Thread of Death by Jennifer Estep Read Free Book Online Page B

and disappeared, probably digging another grave while they waited for the cops to finish up here at Mab’s.
    When I was sure I was alone, I drew in a breath and walked over to her casket.
    The coffin had been spared from the hail of gunfire that had erupted earlier, and its ebony surface was so smooth and shiny that I could see my reflection in the expensive, polished wood—and in the large golden rays that made up the sunburst runes on the sides.
    Up close, the rune was bigger than I’d realized, even larger than the necklace Mab had always worn. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised that the Fire elemental’s rune was featured so prominently on her coffin. More than a few of the grave markers sported the symbols of the elementals, vampires, and others who were buried beneath them. I looked at the sunburst runes a moment longer before wandering over and examining the flowers that had been set up at the foot of the casket, right next to Mab’s portrait.
    There were only two sprays of flowers: a very big and showy arrangement of white roses that bore Jonah McAllister’s name, and another, smaller one that featured crimson-colored orchids. A card said the orchids had come from some floral shop over in Cypress Mountain, but I didn’t see the name of the person who had sent them. For a moment I thought about the mysterious woman in black who I’d seen standing outside the ring of mourners. Maybe they were from her, whoever she was. I’d told Finn about the mystery woman, and he’d promised to look into it for me; but with everything that had happened here today, I wasn’t holding my breath that he’d find out anything about her.
    Once I’d examined the flowers, there was nothing left to do but what I’d come here for: to say my final farewell to Mab.
    I approached the coffin once more, staring down at its smooth surface, peering at my slightly warped reflection in the wood.
    “Well,” I said. “Now that I’m here, I have to admit that I don’t quite know what to say. All along, I thought it would be you standing here in the end instead of me. I know you thought that too: that you would be the one who finally came out on top in our battle. You probably would have if Fletcher hadn’t trained me, if he hadn’t spent all those years preparing me to face you.”
    Nothing happened. The wind didn’t pick up, the flowers didn’t flutter, the tree branches didn’t ominously creak overhead, thunder didn’t rumble, jagged streaks of lightning didn’t zigzag across the sky. I hadn’t really expected any of those things to occur, but that still didn’t keep me from pausing a moment to wonder if they might. The lightning certainly wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibility, given my terrible luck and all the bad things I’d done over the years.
    I knew it was probably foolish of me, talking to the closed coffinof my mortal enemy, and if anyone else had heard me, they would have thought that Mab had fried my brain along with the rest of me. But I did it anyway, just like I always talked to Fletcher whenever I went to put fresh flowers on his grave. I needed to say the words, if only for myself.
    “I know this is when I’m supposed to say that part of me is sorry that you’re gone,” I said. “But I’m not sorry—not one damn bit. And you wouldn’t be, either, if it was you standing here instead of me. Hell, you probably would have used your magic to burn my coffin to ashes during the funeral and roasted some marshmallows over the flames while you were at it. At least I’m sparing you that final indignity.”
    I drew in a breath. “But it’s not really about you and me. Not anymore. I’m glad you’re dead because that means Bria and the rest of my friends and family are finally safe from you. At least, as safe as they can be in Ashland. Still, I have to admit that I’ve felt a little bit at loose ends lately. I guess I’m wondering what happens now that you’re gone, just like everyone