Raintree: Oracle (Raintree 4)

Maisy had come to the school. She had visited at least once a week, smiling and talking about wonderful stories of adventure and family and animals. She’d recommended books from the town library, and Cassidy had loved some of those books! How could someone who loved books be evil? It didn’t seem right. How had she fooled everyone? Someone should’ve known, but somehow she’d hidden all that black in her aura too well. The town librarian was like a villain out of one of the books she recommended.

In books, the good guys always won, but this was real life, and Cassidy was not so sure that’s how it would end.

Twice Cassidy had attempted to travel out of body to tell her da where she was, but Maisy must’ve put shields around the room to keep her contained. She could manage some defense if it came to that, but she was weakened here. She couldn’t even read the librarian’s mind, not even a little bit. Besides, Maisy said a friend had her grandmother and would kill her if she didn’t cooperate. She’d also threatened her good friend Brody specifically. It was impossible to know if she was telling the truth or not, but Cassidy wouldn’t gamble with her family or friends.

Her da had always warned her that not everyone in the world was her friend, that there were evil people out there who would love to use the powers she’d been born with for their own selfish reasons if they got the chance. Cassidy had always nodded and said she understood, but she hadn’t, not really. Not until now.

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; Maisy brought her a hot ham sandwich and a glass of water at what must be lunchtime. Cassidy tried again to peek into the woman’s mind, but like the room it was shielded. She pushed a bit and got nothing. So she simply asked, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Don’t worry about it, dear,” Maisy said in a weirdly friendly voice. “After tonight you won’t have to worry about anything at all.”

Well, that was good news... Wait, no, it wasn’t!

Her da and Granny didn’t think she remembered what her own mother had attempted so long ago. Even though Cassidy had only been two years old at the time, she did have a memory of that night. It was vague, pictures without words, but over time she’d come to understand.

Her mother had tried to kill her so she could take her abilities. A knife, a few powerful words. Blood spilled. She knew from the few occasions Granny had spoken about her daughter, Sybil, that at that time she’d not been right in the head. Duh. No mother who was right in the head would kill her own daughter, not for any reason.

Maisy, the librarian, was not her mother. Neither was she quite right in the head.

* * *

Echo tried to get Ryder to eat and sleep, but he would do neither. He did eat a few bites of egg early in the day, but he’d had to choke those down and did not care to try again. His worry poured from him in waves that almost knocked her down.

She felt his worry to the bone because she loved him. Maybe she had loved him all along, and that was why he’d been so damned annoying in those early days. She didn’t want to fall in love with someone like him. Not just a man who possessed his own magic, but a man who was surrounded by it. Magic wasn’t just a part of his life, it was his life.

As far as her dream man list went, he ticked none of the boxes. Well, the physical ones, yes—he was tall, dark and handsome—but in addition to his own abilities he had a daughter who was an extremely powerful child. Echo had decided a long time ago that she didn’t want kids of her own. What if she was no better a parent than her own? What if her child suffered as she had suffered? She sure didn’t want a hand in raising someone else’s gifted child. Especially not one like Cassidy, who would need constant guidance.

Did that make her a bad person? She didn’t think so. She had a list. Ryder and his daughter did not meet any of her requirements.

Except that he was beautiful and they were compatible in bed. And he made her heart beat fast and hard. She wanted to be with him, to be a part of his life. She wanted to take away his pain even if that meant taking it on herself. Dammit, love didn’t pay any attention at all to her lists!

Even Cassidy was adorable, loving and sweet. It wasn’t her fault she was special.

Echo had seen the darkness in Ryder when he’d invited her in and she’d touched his hand and his mind. When he was all powerful he cared for no one and nothing. He was ruthless. He was dangerous. He was a man who would do anything in order to get what he wanted.

Great. Another bad boy. All this time she’d planned to find herself a decent, nice man who didn’t even believe in prophets.

Coming here had shown her a new side of herself, and she knew now that the abilities she possessed could not be denied. She couldn’t wish or work them away. All she could hope for was to learn to control them.

She’d never wished for more magical abilities, but at this moment, she did. More than anything, she wanted to take away Ryder’s pain.

He sat in the small living room, staring into space, staring at nothing and no one. She’d tried to bring on a vision, had tried to find Cassidy for him, but it wasn’t working. The power she’d wished so hard to be rid of was being stubborn.

She sat beside him. His body stiffened. He withdrew from her physically and mentally. Echo was persistent. Some might call it stubborn, but she knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to back down. She leaned into Ryder and placed her hand on his chest.

What this moment called for was a rush of optimism. “When this is done, I think the three of us deserve a vacation,” she said. “Where do you want to go?”

He didn’t answer.

She wasn’t about to give up so easily. “Where would Cassidy like to go?”

“Cassidy would like to go to Disney World,” Ryder said in a lifeless voice.

“I haven’t been in years. We should...”

“I can’t take Cassidy away from Cloughban until she’s older and in complete control of her abilities.”