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Cassidy had never been able to see her own future, but that smile made her shiver. There was something wrong about it, something evil. It was like her da as he had been in the past couple of days, but without the influence of the good man he had always been deep down.
For a second, a horrifying second, the face coming toward her shifted into an ugly, skeleton-like image. Hollow eyes. Gruesome grin.
She ran from her room, into the main room where Granny sat with her friend. “Don’t open the door!” she shouted, but it was too late.
Doyle didn’t knock. He blew the door off its hinges with a burst of fire and walked inside through a puff of black smoke.
* * *
Rye ran. Echo had offered to come with him, but he’d refused her and taken off at full speed. There was no way she could catch up with him, even if she tried. Just as well. She’d be needed in town.
> Had his mother cursed him because she’d realized early on that he had no powers? What a disappointment he must’ve been, for her to take such steps. Had the curse affected him physically? Was that why Cassidy was so powerful?
Was she still powerful, or had her gifts disappeared with his own?
There was no way to be sure until he was with her again.
Within a matter of days he’d gone from a wizard so powerful his gifts had to be dampened, to the dark man he had once been, to an ordinary man who could not help his daughter or the woman he loved when they needed him. They should’ve left him as he was, dark and lost. At least then the people he loved, the only people in the world he cared about, would be safe.
But would they have been safe from him?
Suddenly Cassidy was beside him, running unnaturally fast in order to keep up with him. Cassidy, not in the flesh but traveling out of body. Her feet did not touch the ground. The wind created by their speed made her red curls fly back. Her presence was proof that his spell had indeed fallen.
“Doyle killed Mr. McManus!” she shouted. Tears streamed down her face. “He says he’s going to kill Granny, too, if I don’t...if I don’t...” And then she was gone. As quickly as she’d appeared, she disappeared.
Doyle. For all Rye’s so-called gifts, he had never seen it. Neither had Echo, or anyone else in town. His cook—much more than a cook apparently—must’ve called upon a powerful shielding charm or spell to last this long without anyone realizing what he was up to.
Rye ran faster, pushing himself to the limit, wishing he had the powers of a wizard—dark or light—to help him save his daughter. He ran as fast as he could, but he had no idea if he was anywhere near fast enough.
Chapter 24
“They’re here,” Echo whispered as two long black SUVs raced into town. Maybe their prophet—if they had one—was as substandard as she was. As substandard as she had been, anyway, before taking lessons from Ryder. Didn’t they know what they were up against? Didn’t one of them see that they were riding into a town that was well prepared for their arrival?
Maybe they knew but didn’t care. That was a scary thought.
Standing near the door to the pub, she tried to reach out to Ryder. Where are you? How are you? What’s happening? They’re here. Her efforts were wasted. Since Gideon had broken the curse, she’d been unable to touch Ryder’s mind at all. She was effectively blind where he was concerned. Their connection was gone. She missed it, more than she’d imagined she could.
What did it matter at this moment? They had to survive this attack before she could worry about Ryder and Cassidy.
The people of Cloughban had varying gifts, and widely varying degrees of strength. Most were not very powerful. None were what could be called warriors. Warriors or not, all adults under the age of seventy were on the street, armed in one way or another. With sticks, swords, knives and flexed fingers, they were ready to fight for their home.
Echo was ready to fight, too.
Did the invaders want the independents, the stones or Cassidy? Odds were they wanted all three. There was power here, there was strength. For a clan looking to begin anew, there was likely no better place on the planet.
The people here were prepared to defend all. Themselves, the stones, a little girl like no other...
Hope had her gun and Gideon’s, one in each hand. In this situation, Gideon didn’t need a firearm. Blue lightning danced on his skin as he prepared.
The vehicles stopped, one after another. Doors opened simultaneously as six...no, seven...people stepped out. Three women, four men. All were dressed entirely in black. Three were wearing sunglasses, which had to be for effect only since clouds shielded the late afternoon sun. They carried swords and guns of their own. Echo saw no evidence of fire or lightning, but that could come once the fight began.
A tall brunette woman with a severely short hairstyle took the lead. She had to be close to six feet tall! One of the three wearing sunglasses, she was obviously in charge. The other six formed a flank behind her, marking her as their leader, but it was her demeanor, her fearlessness, that told Echo she was leading the pack.
“Seven against...fifty? Sixty?” The tall woman’s smile was at odds with her words as she surveyed the crowd. “It seems the numbers are against us, but in this situation numbers mean nothing. Can we talk? You people don’t know what you’re fighting against.” She raised her voice; it all but boomed down the street. “Become Ansara, join us. Be a part of resurrecting a powerful clan that was wrongly eliminated years ago.” She turned her head slowly and pinned her eyes on Gideon. “By the Raintree. Have they come to take you, too? Please tell me you haven’t all bought into their goody-goody facade.”
The crowd was restless. They murmured to one another, they shuffled their feet and a few took uncertain steps back. There were doubts among them.
“They’re not Ansara,” Echo said in a voice loud enough for all to hear. “They’re impostors.” She took a deep breath. “Wannabes. They are no stronger, no more capable, than any one of you.” She glanced around her. “Any one of us.”
