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

impressive because of the labor its visually challenged creator must have endured to shape it." Caro winced at that. She had abilities most people with visual impairments did not.
    W eaving those tapestries hadn't been a snap for her, but she couldn't let herself forget the advantages her magic gave her. Someone with the level of vision she'd claimed to have, just enough to see the colors at very close range, would've found the task far more difficult.
    The shower stopped. Caro set out Mindy's favorite mug, a chunky one with dachshunds on the side, and dropped a teabag into it.
    " Open Macon Arts Weekly ," she told the computer as she poured hot water over a teabag in her own favorite mug, heavy, white stoneware banded with pink roses. The tabloid also had a website for current events in the arts scene. Mom had said their reviewer, Burton McCree, was at the show.
    In the bathroom, Mindy 's hairdryer whined.
    The headl ine called the show brilliant. Wow. The computer read, "A superb new show melds tapestries and music."
    That sounded promising. Cradling her mug between her hands, Caro leaned against the counter and inhaled the fragrance of orange pekoe steeping.
    The computer app started reading, and the beginning was encouraging. If McCree thought her tapestries had "energy and life," then–
    " Unfortunately," the computer announced, "the complexity and nuances of the works in question are too subtle to have been accomplished by an artist with the limited eyesight Ms. Dare claims."
    The words slammed into Caro 's chest. Gulping for breath, she pressed a fist to the ache.
    The computer continued, "One must ask whether her mother, accomplished sculptor Lara Dare, assisted in the creation of these works. Lara Dare's sculptures are often exhibited at this same gallery."
    No. No, no, not after all my work. All the false starts and reworking and backbreaking hours. Caro blinked against tears.
    This review could destroy her career before it truly launched. "You could have asked me," she choked. "Asshole."
    " Caro?" Mindy hurried into the room. "What's wrong?"
    Caro swallowed hard and gestured at the computer. "Look at that. This is what comes of putting myself forward in the Mundane world. Dad warned me, but restricting myself to mage buyers would limit my horizons."
    " And you're so tired of that," Mindy said, changing directions to reach the desk.
    Caro nodded. "I'm so damned tired of the limits I've let blindness impose on me. Others with more restricted vision than I have live full lives. I want to do the same."
    " Of course you do. You will. This guy's an ass, Caro."
    " But how many other people are thinking what he came out and said?"
    Caro groped for a chair at the table. Her hands shook as she set her mug down. Nothing spilled, but she clenched her fists to still them. Under her outrage lay a sick current of fear.
    " You knew there would be doubters," Mindy reminded her, joining her at the table. "This doesn't mean you shouldn't have tried, shouldn't have stepped outside the box a bit. You don't want to stay your dad's research assistant forever."
    No . I don't .
    The thought brought Caro's anger back to the fore. Somehow, it steadied her. She was not a liar or a fraud.
    " Those tapestries are my work. Mine alone. I can prove it."
    Her countertop phone rang, and the talking caller ID announced her mom's cell number. Caro started to stand, to reach for it, but stopped. Slowly, she sank back into the chair.
    " Should I get that?" Mindy asked. "The art world is your mom's turf. She knows so many people, surely including ones who would help."
    " She does," Caro confirmed, "and using her friends would demonstrate that one charge in the article is true, that I can't make it without my parents pushing me along."
    She blew out a hard breath. "Going to Mom–or Dad–isn't an option."
    The phone rolled to voicemail. Maybe Mom would think Caro was still out with Mindy. Talking to either of her parents wasn't smart until she had a plan