Iron (The Warding Book 1) (24 page)

So, by the glow of the television, I sat on the floor behind my coffee table watching—you guessed it—more Food Network as I ate an unsatisfying, nuked Swedish meatball dinner for one, accompanied by a full-to-the-brim glass of Chardonnay.

Let me tell you, I had crazy in the bag.

I had just drained my glass when my phone rang. Mairi. For a moment I considered letting it go to voicemail, but she had been really good about letting me wallow in my funk without interruption thus far. I didn’t want to alienate her as much as I had everyone else. I sighed and picked up the phone. “Hey.”

“Good evening, doom and gloom. You sound like shit.”

A startled bark of laughter erupted from me. I had to admire the kid’s style. “Thanks, bitch.”

She made one of those slightly patronizing sympathy noises. “You still in your funk?”

My lip twitched like it wanted to smile. “Yup.”

“Figured as much. You want some company?”

I considered how to answer that for a minute. I certainly wasn’t in the receiving mood, being all sleep-ruffled and slightly ripe. On the other hand, I was lonely as hell. Oh, the conundrum of the hermit. What it really came down to was, would I ever escape my misery if I just kept hiding from the world while letting myself feel alienated and victimized? Finally, I shrugged, feeling stupid for doing so when I knew damn well she couldn’t see it. “Not really, but I wouldn’t kick you off my porch.”

She chuckled. “Figured you’d say that too. Come let me in.”

Funk or no, she reminded me so much of the brash, ballsy teenager I had once been that I couldn’t hate on her. When I opened the front door, she was leaning against the wall of my vestibule, one hand slipping her phone back into her purse. The other held a bottle of red wine. She smirked at my raised eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d mind me bringing a friend.” I took the bottle when she stuck it out at me. The devious look of glee on her face made me smile. “I liberated this guy from Kaine’s personal stock. I know dick about wine but something tells me it’s probably a damn fine vintage.”

I had never heard of it which meant it was a likely a higher price point than the bargain basement booze I was used to drinking. I ushered her into the hall and locked the door behind her. I stopped to grab two fresh glasses and my corkscrew from the kitchen. In the short time it took me to make that detour, she had thrown her jacket and purse onto the loveseat, removed her boots, commandeered a corner of the couch, and changed the channel to some wacky cartoon with a talking bespectacled dog and a kid who looked like he was wearing a white hat with bear ears. Already the room felt less oppressive.

I parked myself on the opposite corner and poured us each a drink.

“Thanks,” she said as she took the glass. She settled back into her corner. She was watching me, her lips—sporting a bright fuchsia lipstick that matched some streaks she had run through her messily knotted hair—pursed. “You mad that I came by?”

As much I hated to admit, her presence had already begun to make me feel better than I had all day. I couldn’t let myself think too hard on that. Realizing how close the odd little fae girl had come to replacing Jenni in my life would bring up those swells of guilt again. Instead, I took a slow sip and shook my head as I swallowed. “No. I think I’ve done enough wallowing for the week. It lost its appeal right around the time it forced me to a Lean Cuisine for dinner.”

“Gross.” She broke into a grin, which I couldn’t help but mirror. Her mirth was infectious. She sobered a bit as she asked, “You still mad about the other night?”

“Part of me wants to be.” I swirled my glass, admiring the streaks the wine left on the side of the glass. I wasn’t normally a red kind of girl, but she had done well in her selection from Kaine’s cellar. “I know you guys tried to get there.”

“We really did,” she said, almost pleading with me to believe her. “I was yelling at Gannon to drive faster the whole time but we hit every freaking light and…”

I held up a hand and cut her off. “I know it’s not your fault. It wasn’t something that could be helped. I’m sorry I freaked out the way I did but…” I balled my fists. “It’s just so damn frustrating! It’s like, every time this asshole has found me, there’s been nothing I could do about it. I just have to sit there like some dumb-shit and hope he doesn’t tear my head off. I hate feeling so…
vulnerable.
”

I don’t know why that was the magic word, but it was. Saying it was like lancing an infected boil. Immediately I felt all of the anger that I had bottled up inside drain out of me. It wasn’t like that was a new revelation. I had had a pretty good idea of why I was so upset the whole time, but saying it out loud—to another living being—seemed to make all the difference. I almost felt dizzy with the relief of having admitted it.

“We’ll find them,” Mairi promised. Her face was stone cold serious. “Gannon has been searching high and low, trying to find out who they are and where they could possibly be hiding. I swear to you, Cat; we are doing everything we can to find them, fast.”

I felt my face warm. For some reason, hearing that made my insides go all squirmy. “Really? Gannon has been searching for them?”

“Yeah, he has. He felt horrible that we missed those creeps.” She tried to hide her smile by taking another sip of wine and failed. She winked at me, leaving me feeling like I had missed some part of a joke. When I stared at her blankly, she heaved a sigh. “Of course, he might just be scared that you’ll take it out on him next time you’re in the ring together.”

I ran through a quick mental calendar and groaned.

Shit. Tomorrow night was our next lesson.

“You think you can emerge from Château de Misery in time for that?”

I threw her a nasty look, complete with scrunched nose. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a hell of a day to try and re-enter the normal world. I knew I was in for a dressing down when I went back to work, and the thought of fighting rush-hour traffic to cross the city and get all sweaty with some fae-fu right after wasn’t exactly appealing.

Although, if Gannon was true to his word, our next meeting would finally be time for me to start learning to kick some butt, instead of just defending my own. If that were the case, then maybe the next time Goliath and his cronies tried to make me feel like a scared little girl, I wouldn’t be quite so helpless. The thought sent a fission of warmth through me; tingling along all my nerves.

I gave Mairi a sly grin of my own. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Chapter Sixteen

I hated all life by the time 6pm rolled around Wednesday evening.

Work had been the hell I had expected it to be. Allison was clearly on her last nerve with me. I had been called into her office even before I could put my purse down to be told, in no uncertain terms, that I was out of sick time. Any and all future absences would be held against me. Her frosty attitude I could take, but knowing that I was one misstep away from another strike shook me a little deeper. I didn’t like my job but I did have a love of gas in my car and food in my belly. I also didn’t think the landlord would accept teary-eyed apologies in place of the rent check, no matter how pathetic I looked while doing so.

So, I spent the next eight hours on pins and needles. Allison made so many trips past my cubicle that I couldn’t tell myself it was mere paranoia. She obviously wanted me to feel like every moment held the potential for a cataclysmic screw up. Her syrupy sweet tone and Cheshire cat smile told me the bitch would use just about any little thing she could to put that nail in my coffin—and she had her eye on me hoping to find it.

After that abysmal workday, I had to fight my way through the special hell of forty minutes of bumper-to-idiotic-bumper traffic to get to the fae house. You can guess how much fun
that
was. Not wanting to add time on to my trip by stopping for food, my dinner instead consisted of two granola bars fished out of my back seat, which I scarfed down while stuck at a red light. Of course, since I was having such a wonderful day already, the second one decided to explode from its wrapper in a cascade of oaty bits and minuscule chocolate chips. All over my lap. I was pretty sure I had missed a few and would be finding embarrassing melty smears on my clothing at inopportune times in the future.

Great day.

Thankfully, Mairi and Kaine were out on the town. I only encountered Seana on my way into the house. She seemed to sense my foul mood, giving me a quick hug followed by a wide berth. They had been nice enough to bequeath me with unlimited use of the spare back bedroom. I stored some workout gear in a dresser there, which made the changing process much less of a hassle. Seana was even made sure they were washed and ready for my next meeting with Gannon each time. My own mother had never been so reliable.

Dressed, I sat down on the bed to tie my shoes—also kept by the bed—and paused. It no longer felt weird to simply walk into the house and putter around it like it was my own. I couldn’t remember having ever felt so comfortable in a stranger’s home. I hadn’t really let myself think about it, but it was fast becoming my home away from home. I wasn’t sure why that bothered me quite as much as it did.

I threw my hair up into a sloppy bun as I jogged up the attic stairs. I was actually looking forward to a little confrontation. My blood was singing with indignation at the affronts the day had heaped upon me. I could use a physical outlet. I could already envision Allison’s smug face floating before me, just begging to be punched. Maybe I could get Gannon to let me tape a print-out of her ugly mug to the punching bag, for a little creative incentive.

When I passed through the door and into the training room, I paused. I was used to the shelves along the left wall being well stocked with the tools of Gannon’s trade: an array of hand weights, some wooden staves in varying length, padded gear to protect the head and legs; boxing gloves, maybe a stack or two of towels for when we—I, really—worked up a sweat. They were the sorts of things you might see around any old gym, so I had never thought to bat an eye at their presence. While I hadn’t been anywhere near up to snuff on the accoutrements of physical fitness, everything there had seemed to have a logical purpose even to my beginner’s brain.

So, I was pretty surprised when I saw that side of the room had been converted into a medieval arsenal. Two long tables had been laid out end-to-end. Each was covered in a black tablecloth, filled with weapons of all shapes and sizes. I walked toward them in a daze. I came to a halt in the front of them, speechless.

Well. Shit had just gotten real.

Gannon stood at the end of the first table, closest to the door. His stood at attention with his arms crossed, as usual. I was too busy gaping at the arsenal before me to notice his expression as I approached. There was no emotion in that butterscotch smooth voice. “Good evening.”

“Not particularly,” I responded with a snort. I hadn’t meant to sound quite so bitchy, but the day had taken its toll. I waved a hand at the display before me. “Though something tells me it has the possibility of getting better.”

He chuckled. “Perhaps. Are you up to starting offensive training tonight?”

That was a loaded question. It was a shade too late to consider backing out, really. I rubbed my hands together and felt how damp my palms were. “Sure. Where do we start? I’m not going to need to use all of these, am I?”

I was too busy scoping out the goods laid out before me to get a good gauge on his expression, but I heard the smile persist in his voice. “No. We’ll focus on one, to get you started. Take your time. Look them over. Pick them up, give them a try. Really handle them and get a feel for their weight. See what feels right in your hand.”

I gave him my best deer in the headlights look. “Wait, you mean
I
have to choose which one to use?

“I like to think it’s more the case of the right one choosing you, but yes. You play a large part in where your training goes from here. Like I said, take your time.” He stepped back from the table, jerking his head in the direction of the stairs. “I’ll be back shortly.”

All-righty then.

For a moment I just stood there, unsure of what to do first. I chose one end of the table and began the slow walk down its length. Some of the things before me were familiar; I had been to enough Renaissance festivals in my life to know what a sword was, even if I had never handled one. I had also had a penchant for knives during my angsty goth years, so those weren’t entirely unfamiliar to me either.

It was the dizzying variety of either that astounded me. Swords and knives of all shapes and sizes seemed to go on and on for a mile. Some more exotic items were mixed among them, though I couldn’t name more than a handful of them. I touched a few lightly as I passed, feeling the chill of their metal beneath my fingertips. I was too overwhelmed to consider picking any of them up just yet. They all seemed so big and heavy, just from looking at them.

I was no closer to choosing my weapon by the time I reached the far end of the table. I bit my lip and did an about-face, gazing back the way I had come. My mind was whirling. None of the weapons looked new; well taken care of, yes but certainly not new. Gannon had told me to pick one at random, which meant he likely felt comfortable teaching me any of them. The implications of his skill grew by leaps and bounds in my brain. Goddamn, Mairi was right. I really couldn’t have found a better teacher.