Excerpt:
“So I hear. We—my father, Alex and I--protect my
mother from people who’d try to exploit her. Is there anyone protecting you and
your mother?”
More than a little surprised, Athena halted. “Not
really. Father pretends we’re normal and I supposed Chris does, too. Mum and I—we
keep our clairvoyance a secret from everyone. Everyone except the police, that
is.”
They’d come to a fork in the path. Ahead of them,
through a thicket of oaks and pines, Athena could see the lake glimmering in
the sunlight. Kas took the path to the right. “Follow me.” He headed for the
boathouse that she could now see about fifty yards away. “We’ll have to wear
wet suits. The air’s warm, but the water’s snow melt.”
“I live in D.C. so I can handle it. I can read minds,
but can’t do weather forecasting. Go figure.”
Kas harrumphed. “I hear you work part-time at a
coffeehouse. Seems like you could make more money doing psychic readings. But
then, you’d have to expose yourself and your secret.”
“Yes, that won’t do. I guess it’s safer this way.”
“I know, my mother feels the same way. There’s a
history of the bloodline having problems when people find out the truth. There’s
always a group in society that doesn’t understand, people who take advantage or
exploit them, or use them as scapegoats. I guess that means there’s been some
witch-hunting in the past, burning at the stake, that kind of thing. The Romans
would kidnap soothsayers and hold them as slaves. I’ve heard only the Temple
seers in Greece were off-limits. Even so, the Temple priestesses had Guardians
assigned to them day and night.”
She looked at him. He wasn’t joking. The protective
side of him was rearing up. “I’ve heard that, too. I thought it was just
nonsense, Mum trying to scare me into keeping it secret.”
“Can’t be any harm nowadays.” He glanced back and
grinned. “Now, if your secret came out, you’d get celebrity status and your own
reality TV show.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “Not interested.”
“Well, whenever you want to read me, go ahead. No
skin off my nose. I’m sure that what you see will either turn you off or bore
you to death.”
“Then I guess you’re different from all the other men
I’ve known,” she tossed back. “Even my father doesn’t like it. Men like their
secrets.”
“All the other men?”
“Figuratively speaking,” she said wryly.
He frowned and ran his gaze over her. “Chris filled
me in about you. You’re nineteen. An art student. Single. He says you had a
hard time when you were younger. With your clairvoyance, I mean. Trusting
people, making friends. Sorry for my blunt speaking, but this is who I am.”
“It’s okay. When it first came on, yes, I had some
hard times. Now I manage it. I keep it under control.” She shrugged and added, “I’ll
be twenty, December first.” Now she wondered what else Chris had told him.
Probably how she couldn’t get a boyfriend if her life depended on it. That she
was a virgin desperate for love. God, no wonder Kas was put off.
“Don’t believe everything my brother tells you about
me,” was all she could think of to say.
BLURB:
What if you could read minds with just a touch? Would
you be able to trust anyone?
Athena Butler, the twenty-year-old descendant of an
ancient bloodline of psychics, yearns to lead a normal life. She wants a
career, a boyfriend, independence. Her clairvoyant gift, however, has taught
her that people can be false and dangerous. Although warned to keep her powers
a secret, she's recruited by law enforcement to help search for a serial killer
and uncover a terrorist cell.
She bonds with an intriguing, handsome man, Kas
Skoros, who knows her secret and accepts it. Of the same bloodline, his mother
is precognitive and predicts that they are meant to be together…some day. Kas,
military veteran and Search and Rescue deputy, is skeptical and cynical-- life
is too uncertain--but can't resist exploring his passion for Athena. Yet there
are obstacles beyond their control.
Can Kas overcome these obstacles? Can Athena stay
alive long enough to fulfill her dream?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Donna Del Oro lives in Northern California with her
husband and three cats. She taught high school and community college English
classes for 30+ years and is now happily retired. When not writing novels or
reading voraciously, she travels and sings with the medal winning Sacramento
Valley Chorus.
Donna is a member of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento
chapter of Sisters in Crime in addition to the Valleyrose chapter of the RWA.
She has judged RITA entries and does developmental editing on the side. Two of
her novels, Operation Familia and Born To Sing, have won national and
international awards.
Follow clairvoyant artist Athena Butler in the next
book in The Delphi Bloodline series: ATHENA’S QUEST.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you
comment, the better the chances of winning. The tour dates can be found
here:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your post will be published after administrator approval.