Oh, I could more than imagine it. Silvio had the kind of sharp, orderly, analytical mind that I’d associate with a librarian or a researcher. Well, I was going to put that big brain of his to good use.
“You still want a job with me?”
He nodded.
“Well, you’ve got one,” I said. “Start digging. I want to know all about her, Emery Slater, McAllister, and everyone they have working for or with them. Coordinate with Finn. He’ll help you. I want a preliminary report by the end of the week. I will pay you, of course, and reimburse you for any bribes or other expenses that you have.”
I quoted him a figure that made Silvio blink in surprise. Apparently, Benson had never paid him that much, but I knew that any info he could find for me on Madeline, Emery, Jonah, and what they were planning would be worth more than a briefcase full of diamonds.
Silvio nodded, typing down some notes on his tablet. “It will be my pleasure.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, I doubt that there will be anything pleasurable about this, when it’s all said and done.”
Silvio left, with a promise to return when I opened back up in the morning. He seemed almost giddy at the prospect of working for me. Well, what passed for giddy for him, which was a mild smile and a bit of spring in his step. I supposed that his enthusiasm was good, since I couldn’t muster a single scrap of it right now.
My other customers finished their meals, paid, and left, so I sent Sophia and the waitstaff home and closed down the Pork Pit for the night.
I wasn’t supposed to be over at Owen’s for dinner for another hour, so I spent that time driving aimlessly, my mind still on my disturbing conversation with Madeline Magda Monroe.
Silvio was right. She wanted to kill me, and so did Emery Slater. In a way, I couldn’t blame them for it. I had killed members of both of their families, after all, even if Mab was the one who’d started things, by murdering my mother and my older sister all those years ago.
As for Jonah McAllister, well, teaming up with them would be a chance to save his own miserable hide from the underworld bosses who wanted him dead, and it would give him another shot at taking me down. Win-win for the slimy lawyer.
But the more I thought about the three of them, the more a sinking sense of déjà vu washed over me. This time last year, I was slowly being drawn into a battle with Elliot and Mab. I’d eliminated them, although I’d barely managed to survive the deadly confrontations myself. And now the next generation of Monroes and Slaters had stepped up to take their place and continue their blood feud with the Snow family. I’d have to be on my guard now more than ever before. So would the rest of my friends and family.
But brooding about what Madeline might be up to wouldn’t do me any good, and it was time for me to show up at Owen’s, so I put aside my worries as best I could and steered in that direction.
It was almost nine when I stopped my car in front of Owen’s mansion. The house was dark, except for a light burning in the kitchen. Owen had said that Eva was spending the night at Violet’s, which meant that we’d have the place to ourselves. He was probably in the kitchen, fixing a late supper for us.
I let myself into the house and headed for the kitchen, but the area was empty, with only the small light over the stove turned on.
“Owen?” I called out.
No answer.
He must be waiting in his bedroom for me, reading a book, watching TV, or maybe taking a shower. So I headed down the hallway in that direction, my thoughts turning back to Madeline and her acid magic—
As I passed the downstairs living room, the lights suddenly snapped on, making me freeze in my tracks. What happened next also took me by surprise, although it really shouldn’t have, considering that I had been expecting it for days now.
“Happy birthday, Gin!”
My friends and family screamed out the words, blowing horns to punctuate their jubilation as they popped up from their hiding places behind the couches and chairs. A large banner bearing the words they’d just yelled was draped over the TV, while clusters of colorful balloons had been tied to the lamps on the end tables.
All I could do was just stand there in the doorway, blinking at them all with my mouth hanging wide open, like the surprised, clueless idiot I was.
Owen, Finn, Bria, Xavier, Roslyn, Phillip, Eva, Sophia, Jo-Jo and her gentleman friend, Cooper Stills, Violet and her grandfather, Warren T. Fox. They were all there, along with Catalina and Silvio, all of them wearing goofy birthday hats and giving me happy grins. Well, everyone except for Silvio. He looked a little chagrined by the red-and-white polka-dot hat perched on top of his head and the matching horn clutched in his hand. Yeah. I would have been too.
Owen grabbed my hand and tugged me into the living room. One by one, my friends came over, hugged me, and wished me a happy birthday. I grinned and smiled and made the appropriate oohing and aahing noises at the pile of presents on the coffee table in front of the TV and the tiers of frosted chocolate cupcakes on another table.
Finn gave me a smug, satisfied grin. “Did we surprise you? C’mon. You can admit it. You didn’t think that I would throw the party on your actual birthday, did you?”
I blinked. I hadn’t realized that today was actually the day until right now, but I turned up the wattage on my forced smile so he wouldn’t see that I’d forgotten my own birthday.
“Yeah, you got me good this year.”
Owen came over and slung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “I thought you would figure it out as soon as I called you this morning and asked you to come over tonight. But Finn was right. You looked totally surprised.”
“I was,” I admitted, slipping my arm around his waist. “I told you that Finn always manages to surprise me. And he’s not the only one these days.”
Owen gave me a quizzical look, wondering who else I was referring to, but I didn’t feel like talking about Madeline tonight, so I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek instead. Owen smiled back at me, and then we were caught up in a conversation with Bria, Roslyn, Xavier, and Phillip. Then one with Jo-Jo and Cooper. And so on.
Finally, my friends made me sit down on the couch in front of the table full of presents.
“Here,” Owen said. “Open mine first.”
He handed me a square, flat white box. I untied the violet ribbon and pulled the top off to find a black velvet box nestled inside the first one. I cracked open that box, expecting some sort of jewelry, given the shape. It was jewelry, all right.
A necklace—a spider rune necklace.
My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the silverstone pendant lying on top of the black velvet. Somehow, some way, Owen had made a perfect replica of the spider rune pendant that I’d worn when I was a kid, the one that Mab had melted into my hands all those years ago. Not only that, but each one of the tiny links in the delicate silverstone chain was also shaped like my spider rune, although they were much, much smaller than the main pendant.
“Well?” Owen asked, a hesitant note in his voice. “Do you like it? I’ve been working on it for a while now, and I thought tonight would be the right time to finally give it to you.”
“It’s perfect,” I whispered, stroking my hand over the rune, my fingers trembling just a bit. “Absolutely perfect.”
Owen gently took the box from me. “Here. Let’s put it on and see how it looks.”
My hair was pulled back into a ponytail, so he was able to easily drape the necklace around my throat and hook it together in the back. A moment later, the spider rune slid into the hollow of my throat, the slight weight feeling odd after so many years of not wearing it. I got to my feet and went over to the mirror on one of the walls.