Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

came home a while ago, went straight to his bedroom, and rang for an Air elemental healer to come force the bullet out of his shoulder.”
    “Is this Leslie reliable?” I asked.
    Finn’s grin widened. “In all sorts of ways.”
    I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to hear about more of Finn’s sexual conquests. Not tonight. So I focused on more important matters. “So Slater’s tucked himself in bed for the rest of the evening. Good. Did Leslie or any of your other sources say anything about why Mab sent the giant out here to kill Bria?”
    Finn’s smile slid off his face. “No, but they didn’t have to. I already know.”
    “How—” I started.
    Finn crooked his finger at me. “Follow me. There’s something you need to see, Gin.”
    Curious, I followed Finn down the hallway. Jo-Jo and Sophia stayed in the living room to keep an eye on Bria. Finn walked back to the kitchen, then climbed a set of stairs to the second floor of the house. More cardboard boxes lined the hallways up here, stacked so high thatthey formed another set of walls in some places. Looked like Bria had only gotten the downstairs part of her things unpacked.
    “While you were busy cleaning up, I took the liberty of exploring the rest of the house,” Finn said.
    “You mean you rifled through Bria’s stuff to satisfy your own rampant curiosity,” I corrected.
    Finn looked over his shoulder at me, his green eyes as bright as Christmas lights in his ruddy face. “You’re just jealous you didn’t get around to it first.”
    I shook my head. “Not really.”
    “Anyway, your sister has some interesting quirks,” Finn replied.
    I still couldn’t even bring myself to read the file of information that Finn had compiled on Bria. I certainly didn’t want to paw through her personal, private things like the cheapest kind of thief, especially when she was downstairs, unconscious on her own sofa, recovering from a gunshot wound.
    Finnegan Lane had no such qualms. He loved finding out information about other people, ferreting out all their secret hobbies, habits, and vices—and using them to his own advantage if the situation called for it. To him, it was a grand game, one in which he always came out the winner. Groundhogs couldn’t dig as well as Finn could.
    So I knew there was nothing I could do but sigh and go along with him. “What kind of quirks?”
    He stopped in front of a box with open flaps, reached inside, and pulled out a frilly white negligee. “For starters, she likes girly underwear. Lace, ribbons, soft, feminine colors. The whole shebang. Expensive brands too.” Finnrubbed the silk between his fingers. “Makes me look forward to the future.”
    “For what? When you try to seduce her?” I pulled the negligee out of his hand and put it back in the appropriate box.
    “Of course,” he replied in a smug tone. “And it won’t be a matter of merely
trying.
No one can resist the charms of Finnegan Lane for long.”
    Finn definitely wasn’t lacking in the self-confidence department. But as annoying as he was, he was also pretty good at figuring out what made people tick. Just like his father, Fletcher, had been.
    “What else?” I asked.
    Finn reached into another box and pulled out a small, round sphere. “For whatever reason, she collects snow globes. I’ve found three boxes of them so far.”
    My breath caught in my throat, and I took the globe from his outstretched hand. A charming winter scene lay underneath the smooth, domed glass—a couple of tiny brown horses pulling two laughing young girls in a silver sleigh. Evergreen trees lined the back of the snowy sphere, surrounding a miniature house. But another image flashed in my mind—more globes just like this one, their glass shining like stars underneath a fading sunset.
    “My mother used to collect snow globes too.” I shook the glass and watched the fake flakes of snow drift down and settle on top of the horses and two girls. “She had dozens of them all lined up on top of the fireplace mantel. Bria and I used to go down and shake them, trying to have the snow flying in all of them before the first onesettled back down. A silly game we played. I’d almost forgotten about it.”
    My voice dropped to a whisper, and my fingers tightened around the globe, threatening to punch through the thick glass.
    “Are you okay, Gin?” Finn asked.
    I shook my head, loosened my grip, and passed the globe back to him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    He just looked at me. I