Delia's Shadow by Moyer Jaime Lee

Author:Moyer, Jaime Lee [Moyer, Jaime Lee]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2013-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Delia

Isadora lived in a neighborhood at the top of Potrero Hill. We turned into her gate and entered a far country, distant and isolated.

Dora’s home was set back at the rear of a big, wooded lot. Pine and cedar trees swayed in the breeze, branches creaking and needles scenting the air. A long front drive, tall black-iron fence, and hedges hid her sprawling, two-story cottage from view. Her house was cut off from both passersby and the neighbors on either side, an island of solitude.

“Living here must be lovely.” I glanced at Dora and went back to watching the lights of her house shimmer behind the trees. “Your neighbors are so far away I imagine it’s like living on a country estate.”

“A little like that, yes. Or at least as close as I can come and still be near the city.” She nodded at Gabe, sitting in the front with Officer Polk. “If I lived in a boardinghouse like Gabe or even a neighborhood like yours, I’d need an asylum within a year. All that humanity and their emotions would drive me mad.”

I must have looked shocked. Dora patted my hand, amused and patient. “Most people don’t understand there are different tiers of the spirit world, different energies that intersect with our world. Spirits of the dead, ghosts, are the only tier you sense and see right now. I have the misfortune to sense and see them all, and strong emotions seek me out. Extreme pain and fear are the hardest to weather. I need a retreat to recover and shield myself from the worst assaults.”

“Does that hurt?” Dora lifted an eyebrow, peering at me quizzically. I suddenly realized what I’d done. “I don’t know what just came over me, I sound like Sadie. Please forgive me, I’d no right to ask something that personal. I’m so sorry.”

She laughed, utterly delighted. “Don’t be sorry. I was a bit surprised, but not offended. You’re the first person to ever ask me if what I do causes pain. The answer is yes, sometimes what I sense does hurt. Tell me, could you see what happened between Gabe and me tonight?”

I nodded. “A spark jumped between you. From the way you and Gabe flinched I got the impression it hurt.”

“You see more than I thought. We’ll have to watch that carefully.” The car with Sadie and Jack stopped ahead of us. We waited farther down the semicircular drive at the front of the house for them to get out and Henderson to drive away. Dora pulled off the blue cloche and shook her hair out. “The energy from all the death surrounding Gabe’s job seeks him out, clinging to his aura. Touching me grounds him. Unglamorous as it sounds, I’m the lightning rod for his lightning. Gabe is only the second person that’s ever happened with. The first was a priest.”

“Why Gabe?” I straightened the seams on my gloves, fiddling to keep from appearing anxious and more than a little afraid of the answer.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.