I poured myself some milk to wash the bitter taste of car exhaust and questions out of my mouth, then wrapped my hand around the glass and reached for my magic—my Ice magic this time. I was the rare elemental who was gifted in not one but two areas—Ice and Stone, in my case. A silver light flared to life in my hand, centered on my spider rune scar, and cold Ice crystals quickly spread over the entire glass, frosting it and further chilling the milk inside.
When that was done, I grabbed a piece of pumpkin cheesecake studded with chunks of golden apples out of the fridge, topped it with some fresh whipped cream, and sprinkled everything with a bit of cinnamon. I opened a kitchen drawer and started to reach for a fork, but the memory of the burning silverware at the Pork Pit made me hesitate. I didn’t even know the mystery woman’s name, but she was already getting inside my head.
I grumbled at myself for my own paranoid foolishness, then grabbed a fork, some napkins, my plate, and my milk and headed into the den to relax on the blue plaid sofa. I forced all thoughts of the mystery women, Benson, Bria, and Catalina out of my head as I concentrated on my snack. The rich, thick pumpkin filling, the faint crunch of the apples, the warmth of the cinnamon, and the light, airy cream made for a delectable dessert—so delectable that I went back for another piece. I deserved it after everything that had happened tonight.
While I ate my second piece of cheesecake, I called Finn and told him what had gone down at the garage. Finn was, well, Finn, especially when I told him what I wanted him to do.
“Do you know how many Richie Rich types in Ashland have black Audis?” he whined in my ear. “I have two myself. It’ll take forever to find the one you’re looking for.”
“Just track down the car. Please? It’s important. I know it is.”
“Fine, fine,” he grumbled. “I’m on it. Sophia sent me the pictures of the two women you saw at the Pork Pit too.”
“Yeah, she copied me on that.” I scrolled through the photos on my phone as I took another bite of cheesecake. “You ever seen them before?”
“Nope, but the brunette is something else. Yowza. Trust me. I definitely would have remembered her.”
Even though he couldn’t see me, I still rolled my eyes. “You mean you would have definitely remembered hitting on someone like her.”
Finn might be involved with Bria, but that didn’t keep him from being an incorrigible flirt. If someone was female, then Finn felt it was his duty to charm the socks off her, no matter her age, attractiveness, or availability. And he was amazingly good at it too. Finn could flirt his way into or out of almost any sticky situation, including those involving irate husbands and jealous boyfriends.
“I might not know who they are, but I can find out easily enough,” he murmured. “At least when it comes to the giant.”
“Really? How?”
“See that watch on her wrist? It’s an expensive bauble. Shouldn’t be too hard to track down who it belongs to, especially since there’s only one store in Ashland that sells that particular brand of bling—and the Posh manager happens to owe me a favor.”
I squinted at the screen, but it just looked like a watch to me. “Everyone in this town owes you some sort of favor.”
“It does help to be popular.” Finn’s voice was smug in my ear. “Although technically, I suppose that it’s your favor, since you were the one who actually saved her and her assistant from that dwarven robber.”
“Nice to know how you’re cashing in my favors.”
“Always,” he chirped, not the least bit ashamed.
We hung up, with Finn promising to roust some unsuspecting manager on my behalf. I dialed Owen next. He was understanding and sympathetic as always, the calm sounding board I needed him to be, especially when it came to the sudden tension between Bria and me.
“Siblings fight,” Owen said. “You know that. Eva and I have had some doozies over the years. We always manage to find a way to get past it. You and Bria will too.”
I sighed and snuggled down deeper into the couch cushions. “I do know that, all of that. But you should have seen Bria tonight. She was practically foaming at the mouth at the thought of using Catalina’s testimony against Benson. It reminded me of . . .”
“Yourself?”
Owen’s voice was gentle, but I still winced all the same.
“Yeah.”
“Bria’s a cop,” he said. “She’s just as tough and strong as you are, and when she has a job to do, she doesn’t let anything get in her way. The two of you are eerily similar that way. Must be a Snow family trait.”
His teasing tone brought a ghost of a smile to my face, but it fled all too quickly, and my gray gaze drifted up to the fireplace mantel, where a series of framed drawings perched.
The runes of my family, dead and otherwise.
My mother Eira Snow’s snowflake, for icy calm. My older sister Annabella’s ivy vine, representing elegance. Their matching silverstone pendants draped over their respective drawings. The neon pig sign outside the Pork Pit that I’d drawn in honor of Fletcher. Owen’s hammer for strength, perseverance, and hard work. And finally, Bria’s primrose, symbolizing beauty.
“She’s always going to be my baby sister,” I replied, staring at the primrose drawing. “The one whose hair I use to brush while she drank invisible tea and chattered nonsense to her dolls.”
“I know,” Owen said. “But you can’t protect her forever, Gin. At some point, you have to let go.”
I didn’t want to let go. Because every time I did, I lost someone else I cared about. I’d watched my mom disappear in a ball of Mab’s elemental Fire. I’d let Annabella pound down the stairs at our house, and she’d been burned to ash by Mab too. I’d left Fletcher to go do a job as the Spider, which turned out to be a trap, and he’d been tortured to death in his own restaurant. So no, I wasn’t letting go. I wasn’t losing Bria too because I’d stood by and failed to act. Even if I was still angry and hurt by all of her harsh words and actions tonight.
“Gin?” Owen asked.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said, lying through my teeth. “I should let Bria handle this one.”
We talked for a few more minutes. Owen promised to come by the Pork Pit for lunch tomorrow, and I told him how much I appreciated him letting me vent. Then we hung up.
I tossed my phone down onto the coffee table, making the fork rattle on my empty plate. I stared at the fork, then at the runes on the mantel, then back at the fork.