Read Online Echoes of Magic by Donna Grant - Free Book Online

family, but my skills with
healing proved I could be useful.”
    “ Do they know of your
magic?”
    She licked her lips. “Milosh and Yoska do,
and I think others suspect. I told Milosh and Yoska because I felt
they had the right to know since it was their decision whether I
could join or not.”
    “ Strange. Had you told most
anyone else, they would have burned you at the stake.”
    “ True,” she agreed. “I knew
they wouldn’t speak of it since they are outcasts in most villages
anyway.”
    He glanced at her long, slim fingers as they
continued to play with her sleeve. “Are you happy with the
gypsies?”
    “ They are the family I
never had.”
    He heard the pain in her voice and
recognized it for what it was—loneliness. He knew it all too well.
What made it worse was that he remembered what it was like to have
the love and comfort of his mother. She had been his entire
world.
    “ What about you?” she
asked. “Were you happy at Wolfglynn Castle?”
    Grayson thought of his men and Drogan. “As
happy as a knight can be, I suppose. Drogan is a good man. I’ve
been fortunate to be able to lead his knights into battle and fight
by his side.”
    “ Are you close to
Drogan?”
    “ I consider him a
friend.”
    Her gaze burned him as she stared, waiting
for him to continue. “Not as close a friend that you would divulge
your secrets?”
    “ You know the answer is
nay,” he said and looked at her. “It’s because of my friendship
with Drogan that I wouldn’t bring war to his steps.”
    Her lips turned up into a
smile. “And that’s why you’ll always have him for a
friend.”
    “ I count myself lucky to be
able to call Drogan friend. He doesn’t have many, and the few he
does, he would readily die for.”
    “ Which is why you didn’t
tell him.”
    He gave a small jerk of his head. “Drogan
has Serena now. He has a chance at a future bright with love and
happiness. What kind of man would I be to take that away from
him?”
    “ You aren’t giving Drogan
enough credit. I’ve heard tales of his exploits. His reputation
precedes him throughout England. Having him by your side would have
given you a distinct advantage. Not to mention Serena. I imagine
both of them would like to destroy the evil for good.”
    Grayson shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe
I will regret not confiding in Drogan, but I’ve made my decision.
For good or bad, my path is before me, and I’ve already taken
it.”
    “ You can turn
around.”
    There was something in her tone that made
him hesitate in answering. He glanced at her to see her looking
straight ahead, her face impassive. But he wasn’t fooled. “You’ve
seen my future.”
    She sighed and turned her head to him. “I
looked into a part of it. I wanted to see if my leaving the gypsies
would keep them alive.”
    “ Does it?”
    “ Aye.”
    Grayson clenched his jaw. He knew he
shouldn’t ask, knew he was better off without the knowledge, yet he
couldn’t help himself. “What else did you see?”
    “ You will battle him,
Grayson.”
    “ I assumed I would.” Still,
assuming and now knowing it for a fact were two different things.
Though he longed to know if he died at the man’s hands or not, he
couldn’t bring himself to ask.
    And thankfully, Adrianna didn’t volunteer
the information.
    “ Has your magic always come
easy to you?” he asked in way of changing the subject.
    Adrianna chuckled. “There
was a time I purposefully didn’t use my magic. I didn’t want to be
like my mother. I didn’t want to be a bana ‐ bhuidseach . So, I did the only thing
I could. I pretended not to have magic.”
    “ I imagine that caused your
mother great distress.”
    Adrianna leaned forward and
rested her elbows on her knees. “I thought if I didn’t have magic I
might have a chance at a normal life, and then my mother could be
happy. I didn’t realize until later that I had only made things
worse.”
    “ What did you do
then?”
    She looked into his silver