Read Elemental Assassin 04 - Tangled Threads for Free Online

make things easier, make her feel like she was really welcome here. This is the first time that I’ve dated an assassin. I don’t want to piss her off.”
    I smiled at his light tone, and logic. Two more things that I liked about Owen. He didn’t shy away from my past, or the fact that I could kill him as easily as sleep with him.
    “Don’t get me wrong. I like Gin—a lot. Certainly more than those bimbos you’ve brought home,” Eva said.
    “Hey, now. They weren’t bimbos. At least, not all of them.”
    Eva sniffed. “When their boobs are bigger than their hair, they’re bimbos, Owen. Trust me on that.”
    Owen grumbled something under his breath, reached into his box, and threw a wad of icicles at his younger sister. Eva snickered and ducked out of the way of the sparkling tinfoil.
    “So what’s wrong with Gin?” Owen asked.
    Eva shrugged. “It’s not that anything’s
wrong
with her. But she’s the Spider. Like, the best assassin
ever.
”
    “What’s your point?”
    “My point is that Gin’s not the kind of woman who’s going to be ecstatic when you give her a key after a few dates. There’s a little bit more to her than that.”
    Owen frowned. “You think it was too much? Too soon?”
    “Way too much, way too soon,” Eva replied.
    Well, I was glad I wasn’t the only one who thought so, although I wasn’t sure if I wanted Owen taking relationship advice from his kid sister, who wasn’t even old enough to legally drink.
    The two of them strung some more icicles on the tree for a minute before Owen spoke again.
    “I like Gin,” he said. “More than I’ve liked anyone in a long time. That’s why I gave her the key. Because I wanted to. Because I want her to stick around.”
    Eva looked at her big brother. “I know. Just remember that Gin’s not like anyone else you’ve ever dated. She’s not going to act the same as the bimbos, who would have started moving their stuff in and picking out wedding dresses the second you gave them a key.”
    Owen’s eyes narrowed, but a grin spread across his face, softening his chiseled features. “When did you get so smart?”
    Eva grinned back at him. “Big brother, I’ve always been smart. You just failed to recognize my brilliance until now.”
    Owen grumbled something else under his breath and threw another wad of icicles at Eva. She laughed, dug into her box, and retaliated with her own handful. And the fight was on. The two of them slung gobs of icicles at each other, until the air sparked and flashed with the thin, silver ribbons.
    I leaned against the doorway and watched them shriek, laugh, and duck around furniture as they staged their mock battle. Eva and Owen loved each other the way two siblings should. The way I loved Finn. They had the kind of easy relationship I wanted to have with my own sister. With Bria.
    Too bad Bria was a detective with the Ashland Police Department. One who wanted to track down the Spider and bring her to justice for killing Elliot Slater and the rest of Mab Monroe’s minions that I’d dispatched in the last few weeks.
    But I wasn’t here to dwell on that complicated relationship, my war with Mab, or the fact that LaFleur was in town and gunning for me. All that mattered was tonight, and this brief happy moment with the Graysons. I hadn’t had many of those in my life, and I knew enough to appreciate them. To grab and hold on to and enjoy these precious moments as long as I could.
    So I drew in a breath and stepped into the living room, letting the two of them see me. Eva spotted me first.
    “Gin!” Eva shouted, ducking another wad of icicles. “You made it!”
    Owen’s head turned in my direction, giving Eva the opening that she needed to leap up onto the sofa and dump the rest of her box of icicles on top of her big brother’s head.
    “Ha!” she shouted in triumph. “I win!”
    Owen glowered at his sister, before turning and giving me a sheepish grin. With the icicles streaming down his body, he looked