Heart of Venom

I glanced down, my toes curling into the soft grass.

He was right. I’d been so focused on getting Jo-Jo out of the salon that I hadn’t even stopped to grab my sandals on the way out. I shrugged and started walking again.

“What do you think you’re going to do?” Phillip continued, moving with me. “Get a couple of knives, go up to Grimes’s camp, and take him out?”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I said. “Except that I’m not going to be so nice as to merely kill him. No, after I get there, I plan on carving up Harley Grimes like a Thanksgiving turkey and leaving pieces of him all over the mountain for the buzzards to find. If they can stomach the likes of him.”

Phillip didn’t bat an eye at the cold promise of violence in my voice. “I can’t say that I disapprove, but Grimes is a bad, bad guy, Gin. He’s someone that even I would think twice about taking on. I didn’t tell you half of the things I’ve heard about him.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for starters, he’s ruthless.”

“And I’m not?”

Phillip ignored my snide comment. “Grimes kills anyone who tries to cut in on his gun-running market in the slightest way. Mab herself used to get weapons for her giants from him, and even she paid what Grimes asked for them. A couple of the Southtown gangs made moves against him in the past, but he killed them all—and their family members. Mothers, sisters, brothers, cousins.” He hesitated. “Apparently, Grimes also fancies himself a ladies’ man. And if he sees a lady he likes—”

“He takes her,” I finished. “No matter who gets in his way. Yeah, I knew that already. I got a close-up view of Mr. Grimes doing that in the salon.”

Sophia! Jo-Jo! Sophia! Jo-Jo!

The Deveraux sisters’ screams echoed in my head, and the memory of Sophia hanging on to that doorframe, stretching one hand out to Jo-Jo, rose in my mind, blocking out everything else. I blinked, and the image vanished. But left in its place was my dark desire to end Harley Grimes’s miserable existence. Once again, that cold, black rage pulsed through my body, beating along like an ominous song keeping time with my heart.

I rounded the front of the house, stalked over to Roslyn’s car, and wrenched open the driver’s-side door.

“Gin?”

I turned to face Phillip. concern darkened his blue eyes, and his golden eyebrows were drawn together, as if he was still trying to think of some way to talk me out of this. His hands were curled into fists, and I got the distinct impression that he was considering tackling me to keep me from leaving. But nothing short of death would stop me, and if I had to hurt Phillip to make my point, well, I wouldn’t like it, but I’d do it, the way I had done so many other terrible things over the years.

Phillip must have sensed my thoughts, because he made himself loosen his fists and step back, although his jaw was still clenched so tightly it made his chiseled cheekbones stand out like arrows pushing against his skin.

Phillip and I weren’t friends, not exactly, but he was trying to look out for me in his own way. So I decided to put his mind at ease—so to speak.

“You’re forgetting one thing, Phillip.”

“And what’s that?”

“Harley Grimes might be a bad, bad guy, but I happen to be a bad, bad bitch. And this bastard has hurt my family for the second time. He’s not just going to pay for that—he’s going todiefor that. Believe me when I tell you that nothing you do or say is going to stop me from going up to his camp and killing anyone and anything that looks at me cross-eyed.”

Phillip’s lips pinched tight with frustration. “Well, if you won’t let me go with you, at least let me call Owen.”

“No. No way. Absolutelynot. This doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

Phillip snorted. “You’re involved in it, which means that he is too. He’ll never forgive me if I let you go off and get yourself killed. He loves you, Gin. He always has, despite what happened with Salina.”

What happened was that I’d killed Owen’s ex-fiancee, Salina Dubois, even though he’d asked me not to. Of course, Salina had been trying to kill me and a whole bunch of other people at the time, but Owen had still had a hard time dealing with her death, especially since it had been at my hand. Needless to say, our relationship hadn’t exactly been a bed of roses since then.

Still, Owen and I weren’t as estranged as we had been.

Since seeing each other at the Briartop museum, he’d come into the Pork Pit a few times to have lunch. We were still dancing around each other, though, still trying to figure out how or even if we could move forward. That was frustrating enough, but I didn’t want Owen involved in this.

“Gin?” Phillip asked. “Did you hear what I said?”

“Owen and Salina have nothing to do with this,” I snapped. “Jo-Jo and Sophia are my family, and nobody— no damn body—hurts my family. Ever. Hell, even if they weren’t my family, I wouldn’t leave anyone to the likes of Harley Grimes. Not after what I saw him do this morning.”

Phillip hesitated again, like he wanted to tell me something else, but I didn’t let him.

“Look,” I said. “The best thing that you can do for me right now is see to cooper. Make sure that he’s resting and getting his strength back. I don’t know how well his magic worked on Jo-Jo, and he might need to try to heal her again. He knows that you believe in him. That will give him more confidence that he can save Jo-Jo if she takes a turn for the worse. And I’m also asking you believe inme. Because I didn’t earn my reputation as the Spider by chance.”

“I know,” Phillip said. “But you shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

I gave him a grim smile. “I appreciate the concern, but in the end, we’re all alone—especially me.”

“Just . . . be careful, okay, Gin? I don’t fancy getting an ass-kicking from Owen over you.”

“Why, Philly,” I drawled, using Eva Grayson’s childhood nickname for him. “It almost sounds like you care.”

“About you?” He snorted again. “Never.”

“Good to know. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with the devil that just can’t wait.”

I got into Roslyn’s car, pulled the door shut, and cranked the engine. Phillip waved at me, telling me goodbye or maybe even wishing me good luck. I waved back, then hit the accelerator and raced down the driveway.

Chapter Nine

I drove Roslyn’s car back to Jo-Jo’s house. I would have called Finn and told him what was going on, but I’d left my cell phone at the salon, along with my knives. The first time that I could remember forgetting my weapons and leaving them behind in years.

As the miles passed, I tried to remember everything that Jo-Jo had ever told me about Grimes. It wasn’t much.

He’d kidnapped Sophia, taken her to his camp, and done terrible things to her before Jo-Jo had hired Fletcher to rescue her. The old man had saved Sophia, and he and

Grimes had fought to a standstill, but Fletcher hadn’t been able to finish the job and kill him. Still, Grimes had kept his distance from the Deveraux sisters since then, on the threat of death from Fletcher. End of story.

I’d definitely have to swing by Fletcher’s house and see what else I could dig up. Despite what I’d told Phillip, despite my rage and how painfully aware I was of how much Sophia was probably suffering this very second, I wasn’t going to go rushing into Grimes’s camp blind. No,

I wanted to be as prepared as possible when I attacked him. I’d have to be, in order to get Sophia out of there alive.

I drove even faster than Roslyn had, so it didn’t take me long to reach Jo-Jo’s house. Despite the earlier