Beyond the Iron Gate (The Faery Meadow Book 1)

“Colt, you’re a faery, right? Could you tell me what kind of faery I am exactly? I know I was turned into one, but am I really just a fae? I have a friend, but I haven’t really asked him a lot about it. He’s kind of busy right now anyway.”

“Why don’t you just ask him when he comes to get you?” Colt grunted while walking over to the table picking up an iron hammer.

He hit a piece of iron with the hammer causing her to flinch and crane her neck to see if he broke the table. He continued hitting it. A continuous clinking noise echoed through the air. The table to her surprise was unharmed, however, the piece of metal he was hitting was bent in an odd angle.

“I just thought you might be more willing to answer my question or know more about it.”

“From what you’ve told me it seems he is more than your friend. Mates? Then again, mates don’t usually leave their mates alone like he did to you,” he added darkly before striking the iron again.

Elaine thought he had a good point. Lorcan, however, wasn’t completely a normal fae to begin with in her eyes though.

“The thing is,” Elaine hesitated, contemplating whether she should tell him everything or not. After a minute, she decided to continue, “He kind of rejects me as his mate or whatever fae call it. I don’t want to be his mate and I don’t know what it means for me. Some days I feel like I’m going crazy and he won’t tell me what’s going on.”

Colt scowled. He paused before hitting the iron block again. “You’re suffering.”

Elaine considered his words. Whenever Lorcan wasn’t near her she sometimes would get this weird sick feeling, but she didn’t know if Colt was talking about that. Elaine thought if Lorcan really thought of her as his mate he wouldn’t leave her on her own.

Maybe he thought he was giving her more freedom by letting her stay outside the bar on her own. She thought it over, but no matter what excuse she came up with she ended up thinking he just wanted her out of the way.

She wasn’t used to talking about her feelings. She looked shy and timid to the ironsmith watching her. He wondered just what kind of mate she had that would leave her out in the cold.

“He’s told me some of the mate stuff, but not much. Lately, I guess he’s been kind of distant.”

Elaine was pretty certain it wasn’t normal for fae to talk about such things openly, but she knew she couldn’t rely on Lorcan to tell her everything.

Colt grunted and set the hammer down.

She walked over to him, but kept a little distance stopping short a few feet from the fireplace where he worked near. “I’m sorry. It’s rude of me to expect you to help me with my problems. I’m grateful for you letting me stay here.”

“I mean look at me, I’m covered in dried mud and invaded your shop. I know I must seem crazy to you,” Elaine mumbled while resting her head in her hands while staring into the fireplace. The dreaded silence of the room bothered her as she stared into the fire.

Colt spoke up behind her, “I’ll help you.”

She didn’t hear him walk up behind her and she jumped a little. “Thank you!”

He raised an eyebrow at her gleeful expression and then sat down next to her wondering just how helpless she really was. He looked her right in the eye.

“You aren’t really blind are you?”

“I’m not blind. I only say that to ward off unwanted customers like the guards. They haven’t been around lately. If you haven’t guessed already, my business is not particularly liked around here. Crafting weapons of iron is outlawed by Aeringdal,” he admitted with a smirk.

Then who buys from him? I suppose it is none of my business, besides, I don’t like Aeringdal to begin with, Elaine thought while soaking in the warmth of the fireplace in front of them.

She watched the flames dance then spoke in a soft voice, “I really thought you were blind. I understand though. Your eyes are very nice by the way.”

Colt picked up a log from the wood stack by his side and tossed a log into the fire.

“When do you think the storm will pass?” Elaine asked him.

“At least in a day or two.”

The fire snapped sharply. A small chunk of burning ash landed on her arm. The tiny burning sensation made me cringe. However, her shirt sleeve was thick enough that the flame didn’t burn through it. Colt leaned over her and took the ash off her arm. Then he rubbed it between his fingers putting out the small flame.

Elaine watched him in amazement thinking he should have got burned, “Thanks.” She considered that he probably got burned before when melting iron. So he probably thought that little piece of burning ash was nothing.

“You and I both know he isn’t going to come for you today.”

Deep down, Elaine agreed, but she didn’t know why Colt had to be so blunt about it. She supposed it was because she just didn’t want to believe it. It had already been a while since it started raining. To her, it was a long time since he entered the bar and she thought he would have been done in there by now. She started to cry a little feeling alone and angry at the man who took her from her home.

The scalding heat of the fire dried her tears. Colt was silent, but she guessed he knew she was crying. When she finally glanced over his way she felt a little disturbed seeing him almost look like he was in a trance or something staring into the fire. He must be in deep thought Elaine concluded.

She looked at Colt’s back wondering if he had wings like Lorcan and her or if he was a different type of fae.

Suddenly, something from behind him on the floor moved. A dark crooked shadow stretched out from behind Colt. She thought it might be her imagination, but the shadow seemed to be crawling. Elaine looked quickly back at the fire and Colt.

The shadow crawling on the floor didn’t match the shape of the dancing flames of the fire or the faery man sitting beside her. It almost seemed like the spiky looking shadow was feeling the ground as it slowly stretches itself along the floor crawling toward her.