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What are we doing in here? I murmured, staring up the ceiling fan spinning above my head.
Jo-Jo s face hovered over mine. Because when you collapsed the mountain, it created a gigantic
sinkhole out back. It s already filled in with water. It hasn t reached the house yet, but it might. So we
brought you to the store where it was safer. Now, relax, Gin, as much as you can. Because this is going
to hurt.
Jo-Jo s eyes flashed a brilliant white, and her Air power rolled off her like invisible waves. The dwarf put
her hand against my forehead. The hot pain of her magic filled me, and I knew nothing more.
The next time I woke up, I was lying in a bed that wasn t my own. I felt better, but bone-tired at the
same time, which told me that my body was still recovering from the trauma I d been through and being
blasted with Jo-Jo s healing Air magic. I shuddered to think how much the dwarf had had to use to put
me back together again. But while I d been unconscious, someone had bathed and dressed me in a pair
of oversize black sweatpants, a matching long-sleeved T-shirt, and thick socks.
I threw back the blanket on top of me, got to my feet, and stumbled over to the dresser in the corner. I
stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked the same as always, dark chocolate brown hair, gray eyes,
light skin, a few freckles on my nose and cheeks. I wiggled my jaw. Perfect as always, and all my loose
tooth felt attached once more. However terrible I d looked when I d come out of the mountain, Jo-Jo
Deveraux had healed me all of me.
I d have to get Finn to give the dwarf a bonus for going above and beyond this time.
I opened the door to the bedroom and looked around.
I was upstairs in the Foxes house, from the look of all the pictures of Warren, Violet, and the rest of
their family on the walls. I headed right and padded down a set of narrow stairs. I d just stepped onto the
landing when something shimmering outside through the window caught my eye.
The small creek that ran by the Foxes s house and country store had turned into a large pond. It
stretched out perhaps a quarter of a mile, settled into a new dip in the ground.
Probably right over the spot where the cavern with the diamonds had been. The pond was another sign
of how my magic had altered the landscape, of how I d done this thing without even thinking about the
consequences.
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Fuck, I whispered.
I shook my head and went down the stairs. Soft voices drifted out from the den, so that s where I
headed.
& can t believe the amount of power she used, how much magic she was able to tap into.
I stopped where I was in the hallway. Jo-Jo was talking about me.
I wouldn t have believed it myself if I hadn t felt it, Warren T. Fox replied in his high, reedy voice.
Felt like the whole mountain was going to tear itself in two. Worse than an earthquake.
Gin s only just now coming into the full extent of her power, Jo-Jo replied. She s only going to get
stronger.
I d hate to get on her bad side, Warren muttered.
I waited in the hallway, but the two of them didn t say anything else. So I padded into the den where
they were sitting. Both of them looked at me. Sophia and Finn were nowhere to be found, and Violet
was probably still at Eva s. The television flickered in front of Warren and Jo-Jo, showing scenes of the
collapsed mine, although the sound was muted.
Feeling better? Jo-Jo asked.
I shrugged. Some. I m still tired, though.
You will be, the dwarf replied. It took me quite a long while to patch you up this time. Whatever you
did in that mine shaft, it took its toll on you.
I didn t respond. Instead, I looked at Warren. I m sure you ve guessed by now, but Tobias Dawson is
dead. So are two of his giants. He won t be bothering you anymore.
The old man nodded and rocked back and forth in his recliner. I figured as much.
What happened down there, Gin? Jo-Jo asked. In the mine.
I sat on the sofa and curled my feet up underneath my body. Dawson knocked me out at Mab
Monroe s party. He recognized my magic somehow. When I woke up, I was in the mine with the dwarf
and two of his giants. We were in this cavern, this beautiful cavern. That s where the diamonds were,
hundreds of them set in the stone walls like tiny lamps. Dawson hit me. He wanted to know if Warren
had hired me to kill him. All the usual stuff.
What did you say? Warren asked.
I smiled. I told him I was working for Mab Monroe. That she wanted him dead.
Something sparked in Jo-Jo s eyes, but she masked the emotion before I could figure out what it was.
Then what happened? Jo-Jo asked.
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I shrugged. I figured I wasn t getting out of there alive and that I might as well take Dawson and his
goons with me. So I used my Stone and Ice magic to collapse the ceiling. That s why he needed your
land, Warren. The cavern was right under the creek, and the ceiling was too fragile for him to go ahead
and mine the diamonds without you knowing about it.
Warren nodded.
After the dust settled, I was still alive, and they weren t. So I looked for a way out of the cavern, and I
found one. End of story.
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