Iron (The Warding Book 1) by Robin L. Cole Read Free Book Online Page A

glamours of even the most powerful fae, and that is a Gift we are in need of. ” Seana’s pleas rang in my head. “There is a Secret Keeper we must find, but he remains hidden from us. Our sources say he resides somewhere here, in Riverview. It cannot be a coincidence that we have found you here as well. Only with your help do we stand any chance of locating him.”
    I certainly didn’t give a rat’s ass that I was their Obi Wan. I had never asked to be their only hope in some war being fought in some far off realm where trolls and elves ran free.
    “Our High King is mad. He sees enemies around every corner; even in the face of those he once called friends. He no longer trusts anyone—even the words of his own advisers fall on deaf ears. Anyone who dares speak against him is banished, or worse. His younger brother tried to reason with him and voice the concerns of the people. He too was cast aside, a victim of Tiernan’s mounting jealousy.
    “We too have been exiled. The High King has placed a powerful geis upon us that prevents us from returning home. We are trapped here in your world, helpless, and can only listen as others tell us tales of how our homeland suffers. We need to find a way to break this binding, so that we may return home and join the fight to save our people from the High King’s neglect before we no longer have a home to return to.”
    I blinked and looked down. The paper was unfolded, the edges crimped where I clenched it with my shaking hand. Written neatly in the center was a phone number. No identifying name was needed. They knew I wouldn’t be forgetting any of them anytime soon. Honestly, I was kind of surprised—and maybe a touch disappointed—that they had given me something as mundane as a regular ol’ phone number to reach them at. Shouldn’t exiled faeries have had some sort of crystal ball messaging system or specially trained owls to deliver their mail?
    My refusal to become embroiled in whatever mess they were in had been met with surprising calmness. Seana had insisted that I take that note, in case my mind somehow changed or I found myself in need of them, but then they had filed out; quick and quiet-like. Kaine never spared so much as a glance in my direction. Seana’s parting hug and kiss upon the cheek left me feeling awkward, like I had just let down my long-lost aunt down. Mairi had brought up the rear, pausing in the doorway. Her words haunted me now, as they had all through my sleepless night.
    “The troll has seen your face, but worse he knows that you have seen his. There isn’t a fae alive who has forgotten what that means. If he travels back across Veil and tells others that a Warder lives in Riverview, you could be in grave danger. He may come looking for you, Caitlin. Please, be careful.”
    I crumpled up the paper and tossed it across my desk, watching it bounce off the fabric-covered wall and roll to a stop next to my untouched glass of water. My mouth was dry, making it hard to swallow, but I had no desire to drink. I felt shaky. I could have chalked that up to the three cups of coffee it had taken to get me functioning this morning, but I knew better. Some things, once seen, just cannot be unseen no matter how badly we wished them to be.
    Sitting around staring moodily at a wad of paper wasn’t going to give me back my peace of mind, in any case. I had no good explanation for what I had seen and even less reason to deny Seana’s ludicrous version of reality. It certainly made more sense than anything I had come up with. All in all, it sucked but there it was—shit had gotten too real, too fast and now all I could do was take deep breaths and try to make it through the day. Preferably without thinking about how vulnerable I would feel walking to my car after work. Or scampering the few feet from my parking space to my front door, through an empty parking lot set down off the street.
    Funny, I had always loved the seclusion that came along with my