Page 12 of Beautiful Soul

Then she blinked and took another sip of coffee before staring some more.

Though he had always been a patient man, he found himself willing her to say something.

She blinked again then turned her brown-eyed gaze on him. “I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking. I’ve not had anything happen to me, but people have always said they felt better after talking to me. Even the callers give me good reviews. Even if I can’t help them, they say I made them feel better about the situation.”

A light being. An untrained empath and energetic healer. But he could feel something else, something he had never seen in his many, many years of traveling the world.

“Uh-huh. And if you wish for something, does it show up in a short period of time?”

“Like manifesting?”

“Yes, like manifesting.”

Lena lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Sometimes with little things. I haven’t been able to manifest a million dollars, or anything like that, but when I wish for a parking space or a green light when driving or such I can usually find or get what I’m looking for.”

“You probably just need more practice,” Kingsley said and finished his coffee.

Rinsing the cup, he placed it in the dishwasher before crossing to the bookshelves that lined one wall. It took a moment to find what he was looking for, but finally he found it sitting in a seashell of pink Himalayan salt.

Picking up the black heart-shaped stone, he held it between his palms as he whispered a protective spell. It only took a second for the stone to heat against his skin as the words programmed it to his wishes. Parting his palms, he studied the stone which glowed for a moment before the glow faded away. Only when the stone was once again a shiny black heart shape did he return to Lena’s side.

Lifting the hand not holding her mug, he pressed the stone into her palm. “I’d like you to carry this with you until we meet again.”

Lena studied the rock before lifting her gaze to him. “A worry stone?”

“Um, a kind of worry stone. It will keep you safe until we are together again,” Kingsley said.

Lena gave a full shrug before sliding the stone into her pocket. “Okay, sure. I’ll carry it.”

When she left a few minutes later, Kingsley had a hard time not following her home. Since he knew they would be meeting again soon, he forced himself to trudge back up the stairs to his apartment with a heavy, lonely heart.

Chapter Seven

“So, who was the bland you were seen with a couple nights ago?” Livingston asked. He sipped a fine china mug full of blood as they waited for Jefferson and Dickenson to arrive.

“She’s not a bland,” Mystic said as she carried a tray of pastries into the conference room behind the café.

“She’s not?”

Mystic shook her head. “No, she’s not. Would a bland woman be enough for our resident mage? I don’t think so,” she said before giving a cackling giggle.

Kingsley studied the woman and realized she knew something he did not. He knew what kind of supernatural Lena was. “So, if she’s not a bland, what is she, Mystic?”

The old woman paused at the door before looking over her shoulder at him. Her eyes glowed gold instead of the deep black-brown they normally were. When she spoke, her voice was two octaves deeper than normal with a heavy Jamaican accent. “Lena Wellings is more, much more, but she’s been told her whole life that she has no magic. She needs a man who will help her discover who she is, what she is, and then not exploit her.”

Stunned by the pronouncement, Kingsley watched as Mystic blinked. Her eyes were back to normal, as was her voice when she next spoke. “If you need anything else, just let me know. I’ll return an hour before sunrise if you have not finished by then.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Livingston answered in his proper British accent, though he sounded more subdued than usual.

Kingsley was not sure what to say so he nodded as he swallowed. “Thank you, Mystic.”

The café owner nodded before disappearing out the door. A moment later, Jefferson entered and a few minutes after that Dickenson entered. After refilling coffee mugs and choosing pastries, negotiations to keep the city from descending into supernatural war reopened.

****

Lena woke at 2:05, wide awake, but so twitchy she had to get out of bed before she ended up tied like a burrito in the covers. Turning on the television, she found an old movie, but could not focus enough to follow the story.

After fixing herself a pot of chamomile tea, she began pacing the apartment as she sipped it, wishing it would calm her down enough to return to sleep. Picking up the black heart stone Kingsley had given her before she had left his apartment two nights before, she wished for Morpheus to pull her back into sleep for another few hours.

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