"Because you're you-too ballsy and stubborn to back down from anyone. " Jo-Jo knew me too well. Even as Finn got dressed, I took off the vampire hooker's blood-spattered shirt, leaned back in my chair, and let the Air elemental work her magic. Jo-Jo removed my bandages and put her palm next to my wounded shoulder.
A tingle sizzled to life in the muscle under my skin and spread outward. Then another, then another. Hot, warm, insistent, until my whole shoulder throbbed with them.
I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the odd sensation that was nothing at all like the cool caress of my Ice and Stone magic. The forced influx of magic also made the spider rune scars on my palms itch and burn, as the silverstone metal reacted to the Air power. Silverstone absorbed all kinds of magic, and many elementals used it to store bits and pieces of their own power, sort of like batteries they could draw on later when they needed a little boost. Even through my scarred skin, the metal hungered for the Air magic being forced into my body.
"You know you could have prevented this," Jo-Jo murmured, her eyes white in her face. "All you had to do was use your Stone magic to harden your skin. Ain't nothing can penetrate your magic. "
The image of my mother, Eira, then my older sister, Annabella, disappearing into balls of fire flashed through my mind. For a moment, the air smelled like charred flesh. My stomach clenched.
"You know I don't use my magic like that unless I absolutely have to," I said. "It's okay for small things, but I'm not going to let myself depend on it. Not in my line of work. Because the moment I do is when it fails me. And then I die. " Jo-Jo moved her hand to my kidneys, where Brutus had punched me. More tingles spread through my torso. "You're going to have to rely on it one day, Gin. Magic is just as strong as the person wielding it. You're strong. It's not going to let you down because you never let yourself down. "
I didn't know if Jo-Jo was speaking in vague generalities or because she'd seen some smoky glimpse of the future. Either way, I wasn't buying it. "That's all well and good-until the person I'm fighting is stronger than me. "
Flinging raw power, raw magic, at each other was how elementals fought. Testing their strength against the other person's. Sometimes, the duels took seconds.
Sometimes, hours. But eventually, someone's magic always prevailed, always overpowered the other person's. And when that happened, the unlucky elemental was overwhelmed and fell under the onslaught of the other's power. Suffocated by Air, frozen by Ice, hammered by Stone.
Burned alive by Fire, like my mother and older sister.
I shook my head, banishing the ugly memories. "No thanks. All I need to get the job done is my silverstone knives. Nothing else. Magic is too easy. Makes you take stupid chances, makes you think you're invincible, makes you sloppy. I'll use it when I have to, but I'm not going to depend on it. "
I didn't mention the fact I'd already done enough horrid things with my magic to last a lifetime. That I'd killed with it long before Fletcher had taken me in off the streets.
That I'd lashed out with it without thinking, and used my power to crumble the stones of my own house so I could escape from my torturers. That the combination of fires the elemental had started and my magic made the whole structure come tumbling down. That Bria, my younger sister, had died because of what I'd done, been buried alive just like everyone else.
Some of the many reasons I didn't use my power like that now, unless there was no other option. It only reminded me of that darker time, when everything I'd known had been lost in one fiery night.
Jo-Jo finished her work and dropped her hand, but her pale eyes stayed on my face.
"We'll see. "
The front door banged open, and heavy footsteps smacked against the hallway floor.
A few seconds later, Sophia Deveraux stepped into the salon.
Sophia was an inch taller than her older sister, and her body was thicker, with an extra layer of hard muscle. Where Jo-Jo was light, Sophia was dark-as in Goth.
Short, straight black hair clung to her head, matching her eye shadow, eyeliner, and lipstick. Her eyes were also a flat black. Instead of a dress, Sophia wore black jeans, black boots, and a black T-shirt embossed with hot-pink skulls. The skulls matched the plastic ones hanging off the spiked, black leather collar that ringed her thick throat. Even though she was a hundred and thirteen, Sophia had the moody adolescent look down pat.
Sophia flopped into one of the salon chairs and examined the pink glitter polish on her nails. Jo-Jo leaned over and patted her sister's hand. Despite their obvious differences, the sisters were close. Living together for more than a hundred years would do that to you. Sophia gave Jo-Jo a half smile, her most animated and pleasant expression.
"Any problems getting rid of the bodies?" I asked.
Sophia's black eyes met my gray ones. "Nuh-uh. " The Goth dwarf's version of no.
Like Jo-Jo's healing, I'd also inherited Sophia's expertise when Fletcher retired from the assassin business. I didn't know exactly how Sophia disposed of the bodies I sent her way. What she did with them, where she put them, why she even liked doing that sort of dirty work in the first place. But the Goth dwarf could clean up like nobody's business. Sophia left every site pristine. No blood, no fibers, no hairs, no DNA, or evidence of any sort. The fact she baked the best sourdough bread in Ashland was an added bonus.
"Good. I'm going to need you to run the Pork Pit the next few days. " I swallowed the acid that once again coated my throat. "And call the cops in the morning. " I told Sophia about everything that had happened tonight. The dwarf didn't say anything. But for a moment, something dark and soulful sparked in her gaze. It might have been sorrow. Hard to tell with Sophia. She was even colder than I was.
Once I made the arrangements with Sophia, I thanked Jo-Jo for her hospitality and skills, and promised to have Finn wire her the usual amount. Then I stood up, put the hooker's bloody shirt back on, and roused Finn, who was taking a catnap in the salon chair.
"Come on," I said. "We've still got things to do tonight. " "Like what?" Jo-Jo asked.
I ran a hand through my hair. My fingers caught on a clump of blood. "We took some things off the guys at Finn's apartment. I want to go through them. I also want to see what's on the news and what's been leaked to the press. Gordon Giles's attempted murder is going to be a big story, and we need to stay on top of it. " Jo-Jo nodded, her blond curls bobbing. "Well, y'all be careful. Fletcher Lane was one of my oldest, dearest friends. If you need anything, anything at all, just give me or Sophia a holler. "
A grim smile tightened my face. "Thanks. But I don't think we'll need you again, especially not Sophia. Because once I get my hands on the person responsible for all this, there won't be enough left of her to put under a microscope, much less dispose of. "
Across the room, Sophia Deveraux grunted her disappointment.