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. "
Violet opened her mouth to argue with me some more, but I cut her off.
"You can call your grandfather and check in. See how he is, and tell him you'll see him tomorrow. But if you want my help, you're staying here tonight. Capisce?"
Violet Fox might be a straight-A business student, but her resistance wilted under my cold stare. "All right," she murmured. "I'll call my grandfather. "
"Good," I replied and pushed her bowl back over to her. "Now, eat some more cobbler. "
Violet Fox ate some more apricot bars and vanilla ice cream, while the rest of us plotted. Jo-Jo and Sophia agreed to keep an eye on her until Finn and I showed up tomorrow. The two of us would drive Violet back home, meet with Warren T. Fox, and see what we could do to get Tobias Dawson to back off.
Jo-Jo settled Violet in one of her upstairs bedrooms, while Finn sweet-talked Sophia into going out into the rain and seeing what she could do about the blood Violet had dripped all over the backseat of his precious Aston Martin. Once Jo-Jo finished with Violet, the dwarf took me into the salon, where she gave me a plastic tub. The dwarf 's cloud rune decorated the top of the container. I traced my fingernail over the pale blue paint.
In addition to healing with their hands, Air elementals like Jo-Jo could also infuse their magic in various products, like the ointment she'd just handed me. The ointment wouldn't work as well as Jo-Jo healing me herself, but it would keep me from keeling over until I could get to her. Jo-Jo also gave me a couple of smaller containers of the ointment, including one that looked like a makeup compact and another solid tube of it that resembled lipstick.
"Thanks," I said. "I have a feeling I'm going to need these, if I'm getting mixed up with Tobias Dawson. "
Jo-Jo's white eyes clouded over. "Maybe. Although I don't think the tub will be much help. Not this time. "
Her voice was soft and distant, like she was somewhere far away instead of standing in front of me. In addition to her healing powers, Jo-Jo also had a bit of precognition.
Most Airs did. They could read vibrations and feelings in the wind just like I could in whatever stone was near me.
But where my element whispered to me of the past, theirs often hinted at the future. Another way the two elements opposed each other.
After a moment, Jo-Jo's eyes cleared, and she stared at me. "So, are we ever going to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" I asked, sliding the compact and lipstick tube into my jeans pocket.
"That folder I gave you. The one Fletcher spent so long working on. "
I grimaced. Jo-Jo had been the one who'd given me the folder about my murdered family two months ago soon after Fletcher's funeral. The dwarf had told me to come talk to her about the information when I was ready.
Something else I hadn't done yet.
"What's there to talk about?" I shrugged. "For some reason, Fletcher Lane knew who I really was all along, and he never said a word to me about it. Instead, he spent his free time compiling all the info he could on my dead family, like I was another one of his targets. Some hit he was trying to figure out how to do. The old man gives the folder to you, then gets murdered before he can tell me about it - or what the hell he wanted me to do with the information. I don't see what we have to discuss. "
Jo-Jo stared at me. "Your sister, for starters. "
I snorted. "Oh yes, my baby sister, Bria, who I find out is alive after thinking she was dead for seventeen years. "
"I can understand why you feel hurt, why you feel like Fletcher betrayed you. But family is everything, Gin," the dwarf said in a soft voice. "Whether it's the one you're born into or the one you make for yourself. Bria is your blood, your sister, and she's alive. You can't just ignore that. "
"Fletcher left me a picture of her, but he didn't tell me how to find her. Where she's at, what she's even like now. Kind of sloppy of him to omit that information, don't you think?" I snapped.
"Fletcher Lane never did anything he didn't mean to," Jo-Jo said. "He left you that picture for a reason. You'll understand why one day. "
The tone of her voice made the wheels of my brain grind together - just like my teeth were doing. My gray eyes burned into her light ones. "You know, don't you? You know why he compiled that information. "