My desire to find a quiet area to kill someone had just turned into a necessity. I had to finish Jake McAllister now. He was right. This was his turf, or at least Mab Monroe’s turf, and I had no doubt the Fire elemental would let Jake do whatever he wanted to with me—if I didn’t take care of him first before he could sound the alarm. My eyes swept back and forth over the open doors and rooms I passed. There. That would do.

I looked over my shoulder. Jake McAllister had struggled to his feet. I blew him a kiss. His face reddened, and he lumbered down the hallway in my direction. I stepped inside the room, found the spot I wanted, palmed one of my silverstone knives, and waited. Ten… twenty… thirty… I counted off the seconds in my head.

Jake McAllister was quicker than I’d given him credit for—or just more pissed off. Only forty-five seconds passed before he charged into the room.

“Where are you, bitch?” he growled. “I saw you come in here.”

I didn’t respond. Let McAllister figure it out for himself.

“Hiding from me, huh, bitch?” he laughed. “I knew you’d be running scared of me sooner or later.”

I rolled my eyes at his foolish assumption, but still I waited. Heavy footsteps sounded on the tile floor. McAllister’s shadow crept closer and closer to my hiding place.

I tensed, gathering my strength. If he got away from me, if he screamed, it was over. I had to kill him with the first strike.

Jake McAllister threw back the shower curtain I was standing behind. The Fire elemental had reached for his magic during his lumber down the hall. The power reddened his eyes, and sparks snapped and hissed around his fat fingertips. His gaze met mine, and he smiled.

“There you are, bitch—”

Last words he ever said.

With one hand, I grabbed McAllister’s tuxedo jacket and pulled him forward, so that his torso was directly above the bathtub I was standing in. With my other hand, I shoved my silverstone knife up to the hilt in his chest.

The blade scraped his ribs before plunging into his heart.

Not the best blow I’d ever made, but effective enough.

Jake McAllister’s magic snuffed out like a candle in a hurricane. The fiery sparks puffed away, and the red glow vanished from his eyes. His arms jerked and flailed against me, connecting with my chest. I grunted at the heavy, solid blows, but I didn’t dare reach for my Stone magic to harden my own skin. Any elemental in close vicinity would sense the power surge. Stones were the rarest of elementals, and any magic user who felt that kind of power would be curious about who was using it and why.