Free Iron (The Warding Book 1) by Robin L. Cole Page A

grabbed it’s wrist. The cold, slick feeling of the flesh beneath my fingers made me want to recoil, but I stuck to my guns and pried it’s hand off of hers. The moment their contact was broken, the glow beneath it’s translucent skin died.
    Jenni drew her hand back immediately, probably in surprise given the wide-eyed stare she leveled my way. The Wax Man’s head whipped around and it didn’t need eyes for me to know I was getting a vengeful stare from its human facade. I could feel its anger. That was fine by me. I was pretty pissed off too.
    There was no playfulness in my voice when I said, “First off, you know she has a boyfriend. Second, the only person walking her home tonight is me . So why don’t you knock off the act? We all know you’re just trying to get in her pants, ‘cause you’ve been trying for years. Not gonna happen, buddy, so I think it’s about time for you to piss off.”
    I pushed its arm away with all the force I could muster and stood. My purse was already on my shoulder as I gathered up my coat. It was still staring at me—it was hard to think of it as “Bryan” when those two elongated black pits were trained on my face—but it made no move to get up. Belatedly, I wondered just what the hell I would do if it did. I ignored the shaking in my knees and held my ground. “Come on Jen. Let’s go.”
    Jenni sputtered something that was probably an apology, quickly grabbing her own coat and purse up in her arms. I waited until she was past me, never taking my eyes off of the Wax Man’s face, before I whipped around and marched out of the bar after her. People were staring but I kept a look of righteous fury on my face until the door slammed shut behind us. Those onlookers never knew those few feet were the longest in my life.
    The bracing autumnal air outside felt good. I hadn’t been aware of how flushed I was until it hit my skin and a chill of a whole ‘nother sort ran through me. I shrugged into my coat and pulled out my cell phone, using my short phone call to the cab company to center myself. Jenni was waiting a few feet away, arms crossed. She didn’t look happy with me. She fell into step beside me and waited until I slipped my phone back into my bag, ride secured. Then, she attacked. “Jesus Christ, Cat! What the hell was that about?”
    Lucky for me there was some truth I could use to cover the revelation I couldn’t even begin to explain to her. “He crossed the line. I don’t like that scumbag trying to take advantage of you.”
    She snorted, brushing a stray ringlet of hair away from her face. “Oh please, that’s bull. He’s been much sleazier than that before. It never bothered you then. We could have gotten another free round or two out of him before I blew him off.”
    I shot her an incredulous look. It was so damn hard to argue with someone who hadn’t seen what I had. I wished I could tell her, but that was flat out of the question. Instead, I quickened my pace and shot back, “Oh yeah? And what if he followed you home this time? He’s enough of a shit to hit on a girl who has told him a zillion times she’s got a boyfriend. Who knows what he might do when he finally snaps!”
    “You’re totally overacting Cat.” She jerked to a halt. “You’ve played along every other time and we’ve laughed it off afterwards. You just made a big scene over nothing and made it pretty much impossible for me to ever step foot back in that place! What gives?”
    I stood there for a moment, heart hammering, before I turned to face her. I half-expected to see him coming up behind us, but the street was clear of any familiar faces. We were close to her apartment now and, man, I really wanted to be safe behind those locked doors, but I knew that stubborn stance. She was determined to have it out with me then and there, public eye be damned. I loved my bestie, but man did she know how to make a scene—especially after tying one on. Since I couldn’t very well tell her I