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Table of Contents

 

 

“Fast-paced . . . plenty of excitement. . . . A cliff- hanger ending will keep fans eager for the next installment.”

“This is a good read, full of nail-biting action, some really creepy kids, and a final chilling revelation.”

“A lot of action and a fast-paced plot. The cliff- hanger ending will make you want to find out what happens next.”

—SFRevu

“Ms. Caine takes readers on a fabulous new journey and introduces us to a powerful new heroine who’s been forced into a reality she’s not equipped to handle. . . .
Undone
well exceeded my expectations, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the series will go from here.”

—Darque Reviews

“A fantastic start to another auto-buy series. Whether a newbie to the world of the Wardens and Djinn, or a veteran of the series,
Undone
will capture and thrill you.”

—The Book Smugglers

“Superb.”

—Genre Go Round Reviews

“You’ll never watch the Weather Channel the same way again. . . . The forecast calls for . . . a fun read.”

—#1
New York Times
bestselling author Jim Butcher

“[As] swift, sassy, and sexy as Laurell K. Hamilton . . .
Rachel Caine takes the Weather Wardens to places the
Weather Channel never imagined!”

—Mary Jo Putney

“A fast-paced thrill ride [that] brings new meaning to stormy weather.”

“An appealing heroine, with a wry sense of humor that enlivens even the darkest encounters.”

—SF Site

“Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton and the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are going to love this fast-paced, action-packed romantic urban fantasy.”

“A kick-butt heroine who will appeal strongly to fans of Tanya Huff, Kelley Armstrong, and Charlaine Harris.”

“A neat, stylish, and very witty addition to the genre, all wrapped up in a narrative voice to die for. Hugely entertaining.”

—SF Crowsnest

“Chaos has never been so intriguing as when Rachel Caine shapes it into the setting of a story. Each book in this series has built-in intensity and fascination. Secondary characters blossom as Joanne meets them anew, and twists are revealed that will leave you gasping.”

—
Huntress Book Reviews

“The Weather Warden series is fun reading . . . more engaging than most TV.”

“If for some absurd reason you haven’t tucked into this series, now’s a good time. Get cracking.”
—
Purple Pens “I dare you to put this book down.”

—University City Review
(Philadelphia)

“Overall, the fast pace, intense emotion, cool magics, and a sense of hurtling momentum toward some planet-sized conclusion to the overarching story are keeping me a fan of the Weather Warden series. I continue to enjoy Joanne’s girly-girl yet kick-ass nature.”

—
Romantic SF & Fantasy Novels

Books by Rachel Caine

 

WEATHER WARDEN

 

 

OUTCAST SEASON

 

 

THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES

 

ROC
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, February 2010

Copyright © Roxanne Longstreet Conrad, 2010

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

eISBN : 978-1-101-18501-8

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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To Alan & Sivi Balthrop, and their lovely family,
with much love and respect. Thank you for giving
me such constant, loving support!

 

To A. J. Merrifield, for being just so damn cool.

There are too many debts to acknowledge in the course of writing this book, but I would like to gratefully recognize the following virtues:

 

Prudence
(from my mother, Hazel, who keeps me grounded)

Justice
(from my beta readers, blessed be they)

Courage
(from my agent, Lucienne Diver, who surely needs it to deal with me)

Faith
(from my husband, Cat, who replies to all my complaints about the progress of my book with a simple “I know you can do it.”)

Hope
(from the Sales & Marketing Department)

Charity
(from my lovely editor, Anne, who gave me the time I needed)

I am nothing without these virtues.

MY NAME IS CASSIEL,
and I was once a Djinn—a being as old as the Earth herself, rooted in her power. I cared little for the small, scurrying human creatures who busied themselves with their small lives.

Things have changed. Now I
am
a small, scurrying human creature. In form, at any rate. Thanks to a disagreement with Ashan, the leader of the True Djinn, I can only sustain my life through the charity of the Wardens—humans who control aspects of the powers that surround us, such as wind and fire. The Warden I’m partnered with, Luis Rocha, commands the powers of the living Earth.

I have made mistakes, in my short existence as a human. I have made promises I could not keep. I have lost those I learned to love.

I will not let it happen again.

Even if every instinct tells me I must.

Their faces looked at me from the flat surfaces of posters and flyers, tacked to a long board opposite the row of chairs—a sad parade of even sadder stories.

Although several young girls with brown hair and vulnerable smiles looked back at me, Isabel Rocha’s picture was not on the wall. I found some comfort in that.
I will find you,
I promised her, as I did each day.
On your mother and father’s souls, I will find you.

I had allowed her mother and father to be murdered. I would not allow Isabel to share the same fate.

I sat with Luis Rocha in the hallway outside of the offices of the FBI, which he had carefully explained was a place where I could not, for any reason, cause trouble. I failed to understand why this hallway should be different from any other in the city of Albuquerque, but I had agreed, with a good bit of annoyance.

Luis was in no mood to debate with me. “Just do it,” he snapped, and then fell into a dark, restless silence.

I watched him pace in front of me as his dark gaze took in the wall of photos, a tense, revolted expression on his face. He stopped, and the expression altered into a frown. He pointed one flyer out to me. “That’s Ben Hession’s kid. Ben’s a Fire Warden.”

I nodded, but I doubt he noticed. He lowered his finger, but his hands formed into fists at his sides, emphasizing the sinuous flame tattoos licking up and down his arms. Once again, I wondered at the choice; Luis Rocha controlled Earth, not Fire. In that, he and his brother Manny had been alike, though Luis’s power outstripped Manny’s by leagues.

Manny had been my Warden partner, assigned to me by the highest levels of his organization to teach me to live as a human and use my powers—for I still had some, although nowhere near as many as I had as a Djinn—usefully. How to become a Warden in my own right. Manny had been a sweet, patient soul who had given of himself to sustain me in this new life.