The Banshee's Revenge (The Banshee's Embrace Trilogy) by Victoria Richards Page A

visions had shown her was there.
    "Get back here, ye wicked lass!" The man who chased her had a booming voice, and despite the rough weather, it carried to her over the cliff wall. "Yer a bloody witch, Megan O'Grady! Evil to the core!"
    She was not wicked! It wasn't her fault the gift of Sight ran in her maternal line.
    The cave was just below her. A flash of lightning illuminated the yawning, dark entrance and the young girl headed towards it.
    Inside, Megan took a deep breath and sighed in relief, wiping at her tears.
    There was no way the man on the cliff could pursue her here. He was way too much of a drunken coward to climb down and retrieve her.
    "What has finally brought you to me?"
    The voice came from the darkness, and she covered her mouth to stifle her scream.
    "Who's there?" Megan called, peering through the darkness, but she thought she knew.
    "One who has been waiting a long time for the woman who carries the song of the banshees."
    A soft glow illuminated the cave until she could see a man standing a few feet away. Despite the people in her daily life that sought to repress her powers, the girl had always known her vision held the truth of what would be. This handsome man was her destiny.
    "And your name, sir? My visions have never been clear on that." A little water dribbled down the side of her Megan's face, and she swatted it away as she studied the man who was to be her lover. "At least they were correct on your looks. You are indeed a handsome man."
    "My name is Merlin. You are Megan. And my visions were correct, too. I've not looked on a lovelier creature in a millennium." Merlin smiled and held out his hands. "Come. We have much to talk of."
    "Talk?" Megan grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Is that what we are going to do?"
    "To start."
    Hand in hand, the two walked towards the interior of the cave.
    "Um, Merlin," Jacqueline interrupted the vision, uneasy. "I really don't think I need to see a visual of you and my mother doing the deed."
    "Nor do I, my dear. I only wanted you to understand that your birth was pre-ordained, guided by the Fates themselves. For what purpose, I don't know. Perhaps it has something to do with the child you now carry. The prophecy only states that a powerful child will one day be born who will unite the supernatural world with the mortal one." Merlin's soft laugh echoed in her ears. "Megan was an Oracle, a person with the Second Sight."
    "So I've got banshees and fortune tellers in my family tree."
    "And more," Merlin said.
    "What happened to my mother? Who was that man chasing her?"
    "The man was her father. He believed she was evil, that the devil lived inside her."
    "Idiot."
    "Yes, but so many people are when it comes to magic." Merlin was quiet a moment. "He killed her. Choked her one night as she lay in her bed. Luckily, I was able to sense her death in time to save you."
    "How did you find my adopted mother?"
    "She was a distant relative of your mother, though she was unaware of it. It made sense to keep you within the arms of family. I pledged her never to speak of me and the night I gave her you."
    "Why are you here now, Merlin? I'm sure you are aware of my problems."
    "I cannot do much about them. I'm not allowed to interfere with the realm of the Deaths."
    "Why?"
    "Let's just say I deeply angered someone off once connected to the Deaths and have no wish to make matters worse for you."
    Around Jacqueline the skies cleared until once again she was sitting in a sunny patch of green grass on the cliff. She breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh floral scent in the air.
    "Jacqueline, I must go, but I'm here to remind you that you are special. You have great reserves of power and strength you haven't even begun to explore. But the truth is that you don't need them. Dig deep inside your heart. That's where your true strength lies. You must stay as human as you can." Merlin stood and gave her a sad smile. "This will be our only meeting, my daughter. I have other