Sentinel: A Light Mage Wars Novella (The Light Mage Wars) Read Online Free PDF Page A

keep a white cane flush with the track's edge with the other while she ran. Staying lined up was easier with the traditional, sectional cane than with the laser.
    " Top step," Mindy warned. On the mornings when she and Caro ran, she showered and changed for work at Caro's instead of doubling back to go home. "So what's on your mind? Reviews? Hunky reporters? Both?"
    " Both." Caro grimaced. "I thought I was hiding it better."
    " Maybe I know you too well," Mindy suggested.
    " There is that." Walking down the hall, Caro swept her cane in front of her and held Mindy's elbow to stay straight.
    " I know you have to be careful, Caro. I do. But you can't put your life on hold until Griff is vindicated."
    " Because it might never happen," Caro said tightly. "I know that. But I have to believe he had a good reason, that he's not what they say he is."
    " And you can't be with someone who doesn't accept that." Mindy patted Caro's hand on her arm. "I know."
    Caro nodded. She'd tried twice, even gotten almost to the I love you stage with one guy before she found out he'd been hiding his belief that Griffin was a traitor. And then there'd been the reporter who'd tried to cozy up to her, pretending he wanted to date her when his real agenda had been getting a story on her brother.
    If only Griffin would contact her or their parents. Or Will. Somebody who could get word to them.
    If he would only explain his reasons, the tiny fear that haunted her darkest moments, the dread that he might really have gone rogue, would lose even the minuscule foothold it held in her mind. She knew it was the same for her parents.
    Plus she 'd know he was still alive.
    " At least with Jerald," Mindy said dryly, "there was no chance you'd get serious."
    " Was it that obvious?" Caro wrinkled her nose.
    A flash of impish humor in the ai r told her Mindy was grinning. "Not to him," Mindy said.
    Caro opened her door. When she and Mindy were inside, she set her cane in its corner by the door and flipped the locks.
    " Back in a few," Mindy said. She'd left work clothes and toiletries there when she picked Caro up.
    " No rush." Caro's two-bedroom loft had a great room with the kitchen at one end and a dining area, with a glass-topped table and four low chairs, between it and her living room space.
    She 'd chosen the loveseat and chairs upholstered in pink, green, and yellow, the loveseat in a floral and the two armchairs in stripes. Coming home, she usually stopped to savor knowing she was in her own space, that it was both cozy and cheerful with colors she loved. Today, though, she was too nervous.
    She 'd left her computer on the desk between the living room and dining area. When she pushed the power button, her laptop hummed and woke in a second.
    She used the computer 's voice program to direct it to the online arts section of the local paper, the Telegraph . While it loaded, her mind wandered back to Rick Moore and his chivalry and his compliments.
    He was a stranger. A writer. A part-time journalist, and sometimes those were the worst, desperate as some were to hit the big time.
    Yet he gave off a steadiness, a sense of purpose. And he was polite. With a voice that gave her the shivers.
    Not to mention his physical presence. Walking at his side had felt...good. Enough so that she'd casually asked Belinda Parkhurst about him. Belinda had said he was a nice guy, had covered events at the gallery for a couple of years, even briefly dated the daughter of a client.
    T here was no use dwelling on things that were better left alone, but Caro couldn't stop thinking about him. She'd even made sure to get his card from Belinda last night. Really, what was the point in that?
    S he started hot water for tea, then used the arrow keys and voice program to scan the arts page . There was a review. Caro's heart jolted with nerves as the mechanical, male voice described her as "a bright new talent."
    The review was all she could've hoped but rated the work as "all the more