Madeline surged forward and punched me in the jaw, putting some of her giant strength into the blow. That was bad enough, but the worst part was that her skin touched mine, and her acid magic washed over me again.

Once again, I screamed and staggered away from her—and right into Emery’s waiting arms.

Even though she wasn’t supposed to interfere, the giant’s arms clamped around me like a vise, squeezing, squeezing tight. Emery knew that a cracked rib could puncture my lung and kill me as easily as Madeline’s magic could.

I threw my head back in a desperate, half-assed head-butt, and it surprised Emery enough to get her to loosen her grip. But before I could slither away, the giant twisted my left arm, and I yelped in pain as she dislocated my shoulder with that one great, heaving wrench. More delighted jeers rang out from the crowd. They’d be perfectly happy if Emery tore me to pieces.

Suddenly, Sophia was there, shoving Emery away and making the giant land on her ass on the floor. Sophia grabbed me, holding me up while I tried to focus through the pain.

“Okay?” she rasped. “Your shoulder?”

“Put it back into place,” I snarled. “Do it. Now.”

Sophia nodded, her black eyes locked with my gray ones. She reached out and wrenched on my shoulder. I yelped, but at least I could feel my arm again. I opened and closed my fingers, making as tight a fist as I could before releasing it, trying to shake off the lingering shock and discomfort of the dislocated joint.

By this point, Emery had gotten back up onto her feet. The giant glared at Sophia, but the dwarf simply stepped in front of me, crossed her arms over her chest, and gave her a flat stare.

“Don’t worry,” Sophia rasped, still glaring at Emery. “She won’t interfere again.”

I nodded, staggered back out into the middle of the dance floor, and faced Madeline again.

“What’s the matter, Gin?” she crowed. “Feeling a little . . . out of joint?”

She snickered, and several folks in the crowd howled with laughter.

“Kind of sad, Maddie. You always getting other people to do your dirty work. I’m beginning to think that you just can’t kill me yourself.”

“You want to see what I’m truly capable of, Gin?” Madeline said, her voice chillingly soft. “Let me show you.”

She reared back and tossed a ball of acid at me, larger than any of the ones before. I could feel the corrosive power emanating from the pulsing green mass, so I did the smart thing and ducked out of the way instead of trying to block it with my own magic. The ball of acid sailed through the air over my head and slammed into the middle of the staircase. The ivory carpet disintegrated, and the stone shrieked with agony as the acid spattered all over its slick, glossy surface and began to eat right through the marble.

And the same thing was going to happen to me unless I found a way to stop it.

Madeline threw another ball of acid at me. Then another, then another, as though we were playing a game of dodgeball. Acid splattered everywhere. On the dance floor, on the stairs, even on some unlucky folks in the crowd. More than one person ripped off their tuxedo jacket or tore at the skirt of their dress, shucking out of their clothes before the acid started eating into their skin.

I ducked Madeline’s attacks again and again, my mind whirring, trying to figure out how I could best block her magic without completely depleting my own power. My thoughts turned back to the one other time I’d been exposed to Madeline’s magic—when Beauregard Benson had made me swallow one of the Burn pills that contained her power. Madeline’s acid magic had been the secret ingredient in the addictive drug, and it had almost cost me my life, since my inherent power had reacted so badly, so violently, to hers. I’d only survived the drug by using my Ice magic to numb my body from the inside out and block its effects. I could try to do that again now, but I didn’t know if it would work. Because the Burn pill—the entire batch of pills—had only contained a few drops of Madeline’s blood, and right now, she was unloading on me with everything she had.

I didn’t know if I was strong enough to end her outright, but I had to try.

So I reached for my Ice magic, directing it outward, until I could feel the cold crystals of my power coating my skin like a web of snow. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the terrace doors, and it occurred to me that I looked like the proverbial ice queen come to life. My skin shimmered with an almost silver-blue glow from where my own magic was shielding me. I just hoped that it was enough.

I dodged Madeline’s latest blast of acid and stepped forward, determined to tackle her and beat her head against the marble floor until her skull cracked open and she bled out. But she was quicker than I was, and she snapped up her hands again before I could launch myself at her. But she didn’t create another ball of acid or fling more drops in my direction.

No, this time her hands erupted into flames.

A shocked gasp escaped my lips, and I froze in my tracks, my eyes widening at the flickering green flames dancing across her fingertips. But more disturbing than that, I realized that she’d been sandbagging me this whole time, using just enough of her power to fool me into thinking that we were evenly matched and that I could actually defeat her with my own raw strength. Now she was finally letting me feel the full extent of her magic, and I realized just how much of it she truly had.

Madeline hadn’t been lying.

The bitch was even stronger than Mab had been.

More important, she was stronger than me.

Once again, I’d underestimated her. Even as I’d sprung my trap by challenging her to a duel, Madeline had already started to outmaneuver me again. She’d only been playing with me before, testing the limits of my power and my response to her acid magic, but now—now she was going in for the kill.

27

I wasn’t the only one who could feel Madeline’s power. Everyone could see the acidic green flames burning, burning bright on her hands, and all the other elementals in the room—including Bria, Sophia, Jo-Jo, and Owen—could sense her strength as well. I didn’t have to look at my friends’ faces to know that they were as shocked as I was.

Madeline let out a delighted peal of laughter at the horrified expression on my face. “What’s the matter, Gin? Not quite what you were expecting?”

“You are strong,” I admitted. “Probably the strongest elemental I’ve ever faced. Certainly stronger than Mab was. Why, I imagine that you could burn this entire mansion to the ground with your acid flames, if you wanted to.”