abilities.
He needed her to talk to him, and he had a feeling he'd require all his resources. One wrong word and she'd retreat further, mentally if not physically.
'Your gift is nothing unusual, Maddie,' he said softly.
She laughed. It's harshness made him wince. 'What do you know about it? Have you ever suffered these dreams, or the endless taunts of your friends?'
He held back a slightly bitter smile. In the ten years he'd worked for the Damask Circle, he'd seen and suffered more than she could ever imagine. 'Clairvoyance is not so bad once you learn to control it.'
Her fingers clenched by her side. 'But I can't control it. I can't control any of it.'
He had an odd feeling she wasn't talking about clairvoyance when she spoke of control. Did she have another gift she couldn't contain? 'Didn't anyone try to teach you? Your mother, perhaps?'
Again she laughed bitterly. 'No.'
That one word spoke volumes. Obviously, she'd been left on her own to cope with her gift. Why?
Abilities like this usually ran through generations, so surely there had been someone to guide her.
'Did your parents even know you were gifted?'
'They thought I was deranged.' Though her voice was bitter, her confusion washed over him, along with a hint of guilt.
He wondered why. 'Did they seek outside help, then?'
'Only in the form of psychiatrists.' She snorted softly. 'I lived a small town, Jon, with small town fears. I was an oddity, a freak. My parents tried very hard to make me appear normal, but people knew.'
The horror of her childhood was evident in the dark swirl through her aura. He silently cursed the fools who had brought her up to fear, even loathe, her gift.
'Then tell me about your gifts.' It was evident from the way she stood that he wouldn't get much more about her past until she trusted him more.
'There's nothing to tell. I'm just a freak.'
If she was a freak, then what was he? What would she say if she ever saw him change? Not that she ever would. That was one secret he shared with the very few people whom he trusted completely.
'Maddie, you have a gift that can be valuable if you want to save your nephew. It doesn't make you a freak.'
Only the attitude of uncaring people could do that. And someone in her past, someone other than her parents, had obviously torn her to shreds over her gift. He sensed that much.
He flexed the tension from his fingers and glanced at the clock on the wall. Ten o'clock. Time was running out. If he didn't get moving soon, another day would be wasted. 'Tell me about the people you saw.'
Her shoulders tensed again. 'I told you what I saw. It doesn't make sense.'
To her, it wouldn't. She didn't know the woman was a shapeshifter, and he had no intention of telling her. It would only lead to questions he didn't want to answer. 'The clairvoyant image isn't always clear, especially if you haven't been trained. Sometimes you have to interpret.'
Finally, she turned around and looked at him. He was pleased to see the fear in her eyes had retreated slightly.
'How do you know so much about clairvoyants?'
He smiled. 'My mother and three of my sisters are clairvoyants.'
She raised a pale eyebrow, the ghost of a smile touching her lips. 'Three of your sisters? Just how many do you have?'
'Five sisters and two brothers. You?'
The warm light in her eyes faded, to be replaced by ice. 'A sister,' she muttered, looking away. 'My brother died when I was young.'
And Maddie felt guilty about it. He wanted to ask why, but knew he'd pushed enough for one day. 'Tell me about the cabin you saw.'
She shivered and rubbed her arms. 'It was an old log cabin. I could see the gaps between the logs, so it wasn't insulated or anything.'
'There are probably dozens of cabins fitting that description, but at least it gives me somewhere to start.'
She frowned at him. 'Gives us, you mean.'
He really did admire her determination, even if it also annoyed him. 'I don't intend to argue about this—' 'Good, because I'm going.'
Jon swore softly, but knew he couldn't afford to say any more—at least not here at the inn where his voice might be heard.
The heat in the room was quickly abating. Maddie pushed warm strands of hair from her eyes then crossed her arms. It was more a defensive action than an attempt to stave off the rising chill in the air. The fire, he noted, definitely wasn't the source of the earlier warmth.
'How are you going to get out of the inn without being seen?' she said 'Same way I got in—via a window.'
He could manage a brief flight to the heavily treed park just down the road from the shops. He hoped.
His first priority was to replace his missing clothes. He might not feel the cold that much, but walking around in short sleeves would only draw unwanted attention. That was something he certainly didn't need right now. Then he'd go retrieve his truck—which had, no doubt, been towed away from the three hour parking zone where he'd left it. With a bit of luck, the weapons he'd stashed in the specially built compartment would still be there.
She raised an eyebrow. 'And where will I meet you?'
He scratched his head but knew there was no getting rid of her. Not this time. 'There's a small cafe called Emerson's near the bridge.' He'd heard it mentioned the night he disappeared. There was an odd chance he still might find a clue there. Besides, the breakfast she'd ordered had to be cold by now, and he was hungry. 'Get us a table, and I'll meet you there in an hour.'
She nodded and grabbed her old coat off the nearby sofa as she walked towards the door. Then she stopped and turned around, her amber eyes searching his. 'You won't leave me sitting there, will you?'
'No,' he said, and wondered who had.
She hesitated, her gaze still searching his. After a moment, she gave a small nod and continued on towards the door. He wondered what she'd seen in his eyes that made her trust him when she obviously trusted so very few.
He listened to the sound of her steps fading down the hall, then tugged his father's ring from his finger once again and walked into the bathroom. He wished he could take it with him, but it was made of silver and wouldn't change. He placed it back behind the vent then slid open the window. The wind whistled in, but he ignored its chill touch and leaned out. No one was near. Good.
He reached down, deep within his soul and called to the wildness. It came in a rush of power that filled his vision with gold and dulled his senses as it shaped and changed his body. Then the freedom of the sky was his, and he leapt towards it on golden-brown wings.
Chapter Six
Maddie frowned and glanced at her watch. Jon was nearly an hour late. Why she was surprised she wasn't entirely sure.
She picked up her milk shake and idly pushed the straw back and forth across the caramel froth. She'd been an idiot yet again. She'd stared into Jon's bright blue eyes and believed the truth she saw there.
Only the truth always hid deceit. She'd learned that lesson the hard way during the six long years of her marriage. What on Earth made her think Jon would keep his promise when it was so obvious he didn't want her around?
A waitress brushed past her, bumping against her arm. As the woman apologized, Maddie glanced up and
