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

but you are not senile, not yet.”
     
    “Lost? Isn’t that rich. You didn’t lose her. You left her. She doesn’t even know about you. She thinks that the Thorns are her real family.”
     
    “Something I should remedy, don’t you think? I am, after all, her mother.”
     
    “Some mother. Why are you here? Why now?” Kate spat.
     
    “Because of the prophecy. Things are going to get very bad soon, and I need my daughter with me. You understand, don’t you? Oh, that’s right, poor dear, you never had any children of your own. You just take the leavings of others. Poor little Katie, always taking in orphans only to have them leave you. It must be sad to be you. Sad and alone. Pity, that.”
     
    “Crimson is nothing like you. She would never choose the Dark. You betrayed everyone who trusted you, even the only man who ever loved you.”
     
    “Love is such a silly word, old one. Jared never loved me, not really. He wanted me, they all do if I will it. But no, he never loved me. You, he did love, too bad you were too weak to hold him.” Amiee’s face contorted into what could have been a smile if it didn’t hold so much menace. “I see you have kept his swords. You were always the sentimental one.” Amiee paced the length of the shop, the tap of her boot heels so loud, it was almost deafening. Kate winced.
     
    “You can’t have her. I will never allow you to corrupt her.” In a flash, Amiee was on her. She grabbed Kate by the chin with one hand and lifted her chin with one deadly sharp nail.
     
    “I’m losing my patience with you. This is not a negotiation. I know she’s here. I know she’s guarding your little Human  boy. It’s disgusting.  She carries the blood of the Dragon clan and she’s wasting herself guarding an insignificant creature like that. I won’t have it. She needs to know who she is. She needs to know the extent of her power. She needs me. You will tell me where she is.” Amiee’s gaze became hotter. Kate felt beads of sweat breakout on her forehead.
     
    “Never!” Kate cried as she flung the tray of silver charms in Amiee’s face. Kate could smell Amiee’s flesh burn as the tiny projectiles hit her skin. Kate turned and reached for the sword on the wall, unsheathing the beautiful blade and bringing it up to Aimee’s neck. “Get the fuck out of my shop and never come back.”
     
    Aimee screamed and clawed at her arms to remove the clinging silver charms. “Do you think you can hurt me with a few charmed silver trinkets? You can’t even harm me with that blade that you hold.”Aimee threw back her head. “Go ahead, old woman, no steel can pierce my skin.”
     
    Kate drew the blade closer to her neck and let it slip just a tiny bit. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? I had it silvered and charmed centuries ago, waiting for just this moment.”
     
    Aimee screamed with anger. “You bitch! You don’t have the nerve. You never did.” She stepped back, a thin line of blood running down her snow white throat. “You win this one, but I’ll be back. And I won’t be alone. I will have my daughter.” Aimee turned and swept out of the shop, slamming the door hard enough to crack the glass.
     
    Kate let out the breath she had been holding and sunk to the floor, still holding the sword tightly. She felt tears stinging her eyes. She dropped the sword with a clatter and let the torrent inside her flow. Her shoulders convulsed as the sobs wracked her body. She knew that the things she had feared most were coming to pass. She had kept all the secrets she’d sworn to keep. She’d spent her entire life trying to make up for not being able to save her one true love. But it would all be for naught if Amiee found Crimson.
     
    Head in her hands, Kate’s mind strayed back to a simpler time. She had been young then, innocent and carefree. Her family had long served the Oak clan. Her father was a gardener, her mother, a cook. She grew up on their vast seaside estate. Their