Eyes to the Soul Read online

  Eyes to the Soul

  Book #7 of Psychic Visions

  Dale Mayer

  EYES TO THE SOUL

  Dale Mayer

  Valley Publishing

  Copyright © 2015 Dale Mayer

  ISBN-13: 9781928122418

  EPUB Edition

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Praise for Dale Mayer

  I love to read Dale Mayer’s books… keeps me guessing…. I am getting good though trying to figure out who did it…. I am on my fourth book….

  …Review left on Vampire in Deceit, book 4 of Family Blood Ties

  Dale Mayer’s work is always outstanding and Haunted by Death is no exception.

  …Review from Haunted by Death, book 2 of the By Death Series

  This is a GREAT series that you don’t want to miss out on!

  …Review from Broken Protocols Series

  This is my favorite author I enjoy all her books and I can’t wait for more… her books are easy to get into and I love the storyline

  …Review from Dangerous Designs, book 1 of the Design Series

  Dale Mayer is a gifted writer who now has me hooked as a new fan. She characters are complex and she shares her knowledge of energy work clearly and simply. Makes for fascinating reading…

  …Review from Rare Find, book 6 of Psychic Visions Series

  Don’t underestimated Dale Mayer. Combination of JD Robb and Heather Graham. Paranormal suspense………

  …Review left on Maddy’s Floor, book 3 of the Psychic Visions Series

  Wow! I read a lot, and I can honestly say that there a few books that I have read that I will remember for years. This is one of those books. Thank you Dale for giving me the gift of this magnificent story. It was both heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.

  …Review left on Skin, book 1 of Broken and yet…Healing Series

  Touched by Death is an outstanding novel by Dale Mayer. Unlike her usual novels that contain paranormal activity, this novel is sheer malevolent actions from ordinary humans.

  …Review left on Touched by Death, book 1 of By Death Series

  Dale’s books are spellbinding in more ways than one. She has a unique way with words. Her characters are fun and funny and loving. I love the way the story flows. Her characters all have personality. She takes you from suspense to love, then fear love and eternal love.

  …Review left on Second Chances, book 1 of Second Chances… at Love Series

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Praise for Dale Mayer

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt from Now You See Her

  About the Author

  Also by Dale Mayer

  Chapter 1

  Let me see.

  No. Celina Wilton shook her head, then immediately stopped. He couldn’t see her. And no movement was going to stop the voice in her head. The cruel, cunning voice of a predator. One who’d found his prey. And like most predators, he loved to torment his victim.

  It was unthinkable. She – a ghost-whisperer of today – herself now haunted in the very worst of ways.

  Let me see.

  No. She refused to give him what he wanted.

  I won’t go away. You know that.

  And I won’t let you see. No matter how long it takes.

  Soft, mocking laughter filled Celina’s head. She trembled. Who was this evil soul? Why was he doing this? She’d asked, but he hadn’t yet answered. He had something else on his mind. Plans. She desperately wanted to know what they were, but didn’t dare give him the satisfaction.

  It will take forever…and I have more time than you.

  Not if I have anything to say about this. But did she?

  She hoped so. But she hadn’t found a way to change the situation yet. She needed someone to help her. Only there wasn’t anyone in this world that could. She’d been caught in a web of her own making, thinking she knew what she was doing – until this evil found her. And taught her a major lesson – that she really knew nothing. That being able to see a ghost or two did not make her a pro. That she was an innocent in a world she thought was safe and easy, only to find predators lurking in the shadows. It was a sign of her own naiveté that she hadn’t known predators could exist in this ghost world.

  She wished she could turn back time to when she’d seen her first ghost and ignore him. If only she’d treated him as the fantasy figure her friends had all said he’d been.

  Except then she’d have missed communicating with Caslo, her childhood friend. Her dead best friend.

  She felt so alone.

  Like she’d always been alone.

  Right now she was surrounded by people as the orchestra broke up for the last practice before the new show opened. Chairs were shuffled back and cases opened, voices raised in laughter.

  Celina waited for the noise to die down.

  “Celina, are you coming out for a drink?” Jacob Coburn, friend extraordinaire, asked from beside her.

  “I was thinking that an evening at home would be better. I could use a good night’s sleep before the big performance.” She reached for her purse behind her chair and double checked the clasp, her hands sound and sure. She’d been living without her eyesight for so long that this was normal. Natural. She stopped just short of thinking comfortable. There was nothing comfy about this.

  There also wasn’t anything natural about people’s responses to finding out she was blind, the pity in their voices.

  She was blind. Not deaf, regardless of the often hushed whispers, nor dumb, even though many friends instinctively jumped up to answer for her. Being used to others’ behavior didn’t make it easier.

  And Celina hated being called disabled or worse – differently abled. That was not her. Would never be her. Her condition was a stumbling block on the pathway of life and for – her – a handicap. She was handicapped regardless of politically correct terms. Besides, she wasn’t completely blind.

  She could see shadows sometimes, but not always and only if she strained her eyes.

  “Come on. One drink won’t make a difference, surely.” He hesitated then added, “Besides, I want you to meet a friend of mine. He’s planning on joining us.”

  She paused, closing her violin case before choosing her words carefully. “Where are you going?”

 
; “To Chico’s.”

  She stilled. Why there? It had to be a coincidence. They couldn’t know. She didn’t dare tell them. Their sympathy would be more than she could stand.

  “I’ll drive you home afterwards. Just one drink to celebrate all of our hard work,” he said in a coaxing tone.

  She could hear the smile in his voice. Jacob knew her too well. Knew how to get her cooperation.

  “Opening night is tomorrow, and after that we won’t have a chance for weeks,” he said. “We’ve got this. But it took tons of effort – team effort – and the team wants to celebrate…”

  “And I’m part of the team,” she finished for him. There was no arguing the logic. And one drink wouldn’t hurt her. In fact, it might just ease her tension for the coming night. Then again, all nights were tough these days. But why Chico’s? Any place but there.

  As if hearing her thoughts Jacob added, “Chico is putting on a special deal for us. He’s expecting us.”

  Crap. Of course he was. That old man was generous to a fault.

  “Fine. One drink,” she said, giving in with a gentle smile.

  Bruce walked past, clanging metal to metal. “A big drink then, if it’s only one.” More metal clanged, letting her know he was busy collecting the music stands to carry off to one side. Bruce played the drums and could have played with the best rock bands in the world, but the classics had stolen his heart.

  “I’ll be done here in a moment. Mind if I catch a ride with you two?” Bruce asked, his voice fading slightly as he walked away. “I’ll take a cab home afterward.”

  “Sure thing,” Jacob said to Bruce, and to Celina, “I’ll go lock up your harp.”

  “Thanks.” Chico’s? Well if she had to… she could do this, like she’d done so much before. With a deep breath, she put on her sweater, grabbed her purse, walking stick and stood. Bruce snagged the chair as she left it. “Don’t sit back down. There’s no chair any longer.”

  “As always.” She smiled. “You’re always stealing the chair out from under me.”

  “I wait for you to stand,” he protested, but the smile in his voice was that of a young boy playing tricks. Still his words reminded her that he was always careful to tell her when he took her chair.

  “You do. Barely,” she teased.

  “Complain, complain, complain. Good thing you’re so beautiful, with alabaster skin, that jet black hair. And those eyes…” He gave an exaggerated swooning sigh then added, “Not to mention having a voice like an angel, otherwise we might not put up with you.” Bruce walked back toward her, his shoes echoing in the almost empty hall. He laughed. “Who am I kidding? With just one of those qualities we’d still be hanging around like smitten puppies.”

  Celina snickered. “As if. You all have the women sniffing around you now. There’s a different woman in your bed every night. Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t see.”

  “How the hell you do that I don’t know.” Jacob protested, his voice moving closer to them. At her side again, he added, “Besides, I don’t have a different woman in my bed.”

  Celina leaned closer and whispered, “That’s because it’s a different guy instead.”

  Jacob gasped, an embarrassed pause filling the air. He whispered in a shocked voice, “How the hell would you know?”

  “The different men’s aftershave that clings to you. Men usually stick to one kind. And you’re often surrounded by different ones.”

  “Damn, really?” His voice full of chagrin as he said, “I shower every day.”

  “Yeah. Those goodbye kisses must be dynamite.”

  Jacob’s lusty laughter rolled through the almost empty music hall. “Oh, they are – they are.”

  “Besides,” she added because she couldn’t resist. “Your voice also deepens when you’re around an attractive male.”

  “Oh no.” Bashfulness colored his voice. “I had no idea.”

  “Most people wouldn’t notice,” she reassured him. “But my senses are sharper than most people’s.”

  “Ugh,” Jacob grumbled. “Still, it’s a little unnerving to consider anyone being able to notice such mannerisms.”

  A heavier footstep walked toward them. Jacob leaned closer and whispered, “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

  “I haven’t yet.” She reached out a hand and patted his shoulder, hitting him somewhere around the collarbone. “The world is a little more accepting now…”

  “But the music world is very small. And not that accepting.”

  “I won’t say anything,” she promised. “Of course, my silence might require a drink to seal it.”

  “Blackmailing me, are you?” His voice was overly hearty as Bruce walked over.

  “What’s she blackmailing you for?” Bruce asked. “Maybe I can get in on this deal.”

  Celina’s laugh tinkled freely across the spacious room. “Go find your own deal to make. This one is mine.” With that she walked toward the exit.

  “Wait for us,” Jacob called out, the clipped sound of his footsteps echoing as he raced to catch up.

  She put out a hand to grab the large square handle on the big double doors when Jacob said, “I’ve got it.” The heavy door whooshed open. Cooler air hit her in the face as she walked through the small entrance room to the exit. She waited, a small smile on her face, for Jacob to open the exterior door for her.

  The fresh air rushed to greet her. She tilted her face slightly into the breeze, loving the wash of coolness. Portland street sounds and smells greeted her. Gasoline. Car engines, people joking and laughing. The hum of an everyday evening.

  She tilted her head, straining her senses, searching for something, anything other than what was on the surface. A habit she couldn’t break since her accident.

  And found nothing. Thank heavens. She had no idea what she’d do if she ever did – it hadn’t happened yet.

  “Are you all right?”

  She started, then relaxed. “I’m fine. It looks like a beautiful night out.”

  “It is, but how you could know that I’ll never understand.”

  With a smirk his way she stepped out into the night.

  *

  The bar was hopping. Celina didn’t need to get any closer than the curb to hear the music flowing out of the pub in front of her. Lights flashed and bounded behind her eyelids as she faced the building. “Surely they don’t have an old disco ball in there, do they?” She laughed as the colors flashed her way again.

  Jacob approached from the right, his steps tired, heavier on the weaker left leg, his laughter bright regardless of his obvious fatigue. Excited. Almost too excited. She tucked that away inside.

  “They do indeed. This place hops all the time. Come on, let’s go find the others.” Jacob grasped her elbow gently and tugged her toward the noise. She couldn’t explain the instinct to pull back. Jacob’s touch? Or the destination? She’d been to many a pub over the years and several of those same ones since her accident and subsequent eye surgery.

  At this time of night the pub was loud, as in it was possibly too much of a good thing. She’d prefer a glass of white wine in the corner by a fireplace listening to live music. This felt like tequila shots being egged on by everyone in the room.

  She sighed inwardly. She only had to stay for one drink, and hers wouldn’t be a shot of anything. She’d have a Baileys and coffee if she could. Although caffeine wasn’t the best thing at this time of night either.

  “Just one drink, then I’ll take you home.” Jacob said quietly from her side, as if understanding her reticence.

  “And I’m going to hold you to that,” she muttered as Bruce opened the door and she was hit by the full blast of music and people spilling into the entranceway. Jacob tightened his grip on her arm and half-led, half-dragged her forward through the ruckus.

  “Celina’s here!”

  A cry went up to her left as Jacob nudged her into the large group.

  The fun was infectious, loud – and, as it included her, ir
resistible. She was grabbed and hugged, her cheeks bussed as people talked to her, over her and around her.

  She recognized most of the people by their voices, some by their hugs and others that just felt the need to keep a hand on her.

  That was another thing she didn’t understand. Once she became blind, so many people seemed to feel that her ability to recognize them would be enhanced by physical contact – at least she assumed that was the cause. They were right, but not in any way that they’d understand. With her eyes closed and her sight gone, she couldn’t see the bright colors that filled the pub. They were still there, she knew – she’d seen enough of them over the last several decades – and to a certain extent she still saw a pale ghost of them now.

  The bright colors were one of the things she missed most about not being able to see. The vibrant, moving ribbons of sound – especially when she played. They used to fill her eyes with tears; then she realized that she was the only one who could see them. It was such a disappointment to have lost the brilliance of those colors with the loss of her eyesight. That she could see them at all now was wonderful, but… it wasn’t the same. She’d thought of herself as both a musician and an artist, controlling the colors as they danced to the notes she played. She made artistic creations in the air while her music was art for the ears.

  It hadn’t taken her long to accept that the visual art was a gift even if she was the only one who could see it – and was still a gift in faded form.

  And with so few gifts in her life, she’d been happy to have what little there were. Although she’d had a few low spots in her life, she’d also been blessed.

  She needed to remember that.

  “What took you guys so long?” Cindy asked beside her. Cindy played a wicked trombone and couldn’t sing a note, much to her chagrin.

  “Just cleaning up behind you,” Bruce teased. “Everyone raced out so fast no one took the time to clean up.”

  “Ah, well. What would we do without you?” Cindy moved something that tinkled – ice in a tall glass – past Celina. “Here, the first drink is on me as thanks!”

  Jacob laughed. “Well, in that case…” He took a long drink. Celina could hear him swallowing. He was that close to her.