It's the Friday before Christmas, and I'm getting ready to finish up the last of the wrapping, and then I'm on to writing, but before I go, here is a little treat. The first chapter in "A Gypsy's Kiss." It still needs some work, but I'm excited to share it anyway.
If you leave a comment below, and don't forget your email, I'll enter your name into a drawing to win a signed paperback of Whisper Cape. USA only though. Sorry, those international mailing rates are very steep. Hope you understand. But have no fear, I still have something for you international lovers of romance, so go ahead and comment for a free copy of the audiobook. I'll pick a winner on January 2, 2015.
A Gypsy’s Kiss
A Sectorium Novel
Chapter One
Breena
I placed the last
tarot card of the spread on the table, a woman bound and blindfolded, her eyes
covered, standing among eight swords—the eighth card in the suit of swords.
“Bad news and conflict,” I whispered mostly to myself, not wanting to say them
too loud for fear the girl sitting across the table from me might hear them.
The card before
that had been the eighth card in the suit of wands—reversed. Arrows of
jealousy, quarrels and domestic disputes. Things were not looking good. Damn.
I glanced at Lea,
her eyes had been so filled with hope until a few seconds ago, but now that I’d
given her the meaning behind the cards, her mouth dipped down slightly at the
corners.
Taking into
consideration, her question, which was, “Will I get married this year?” I came
to the conclusion that the answer was a big, fat definite no.
“I’m sorry, Lea.
The cards are just not falling your way today.”
She slouched her shoulders
and her head lowered, closing her eyes as long dark lashes splayed across the
tops of her cheeks. Lea was a pretty girl. Long dark brown hair that she always
wore back in a ponytail made her eyes seem wide and sultry. We weren’t super
close friends, but I liked her and she’d been in my psychology class last
semester, plus we hung out sometimes when neither one of us had anything better
to do. Lea was a quiet girl who kept to herself most of the time. Pretty much
like me, the sticking to herself part, definitely not the quiet part.
Leaning her elbow
on the edge of the table, she placed her hand to her forehead and leaned into
it. “I figured as much. Brad, the guy I’ve been dating dumped me last night.”
“Oh. Sorry. That
blows.” Not the best way to start out a new semester. I didn’t have much else
to say on the subject. My one and only experience in relationships had been brief
to say the least. I’d been out with several guys over the past couple of years,
but no one ever stuck around once they realized I didn’t feel comfortable
touching them. Hell, touching them was beyond the issue. I couldn’t even hold
their hand. In truth, I’ve had a languishing loneliness most of my life,
fearful of never having that connection with someone—someone I could hold or
better yet, could hold me. In fact, I yearned to have that touch. My parents
had it. They must have, otherwise, how would they have made me? I wanted to
reach out and touch Lea’s hand now, just to give her some support, but I knew
if I did I’d see everything that would happen to her over the next twelve
hours. Not to mention, she would see them as well, and that was something I
just couldn’t let happen.
There was no way I
could ever divulge my abilities. Secrets were a necessary fact of life for me,
and those who were like me. Like me, meaning those with a “supernatural”
ability. To me, my abilities were normal, but to the masses, I’d be considered
weird or worse yet, dangerous. As my uncle Cael once said, “People are afraid
of what they don’t understand.” Though I’d never had the unfortunate experience
of knowing firsthand about that, I believed him, considering some of the things
he’d been through protecting our secrets. But that’s a story for another time.
My abilities were
always evolving and changing, all of ours were. Some gifts I’ve had since I was
small, like seeing twelve hours into someone’s future whenever my skin came in
contact with someone else’s. My ability to see into the future had always been
a pain to me. As a small child I wore gloves most of the time. It’s not so bad
seeing someone’s future, if only I didn’t
transfer that image back to them in the process. That’s what used to get me
into big trouble when I was little. A little girl, seeing grownups doing
grown-up things, private grown-up things if you get my meaning, wasn't exactly
a good thing according to my grandmother. Well, my adopted grandmother. My
parents had been murdered by some wacked out maniac when I'd only been five
years old. Grams, Siana Sheridan, took me in since I had no other living
relatives. Her son, Cael who I'd always thought of as my uncle because he was
so much older than me, had been my dad's best friend. He'd been single at the
time and very busy protecting our secret society known as The Sectorium. He
wasn’t in a very good position for taking care of a young girl. So, his mother
did.
I took up fortune-telling
last year shortly after I developed a new and enhanced ability to see into
someone’s future just by touching something that they had touched. That’s
another good reason for the money exchange. Once they handed me the money, I
saw everything I needed to see. The good thing about this new ability was I
could turn it off and on whenever I wanted to. I still had the problem with
touching someone skin to skin, but I made sure I never did that. I always wore
long sleeves. Even in the summer my arms were covered with sheer, light-weight
material. If anyone asked, I'd tell him or her that I sunburned very easily, or
sometimes, I'd make up some outlandish tale about a skin disease. I was home
schooled most of my life, but Grams agreed to let me try real school one year.
I'd been twelve and extremely annoyed with all the questions about why I wore
gloves and long sleeves all the time. I told one girl who'd been so insistent I
tell her why, that I was born part vampire and my skin was so sensitive to the
sun that it would blister if directly exposed just to shut her up. That one was
fun until she told her mother and her mother told the teacher, and well, you
can guess the outcome of that.
Most people who
came to me for readings figured it was just a fun thing to do, something I made
up, or a joke. But the money helped supplement some of the finer things in
life, like books and clothes; clothes that weren’t in the budget from the money
Grams sent every month. I was a book nerd on top of everything else, something
most likely derived from my years of spending so much time alone as a child.
But I loved reading and whenever I had time in-between my studies I read
romance novels, mostly paranormal romance. You’d be surprised how many
paranormal books come close to real life. People just don’t know about it yet.
I glanced up a
Lea, tears began to run down her flushed cheeks. “Listen, Lea, these cards
don’t mean squat, really,” I lied, sort of. The cards didn’t always tell the exact
truth, but for some reason, this time they did. I knew when she handed me the
twenty dollar bill at the beginning of the session that marriage wasn’t going
to happen for her. At least not this year. “You and Brad might get back
together,” I added after touching the card she’d picked up and placed back
down. I had a vision of Lea and Brad talking later that day. “Weddings take a
lot of planning you know, and well, if you two don’t get married this year,
maybe you will next year.”
She shook her
head. “No. I won’t be marrying Brad. I saw him kissing someone else. At first,
he tried to convince me that he didn’t do it on purpose. He said the girl kissed
him and before he realized what was happening he was kissing her back. He said
it didn’t mean anything. I stormed off and wouldn’t talk to him. Last night, he
told me he didn’t want to marry me anymore.”
I felt bad for
her, but I knew she’d find someone else soon. She was pretty, and even though
she was quiet, guys were always hanging around her trying to get to know her. I
should be so lucky. I almost offered to give back her twenty dollars, but then
hey, a girl needs her extracurricular activities and money to support them.
The tears poured
from her eyes and she stood and ran out of the room. I got up to chase after
her, to try to console her some more, though I wasn’t sure how. When I reached
the dark bedroom door, I smacked right into a wall of a guy just entering. His
hands gripped my arms to help keep me from toppling backwards.
“Sorry, are you
okay?” he asked.
I looked up into
pools of green and smoky grey. The guy’s left eye was green and the right one
was grey. A beautiful face housed those two eyes, and I had trouble finding my
voice. It wasn’t every day that a gorgeous guy held onto me. In fact, it had
never happened.
“Um … are you
alright?” he enquired again.
I nodded, finding
my voice, I managed a squeaky, “Yes.” I wanted to stay and find out who this
guy was, but I needed to go after Lea. “Excuse me, I have to go,” I said,
turning to run after her.
“Wait, are you the
girl who reads cards?”
I stopped in my
tracks and turned back to him. “Yes,” I said, glancing back down the dark hallway
as Lea turned the corner. I briefly wondered if she would leave or stay at the
party a little longer so I could talk to her again. I was torn between
consoling Lea and staying to talk to Mister Green and Grey Eyes. The eyes won.
“I do read, for a fee,” I added. Though I would probably have read his for free
just to find out who he was.
“Do you have time
for a reading now?”
“Sure.”
Giving the empty
hallway a glance and hoping I’d catch up with Lea in a little while or maybe
tomorrow, I led him back over to the square card table I had set up with my
cards. I’d spread out a small black table cloth, bunching it up a little in the
middle around a glass globe I’d found at some fair I’d gone to for affect.
After all, it was Halloween and this was a Halloween party. The globe went well
with the fortune-teller ruse and the outfit I’d decided to wear, a low cut black
bustier over a puffy sleeved blouse gave me a bit more cleavage than I actually
possessed and went very well with the long purple and green flowing skirt. Coins
dangled from the scarf I’d fashioned around my waist, and I wore a matching
scarf on my head, covering most of my dark hair. I looked the part I’d been
hired to play and that made the sorority ladies very happy.
I was hired for
this sorority’s Halloween party as an attraction. Bookings like this helped pay
for some of those extras I needed and it also helped bring in new customers. I
usually set up inside my apartment. I enjoyed living off campus, a luxury set
up by my Grams. These gigs helped to acquire a customer base, and I needed the
extra cash. This guy was my first new customer this evening.
I sat and gestured
for him to sit across from me.
“It’s twenty
dollars.”
“Your name is
Breana? He asked, pronouncing the end like Anna..
“No, it’s Breena, just
one a.” I smiled.
“My name’s Hawk,”
he said and reached into his pocket to pull out a twenty dollar bill.
“Hawk?”
He shrugged his
shoulders; tilting his head to the side he gave me a sexy half grin. No
explanation, just a cocky grin as he handed the money to me. I clasped the bill
between my thumb and forefinger, expecting to see a vision of some sort about
Hawk, but … nothing happened. I shot my eyes to his in shocked dismay. I
crunched the twenty dollars in my fist hoping that would spark a vision, but
still nothing. Why hadn’t I seen his future? Something was wrong.
Placing the money
in my pocket, I studied his features. His eyes, both different made it
difficult to choose his Significator card. I decided to go with his dark hair
and combined his two colored eyes into hazel as my guide. I picked the King of
Swords and placed it in the center between us.
“The King of
Swords represents you. The fact that you have dark hair and well, eyes of two
different colors,” I said with a bit of chagrin as his eyes stared at me with a
mixture of amusement and was that … intrigue? “I had to go with hazel,” I
breathed out the rest of that sentence feeling a bit vulnerable. I had no idea
what was up with this guy because I got nothing after taking the money from his
hand. His eyes were so beautifully
unusual, I had trouble concentrating on what came next. Luckily, nothing too
hard as I swiftly gathered up the deck of cards and began to shuffle them.
Cutting the deck after the shuffle and repeating the process three times. I did
this slowly to give me more time to think about—or not think about—why I didn’t
see a vision. He sat quietly and watched me.
“What question did
you want to ask me?”
He smiled. “A few
are running through my mind right now, but they can wait.” I smiled and fingered
a lose strand of my hair behind my ear. For some reason, he made me nervous. “I
need to know if someone is following me.”
“Huh?” That wasn’t
a question I’d been expecting. Nor one I’d ever been asked before. Usually,
guys wanted to know about classes, grades, or mostly sports. Occasionally, they
wanted to know about a particular chick they were interested in, but it was mostly
about sports. And the way this guy was built, I truly expected a question about
some athletic activity he was going to be starring in because I was all up for
watching and cheering.
“I think my life
is in a state of, let me say, energy flux right now, and I need to know why.”
“I’m sorry. I
don’t understand.” Energy flux? Not many
normal people would use a term such as energy flux and I had to wonder if he
came to me because he knew something about me, or maybe he possibly had some
ability of his own.
“You don’t need to
understand,” he shot back, his voice sounding a bit too curt.
I gave him a
don’t-be-rude look and he rolled his eyes. “Sorry, look, I just need to know if
someone is looking for me or following me, okay?”
“I don’t know if
the cards can tell you that, but I think we can get some sort of idea from the
way they appear.”
“Good.” He nodded
his head and straightened his shoulders. His chest was broad and his arms were
significantly larger than most of the guys around campus. A glimpse of a tattoo
peeked out from the sleeve of his shirt. It was hard to make out what it was, but
it looked like the tip end of a wing or something. I wanted to see the rest of
it and wondered…
I placed the first
card over his Significator. “This is the second card of swords. This is what
covers you,” I explained. “The influence card. It sets the atmosphere for what
comes next. This card represents equipoise, balance, suggesting courage and
friendship. Sometimes,” I lowered my eyes to avoid his, “affection and
intimacy.” As I placed the second card across the first, I explained its
meaning. The next seven cards were similar in meaning. Giving me a clear
indication that this guy was either very sensual in nature, or had a very
sexual background. I swallowed and placed the eighth card down and gasped
silently. This card did not go with the others at all. My eyes caught his as he
studied me, his eyebrows knitted
together like he knew what I was thinking. “This is the tower card, it … is
facing straight.” I swallowed. My body was tingling with heat and I wished
desperately for a cool breeze. Last thing I needed was Hawk seeing me sweat. I
wiped my fingers between my eyes feeling the moisture accumulating there.
“Go on,” he
coaxed.
I bit my bottom lip and pointed at the card. I
drew in a breath. “This card is predicting misery and distress. But it’s strange
that it would appear so suddenly when all the other cards were so intimate.”
He sighed and
rubbed his hand on his thigh. I couldn’t actually see that, because of the
table, but figured that was what he was doing as his arm moved back and forth.
A nervous reaction I assumed. There were two more cards to go, and I prayed
that the next two would be good cards. I laid the ninth card down and wished I
could retract it. “It’s the moon card.” I looked up at his face.
“And?” he asked
sounding a bit impatient.
I didn’t blame
him, I was stalling. “The moon card, in this position, represents darkness,
terror, and … occult forces.”
He sat back. “I
knew it. There’s one more card, right?”
I nodded.
“Go ahead. Turn it
over.”
I laid the last
tarot card on the table, another freakin’ card of doom. For the second time
today, the eighth card of swords has come up, this time in reverse.
Fatality.
I needed to see a
vision because a lot could happen in twelve hours and for him, it could mean
death. A shrill of ice snaked down my spine, and on impulse, I took his hand in
mine and turned it over so he would think I was reading his palm, not something
I normally did to strangers, but something told me I needed to know more about
him. “Let me see if I can read your palm.” The brunt force of what I saw or
should say didn’t see almost knocked me out of my chair, but I managed to keep
myself steady as an unsual vellicating sensation skimmed up my arm.
Hawk quickly
tugged his hand away as if I had leprosy. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his face a
mixture of confusion and fear.
“I don’t know,” I
admitted. I didn’t see the next twelve hours of his life flash before my eyes,
so I know he didn’t see it either. My secret remained safe, but I couldn’t see
his future and that worried me. Extremely. Not that I liked the cursed so
called gift, but it was my bread and
butter these days. If I couldn’t see his future, could I also not see anyone
else’s anymore? The way he yanked his hand away so fast made me wonder why, because
I was sure I hadn’t given any indication that I had any special ability to see
into the future, and I felt a bit dejected by his quick removal. Maybe he
thought I was being forward or something. That thought bothered me too, because
if he had thought that, and pulled away, then that meant he wasn’t interested
in me. Not the way I’d hoped.
I stole a quick glance
at the hot guy sitting across from me, not wanting to say the dreaded word, death, and my eyes caught a fleeting
glimpse of darkness skate across the room behind him. A shadow fell over him—and
only him—wrapping him in a shroud of grey. Since we were inside one of the
guest rooms in the sorority house with just the glow of a few candles, a shadow
seemed unlikely. I glanced around to see who or what was near to cast the
darkness, but the room was empty except for the two of us. When I looked back
at his face, the darkness was gone. What the hell was that?
“Well, by the look
on your face, something is wrong,” he said slowly reaching toward my hand
again, but this time I yanked it off the table and quickly picked up the cards
so he couldn’t touch me. I didn’t think I could handle another non-glimpse of
someone’s future when I surely should have seen his. Then I had to ask myself
why he wanted to touch me again.
The whole experience
with this guy had me completely unraveled.
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