Athena
Butler is the modern-day descendant of an ancient bloodline of gifted
clairvoyants. She’s trying to live a “normal” life as an artist, but with the
disappearance of her mother and other notable psychics, she finds herself
dragged into danger. She, too, is a target.
Kas
Skoros, the son of a psychic, is a Guardian, one of a secret society whose task
is protecting the Delphi bloodline. He rushes to rescue Athena and uncover the
mastermind behind the kidnapping plot.
Athena
and Kas stay one step ahead with Athena’s psychic abilities and Kas’s training
in law enforcement. When they seek refuge at the Skoros compound in the Sierra
Nevada foothills, the FBI convinces them that the only way to stop the
kidnappers and trap the mastermind is for Athena to offer herself as bait.
Excerpt:
Chapter
One
Pyramid Valley, Nevada
Thursday AM
Athena
Butler’s eyes blinked open and she sat up.
Coming back
from The Flow was always jolting. Emerging from the stream of spirits was like
a water skier lurching out of the water, pulled by a strong, invisible force.
The mind caught up later to the body as if it required a rough snap to break
free.
Likewise, to
go there was like jumping out of a plane and feeling the air rush to your face,
your limbs weightless and wobbly. Most of the time, it was a joy to enter this
world of unseen spirits. Athena welcomed her visits, especially at night when
she found herself invariably alone.
When she was
a child, she’d often emerge from The Flow with a fearful whimper and a cry.
She’d wept and wanted to stay in The Flow. Now, at twenty-six, Athena had grown
accustomed to her mental flights. They were no longer fear-inducing for she
understood their purpose. But her exits were still mind-wrenching and she often
lay in bed, disoriented.
This morning,
fear clutched her heart and she could barely breathe. With a trembling hand,
she reached for her phone. Breathless, she raked her other hand through her hair
and kicked her legs over the side of the bed.
She punched her mother’s mobile numbers. It was nine o’clock East Coast
time.
“Thank God,
Mama! Where are you?”
“I’m in
Baltimore, near the--.”
“Mama, I had
a dream about you. A Flow Dream. The spirits—they want me to warn you! Whatever
you’re doing right now, get off the streets.
Go home and lock the door. Call the police!”
Her heart
felt like a ticking bomb in her chest.
Athena could barely speak. But her mother knew her and understood her
Flow dreams. They were seldom wrong though sometimes a little off in timing.
Today, a threat was imminent. She knew it.
“Slow down,
Thena. Take a deep breath and tell me slowly about your dream. I don’t doubt
you but we must be able to interpret it correctly. You know how these Flow
Dreams are. Sometimes the symbolism is strange and difficult to interpret.”
***
Donna Del Oro spent her childhood in two places, Silicon
Valley, CA and the countryside of East Texas, as her father tried several job
opportunities. Finally settling in Silicon Valley, she grew up in a bilingual,
bicultural world--Spanish on her mother's side and English on her father's.
Comfortable in both worlds, she decided upon retiring from teaching to write
about her Hispanic side. Four women's fiction books resulted and a series about
professional singers, their careers and love lives. Retired and devoting much
of her abundant free time to exercise, writing, singing and her grandson, Donna
has finally reached a point in life that totally satisfies her. Life is good
and she has no complaints, just a lot of gratitude for her many blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment