For a moment, my eyes met the dwarf ’s. Panic, fear, pain, and awe flashed in Tobias Dawson’s gaze. And then he was gone, swallowed up by the falling rock, rushing water, and suffocating dust. I curled into a tight ball and huddled in the wall recess as the earth and stone shook around me. The stones’ vibrations roared a violent, unending scream inside my head. I’d shattered the cavern ceiling with my magic, caused it as much pain as Dawson and his mining equipment ever had. The sound made my stomach clench. But it had been the stone or me, and I’d choose me every single time.

So I closed my eyes and listened to the stone wail as the cavern collapsed on top of me.

31

31

I huddled in my usual hiding place, a small crack in the alley wall behind the Pork Pit. The enclosed space always made me feel safe. Secure. Perhaps it was because I knew no one could squeeze in here after me—especially someone as big as the giant I’d just killed.

Half an hour had passed since Douglas had forced his way into the restaurant and attacked Fletcher and Finn. My tears were gone, but blood still coated my hands from where I’d killed the giant. I scratched my fingernail across my skin, leaving a white mark in the rusty brown stains. I’d done it again. Killed again. Just like I had the night the Fire elemental had murdered my family, and I’d collapsed my own house down on top of them all—including Bria, my baby sister. My stomach twisted. Somehow, I forced down the hot bile that rose in my throat.

The back door of the Pork Pit eased open, and Fletcher Lane stepped into the alley. The middle-aged man didn’t say a word as he sat down cross-legged a few feet away from me.

His green eyes were as bright as a cat’s, although his face sagged with weariness and pain from where the giant had hit him.

I stayed in my crack, my little refuge, and wondered if this was the part where Fletcher told me to leave—and never come back. He’d seen what I’d done to the giant, what I was capable of. Who would want someone like that hanging around?

“You’ve been here a while now,” Fletcher said in a quiet voice. “You’re a smart kid, Gin. I’m sure you’ve noticed things. Like me being gone so much.”

And coming back with blood all over you, I thought.

I didn’t know what Fletcher was getting at, but at least he wasn’t telling me to get lost—yet. “Yeah, I have.”