” Finn said. “I thought you looked bad yesterday. You look like shit tonight.”
“Great to see you too, Finn,” I replied in a dry tone. “Yesterday I just had the flu. As you can see, it’s turned into something a bit more serious.”
“Indeed,” Finn murmured. “Indeed. And you can tell me all about it later. Right now, we need to get you out of here. Xavier, if you would be so kind?”
The giant nodded, put his free hand under my legs, and scooped me up into the air the way a child might pick up a wayward puppy. Finn held out his arms, and Xavier passed me over to him. They were being as easy and gentle as they could, but the movements hurt. Pain tightened my chest again, making it hard to breathe. Felt like one of my cracked ribs was scraping against my lungs. More blood also pooled in my mouth, but I swallowed it down. I was in enough agony already. I didn’t want to have to listen to Finn bitch about me spewing blood all over his precious suit too. At this point, my ears were just about the only part of me that didn’t burn with pain.
Finn turned toward the crime scene tape, but Bria got to her feet and stepped in front of him.
“Hold it,” she snapped. “She’s not going anywhere. The paramedics aren’t here yet, and she needs medical attention.”
Finn did what he always did when confronted by an angry woman — he checked out her boobs. His green eyes landed on Bria’s breasts, analyzing and assessing them just the way he had my injuries a moment before. His lips curled back into a wolfish grin at the sight. If I’d felt stronger, I would have punched him for ogling my sister.
Once Finn got his fill of Bria’s breasts, his green gaze drifted up to her face to check out the rest of the perky package. He’d seen the same photograph of Bria that I had. It took him a second to recognize her, but when he did, Finn’s smile cracked, then flaked off his face like old paint. He blinked a couple of times, trying to make sure he was seeing exactly what he thought he was. When he realized that it really was Bria, Finn immediately looked down at me to see if I’d noticed her, if I’d recognized her. I nodded the tiniest bit to him.
“She’s not going anywhere. The paramedics aren’t here yet,” Bria repeated and stabbed her finger into Finn’s shoulder for emphasis.
That got Finn’s attention. He didn’t like anyone messing with his clothes, unless they were female and taking them off him. “I’m taking her to an Air elemental healer, and she’s going to get the best medical attention there is in Ashland as soon as I get her out of here,” Finn snapped. “Gin is my sister, and she’s coming with me. So back off, copper.”
Back off, copper? Geez. Finn had been watching too many old crime movies with Sophia Deveraux.
Bria’s blue eyes narrowed. “Why don’t we leave it up to Gin? See what she wants to do?”
Finn narrowed his own eyes in response. “Fine. She’ll tell you herself that she’s coming with me, detective.”
The two of them glared at each other another moment, before staring at me. Finn, his features pinched tight. Bria, looking just as serious as he did. The man I considered my brother and my long-lost baby sister. Emotions welled up in my chest, making it hard to breathe. Or maybe the sensation was just from all the internal bleeding I was suffering from tonight. Either way, it hurt.
But I really only had one choice in the end. Finn was my foster brother, my closest confidant, my best friend, the one person I trusted above all others. Bria was a mercurial ghost from my past, a stranger with an angel’s cold face. Gotta dance with the one who brung ya.
“Finn. I want… to go with Finn.” For more reasons than one, it pained me to force out the words through my broken jaw, but I did it anyway. Pain and I were old, old friends.
Bria frowned and looked at Finn, who gave her a haughty, smug, I-told-you-so smirk. She turned her attention back to me.
“All right. That’s your choice, ma’am. But before you go, can you tell me who did this to you? Who beat you?” Eyes hard, lips tight. Grim, determined features, but not unkind ones.
Detective Bria was just trying to do her job like an honest cop would. She seemed so… good. So protective of others. So willing to help. For some reason, all that made me proud of her. That she seemed to have grown up so strong. Right now, she still thought I was an innocent victim, instead of someone who’d brought all this on herself.
The absurd thought made me smile, but I don’t think it came off very well because Bria blanched at the expression.
“I… fell,” I rasped.
Against my side, Finn’s chest twitched with laughter just the way Xavier’s had a few minutes ago. Finn was trying to stifle a chuckle. He recognized sarcasm when he heard it, even if I was merely mumbling the words, instead of delivering them with my usual dose of dry, sardonic acid.
Bria’s blond eyebrows shot up. “You fell? Onto what? Somebody’s fists?”
“I fell,” I repeated again.
Xavier stepped closer to Bria. “Let it go, detective. Just for tonight. Gin needs to get some help. I’ll vouch for her and Finn.”
Bria glanced at the giant, then at Finn, and finally back at me. She realized we were all aligned together, but she didn’t rage and rail against us the way I thought she might. Instead, she gave a curt nod of her head. “All right, Ms. Blanco. You fell — for now. But don’t think this is over. I’ll have some questions for you in a few days when you’re feeling better.”
“Does that mean we can go now?” Finn drawled.
Bria’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, you can go now. And if I find out your sister hasn’t gotten the best medical treatment in Ashland, I’ll be charging you with abuse. Got it, pal?”
Finn flashed her a wide, toothy grin. “Oh, I’ve definitely got your number, detective.”
Bria snorted and turned on her heel, much the same way Mab Monroe had done earlier in the evening. She moved off and started talking to the security guard who’d found my supposedly dead body. I couldn’t hear what she was saying to him, but the guy didn’t seem pleased by Bria’s short, clipped words. He scrunched his neck down into his jacket, a turtle pulling its head back into its shell. Looked like my sister was all grown up now — and something of a badass herself.
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad — or what I was going to do about the whole situation. Too many questions, not enough answers. Not to mention the relentless pain pounding through my body like a red-hot sledgehammer.