“Well, that certainly was fun,” Finn said in a cheery voice.

———

The five of us stayed on the porch a few more minutes, but Dawson and his men didn’t turn around and come back. When I was sure they were gone, I tucked my silverstone knives back up my sleeves. Then I stepped off the porch and walked over to the spot where Tobias Dawson had stood so I could get a better sense of his magic.

The gravel underneath my feet hummed with so much power it made my skin tingle and the spider rune scars on my palms itch. So the dwarf was a Stone elemental then.

Someone who could control and manipulate the element.

Strong in his magic, just like me.

I wondered if the dwarf had any other magical or special talents I needed to know about—before I killed him. Either way, Tobias Dawson had just morphed from a challenging kill into an exceptionally difficult one. I’d have to take him out hard and fast before he even realized what was happening. Otherwise, I’d be the one who ended up six feet under.

“What are you doing?” Donovan Caine asked, watching me turn around in a circle in the spot where the dwarf had stood.

“Nothing.”

The detective knew that I had magic, that I was an Ice elemental, but I’d never told him about my greater, Stone power. My magic wasn’t something I advertised, and I still wasn’t quite sure what my relationship with Donovan Caine was—or what it would ever be.

Violet Fox hugged her chest with her arms. The brave front she’d put on for Tobias Dawson’s sake had vanished, leaving her round face ashen and sweaty, despite the fall chill. “You didn’t do anything, Gin. Why didn’t you do something? Why didn’t you tell Dawson to back off and leave us alone?”

“Because I didn’t want him to notice me,” I said. “Not here, not now. That would make getting close to him later more difficult. The dwarf barely looked at me. He won’t remember what I look like later, when I approach him again.”

“You mean when you kill him,” Donovan Caine said in a cold, flat voice.

“Yes,” I said. “When I kill him.”

Donovan stared at me. His eyes shimmered like liquid gold in his tight face. After a few seconds of scrutiny, he shook his head. “You know I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you go after Tobias Dawson.”

I sighed. Despite the fact the detective and I had worked together before, we were once again right back where we started. With him clinging to his oh-so-high, moralistic ideals and standing in the way of me doing what simply needed to be done.