by Deanna Chase
Her energy vanished. Gooseflesh popped out on my bare arms. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice stiff. “I have trouble believing Bobby would ever hurt anyone.”
I stood on shaking legs. “Thank you for having me and telling me about him.”
She stared across the yard with unfocused eyes. After a moment she spoke in a detached eerie tone. “I sense the truthfulness of your words, though what you believe to be true doesn’t make it so.” She turned back to me. Her expression cleared. “Please ask your friend if we can meet. I’ll see what I can do.”
“I will. I’ll call you tonight. Thank you.” I gave her a tentative wave as I crossed the yard, making a beeline for Kat’s car.
“Thank God you’re here. That place was starting to freak me out,” I said, jumping into the passenger side.
“Why?” Kat put the car in gear and drove off.
“She’s a witch.”
“Really? Did she tell you that?” Kat glanced my way.
“Not in so many words, but she lifted a ward. I know she has some kind of special powers, but we didn’t talk about it.” I flipped the visor down to cut out the sun. My eye caught something in the rearview mirror. I groaned.
“What?” Kat asked.
“I just inherited a ghost dog.” Duke was in the back seat, his head hanging out the window.
“So, you’re saying Ms. Kelton’s dead golden retriever followed you home?” Kat sat cross-legged on the hardwood, pawing through my bead stash. Since I didn’t have a dining table, I’d spread out half a dozen trays right there on the floor. She set a few aside and cocked an eyebrow.
“Not exactly,” I said as Duke staked out a place on the couch.
“Not exactly? Do you mean you dognapped him?” The incredulous look on her face suggested she thought I was joking.
“No, he jumped in the car, and you drove him here. He followed us up the stairs.”
“Are you even allowed pets?” She laughed.
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Frowning, I grabbed a beer and slammed the refrigerator door.
“Oh come on, it was a little funny. Do I get one of those?”
She tilted her head toward my Guinness.
I shrugged, stepped out onto my balcony and sat down. Leaning back in my chair, I sighed heavily.
Kat appeared with a beer in her hand. “What is it?” She pulled a chair next to mine.
My eyes filled. I tried to blink back the tears. Breathing deeply, the air came in ragged, short spurts. “Oh, Kat,” I whispered as tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.
She shifted and her reassuring hand closed over mine. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she murmured. “It’s going to be okay.”
“There’s just so much going on. I don’t think I can handle much more.” I sniffled loudly. “And, now I have a ghost dog!”
Kat squeezed my fingers. “It’ll be okay. Bea said she’d help. At least now you know who you’re dealing with and why he’s attached to you. And a ghost dog is really a great thing, the way I see it.”
“Huh?”
“Well, it’s a golden, and you love goldens. With a ghost dog, you don’t have to feed him, walk him, pick up his shit or even clean up all that hair. You get a companion, and you don’t have to worry about how long you leave it home alone, if it’ll chew your favorite shoes, track dirt in the house, drool on you or get sick. You don’t need a vet or need to register it. Plus, it could still be a guard dog, I suppose. At least, warn you when something isn’t right.”
My lips quirked as she went on. “Do you suppose he’ll still want play toys? What about treats? You know how much goldens like to eat. Maybe you could get plastic doggie treats. That way he can pretend, and you don’t have food out rotting. He’ll want a doggie bed too, I suppose.”
I chuckled. “He’s already made himself at home on the couch.”
“That didn’t take long, did it?” She turned, looking in the window. “Is he on the right side?”
“Nope, left.”
“Your couch is sagging then.”
“Of course it is. It’s used.”
She smiled. “You’re going to be okay. We’ll call Ian with the new info. He keeps saying if he knew why the ghost was here it would help. Maybe this is the piece of the puzzle he needs to finally get something done.”
I nodded. “I suppose I should tell Kane, too.”
“Why?”
I shrugged. “Just seems like he should know.”
Kat got up. “I’m gonna use your bathroom, but when I get back I want the full scoop on Kane. You never gave me all the details.”
She went back inside while I dialed Ian and left a detailed message about Bobby and why he was stalking me. Afterward, I called Pyper and filled her in. To my relief she offered to relay the information to Kane.
Then I retrieved Bea’s number and was disappointed when her phone automatically when to voicemail. “Hello, Bea. I’ve talked to Pyper, and we’re both anxious to meet with you as soon as possible.” I left my number and as I put my phone down, Kat reappeared.
“All right, dish,” she said.
Obediently, I replayed the gory details of my short affair with Kane.
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Kat said. “You’re mad at him for invading your dreams?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t you be?”
“With the dreams you described?” She laughed. “No.”
I glared at her in exasperation. “It isn’t the content of the dreams so much as the invasion.”
“Kind of like how you read his emotions and don’t tell him?” She raised her brows.
She was right, of course. Hadn’t I already had this same debate with myself? Hearing her say it out loud only made me feel worse.
“You’re going to tell him, right?” She peered at me.
I slumped, dejected. “You know why I don’t tell people.”
“Probably some of the same reasons Kane isn’t eager to share the details of his gift.” Kat leaned back, fingering the top of her beer bottle. “You need to tell him.”
“But what if—”
“He’s not Dan. So stop the what-ifs right this instant. You can’t live your life around how Dan acted. Kane is his own person. You should give him the chance. You might be surprised.”
“But I—”
“No buts. I know Dan hurt you. But you have to at least accept that part of the blame was yours for not telling him sooner.”
“He cheated on me!” I said, automatically defaulting to my ingrained indignation of how I’d been wronged even though I knew she was right.
“He was hurt, Jade.” She took a deep breath. “I know it was wrong. Of course it was. But you kept your gift from him for seven years, if you count the time we were all friends in high school. You’ve known Kane for, what, two weeks? What if this had been happening for years and he never told you? How would you feel?”
The beer turned stale on my tongue. “Awful. Betrayed. Horrified.”
Kat reached her hand out and clasped mine again. “You made a mistake. It’s understandable, given your history, but don’t let your fears get in the way of a good thing with Kane. If he’s so easily scared away, he isn’t good enough for you.”
I gave her a sad smile. “I really like him.”
“I know, honey. That’s why you need to tell him.” We sat in silence for a long moment, until Kat said, “You’ll find a way.”
“I hope so.”
She grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside. “Enough. Let’s go in so I can keep rummaging through your beads.”
Hours later, after Kat had left, neither Ian nor Bea had returned my calls.
Chapter 16
A variety of Voodoo dolls lined the windows of The Herbal Connection. I did a double-take and checked the store sign.
“I thought you said this was a new-age shop?” Pyper stood next to me, a skeptical frown on her face.
I’d offered to conduct a cleansing ritual on Pyper to neutralize any negative energy
. It was a long shot, but at this point we were ready to try anything. “It was the last time I was here.”
“Looks more like Marie Leveau’s.” The shop named for the famous Voodoo Priestess was located at the other end of Bourbon Street.
I shrugged. “They’re probably trying to cater to the tourists.”
The door jingled as we walked in, and my skin tingled with pleasure as I inhaled the strong fresh rain scent. Kane’s scent. But he was back at the club, which only meant one thing. The store’s ‘happy place’ charm had evoked it. Damn, I was in trouble.
“Do you think that cinnamon chocolate scent is a candle or incense?” Pyper asked.
“I’m sure you can get it in either.” If Bea could charm a whole shop, certainly she could do something as simple as a candle. Though I wasn’t sure why Pyper would need it. Clearly her happy scent was the café.
A woman at least half Bea’s age clad in a chic, stylish, bohemian tunic and leggings greeted us. Now this is the kind of person I expected to see in an herbal shop. Her energy had the same lightness as Bea’s, but as I tried to get a read on her emotions all I sensed was a cool void. Weird. I’d never had that happen before.
“Hi,” I said. “Is Bea around?”
“Sorry, she didn’t come in today. Can I help you?”
“Yes, we need a Desert Sage smudge stick.” I pulled a bill out of my wallet, but Pyper put her hand over mine.
“I got it.”
I smiled and turned toward the clerk. “I hope Bea isn’t sick.”
“I’m not really sure. She left me a note letting me know she wouldn’t be here, so she either came in last night or this morning. I can leave her a message if you like.”
“It’s all right, I have her number. Thanks though.”
“Anything else?” the clerk asked.
I shook my head.
As she finished the transaction, a small twinge of curiosity flowed from her. I reached deeper to find her emotions and was rewarded with a brilliant white light bouncing off the honey-colored hair piled on top of her head.
“Wow,” I said and stepped back.
“What?” Pyper asked.
“Oh, sorry. Nothing.” I bit my lip.
The clerk’s energy went from white to purple and back to white as she studied me. Realization seemed to dawn and she smiled. “An empath. That explains the bright purple pulsing around you. I can see auras and,” she waved her hand, “other things.”
I froze. Who was she?
She leaned in close to me. “Your friend has something attached to her. Something dark.”
“Dark?” I repeated. Did Bobby follow us everywhere?
“Really dark. The worst kind of dark. I’m not sure the smudge will work, but you can try.” She looked unconvinced.
“Can you tell what it is?” Pyper turned her head, checking over her shoulder.
“I don’t know. It’s just black, but it isn’t your aura. Yours is red, with tinges of yellow. Very dynamic.”
Pyper straightened and smiled. “Really? That’s so cool.” Apparently her aura trumped the dark thing following her.
“Anything else you’d suggest, besides the smudge?” I glanced around the shop, hoping something would jump out at me.
“You’d be better off asking Bea. If I see her, I’ll let her know you could use her advice.”
“Thanks.” I handed her a card. “I’m Jade, and this is Pyper.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lailah. Come see me sometime, and I’ll read your auras more carefully.” She slid a card in the bag and handed it to Pyper.
I waved and tugged Pyper out of the store.
Pyper grabbed a piece of cheese pizza. “Auras, huh? Do you think that stuff is real?”
“Sure, don’t you?” I sipped my lemonade. It was just wrong to have pizza without beer, but I couldn’t drink and smudge and expect it to be effective.
She shrugged. “I guess I should be open to anything now. Dreamwalking, ghosts and now smudging. Why not auras?”
“Doesn’t all this freak you out?” If I hadn’t been exposed to all kinds of odd occurrences growing up, I’d be running for the psych ward right about then. Pyper’s ability to take everything in stride left me in awe.
“No. Not really.” She paused. “All right, the ghost shit does, but the other stuff, no. I think it’s kinda cool. It reinforces my belief of all of us being connected. Some of us just see it better than others.” Her calm energy floated in soothing waves toward me.
“How can you be so cool about it, with everything happening?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s an act.” She grinned.
“It’s not. I can see it isn’t.”
“You’re that good at reading people?”
“Yes. I am.” I saw no point in denying it.
“Interesting. Anything you want to share?” She peered at me.
“Like what?” I pretended deep interest in my veggie pizza slice.
“Like maybe you want to tell me what an empath is and what was going on back there?” Her eyes gleamed.
Shit. I’d been hoping with the whole aura thing, she’d forgotten that comment. Lailah pulled me out of the closet with one reading of my aura. I’d had my aura read once before and already knew it was purple. But that just means intuitive. It doesn’t mean empath. How did she know?
“Come on, Jade.” Pyper set her food down, giving me her undivided attention.
I took a deep breath. The last person I’d told about my gift was Dan. Look at how well that had turned out. “I guess Lailah can see people’s auras.”
“That part I got.”
“She also said she sees other things, and apparently she saw something dark attached to you.” I stalled.
“Right, I have a dark ghost following me. That isn’t news. That’s why I’m staying with you. What’s so special about you that makes him behave?” Her eyes bored into mine.
“There isn’t anything special about me!” Warped maybe. Or flawed. But not special. And certainly nothing that would keep evil ghosts away.
“That’s crap, and you know it. Hell, I knew it the first time I met you. Look at Kane and how he’s fallen for you. And Charlie, she’s friendly and outgoing, but she doesn’t respect a lot of people. And she respects and admires you, Jade Calhoun. There’s something very special about you, even if you don’t see it.” She stopped to catch her breath. “Now, what’s an empath, cause I didn’t forget.”
Stunned, I let her words sink in. For the first time in my life, I had a network of friends and hadn’t even realized it. Something unlocked in my heart, and the last of my resolve melted. “An empath is someone who feels other people’s emotions as they feel them.”
“Kind of like being around a happy person can make you happy? Infectious energy stuff?”
“Yeah.” I laughed humorlessly. “Only normal people get a small fraction of that transfer. Empaths, people like me, get a full force version whether we want to or not.”
Pyper leaned in, giving me her full attention. Curiosity bubbled up, replaced by empathy gliding off her and swirling around my center. “So when people near you are upset, you feel their pain?”
I nodded. “And for people I have a close relationship with, like Aunt Gwen, sometimes I feel her emotions no matter where she is.”
“Oh, Jade. You poor thing. Is there anything you can do to block it out?”
Her sympathy wrapped me in a blanket, and I let myself cherish the sensation. Not that I wanted to be pitied, but I’d never had someone understand that terrible part of my existence so quickly. I cleared the newly formed lump in my throat. “Yes, I can build defenses, but it’s draining. And sometimes if an emotion hits me too hard, I can’t block it out.”
She squeezed my fingers and let go. “But you also feel joy and happiness too, right?”
“Sure. Those are great, kind of like a natural high, but that wears me out, too. Too much outside emotional energy is exhausting. Then I can’t block anything, and
that can be destructive.” I looked down at my half-eaten pizza and pushed it away, no longer hungry.
Pyper didn’t say anything and when I risked a peek, she met my eyes and said, “It’s a gift, Jade. But it isn’t what makes you special.”
One tear rolled silently down my face.
She moved her chair next to mine and used a napkin to catch it. “Honey, I don’t know what happened in your past to make you think this was something to be hidden or ashamed of—”
“I’m not ashamed.”
“Okay, guarded. How’s that?”
I nodded. “Guarded.”
“But you’re part of our family now. You must know we accept you for who or what you are, no matter what. There’s no need to hide from us. Kane, me, Charlie, even Holly.”
“Holly hates me.” I sniffed.
“Of course she doesn’t.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Pyper smiled. “Hate is a very strong word.”
“Right, but I don’t think she sees me as part of the family.”
“Well, maybe not, but she likes you better than you think.” Pyper stood up. “Come on, let’s get out of here and get this smudge thing done. I’m tired of my black shadow.”
Two days later I stood at the cash register of the café, stifling a huge yawn.
“You look like you’re ready to fall over,” Pyper said.
I nodded, wiping down the counter. I’d seen my reflection in the mirror. It wasn’t pretty. The smudge hadn’t worked, and Pyper had taken up residence, sleeping on my couch. She was no trouble, but the dog was constantly barking at her—or, more likely, her black shadow. I’d performed a ritual to ask the dog to move on, but it hadn’t worked. Without any other options, I’d been afraid Pyper would feel pressured to leave. So, I just didn’t tell her about it.
“Am I keeping you awake?” Pyper stepped close to me.
“No, no.” Another yawn took hold, causing my eyes to water.
“I don’t believe you. I should stay at my own place tonight.”
“No! That’s not an option.” We were stuck in a holding pattern. Bea and Ian were still MIA. We’d each called Ian, with no answer. I’d called Bea and left numerous messages. When she didn’t call back, I’d stopped by her house, but she hadn’t been home. Then I’d tried her shop again. Lailah didn’t know much. She’d gotten a message Bea was unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, I wouldn’t let Pyper out of my sight.
