Jennifer Estep: Deadly Sting

“Oh, no,” I sniped, letting go of my Stone magic so that my skin would revert back to its normal texture. “We wouldn’t want that. Have I told you how much I hate shopping?”

Finn just grinned and pulled out his cell phone from his jacket pocket to call Bria and report the attempted robbery. I used the long skirt of the dress to wipe my prints off the gun and then put the weapon down on top of the jewelry case.

I’d just started to head to the fitting room to change back into my own clothes, when the two saleswomen blocked my path. They both looked at me with serious expressions. They were probably going to thank me for saving them—

“You know you have to pay for that,” Red said.

“Oh, yeah,” Blondie chimed in. “That’s a ten-thousand-dollar dress you just got blood all over.”

Blood? There hadn’t been that much blood. It wasn’t like I’d sliced the dwarf’s throat open with one of my knives, which is what I usually did when bad folks crossed my path.

I had opened my mouth to respond, when I caught sight of my reflection in one of the mirrors on the wall. Dark brown hair, gray eyes, pale skin. I looked the same as always, except for the flowing yellow dress—and the blood that covered my hands, arms, and chest. Actually, being covered in blood pretty much was the same as always for me. But the robber had bled more than I’d thought, and the fancy gown now looked like it had come straight out of a horror movie where everyone dies at the big dance.

I started to push past the two women, but they crossed their arms over their chests and held their ground. Apparently, the sight of a ruined dress was more offensive than the fact that I had bludgeoned someone unconscious right in front of them.

“I saved your snotty little store from getting robbed, not to mention that I kept that dwarf from probably killing you both, and you actually think you’re going to charge me for it?” I stepped forward. “Keep talking, and this dress won’t be the only thing in here with blood on it, sugar.”

Red paled. After a moment, she stepped aside. I turned my cold gaze to Blondie, who sucked in a breath and stepped aside too.

I stomped past them, went into the fitting room, closed the door behind me, and peeled off the gown. I put it on its hanger and hung it on the back of the door. Now, instead of being canary yellow, the top of the dress had taken on a bright crimson color, and blood had also oozed down the full skirt, giving the whole garment a garish, tie-dye effect.

Still, as I stared at the disastrous dress, I couldn’t help but smile.

Finn was right.

Yellow really wasn’t my color—red was.

I grabbed some tissues out of a box in the fitting room and spent the next ten minutes scrubbing the dwarf’s blood off my skin. After peering at my reflection in the mirror to make sure I’d gotten as much of it as I could, I put my own clothes back on, tucked my knives into their appropriate slots, and slipped on my boots.

That electronic chime sounded again, telling me that someone new had come into the store. So I stepped out of the fitting room and went into the front of the boutique.

Finn was once again standing in front of the jewelry case, but he’d been joined by my sister, Bria Coolidge. Bria wore her usual black boots and dark jeans, along with a light blue button-up shirt. A silverstone primrose rune rested in the hollow of her throat, and her gold badge was clipped to her black leather belt, along with her gun.

Red and Blondie stood against the wall behind the case, arms crossed, eyes narrowed, glossy lips puckered with displeasure. They were none too happy about my sister’s arrival. Even in her cop clothes, Bria was quite lovely, with her shaggy blond hair, rosy skin, and vivid blue eyes. Not to mention the adoring way Finn looked at her. He might flirt with every woman who crossed his path, but Bria was the one who made his eyes soften and his face brighten in that warm, special way. She was the one who had his heart, and Red and Blondie could see it just as easily as everyone else could.

But Bria hadn’t come alone. A giant who was around seven feet tall reached down and hauled the dwarf to his feet before slapping a set of silverstone handcuffs on the robber. The giant’s hair, skin, and eyes were all a rich shade of ebony, while his shaved head gleamed in the afternoon sunlight streaming in through the windows. Xavier, Bria’s partner on the force, was another member of my makeshift extended family.

Xavier finished securing the cuffs, then put one hand on the robber’s shoulder to keep the much shorter man from falling over. The dwarf’s eyes were slightly unfocused, and blood still dripped from the cuts I’d opened up on his face when I’d pistol-whipped him. Still, he surged forward at the sight of me.

“You bitch!” he screamed. “I’ll kill you for this!”

“Sure you will,” I said in an easy voice. “Take a number and get in line.”

Xavier tightened his grip on the dwarf’s shoulder, holding him in place, and let out a deep, rumbling laugh. “I’ll say this, Gin. There’s never a dull moment when you’re around.”

I winked at him. “I do my best to keep y’all employed—and entertained.”

Xavier laughed again and took the would-be robber outside, where a dark sedan with flashing blue and white lights waited by the curb.

I went over to the others. Finn leaned against the case, his elbows on the glass and his face propped up in his hands. He stared dreamily at Bria as she crouched down and examined some of the diamond jewelry scattered on the floor. Red and Blondie were still standing against the wall, although they’d now focused their laser-hot glares on Finn. Not that he noticed; Finn excelled at ignoring little unpleasantries like that.

I elbowed him in the side. “I think you’ve officially lost your fan club.”

“Hmm?” Finn said, unabashedly admiring Bria’s ass. “What did you say?”

I elbowed him a little harder and jerked my head at the two women. He finally deigned to glance in that direction.

“Oh, them? No worries,” he murmured.

Finn straightened up, adjusted his tie, and plastered a smile on his face. Then he squared his shoulders and swaggered over to them with all the confidence in the world, even though anger still pinched their faces. But that was Finn for you—always ready, willing, and eager to tame the savage female beast. Or beasts, in this case.

“Ladies,” he said. “Have I told you both how very brave you were? Why, it was just amazing the way you both kept your cool when that horrible thug stormed into the store . . .”

And he was off, telling the saleswomen just how much he admired their levelheaded gumption in the face of such terrible danger and other such nonsense. He only stopped talking long enough to draw in a necessary breath here and there, dazzling them with smile after toothy smile.

While Finn soothed their ruffled feathers and bruised egos, I stepped around the display case.

“Hey there, baby sister,” I said.

Bria smiled and got to her feet. “Hey there yourself. You know, when Finn told me that he was taking you shopping this afternoon, I didn’t imagine things would turn out quite like this.”

My gaze dropped to the bloodstains on the thick gray carpet. “Me either.”

“Still, you made my day a little easier,” she continued.

“How so?”

She gestured at the store windows, through which I could see that Xavier had stuffed the dwarf into the backseat of the sedan and was now leaning against the side of the car. He had his sunglasses on and his head tilted back, enjoying the warm, early June sun.