Silver Skin (A Cold Iron Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

herself.
    She had been attracted to Miach as well, he sensed— until he knocked her unconscious. He had done it to prevent her from taking Beth Carter to the hospital, where conventional medical treatment would have killed the little Druid. But there had been no way to explain that to Helene at the time, and so he’d chosen the most expedient route to saving Beth Carter’s life.
    It might have been possible to win Helene back if that had been his only transgression, but Helene also blamed him—quite wrongly, in fact—in her kidnapping. That had been Miach’s renegade son Brian’s doing, and none of his.
    And to all this add that he had promised Beth Carter, whose help he would need to keep the wall between worlds intact, that he would not pursue Helene. Such had been the geis he’d accepted.
    But Beth had never considered that Helene might come to him.
    With good reason. After the kidnapping, Helene had wanted nothing to do with Miach.
    Now her life depended on her placing her trust in him. And because Helene had come to Miach, it might be possible to circumvent some of the intention of Beth’s geis . It would be a tricky thing, because if he violated the Druid’s prohibition against seducing Helene Whitney, he would be weakened by it, made vulnerable to attack by his enemies.
    But if Helene came to him—not just to his house but to his bed— willingly , it might not violate the geis . And a geis was only as strong as the Fae or Druid who worked it. Beth was still learning to harness her power and might not have been able to channel her full intention—which no doubt had been sweepingly broad—into the prohibition. If so, Miach might be able to enjoy Helene without untoward consequences.
    “You must let me search your body for another geis ,” he said.
    “No.” Her refusal was absolute.
    “Then this Fae will be able to summon you again. The wards on my house will protect you, but set foot outside its doors without me or Elada, and we can do nothing to stop him.”
    “There has to be another way,” she insisted.
    There were other ways. She wasn’t going to like any of them. “You could stay here, with me, and when he summoned you next, I could follow you, and kill him.”
    “No. This was a mistake,” she said. “I’m going home.”
    “Then Elada is coming with you. Someone has to watch you, Helene. Whatever Fae did this to you, when he summons you next, he will see that the geis on your shoulder is gone. He will know that you are aware of him—and that another Sídhe is involved. If he wishes to remain undiscovered—and if he realizes that you are under my protection, he will—the easiest way to ensure that will be to kill you.”
    She shook her head. “I am not under your protection .”
    “Beth Carter is my ally. You are her closest friend. I am obligated to keep you safe. My ties to the little Druid demand as much. And my interest in you demands the same.”
    “You promised Beth you would leave me alone. She told me it was a vow, a geis .”
    “And I will obey it until such time as she lifts it from me.”
    “Why would she do that?”
    “Because you will ask her to. You’re an intelligent woman, Helene. The advantages of taking a Fae lover are impossible to ignore.”
    “You mean like madness and death.”
    “Only the weak and simple-minded go mad,” he said. “And I have no need or desire to prey on such women. There are more than enough beautiful and strong-willed females in the world to choose from. Most of them would not hesitate to become my lover. Once you understand what you have to gain, you’ll come to my bed of your own free will.”
    “Well, you certainly make a persuasive case for hooking up,” Helene remarked acidly. She plucked her bag off the floor. “I shouldn’t have come here,” she said. “I’m leaving. And if Elada follows me, I’ll call the police. Beth said you and your family are shy of the police.”
    The police were a nuisance. Not the local beat