As the cut-glass mosaic cleared in the center of her vision, she stood in the cemetery again. She spun in a circle, trying to assess her surroundings, to at least figure out which cemetery she was in, but the sparkling, dancing colors in her peripheral blocked her view of anything but the funeral. She pushed forward, the sensation of trudging through molasses making it impossible to reach the coffin. Standing on her toes, she glanced over a blurry shoulder and found the casket closed.
Nothing discerning about the location stood out, but as she turned, a blurry figure standing next to Sean became crisp: Eric.
The menacing sound of beating wings drew her attention to the sky, and a swarm of black figures obscured the sun. A flock of screeching crows roosted on the top of a massive tomb, their beady eyes boring into her, driving their portentous message home.
A car horn sounded, and Sydney’s vision eclipsed again. She blinked, and Bourbon Street came into focus. A man in an expensive suit rammed into her shoulder as he passed, but he kept his phone pressed to his ear, not even muttering an apology as he paced up the sidewalk. She shook her head and continued across the street.
That damn vision was driving her crazy. She’d meditated on it for an hour last night, but even with complete focus and an intentional trip down the rabbit hole, she hadn’t been able to glean a single bit of new information. And now, randomly, as she walked down the street—which was not the safest place to black out—the universe decided to show her more?
At least Eric was in the clear, and she could rule out the death of one more friend. Two down, only four or five to go.
A sickening sensation formed in her stomach. The last time a vision had been this difficult to expand, Courtney, Sean’s first wife, had died. Sydney had seen the car wreck over and over in her mind, but every time she tried to pull back from the vision and get a better view, she’d been thrown out of it as if she weren’t meant to know.
She couldn’t say when or how it would happen, only that it would. Sean convinced Courtney not to drive for a couple of months, but the vision didn’t change. Courtney got fed up and crashed into an eighteen-wheeler shortly after.
Of course, Sydney’s mom had used the ordeal as a hammer to pound the curse theory deeper into her mind, insisting that she couldn’t stop the hands of fate when a soul was called home, so she should keep her premonitions to herself. People weren’t meant to know, much less change, the future the universe had planned for them.
So why the hell did she have the visions if she wasn’t meant to affect the future?
Sydney had learned to be more careful when sharing her premonitions after that. Most people didn’t even know she had them, and she preferred to keep it that way.
But this new vision… Those crows… Her hope that the coffin was a metaphor began to dwindle, the nagging notion that someone she loved was going to die weighing heavy on her heart.
She pushed the idea out of her mind before it paralyzed her. Living in fear would do her no good, and until she figured out exactly what the universe was trying to tell her, there wasn’t much she could do.
She slowed her pace as she reached Blake’s address. This time, her sprinting pulse had nothing to do with the ominous vision and everything to do with the man she was about to face. With Sean temporarily out of the picture, it was up to her to make sure nothing bad happened in his absence. Getting involved with her ex would make for glitchy working conditions, and she wasn’t about to throw a line of bad code into their perfectly calibrated program.
“No matter how hot he is or how nice he seems, he was going to stand you up. Remember that, Syd.” Not to mention she couldn’t shake the feeling that this merger could be the reason someone she loved was going to die.
As if in answer to that thought, a single crow flew down, landing on the sidewalk in front of the entrance. It puffed out its obsidian feathers and let out a grating caw.
“I’ve received the message loud and clear, so unless you have new information for me, you’d best be on your way.” She stopped and fisted her hands on her hips. “Now I’m talking to birds. Fantastic.”
The crow cawed again, and Sydney waved her arms, chasing it away from the entrance. Enough with the omens. If the universe wanted her to do something about that vision, it needed to step up its game. The bird perched on the windowsill and eyed her as she straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped through the door.
The dark-stained concrete floor gleamed beneath the track lighting above, and marble-looking pillars lined the massive open space, the empty plexiglass boxes sitting atop them polished and ready to hold Blake’s collection of macabre artifacts. A heap of cardboard boxes filled one corner of the room, and Eric and Jason peered into a container, flipping through a stack of what looked like vinyl albums.
“Hey, Syd.” Jason waved, and Eric nodded hello before returning his focus to the box.
She shuffled deeper into the room, and Blake stepped through a doorway from the back. The slight fading on the front of his dark jeans drew her attention to his muscular thighs, and his deep blue t-shirt enhanced the color of his eyes, making them even more breathtaking.
Old, familiar feelings fluttered to the surface, but she put a lid on them before they could boil over. Even if he wasn’t a self-centered jerk who planned to stand her up and then abandon her for New York, he was her boss now, and she would keep reminding herself of that until she believed it mattered.
He took two steps toward her and stopped, the hard set of his eyes softening into an expression that made her lightheaded. “Hey, Sydney. I’m glad you could make it.”
Her weight shifted to her toes, her body involuntarily drifting toward him before she clenched her fists and regained her composure. She glanced at a clock. Ten ‘til three. She was early as usual, though the guys must have been beyond excited about this venture to show up before her.
“I never miss a work meeting unless I’m on my deathbed. And even then, I’d call if I couldn’t make it.” She arched a brow, hoping her point hit home.
He blinked but didn’t miss a beat in his reply. “I’m glad to hear that. Giving a reason for your disappearance is the decent thing to do.”
Okay, she deserved that. Her statement had been unfair and unprofessional—not at all the way she should behave. She opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but a tall woman with long brown hair and brown eyes entered from the back room.
“Wait. This is who we were waiting for?” She marched toward Blake and backhanded him on the bicep. “When you guys said ‘Syd,’ I thought you were talking about a guy.”
Blake cleared his throat. “Sydney, this is my cousin, Claire.”
Her eyes rolled so hard her head moved with them. “Second cousin by marriage only. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Sydney held out her hand to shake, but Claire pulled her into a bear hug instead.
“I am so thrilled that you’re a girl.” Her chin moved against the top of Sydney’s head. “I thought I was going to have to keep all the boys in line by myself.”
Sydney patted her back and unwedged herself from Claire’s embrace. “We’ll work on them together.”
“Claire has been helping me set up the museum and doing research on the artifacts for the displays.” As Blake held Sydney’s gaze, confliction danced in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say more, but he pressed his lips together and gave her a tight smile instead.
“I can only imagine what kinds of ghosts we’ve brought into the building with everything Blake’s found. So much murder and mayhem in one place.” Claire’s eyes gleamed.
“That’s what we’re here for.” Eric shuffled forward, holding a pair of antique forceps, opening and closing them as he spoke. “We’ll gather the evidence to convince the customers the place is haunted, but only Sean can tell us whose ghosts are really here.”
Blake nodded and looked at Sydney. “Do you need to wait for him to do the investigation? I was hoping to get the place checked
out sooner rather than later. The activity is starting to pick up.”
“Are you afraid of a little spirit energy?” He should have stayed in New York if he was. Lord knew her life would be a lot easier if he had.
Blake straightened. “I’m not afraid, but I’d like to know what’s been making all the noises I’m hearing at night.”
She watched his lips as he spoke, remembering the way they’d felt gliding along her skin. They’d made plenty of their own noises at night back in the day… Stop it, Syd. She clenched her teeth.
“We can start without him.” The sooner she could get this over with, the better. “Sean can do his thing any time of day. We need to be here at night, when there’s less interference from outside sounds.”
“Can I help?” Claire bounced on her toes.
“Since we’ve never investigated this building before, we need to do it alone,” Jason said.
Claire’s shoulders slumped, and Blake wrapped an arm around her. “But the second time, I’m sure you can.” He looked at Sydney, his concern for his cousin evident in his expression. “It takes time to figure it all out, right? You’ll be doing multiple investigations?”
“Most likely.” Unfortunately. “Once we get our baseline readings and do the initial investigation, we’ll ask both of you to come in so we can see if the activity changes with you here.”
Claire smiled. “Awesome. I hope The Axeman is here.”
Eric’s brow furrowed, and he gave Sydney a strange look before focusing on Blake.
Blake motioned toward the boxes in the corner. “Let me show you some of the artifacts we have.”
“What are these barbeque tongs for?” Eric clicked the forceps. “Did somebody get roasted?”
Claire snickered.
“Those are forceps.” Sydney fought the urge to smack him upside the head.
“They’re used to pull a baby out of a woman’s vagina.” Claire laughed.
Eric wrinkled his nose and set the instrument on top of a display case, jerking his hand away as if it shocked him.
“Those belonged to a doctor who did exploratory surgeries on pregnant women.” Blake’s face was grim. “He accidentally killed several of them and their unborn babies.”
Sydney shivered. She’d heard the tale many times, but it didn’t make it any less gruesome. This particular story was merely a legend, though. No physical proof had been found to corroborate it, so Blake couldn’t possibly know for sure that was what the forceps were used for.
They moved to the back of the room, and Blake showed them several more artifacts from murder weapons to antique embalming tools to various suitcases and other personal belongings of victims or perpetrators of infamous crimes in the city’s history.
“Where did you find all this stuff?” Eric asked.
“A lot of it came from people’s private collections. Some are on loan, and others I bought outright. I’ve also acquired things from evidence storage when the crimes were past the statute of limitations.”
“Fascinating.” Jason ran his hand along the arm of a wooden chair. “How do you know this stuff is real? I mean, aside from your museum background and your experience with antiques. How do you know this chair was actually used by the Vampire Brothers in the thirties?”
Blake leaned an elbow on a stack of boxes. “I guess Sean didn’t tell you about my ability?”
Sydney raised her eyebrows and looked at Blake. This was news to her. They’d dated for four months, and he’d never mentioned having any sort of psychic ability. What other secrets had he kept from her? She mentally added this to her list of reasons why dumping him had been the right thing to do. Relationships were nothing without honesty.
Her jaw clenched involuntarily. She’d never told him about her own curse either.
“I use psychometry,” he said.
“He can read the energy in objects.” Claire bubbled with excitement. “He just has to touch something, and he can tell you who owned it and what they did with it…and sometimes even how they felt while they did it. He’s amazing.”
Blake let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t know about amazing.” He flicked his gaze between Sydney and his cousin. “Don’t you have a class to get to, Claire?”
She groaned. “Yeah, I do. Don’t plan too much without me, okay? I’m super excited to be a part of this.”
“We’re glad to have you on board.” Sydney waved as Claire pranced out the door.
Blake eyed Sydney, trying to gauge her reaction to his psychic power. He’d wanted to mention it when they were dating. Hell, he’d wanted her to know everything about him, but he’d been afraid his weird talent would freak her out.
He was still testing the waters back then, and he learned the hard way what could happen when sharing his gift backfired. Few people knew about his ability, and he hadn’t decided if he wanted it to be common knowledge among their potential customers. He’d already been called a fraud and a liar—among other things—but for this venture to be a success, his team needed to know what they were dealing with.
Sydney’s only reaction to the news had been a slight eyebrow raise that looked more like a Why didn’t you tell me? than disgust or weirdness. She hunted ghosts, and her boss was a psychic medium…she was probably used to weird.
“Where is she from?” Sydney ran her hand along the top of a box, avoiding his gaze and the subject of his ability. “She has a slight accent, but it’s not very strong.”
“New York.”
She cocked her head. “Oh, you ran off to New York and came home with a girl?” Something Blake wanted to call jealousy briefly sparked in Sydney’s eyes before she slipped on her mask of professionalism, straightening her spine and turning her attention to the box.
Something he didn’t want to call anticipation fluttered in his chest at the idea she might still harbor feelings for him after all these years. “She’s my cousin’s kid.”
“Is she…okay?” Eric asked. “I was picking up some strange vibes from her. Emotions all over the place.”
“I was wondering why you weren’t hitting on her.” Sydney nudged a table with her hip as if testing its stability before sitting on the surface. “She looks like your type.”
Eric leaned on the table next to her, crossing his arms. “I don’t have a type.”
“She has boobs, and she’s breathing. She’s your type.” She mussed his hair, and he swatted her hand away.
“Are you sure you want to be a part of this group?” Jason shook his head. “Those two bicker like siblings.”
Blake smiled. He absolutely wanted to be a part of this group. It was no wonder their company was so successful. They had a Grade A tour with some astonishing evidence to back up their haunting claims, and the four of them fit together like olive salad on a muffuletta. They just…worked.
Sean obviously called the shots, but Sydney played the unspoken role of second. Jason and Eric knew their place in the hierarchy, and everyone seemed satisfied with their group dynamic. Blake would have to figure out a way to fit into their machine without slipping any gears.
“I think we’re going to make a great team.” He locked eyes with Sydney, and an invisible cord drew him toward her. He hoped they’d make a good team, but he’d have to keep his feelings for her in check. The spark was still burning, and from the way she looked at him, she had to feel it too. She was denying it, though, and so would he. This merger was too important to risk it.
He grabbed a folding chair and sank into it. “Tell me about these vibes you’re picking up from Claire. What exactly do you mean?” He rubbed his palms on his jeans and rested his hands on his knees.
“I’m an empath,” Eric said. “I can read people’s emotions, and hers were all over the place. No offense, but she seems pretty messed up.”
Blake nodded, his heart sinking at Eric’s observation. “At the end of her senior year of high school, her best friend was brutally murdered. They still haven’t found the killer.”
Sydney�
��s mouth dropped open. “How awful. She must be devastated.”
“She is, but she’s getting better. I thought she was, anyway. Maybe she’s just getting better at hiding it.” He stared straight ahead, his gaze losing focus for a moment before he shook his head. “Her step-dad is my cousin. Her family thought it would be good for her to get away, so when I moved here, they asked if I’d look out for her. The change of scenery seems to have helped, and she’s away from danger in case she was mixed up in whatever her friend had gotten into.”
“Wow.” Sydney looked into his eyes, and the invisible cord tugging him toward her pulled harder. She’d always had a way of drawing him in with her gaze, making the rest of the world disappear. It seemed she still did. “That’s really sweet of you to look out for her. Does she live with you?”
“She lives in the dorms. Between her friends, her studies, and helping me with the museum, she stays busy. Out of her head, I guess.” He shrugged.
The corners of her lips tugged into a tentative smile, and her mask of professionalism slipped, her eyes softening as she held his gaze. His fingers twitched with the urge to reach for her, to see if she fit in his arms the way he remembered, if her lips still tasted like strawberries.
He cleared his throat, breaking the trance she’d pulled him into. “So, Eric, can you sense everyone’s emotions all the time? Or do you have to focus? How does it work?”
Leaning on the table, Eric crossed his legs at the ankles. “I could feel it all the time, but I’ve figured out how to put up shields so I don’t get overwhelmed. And some people I can’t feel at all.”
“Why do you think that is?” Blake had never picked up an object he couldn’t get at least some kind of history on if he tried hard enough.
Eric lifted his hands. “Sometimes people are good at hiding their emotions. They’re closed off for whatever reason, like they’re inside a bubble.”
“Have you ever tried to pop the bubble and get inside?”
He shook his head. “Knowing what everyone else is feeling isn’t always a good thing. It’s nice to be around people who don’t affect me on a psychic level sometimes. Like Sydney here.” He lightly punched her on the shoulder. “She’s about as closed off as a floodgate during a hurricane.”
Love & Omens Page 4
