Not All Who Wander are Lost by Shannon Cahill Read Free Book Online Page A

children grew. Little Rory took after his father. He was strong and the sea called to him. He could swim almost from birth. His skin carried his father’s coloring, iridescent, but with only a slight tint of sea green. This was easy enough to hide with a glamour. Marbendlars do not manifest tails until puberty, and then only at will, so they weren’t worried too much.
     
    Mariah’s butterfly-like wings were another story. They required a serious glamour to conceal and keeping the spirited youngster grounded was nearly impossible. But their home was far from town and Dealen-dé did her best to make the child understand why she needed to stay on the ground.
     
    For five years, they stayed hidden. But one summer night, Riordan swam too far out to sea and was spotted by a kinsman. The sighting of the lost prince made its way back to his father, who sent his younger brother, Kieran, to bring him home. Riordan refused, but his father insisted. Kieran, jealous that he was second in line to inherit the kingdom, hatched a plan to get rid of his troublesome brother for good. He lured him and Dealen-dé out to sea with the promise of a meeting with Riordan’s father to explain why they wanted to stay in the Human world, but instead, he murdered Riordan in front of his wife and then called up a storm to sink the fishing boat with Dealen-dé locked helpless and dying in the hold. Not knowing about the children, Kieran went home triumphantly to tell his father about the tragic accident that had claimed his brother, and take his place as prince.
     
    After that, Katie took the children in and kept them hidden. She kept them safe and they grew. Little Rory never learned to manifest his tail, but he was such a fast swimmer that the kids at school started calling him Finn, and the name stuck. Mariah learned to stay on the ground and how to hide her delicate wings from the world. They got so good at hiding, that sometimes they would forget that they were different. But something would always come to remind them how important it was for them to hide. Katie would take in another stray from the other realms, or a visitor would come, and the illusion of safety would be shattered again.
     
    High school was hard for Mariah. The constant hiding of her true nature took its toll and she turned sad and self destructive. She got into drugs and trouble with the law. The only way Katie knew to save her was to send her away. She sent her home to Dealen-dé’s family with a vow of secrecy, and they promised to keep her safe. Katie had hoped that she would be better off in a world where she could fly free, but that didn’t last either. One day she just took off. Katie and Finn always kept a hope that she was ok and would find her way home, but it had been 7 years with no sign of her.
     
    Finn went to Wyoming to school, but it never felt like home. He missed the sea. He missed Katie’s crazy house with its ever changing cast of characters. She welcomed him back home with open arms and things had been quiet. Until now.
     
    As he pulled up in front of Katie’s ramshackle house, all he wanted was answers. He slammed the truck door and stormed the porch. “Katie!” he called out. “Are you here?”
     
    “In the kitchen.” Katie answered.
     
    Fury building in his eyes, he quickly found her. “What the hell? Why didn’t you warn me that there was a Guardian in town?”
     
    “I see you’ve met Crimson,” Katie said rather matter of fact.
     
    “Why is she here, Katie, and don’t give me one of your patented riddles. Tell the truth.”
     
    “She’s a Guardian. She’s here to look after you.”
     
    “The hell you say? I don’t need looking after. Tell me you didn’t have anything to do with this.”
     
    “Not much,” she said with a smirk. “She doesn’t know, by the way, if that’s what you are worried about. And she won’t, unless you tell her.”
     
    “Why on earth would I… shit.” Finn looked down at his rumpled clothes