Raintree: Oracle (Raintree 4)

“Maybe you could bind her with talismans, as you’ve done for yourself. Just for a week or two. It could work.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. You don’t know what she’s capable of.” Ryder looked down at her. “You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

Now was not the time or place to tell him that she loved him. Later, when all was well. When Cassidy was safe and home again, when Maisy had been taken care of, one way or another. Did Ryder know? Did he feel her love? She tried to peek into his head, but could not. Not because there was nothing to see, but because he was hiding his thoughts from her.

* * *

Rye couldn’t sleep. The day had passed so excruciatingly slowly he began to think that somehow time had stopped, that this was a nightmare from which he would never escape. His worst fears were coming to pass. Cassidy was in danger, and he couldn’t help her.

But the minutes did tick past. He saw it in the clock, and in the movement of the sun. His time would come; he would be there for Cassidy. More than once he tried to send Echo away, but she refused to go.

He didn’t want her to see what he would become in order to save his daughter. He didn’t want her around if he couldn’t manage to rein in the darkness once Cassidy was safe. What he had been, unleashed, might never be dampened again. Those powers had been bottled up so long, he did not know what to expect when the talismans were removed.

If he couldn’t save his daughter, he knew he would never be right again. If she died, if Maisy succeeded, he would have no reason to return.

A time or two Echo had tried to peek into his mind, but he blocked her. It wasn’t easy, but neither was it impossible. Eventually she stopped trying.

It was a warm day, all too slowly turning into a warm evening. It was far too warm for snow. Was it possible that Echo’s vision—which had been much farther in the future than her normal episodes—was not entirely correct? That vision was all he had to go on. The stones, snow, Maisy and Cassidy at the center of it all.

Where would Echo be as he ran toward his daughter, tearing off the talismans as he raced through falling snow? Ahead of him? Behind him? She hadn’t said. Maybe she didn’t know.

He stood in the open doorway of the cottage and watched the sun set. Soon, but not soon enough, it would begin. And end.

He heard and felt Echo approach long before she placed a gentle hand on his back. “When it’s done, come back to me.”

He knew very well that she wasn’t talking about a physical return.

“I don’t know that I can.” After being restrained for so long, would dampening that part of himself be possible? It wouldn’t be easy. A part of him would rejoice at the return of power. A part of him would fight to remain, after being smothered for so long.

“Do it for Cassidy.” She drifted closer. He felt her heat, felt her emotion. “Do it for me.”

Darkness fell while they stood in the doorway waiting. Waiting. He knew what he had to do.

“I will do nothing for you, Raintree. I don’t care for you at all,” he said, his voice low and cold. “I never did.”

She didn’t believe him, not right away.

“You’re pretty enough, you were handy, and to be honest when I need release it’s best not to get involved with a local girl who might be foolish enough to think a night or two in my bed means something more. Face it, you needed to get laid as much as I did. Did you real

ly think it was anything more than that?”

Her hand fell away.

He’d blocked his mind from her, but she was an empath. She’d sense his emotions no matter how hard he tried to hide them. So he thought of Sybil and how she’d tried to kill her own daughter. He thought of Maisy, and what he’d do to her when he got his hands on her. She was going to burn for taking Cassidy. She would suffer before she died.

He filled his heart with hate for those two women. He embraced the darkness that was a part of him—long buried or not—until there was no love in his heart.

“You were convenient, Raintree. Pretty, willing and temporary.” He turned to look at her. “For God’s sake, go away.”

She didn’t say a word, but he felt the temps drop. She believed him. Cold air swirled around him, and around her, as her heart broke.

Beyond the doorway where they stood, side by side but no longer together, it began to snow.

Chapter 18

Echo walked away from the cottage. She walked, and then she ran. She wasn’t wanted here. What an idiot she’d been! Thank goodness she hadn’t told Ryder that she loved him. He probably would’ve laughed at her.

She’d been so sure he felt more, but...her empathic abilities were new. Maybe she had felt what he’d wanted her to feel so she’d...