Free Blade Dance (A Cold Iron Novel Book 4) by D.L. McDermott

half as smart as you think. He’s cold as ice, the lord of the Fianna, because no woman will ever replace his perfect dead wife.”
    Finn was a widower. Finn MacUmhaill ought to be the last thing on Ann’s mind. She was talking to a livid parent about an endangered boy. Nancy McTeer was part of a dangerous world, and the marks of its violence were plain to see on her face.
    And all Ann could think was that Finn had a dead wife she hadn’t known about. He was a criminal, not a man she should be interested in. He wasn’t even really a man. He was Fae.
    It didn’t matter. She was attracted to him. She felt drawn to him. There was no denying it. And this news made her stomach knot.
    “Ask around,” said Nancy McTeer, smirking at Ann’s obvious discomfort. “You’ll find out. Women in Charlestown still line up to fill his bed, because Finn MacUmhaill has a famous name, but they aren’t half sorry when he throws them out. He’s not soft like that human-lover Miach in Southie.” Now her expression turned frosty. “And he lets the Fianna dispense justice as they see fit, so count yourself lucky that today is Davin’s last day in school.”
    That’s when the chill slid down her spine. “Davin wasn’t in school today, Ms. McTeer.”
    Uncertainty flashed across Nancy McTeer’s bruised but beautiful face. She scanned the playground, now almost entirely empty, and said, “Where is he?”
    “I don’t know,” said Ann. “He was absent all day.”
    “You called Family Services, didn’t you?” said Nancy, eyes wide, the panic raw in her voice. “They’ve taken my son.”
    “I didn’t. You can ask Finn. He promised to keep Davin safe, and I agreed not to call social services.”
    Nancy McTeer shook her head, coiffed hair flying about her shoulders. “I don’t believe you. If Davin isn’t here, then you’ve done something with him.”
    Ann didn’t like the wild look in Nancy’s eyes. She wanted to retreat to the safety of the school, but a child was missing, so she persevered. “Nancy, when was the last time you saw Davin?”
    “This morning, walking out the front door of our house. He was on his way here , to school.”
    “He never got here,” said Ann. “I think we should call the police.”
    Nancy McTeer’s carefully made-up eyes narrowed to slits. “That’s what you would say if you’d handed my boy to the do-gooders. Call the police ,” she mimicked. “Because you know we can’t,” she spat. “If they’ve taken my boy, Sean will come for you .” Now her eyes were alight with an almost supernatural fervor. “Davin is his son. Children are precious to the Fae.”
    Something in her tone finally made Ann take a step back. “I don’t know where he is,” said Ann, “but I do think you should report him missing.” She started to edge toward the school doors. Finn’s talk about Druids came back to her. “He could be in danger.”
    “Go ahead,” said Nancy McTeer. “Run back to your classroom, Miss Phillips. You won’t be able to hide from the Fianna, not in Charlestown.”
    Ann did her best not to run, but she fumbled with the doors and her heart was pounding by the time she was back inside the school.
    She needed to report this. Davin’s disappearance and Nancy McTeer’s threats.
    Ann climbed the stairs to the principal’s office. She could see the lights still on behind the glass. Just as she reached it, the lights went out, which was odd, because it was far too early for anyone—let alone both Principal Foster and her sour-faced secretary—to go home. Ann tried the door. Locked. She tapped on the windows, certain someone had to be in there, because there was no other exit, but no one answered.
    Something wasn’t right. Someone had to be in that office, listening to her tap on the window, ignoring her. Yesterday, before Finn MacUmhaill had shown her that the world wasn’t as rational or as mundane as she had believed, she would have put it down to petty spite or school