Words of Wisdom Read online

  My eyes caught the headline on the TV.

  “Can you blame me?” I said, pointing at the screen.

  They looked while I moved to grab the remote and turn up the volume.

  “―Serial arsonist strikes again. For the last five months, Zinnia Springs PD has been on the trail of a serial arsonist. This person or persons has set fire to a total of seven buildings with no casualties...until now. Police discovered a body in the wreckage of the last fire. They believe the victim may have been a homeless man taking shelter inside. We―”

  I muted the television. “See what I’m saying?”

  “Poor guy,” Kali said sadly. “To die like that.”

  Paxon shook his head. “I guess that explains your dad’s gifts.” He stood up and grabbed the gift bags resting next to the couch. He handed one to me and one to Kali.

  I dumped the contents onto my lap. A personal alarm, a Taser, and a small first aid kit.

  “The news must have Daddy all panicked,” Kali said as she examined her Taser.

  “No surprise really,” Paxon agreed. “It’s dangerous out here. You don’t have people running around burning each other alive in empath communities.”

  This again.

  “It’s not like that, Paxon, and you know that. You lived in Zinnia Springs for four years and you became friends with plenty of kind and gentle non-empaths. This is just one sick individual.”

  Paxon shrugged. “Yeah, I admit there are some good ones. But let’s not pretend they’re the majority.” He jerked his thumb at my sister and to further his point he stated, “Kali told me about this party you’re going to and why. The mayor’s wife thinks her own husband is going to smother her with a pillow while she’s sleeping.”

  “Speaking of which”—I stood up—“I have to get going or I’ll be late.”

  Paxon stood too.

  “Mari, wait. Are you sure you should go alone? Why don’t I come with?”

  “No, Paxon. I’ll be fine. It’s a party in a house full of witnesses, not a back alley meet-up. I’m just going to get a sense of him. See if he really is a threat to her. And if so see why he’d want to hurt her in the first place.”

  I took a step forward, but Paxon darted into my path.

  “That’s more reason for me to come with you,” he insisted. “You can only sense fear, anger, sadness, guilt, disgust, surprise, and happiness. You know only a handful of micro-expressions. If you really want to know what makes this guy tick then I’ll have the ability to tell you.”

  I grudgingly had to admit that was a fair point.

  I looked him up and down. “But you’re not dressed for a party. Jeans, sneakers, and a band t-shirt won’t make the cut.”

  “We’re trying to stop a murder not sell a fall line. Does my wardrobe really matter?”

  “It matters if you end up trying to read Mayor Breyfogle from the window hedges, because they won’t let you into the party.” I shook my head. “I’ll be fine, Paxon. Just stay and catch up with Kali.”

  “But―”

  “I have to go,” I said firmly and stepped around him marching toward the door.

  “Stubborn woman,” Paxon griped.

  Kali laughed. “Yeah. But isn’t that what you love about her?”

  “Yeah, it is,” he admitted. “Defiant and headstrong. Something incredibly sexy about that.”

  I picked up the pace, yanked open the door, and slammed it harder than necessary. I was once again hot with embarrassment.

  Empaths weren’t the kind to hide their feelings and the same applied to Paxon’s love for me. He told me and everyone we knew on a regular basis. He even dropped the news on complete strangers if the opportunity presented itself. Empaths and their blasted emotions.

  I shook thoughts of Paxon from my mind and turned my thoughts to the purpose of tonight. Veronica Breyfogle was counting on me to help her. I wouldn’t fail...not this time.

  “I am Madam Moon,” I said as a reminder that I wasn’t the same person as my past self. While Madam Moon wasn’t a true depiction, I knew that she would be able to face what was to come.

  I GAVE MY NAME TO THE Calm Meadows security guards and listened closely to their instructions to Breyfogle Mansion. When I finally found the mansion, my mouth dropped open. I was no stranger to grand manors, but this place was impressive, to say the least.

  It was a Mediterranean-style building, with arched entryways, railed balconies, and heavy wooden doors. I pulled up to the drive and a valet came running to hold my door open for me. I thanked him and handed over my keys.

  The party was an intimate affair of sorts. There were fifteen members on the city council, so even with their family members to boost up the numbers, there were only about forty people in attendance. All forty pairs of eyes landed on my lone figure and stared at me when I entered the living room.

  Veronica peeled away from the pack and came over to greet me.

  “Madame Moon,” she said, “I’m so glad you could make it. Let me introduce you to everyone.”

  She grabbed my arm and we waded through the guests together.

  “This is Councilman Higgs. Councilwoman Cordier. Councilwoman Mahanta. This is...”

  It was a blur of names, faces, and spouses, although some of them were familiar. I counted four clients of mine in the room. Two current, the other two past.

  I was shaking hands with Councilperson Number Eleven when my charge found me.

  “Veronica?” A deep baritone slithered into my ears. “Who is this lovely lady? I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure.”

  I turned.

  Tad Breyfogle wasn’t a tall man. Well, not compared to me. He stood about five foot six and from my height, I got the full view of his bald patch, but that’s where his physical failings ended. His fifties were approaching, but he was still quite a handsome man. He had an easy smile, strong jaw, and kept in shape unlike a few of his other male colleagues.

  I took a deep breath. It was time.

  “Darling,” Veronica said. “This is Madame Moon. She’s the woman I was telling you about.”

  His eyes lit with recognition. “Oh, the psychic?”

  “Mayor Breyfogle,” I said in the low, throaty voice I adopted as Madame Moon. “It’s such an honor to meet you.”

  He grasped my outstretched hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. Instead of releasing his hand as was called for, I slipped my arm through his and clung to his side. I felt equal mixes of surprise and happiness at this gesture.

  It was awkward to hang off a perfect stranger in front of their wife, but for my abilities to be of any use I needed to be picking up on only his emotions.

  “So did Mr. and Mrs. Moon really name their precious daughter Madame?” He laughed at his own joke.

  “They named her Amari, actually,” I replied.

  One of the wait staff stopped to offer us a canape and I shook my head no. The mayor had no reservations though. He took one and popped it into his mouth.

  He swallowed and then said, “Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Miss Moon, but I admit I’m a skeptic like I thought my wife was.” He raised a brow at Veronica and she gave him a tight smile in return.

  “I was, it’s true,” she admitted, “but that was until I spoke to Nadia.” She turned to me. “Nadia’s a client of yours and a dear friend. She absolutely raves about you. She’s actually around here somewhere.”

  Tad pointed through the crowd and proclaimed, “There’s old Nadia.” I followed his finger and caught a glimpse of a familiar blue asymmetrical dress. I stiffened, as Kayla peeked through the crowd and smirked at me. She made no move to come over.

  As if she could sense she was being talked about, Nadia suddenly locked onto us. Tad waved her over.

  Nadia weaved through the people. She gasped when she realized who I was.

  “Madame Moon? It is you! I’m so glad you could make it.”

  “Wonderful to see you, Nadia.”

  Tad gestured to me but spoke to Nadia. “So t
ell us, is Madame Moon the real deal?”

  Nadia nodded gravely.

  “Oh yes,” she said in a low voice. “She’s amazing. It’s like my soul was laid bare. Four years of therapy, but Madame Moon got to the heart of my trauma in two sessions. She changed my life.”

  She looked at me in wide-eyed adoration. Mari would have been embarrassed by this praise, but Madame Moon accepted it by regally inclining her head.

  “Such kind words, Nadia. Thank you,” I replied. I turned to Mr. Breyfogle. “So have we made a believer of you, Mayor?”

  He looked at me, grinning while he said, “Not yet, I’m afraid. I think I need to experience your talents in action.”

  I shrugged. “Not a problem.” I turned back to Nadia and Veronica. “Mind if I steal him away?”

  “No,” Veronica said stiffly. “Course not.”

  “We can step out on to the balcony,” Mayor Breyfogle offered and he led me away without another word.

  Not a good sign, I thought as we walked through the party and pushed through the glass door to the balcony. He’s a bit too pleased with receiving my attention.

  Maybe this was the motive? If the mayor was a cheater, he may want to kill his wife in order to clear the way for another woman.

  I let go of his arm as he shut the door behind us. The noise of the party was replaced with the chorus of cicadas.

  Tad rubbed his hands together as he spoke. “So how does this work? Do you name a bunch of info you researched on the internet and then make some random guesses using my facial tics to lead you to the right conclusion?”

  “My, my, you are a skeptic,” I chuckled. “But no, I actually do very little talking. My clients are the ones who lead our sessions.” I stepped toward him as I continued, “We all wear a mask, Mayor Breyfogle, and the more barriers someone puts up to prevent me from seeing behind that mask the more it tells me all I need to know about them.”

  I held out my hands.

  “Hold my hands, please.”

  He suddenly looked unsure, but he did as I asked.

  “Deep breaths,” I instructed.

  His feelings washed over me. I felt surprise and the tiniest amount of fear, but I could infer that was because I wasn’t like what he expected. Now I needed to know what he thought about his wife.

  “Your wife, Veronica,” I began. “What does she do?”

  My eyes were closed so I didn’t see his expression, but I did feel another spike of surprise.

  “Ronnie?” He cleared his throat. “She runs a charity organization downtown, Best Foot Forward. Why?”

  I ignored his question. “How long have you been married?”

  “Twenty-three years.”

  “How did you meet?” I probed feeling something from him boiling below the surface.

  “We met freshman year of college.” Anger. Disgust. Something else. I needed to read him on something unrelated to his wife to get a kind of baseline.

  “Why did you decide to run for mayor?”

  “I love this town,” he replied. “I wanted to give back to Zinnia Springs and bring it to even greater heights.”

  “Do you have kids?”

  “Two,” he said. “Oliver and Gwendolyn.” Happiness. Anger and Guilt.

  “Tell me about them.”

  “Ollie’s seventeen. Bit of a troublemaker, but a smart kid, going places. Gwen is twenty-two and lives at home with us.” He abruptly let go of my hands. “Sorry, but are you going to get to the point soon? I have guests waiting.”

  I opened my eyes.

  “We’ve already gotten to the point, Major Breyfogle. I’ve learned quite a bit.”

  “Oh yeah?” He laughed, but it sounded forced. “Like what?”

  I shrugged and leaned back against the balcony.

  “I know you love your children, but not equally. You favor your son, Ollie, and resent your daughter, Gwen.”

  “Hold on―”

  “I know this resentment stems from being pressured to marry her mother when she got pregnant with Gwen. You weren’t ready to be a husband and father at twenty-two. Every time you think of your daughter you’re reminded of the sacrifices you had to make.”

  “That’s not―”

  “I know you crave attention and admiration. No doubt why you chose to go into politics. Your ego needs to be constantly inflated.”

  He puffed up his chest and began, “How dare―”

  “I know thoughts of your wife invoke disgust, guilt, and anger. I know―”

  “That’s enough!” he bellowed. He advanced on me, nostrils flaring and eyes wild.

  For a second, I thought he was going to hit me, but he abruptly stopped. He spun on his heels and stormed back into the party.

  I let out the breath I had been holding. I was glad Tad Breyfogle didn’t act on the anger inside him, but if he had it wouldn’t have been the first time. People liked to lie to themselves about their true thoughts and feelings, many don’t appreciate me knocking them out of their fantasy. I knew how to defend myself because of this, while I understood the invasion they felt I would protect myself without prejudice.

  After a minute, I went back inside to see the guests filing out of the room. I glimpsed the back of Kayla’s head. I thought of going to her, but Veronica rushed over to me. I looked away.

  “There you are. It’s time for dinner and Tad is leading the guests into the dining room. Did you pick up anything from him? Read anything?”

  “Yes, I did,” I said softly. “I can’t say for sure that murder is on his mind but...but something...it isn’t right Veronica. I think you need to get out of this house and far away from him, because something is definitely going on with him.”

  WE WERE LATE COMING into dinner. Veronica veered off to take her seat next to her husband and a member of staff showed me to mine. Tad Breyfogle’s glare followed me all the way to my seat between Nadia and a young woman who looked to be around my age. The young woman in question was quite a sight herself as she sported red hair styled in a pixie cut. She had a small diamond stud in her left nostril and a tattoo of a fairy at the nape of her neck.

  She smiled and held her hand out to me when I sat.

  “Hello,” she said, “I’m Gwen. Who are you?”

  I grasped her hand. “I’m Amari. You must be the mayor’s daughter.”

  “That’s me,” she replied, still holding onto my hand. I pulled away slightly, but she didn’t get the hint. “That’s a delicious fragrance you’re wearing,” she said and suddenly held up my hand pressing her nose against my wrist. “What is it?” Her lips brushed against my skin as she spoke and a shiver went up my spine.

  I snatched my hand away.

  “Soap,” I replied quickly, momentarily dropping the Madame Moon voice. “Just soap.”

  She laughed. “I’d love to try this soap sometime.” The intensity of her gaze made me feel like I was being dissected.

  I forced a smile. “Just pop into any old supermarket and take your pick.”

  I turned away from her and focused on Nadia.

  “So how have you been, Nadia?”

  Nadia Blake had ten years on me and a teenage son. Hitting her late thirties with nothing to show, but a string of bad relationships and a dead-end job prompted her to reach out to a psychic and like she said, I got to the root of her fear of loneliness and lack of fulfillment in two sessions. Anger and sadness around thoughts of her father were the root of some problems, while fear surrounding thoughts of being single were the root of others. Not all of it was bad though, her happiness whenever she talked about a new recipe she tried had me conclude my final session with a rather blunt reading.

  I told her flat out she needed to stop chasing the father that ran out on her, take a break from dating while she evaluated what she wanted in a partner, and use that break to focus on her dream of opening a restaurant. She now had the most popular Polish restaurant in Zinnia Springs, and was engaged to a man she gushed about in every appointment.

  I let
Nadia’s chatter wash over me while I consumed each course placed in front of me. I had to hand it to the chef, the food was delicious. It had us so enthralled that dinner conversation dropped off some time into the second course and didn’t pick up until dessert.

  “Do you take couples?” Nadia asked, while I cracked the shell between me and my crème brûlée. “I was hoping to book an appointment for me and Royce since the wedding is in a few months?”

  “I do,” I said, “and I would love to meet this man of yours, but psychic readings aren’t meant to take the place of marriage counseling.” Despite what many people think of those claiming to be a psychic, I didn’t use the title to con anyone out of their money. I only used it to protect my real identity as an empath and therefore my people. As such, I didn’t want to give out false ideas about the help I could give.

  Nadia waved away my response assuredly stating, “You’ll be able to help us more than any counselor.”

  “Well, tomorrow is the first of April, I’ve already begun scheduling for the new month, but I’ve got a few slots open. I just hope―”

  “Excuse me!”

  I jumped and turned my head to find Gwen inches away from my nose.

  “Did you just say you’re a physic?”

  “Oh yes,” Nadia replied before I could. “This is Madame Moon. She’s a brilliant psychic. She changed my life,” she gushed a bit too loudly.

  “Madame Moon?” Councilwoman Cordier scoffed. “I’ve heard of you. Two of your clients are in my book club and you would blush to hear their praise.”

  I shrugged and calmly replied, “Brown skin doesn’t lend to blushing, but it’s nice to know my customers are satisfied.”

  She pursed her lips then said, “Well, I personally don’t see how anyone could actually fall for that nonsense.”

  “It isn’t nonsense!” Nadia cried, her fiery temper had her yelling louder than my other clients in the room, but they still protested as well. “Madame Moon is no fake. She knew things about me no one else could!”

  All conversation ceased as we became the focus of the groups’ attention.