Black Widow (44 page)

Using that same chair, I whacked my way through two more guards, opening up cuts and bruises on their faces, necks, and arms. By the time I got done with those giants, the plastic seat had cracked apart in my hands, so I ripped two of the metal legs off the chair and swung them around like batons.

Whack-whack-whack-whack.

I slammed the metal poles into every guard I could reach, cracking the chair legs into knees and throats and temples and groins. Moans and groans blasted out like fog horns across the deck, and more than a little blood arced through the air and spattered onto the glossy wood and gleaming brass rails.

“Restraint!” Silvio called out after I jabbed the end of one of the poles into the face of the giant closest to me. “Restraint, please, Gin!”

“What?” I yelled back. “I'm not stabbing them to death  . . . yet!”

At my words, the giant I'd been fighting froze, his fists drawn back to punch me. But apparently, he took my warning seriously, because instead of hitting me, he whirled around and made a beeline for the gangplank on the other side of the boat. I let him go, since he was the last guard standing. All the others were huddled on the deck, trying to find the strength to hoist themselves upright and will their eyes to stop spinning around in their heads.

“You!” Dimitri roared, having finally gotten his breath back, and shoved his toupee up onto his head where it belonged. “I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do!”

With a loud roar, the crime boss charged at me. But instead of hitting him with the chair legs like I had all the guards, I simply squatted down. Then, when he was right on top of me, I surged up and tossed him over the side of the railing.

“Ahhh . . .” Dimitri screamed on the way down.

Splash!

Footsteps pounded on the deck, and I saw Luiz rushing at me out of the corner of my eye. I squatted down again quickly and then, when he was right on top of me, surged up and tossed him over the side as well.

Another loud scream, another satisfying
splash!

My eyes cut left and right, but there were no more enemies to fight. So I looked at Lorelei Parker and Jack Corbin, who were in the same positions as before.

“You two don't want to join in the fun?” I drawled, twirling the metal chair legs around in my hands again. “I was just getting warmed up.”

Lorelei let out a disgusted snort and shook her head, while Corbin held up his hands in mock surrender.

Faint cries sounded—“Help! Help! Help!”—and I went over to the railing. Phillip and Silvio came to stand on either side of me, and we all looked down.

In the river, Dimitri and Luiz were clinging to each other, both of them thrashing around and trying to stay afloat by drowning the other man. Dimitri had somehow held on to to his toupee, which he was now beating against Luiz's face. They both looked like the wet, slimy rats that they were.

I grinned at Phillip. “You were absolutely right. Throwing people overboard is
tons
of fun. I feel better already.”

“Told you so,” Phillip said in a smug voice, his blue eyes bright with mischief and merriment.

Silvio sighed. “Don't encourage her.”

More moans and groans came from the fallen giants on the deck. I tossed my metal poles aside, turned around, and leaned back against the railing. All the
guards stopped and looked at me, wondering what I was going to do next.

“So,” I called out, and jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “Anyone else want to go for a swim?”

Strangely enough, no one stepped forward to take me up on my offer.

B
OOKS IN THE
E
LEMENTAL
A
SSASSIN SERIES BY
J
ENNIFER
E
STEP

Spider's Bite

Web of Lies

Venom

Tangled Threads

Spider's Revenge

By a Thread

Widow's Web

Deadly Sting

Heart of Venom

The Spider

Poison Promise

Black Widow

N
OVELLAS

Thread of Death

Parlor Tricks
(from the
Carniepunk
anthology)

Kiss of Venom

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Estep

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First Pocket Books paperback edition December 2014

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ISBN 978-1-4767-7454-1

ISBN 978-1-4767-7338-4 (ebook)