Finn peered through the silver glasses on his face, looked in the mirror, and fluffed up his wig. “I always thought I’d look good as a blond.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled on my own dark red wig, along with a pair of black glasses.

While Jo-Jo fluttered about, fixing my and Bria’s makeup and making sure that everyone’s wig was on right, the guys stuffed everyone’s coveralls and boots into the duffel bags, then stowed the bags in the bottom of the sunken tub that took up one side of the room.

Five minutes later, we were all ready to move on to the next phase of my plan.

I looked from one face to another. “You all know what to do and where to be. So let’s go end this once and for all.”

Finn held up his hand, and I slapped him a high five, as though we were football players about to storm the field for a big game, instead of trying to take down one of the most dangerous elementals that had ever haunted Ashland. Finn high-fived the others in turn, lightening the tension that had fallen over us.

One by one, my friends slipped out of the bathroom to take their positions among the party crowd. I was betting that everyone would be so focused on Madeline and whatever speechifying she might do that they wouldn’t notice Finn, Owen, and the others, or even me—until it was too late.

Finally, only Bria was left in the bathroom. After me, she was the most visible and well-known among us, and her risk was almost as great as mine, as a cop strolling into a ballroom full of criminals. Her curly black wig and black glasses wouldn’t fool people forever, no more than my disguise would. But Bria was more than happy to face the danger with me, and my heart swelled with love for her.

“Well,” she said, “this is it. Are you sure you want to do this, Gin? There’s no going back, after tonight.”

I nodded. “I’m sure. I think we both know that things have been building toward this for a long time now. Besides, Madeline tried to fuck us all over every which way she could. I want to return the favor tonight—in spades.”

Bria grinned. “Well, then,” she drawled, “far be it for me to keep you from your grand entrance.”

I grinned back. “What can I say? Finn has taught me well.”

She laughed and slipped out of the room. I gave her three minutes to get into position, then left the bathroom behind myself.

As I moved through the halls, I couldn’t help but think of the last time I’d been inside the mansion—the night I’d killed Jake McAllister, Jonah’s son. I hadn’t said anything to the others, but I’d dumped his body into the sunken tub in the same bathroom that we’d all just changed in. Oh, the irony.

The corridors were quiet, making the trill of music and murmur of conversation coming from the ballroom seem all the louder. All around me, the stone of the mansion whispered of money and power, things that Madeline had in abundance, just like Mab before her. But even more prominent were the sharp, almost gleeful cackles of death, doom, and destruction, all the things that Madeline delighted in causing, even more so than her mother before her.

Even though we’d taken care of most of the guards, I still kept an eye out, in case one was roaming around that we’d missed. But I made it to one of the corridors that led into the ballroom without any problems.

Still hidden in the shadows, I paused, thinking about what lay ahead of me. Not only a confrontation with Madeline, but the things that would happen afterward, should I survive the acid elemental’s magic and wrath.

Maybe my words to Bria were truer than I’d realized. Maybe this day had been coming ever since I’d killed Mab back in the winter. Maybe it had even started all those years ago the night she’d murdered my mom and Annabella. Maybe it had been inevitable, even back then, from the very beginning.

Either way, here I was, and now it was time to take the final step, in more ways than one. So I raised my chin, squared my shoulders, and marched into the ballroom—to either my doom or my destiny.

24

In some ways, the grand ballroom was exactly the same as the last time I’d been here. Since it served as the junction for the three wings of the mansion, the ballroom covered an enormous space and featured a wide staircase that led to the upper floors. An orchestra played off to one side, next to a series of French doors that led out to a terrace, while people danced, drank, and drifted from one clique to another on the marble floor.

But in other ways, things were completely different. Back when Mab was still alive, shades of red had dominated the ballroom, with rubies and garnets burning in the chandeliers overhead and a scarlet carpet stretching up the staircase. But now everything was a cool white or an even colder crystal, from the white marble floor to the diamond-crusted chandeliers to the ivory carpet that covered the stairs. White orchids perched in cut-crystal vases, while others twined up through the columns in the staircase, along with white lights. It all made for a beautiful, elegant display.

The only real splashes of color in the ballroom were the people who’d answered Madeline’s summons. The crowd was exactly what I expected it to be. Men and women dressed in their absolute best, the impressive jewels adorning their fingers, wrists, and throats glittering even more than their sequin-studded clothes did. The remainder of Madeline’s giant guards circulated through the ballroom, all dressed as waiters and handing out flutes of champagne, along with various bite-size delicacies arranged on silver platters.

The guests all talked and laughed and smiled at each other, but the soft lights couldn’t quite smooth out the worry lines in their faces, and the orchestra music couldn’t quite drown out the false notes in their forced chuckles. A thick blanket of tension hung in the air, one that all the champagne in the world couldn’t dissipate. They’d been summoned here at the queen’s request, and they were all anxious to hear what she had to say—and to see if they were going to keep their heads attached to their necks.

I stood in the shadowy corridor, scanning the crowd for my friends, and making sure that everyone was in position before I stepped out into the ballroom. They’d all slipped inside with no problems. Even I might have overlooked them if I hadn’t seen their disguises earlier.

Xavier was off to one side of the elemental Ice bar, talking to Silvio. Owen was in the next corner over, along with Phillip, in front of the terrace doors. Bria and Jo-Jo were across the ballroom from them, with the dwarf pretending to sip a glass of champagne, while Bria clutched in her hand her purse and the gun hidden inside. Sophia was lurking in one of the hallways that ran underneath the staircase, steps away from the dance floor. And Finn and Roslyn were among the folks standing next to the railing on the second floor, where they had a view of the entire ballroom, and Finn could pull out his own gun and take care of any problems that might arise when I made my presence known.