Raintree: Oracle (Raintree 4)

Echo shook her head and continued on. She needed some soap and deodorant, and maybe a chocolate bar. She could learn to seriously love Irish chocolate. The pharmacy was small but well stocked. It had become a regular stop for Echo on her walks into town. With a shopping basket in hand she took her time walking up and down the aisles. She wasn’t alone. Two other women carried their own small baskets, and filled them with necessities and luxuries. Like the chocolate. These women did not scorn her the way Brigid had. They even nodded and said hello.

Soon she had everything she needed in her basket. As she approached the counter to pay, her stomach roiled and her vision dimmed. Colors, bright almost to the point of being blinding, danced behind her eyes. The sensation didn’t last long, but it was unpleasant. She felt as if a powerful wave of something she could not identify had washed over and through her.

Echo reached for a sturdy shelf and steadied herself as the colors went away and her vision returned. She closed her eyes, hoping for the last bit of nausea to pass. It did, and she felt fine again. Completely normal.

She shook her head and continued on. Well, that was strange! She hoped she hadn’t eaten something bad. The odd distress had passed quickly and by the time she stood at the counter with euros in hand, all was well. Nevan walked into the pharmacy. He smiled widely and nodded. If he’d been wearing a hat he surely would’ve tipped it in her direction.

When Echo walked back onto the square, she shaded her eyes for a moment and smiled widely at the scene before her. What a perfect little town, what an enchanted place. She dropped her hand and headed for the pub with a purposeful walk. Then something struck her.

Hadn’t she sensed something bad here not so long ago? Something wrong? Something...dark?

Ridiculous. Cloughban was an ordinary place, the people were ordinary people, and as much as she liked it here, she could not stay much longer.

I’ve been here long enough. The thought wafted through her head almost as if it wasn’t her own but was a whisper from elsewhere. What a boring town, time to get back home.

“Ha,” she said as she walked into the pub a full fifteen minutes before her appointed time. “I’m early.”

Duncan stood behind the bar. It was amazing how much she liked to look at him, how pleasant it was to simply stare and admire. There was much to admire. Had she just been thinking about leaving Cloughban? No. Not yet. The thoughts of leaving town flew out of her mind as quickly as they had entered.

“Second time this week,” he said. “Are you ill?”

Echo remembered the bout of nausea in the pharmacy, then dismissed it. “No, I’m fine.” More than fine, really. As she looked at Duncan one thought was foremost in her mind. When are you going to kiss me again?

* * *

When are you going to kiss me again?

The answer to that unasked question should be never. But damn, there was something irresistible about Echo Raintree. Rye was no longer certain he could finish what he’d begun without throwing her across the nearest table and...

Her expression changed; she took a step back. She even uttered a low, “Whoa. Too fast.”

Rye instantly threw up a mental wall; dammit, he had to keep the woman out of his brain! She blinked, shook her head, and he realized that the image they’d shared had happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that she actually believed the thought was her own.

Instead of being horrified, she actually gave in to a small, secret smile that spoke volumes. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. The only difference was, she had no idea how dangerous a deepening connection between them might be. For her.

As powerful as she was—and lack of control aside, she was quite powerful—she could be more. The weather power that revealed her mood, her ability to see into his mind, her clear empathic abilities. If he didn’t know better he’d think she was like him. A sponge. A receptor.

A dangerous creature.

The two of them together could rule the world. Or burn it down around them.

“Echo...” Should he send her away or embrace her? Teach or shun? Pull her to him or make sure there were always thousands of miles between them?

Doyle burst through the front door, startling Rye, and Echo, too. Echo glanced at her coworker, obviously annoyed to be interrupted. Annoyed and relieved.

“I hear the town council called a meeting for tonight,” Doyle said as he slipped off his coat.

Rye gave his full attention to the cook. It was probably a good thing they’d been interrupted, and still...he was hardly grateful for it. “Yes, I was informed earlier.”

“What’s up?” Doyle asked, then he glanced Echo’s way and winked at her.

Rye was being perfectly honest when he said, “I’m not sure.” He should be more curious. The town council rarely called unscheduled meetings.

Doyle laughed as he headed for the kitchen. “Shouldn’t you know?”

“I suppose I should, but I don’t.” He could guess, though. There was a Raintree in town, and she appeared to be settling in.

“You’re a poor excuse for a mayor,” Doyle teased as he disappeared through swinging doors that separated the main room from the kitchen.