But my decision had already been made. It had been the moment I’d become curious enough to track down Violet Fox and see what kind of trouble she was in, see why she wanted to speak to the Tin Man. Curiosity. Definitely going to get me killed one day. Probably real, real soon.

“Sophia,” I said. “I’m going to need you to watch the Pork Pit for a few days. Maybe help me out with some other things too, if the need arises.”

The Goth dwarf nodded. A tiny smile softened her hard, pale face. Nothing Sophia liked better than handling the other things I sent her way.

“Finn, I need everything you can get on Tobias Dawson, his mining operation, and why he might want the Foxes’ land so badly.”

Finn nodded.

“Jo-Jo, I’ll probably need some healing supplies.”

The older dwarf nodded her head as well.

Violet looked back and forth between the four of us.

“I don’t understand. I thought Finn’s father, the Tin Man, was dead? How is any of this going to help me and my grandfather?”

“Because, sweetheart,” I said. “I might not be the Tin Man, and I’m definitely no fairy-tale hero, but I’m the closest thing you’re going to get.”

12

12

Once my professional help was secured, Violet Fox immediately wanted to go home and make sure her grandfather was okay.

“Forget it,” I said. “You’re not going home tonight. You need to stay here and rest. You’ve been through a serious trauma. Despite being magically healed, you still need some downtime to recover.”

By this point, purple circles rimmed her dark eyes, and she moved slowly, like every motion was an enormous effort.

Violet Fox was about to pass out from sheer exhaustion.

I didn’t add the fact I wanted Violet to stay right where she was so Jo-Jo and Sophia Deveraux could babysit her. The dwarves would make sure Violet didn’t do anything stupid, like tell her grandfather about the attack and have him go tearing off after Tobias Dawson in a rage.

“But what if Dawson sends some men after Grandfather?”

Violet asked.

“He won’t,” I replied. “You said it yourself. Your grandfather and his shotgun can handle Dawson’s men. That’s why the dwarf came after you instead. He wasn’t getting anywhere threatening your grandfather.”

“But how do you know?” she persisted.

I gave her a flat look. “Because I’ve had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Dawson’s probably waiting for his cell phone to ring, for his man to check in and tell him that you’re dead. When he realizes something went wrong, Dawson will be too busy trying to find his own man and figure out what the hell happened to him to worry about your grandfather. At least for tonight. Trust me. We’ve got time for you to get some beauty sleep.”