Free The Iron Sword (The Fae War Chronicles Book 1) by Jocelyn Fox Page B

something, taking out a box of granola bars and a tin of powdered sports-drink mix from one cabinet and holding them as I opened the left-most cabinet. I saw the canister of salt, tucked back in the corner. Using the granola box and drink mix to shield the canister from curious eyes, I dumped it all into the backpack. “Hiking is hard work,” I said to Mr. Jackson in response to his inquisitive glance. I smiled innocently, and then my smile froze as the dark-haired stranger turned his head.
    He transfixed me with his gaze like a collector pinning a butterfly to a card. His eyes were blue, but a blue so dark I could barely see the black of his pupils. I dizzily put a hand behind me, gripping the countertop for support as the world seemed to fall away. I knew instinctively that this strange young man was the Sidhe knight—because no man I had ever seen was so stunningly beautiful. I tried to form a sentence, but my mouth refused to function, so I was reduced to a stream of words running through my head, fragmented thoughts tumbling after one another like water over rocks. The word ‘beautiful’ had entered my mind—and although the word normally describes feminine features, it fit the stranger sitting at Molly’s kitchen table. ‘Handsome’ fit, too, but it seemed inadequate. I used the word ‘beautiful’ in my head to describe him because he seemed… wild . An undercurrent of danger hovered in the air around him. I felt it like an electric charge. He gazed at me as I struggled to breathe, his dark brows drawn down slightly over his powerful eyes. Then he spoke.
    “You must be Tess,” he said in a strong tenor voice. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
    I swallowed and took in a deep breath, willing myself to stop staring like a complete idiot. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
    “Of course we haven’t,” he said, the smallest of smiles turning up his perfect lips. “But certain…mutual acquaintances, let us call them...they have told me about you.”
    “I don’t understand why you’d be interested,” I said, feeling the beginnings of anger sparking in my chest. I clenched my teeth, willing the fire to glow hot and burn away the fog still lingering in my mind. “You’re here to see Molly.”
    “Of course I am,” Finn said, that small infuriating smile lifting the corner of his mouth again. He turned to Molly. She crossed her arms, hunching her shoulders but meeting his eyes defiantly. “Molly, can we talk outside?”
    I saw Austin narrow his eyes slightly at that. He was staring hard at Finn, his blue eyes flinty. I had never seen this protective side of Austin before, but I supposed it was innate…even younger siblings felt protective sometimes. I knew that as well as anyone. I tried to catch Austin’s eye, but he crossed his arms and stared at Finn like he could burn a hole through the side of his head just by glaring. I took a breath and squared my shoulders, firmly tamping down the overwhelming weakness jellying my knees. “Well,” I said in the best friendly voice I could muster, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I came with you and Molly. I think we had a class together sophomore year, now that I think of it…”
    I saw the small movement of Finn’s eyebrow again—just a fraction of an arch, but enough to show his amusement. “Yes,” he said, taking a few steps closer to me. The air suddenly condensed around me, making it very hard to breathe again. I stood very straight and stuck my chin out a little, clenching my hands into fists. My fingernails bit into my palms and I used the pain as an anchor against the tide of pure energy rolling off him. He stopped about an arm’s length away from me, searching my features intently as if trying to remember me. “I think we had chemistry together,” he said, suppressed humor coloring his tone. He sounded like a professor talking to a female student whom he knows has a crush on him.
    I felt myself blush fiercely. “No,” I snapped