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My voice fell to a whisper I’d been so busy just being grateful I’d survived, that everyone I loved was in one piece, that I hadn’t thought about the future-certainly not about ht be able to do with it

Jo-Jo nodded "You will You’re a very special person, Gin, in , but so are you with that iron will of yours It’s served you well, and it will continue to do so"

I just sat there, digesting her words

She hesitated "But I have to tell you that I still see darkness ahead for you, darling, soured as much Because now, I’m not only the Spider, but I’m the woman who killed Mab Monroe too Every ele to track me down and take me out In a way, it’ll be even worse than the bounty hunters They only wanted to turn me in-they didn’t particularly care if I was dead or not"

"Yes," Jo-Jo said "I suppose that it will be worse But it’s not just ele to prove themselves There are a lot of bad people out there with a lot of bad powers And, darling, you seem to attract that sort of trouble like honey does flies But we both know that you’ll be ready for them-no matter what And that I’ll be here to help you, every step of the way Me and Sophia and all the others"

I reached over and squeezed the dwarf’s hand "You’d better believe it"

Chapter 32

I spent the next week recovering at Jo-Jo’s My friends all dropped by at one ti, and Owen spent more time at the dwarf’s house than he did at his own Finn was there too every single day, givingon in the Ashland underworld

Mab Monroe’s unexpected but not unwelcome death had thrown the city’s entire underworld into a feeding frenzy, as everyone sought to establish the bad on the block Bria and Xavier told s, and other violence that soaked the city streets in blood But there was nothing I could do to stem the tide or help the two cops-not when I was still so weak

Jo-Jo made me spend two more days in bed before I convinced the dwarf that it was tiht have killed Mab, but that didn’tfor me sooner rather than later-and bite ht now

The sword zipped by ed to duck at the last second He raised the weapon for another blow, but I was alreadyforward I snapped my hand up and blocked his attack with!

Owen’s sword ainst my blade so hard that he alroith frustration A o, before I’d taken on Mab, I would have already hit hiy I had just to swing a sword at hirinned and rocked back on the balls of his feet "Not bad for a woo"

I paused a h for me"

We stood in the depths of Owen’s ym Mats covered the floor, while mirrors lined three of the walls The fourth as reserved for the rows of exquisite weapons that Owen crafted in his blacksers, knives,here and sparring ever since the day Jo-Jo had lethard-but I worked le day, then pushed a little harder The Ashland underworld wouldn’t stay in a tizzy forever, and sooner or later, folks were going to start looking in my direction And I’d be damned if I wasn’t ready when they did

I used the sleeve of my T-shirt to wipe a bit of sweat off my forehead, and Owen frowned in concern

"Are you tired, Gin? Do you need to take a break-"

I launched h a series of moves Owen parried the first blow, and even the second, but the third slipped past his defenses, and my blade just kissed his throat

"Now that’s more like it," I crowed

Owen’s eyes narrowed "You cheated You took uard"

"And you should have known better than to think that an assassin wouldn’t cheat," I smirked "Especially the Spider"

"Hrunt and used the tip of his oord to gently push ain, Owen put his sword on the ground and sauntered toward me He was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants just like I was, but he wore thehlighting his strong, fir at the hardness that was hidden under there as well Mmm A different sort of heat flared in the pit ofin Owen’s eyes

"You know," heit to the floor "I think we should move on to the hand-to-hand combat portion of today’s workout"

I arched an eyebrow "Really? What did you have inthat will improve your flexibility"

"I happen to be quite flexible," I retorted "You’re the one who threw his back out in bed the other night"

Owen grinned "Which is exactly why I think that you should be on top today"

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss totheir way underbelow the waistband on his pants

"So what do you say, Gin?" Owen said "Care for a little one-on-one action? Think you can handle it?"