L UKE
“Why are there so many psychic shops?” Soph asks with a sweep of her naked arm, black tank top fitted over ripped jeans and the only boots she ever wears. We left the jackets behind today. “Bunch of charlatans decide to up the competition, live in one place or something?”
I grab a leaf off a tree and agree, “It’s too much to be a coincidence.”
“I’m going to ask them,” she announces, doing an about-face and walking into one of the shops.
The air reeks of incense, making me wince as I stroll in, glance around the place. A vomit of healing crystals, dream catchers, dragons, New Age books. My eyes follow Sofia Sol as she approaches the clerk.
Wasn’t sure if I should hang out with her today, but then Tyler bailed after breakfast for some vague reason. The only thing he was firm on was that it was none of our business. Soph picked a roll apart, dipping it in jelly, throwing down the invite, “So, you wanna go into town today then?”
I almost said no.
Couldn’t sleep last night, had to take a ride through the valley, blow off some steam since jacking off did nothing but make my desire for her worse.
Tyler’s wise-ass smirk was irritating, so I shrugged, just to prove him wrong that I’m not affected by her, and hanging out together alone without touching her, wouldn’t be torture.
“Excuse me, this is the first time my friend and I have been to Sedona.” Soph jogs her thumb to me, and I nod to the lady who looks normal enough. “And we were wondering, what’s up with all the psychics?”
With that serene look the overly meditative have, she says, “This area is a vortex for psychic and spiritual energy. It can help you take amazing leaps in personal, spiritual development.”
Soph and I exchange a look—neither of us cares.
But the clerk’s smile says she’s used to skeptics. “Would you like a reading?”
Amusement dances in grey eyes as she tries not to laugh. “Yeah, um, no, I think we’re good.”
“Scared?” I tease her, for the hell of it.
“Terrified,” she jokes, rolling her eyes. “Shaking in my boots.”
The clerk remains unfazed. “You might be surprised.”
“I’d be trying not to laugh my head off, that’s what I’d be doing,” she mutters, heading out.
I block her way. “I’ll pay for it.”
She makes a face like, you’re nuts. “It’s not about the money.”
“It’s about you being a jaded woman with no room for mystery.”
“Oh, am I now?!” Her head flies back in a laugh, grey eyes prettier than any crystal in this or any other shop. “I’ll take your challenge and show you just how firmly based in reality my cynicism is.” Turning to the clerk, she asks, “So what do I need to do?”
“Go to House Luna.”
Sofia glances to me, since it’s her mother’s name. “Why?”
With a cocked eyebrow the woman dodges a bullet, “You’ll fight me if I do your reading, but her gifts eclipse even mine. You’ll change your mind about the gifted. And that’s worth losing the sale.”
Impressed, Sofia nods. “Nicely played. Get rid of me, yet get me for life if you win. The collective ‘you,’ I mean.”
The woman’s smile grows.
I dig my phone out, mapping our walk to House Luna while we head out, sunlight shining on us as Sofia Sol mutters, “The gifted? Good Lord.”
“There’s really a Coffee Pot Road? It’s right over there.” I jog my chin and smirk, “I can’t wait to watch you get a reading done.”
“If this is how you entertain yourself,” she smiles, sun playing on her golden skin.
I almost jump as my phone buzzes.
Hers buzzes, too.
She digs it from her pocket as I read a text from Tyler.
“It’s from Ty,” she mutters. “About dinner.”
“Mine too. Guess he sent one right after the other.”
“Think he’s bored to death already?”
I smirk, “Nah, guy’s just food-obsessed. You want to reply or should I?”
She shrugs. “You do it.”
As we walk past stores selling handmade pottery, local artist knick knacks, and more crystals, I type with my thumbs.
We’re cool with whatever. Just say when.
A second later his reply comes.
You with Soph?
I start to reply and pause, wondering why he’s asking. I did get expelled from the house so they could keep me away from her. But he brought her here. Was that smirk this morning because…fuck, this is confusing, so I type a lie:
Nope. Just know she’ll be cool with anything.
Her phone buzzes. She digs it out, staring at the screen. “Ty is asking if I’m with you.”
“Fucker,” I grumble. “Tell him what you want.”
She meets my gaze, footsteps slowing as we get closer to our destination. “What’d you tell him?”
“I lied.”
She mutters while typing, “I’m telling him you lied.”
“There’s no way you’re doing that.” Leaning over I read her text:
Isn’t Luke with you, Ty?
Chuckling I rake my hair back. “Knew you wouldn’t.”
“Of course not.” Under her breath she adds, “I didn’t even tell them it was Atlas and not you.”
We stop just shy of an iron sign that reads: House Luna. “I gathered that, since I hadn’t heard a tornado of hell about it. Why didn’t you?”
Soph glances to the sun, thoughts flickering across her face. “I was going to. Gathered them all to make the big announcement. But they were fighting, it was ugly. Did you see it?”
“Little bit. I got there after they’d fought, took me a second to notice because I was so pissed.”
She chews on her lip, kicking the pristine sidewalk with the toe of her boot. “The distraction gave me time to think. I realized you hadn’t told, and you did that to protect him. Even when he betrayed you, you didn’t want them knowing that he’d done that to you, because of the wrath it would bring onto Atlas.”
Slowly I nod, impressed she got it right, didn’t let her anger rule her for once. “He would have been…hell, I don’t want to know how they would’ve reacted.”
“It was hard enough that he snitched on you,” she offers, “but that it was a lie, and he was covering for himself…”
“Yeah,” I exhale, blinking to the ground. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about what Atlas did, and I think it boils down to he just blurted the lie out of self-preservation.” I leave out the part that he wanted her for himself. Still trying to figure out how things were left between them, for real.
“It was a huge sacrifice, Luke, and in the face of betrayal.” She’s searching my face to understand.
“I don’t think what I did was a sacrifice.” I start for the door.
Soph grabs my arm, pulls me to stay with her. “How isn’t it?”
“I don’t snitch. I protect my brother. Why would I change who I am just because he doesn’t have the same self-control, or the same values I have? When someone acts like an asshole, doesn’t mean you have to be one, too. Then you’re both assholes.”
“If you’d have told them Atlas lied…”
“I would never have forgiven myself.”
“Even though it would be just telling the truth.”
“I would have been someone else in that moment. I don’t want to be ‘that guy.’ I don’t respect ‘that guy.’ So I’m going to be a man I respect. It’s that simple.”
Sofia touches my chest, gazing at me without her wall up. She’s never done this before, gently pressed her hand here. Currents spread into me from her fingers, her flattened palm as she applies more pressure, holding my gaze. The street, the buildings, the tourists, disappear around us.
It’s just me and Soph.
“I respect you so much,” she whispers. “There are three people who know what you did. And one of them thinks you’re kind of amazing.”
I frown at her, wishing I could bring her closer. The inches between us feel like miles. Her eyelashes drop and she presses a little harder over my heart.
As her hand leaves me I feel it in my core.
Turning the iron door handle she asks, “You ready to see some magic?”
I just did.
CHAPTER 25
SOFIA SOL
I give no stock to psychics. One told my mother she’d never have children and yet here I am. Wait, was she a gypsy or a psychic? Is there a difference? Maybe.
I do believe in karma. As a Cipher we’ve dealt out a bunch of it. And sometimes it’s weird how people find us, like they were meant to so we could put an end to atrocities.
Who knows if psychics are real?
But if this will amuse Luke, I’m in.
The bells sing my arrival, and at first glance this isn’t like other places. There are no windows giving you a glimpse of their promises. No repeats of the same ol’ New Age stuff you can buy anywhere. Here, more than a dozen plants turn the dry outside air into cool, clean oxygen. Out of instinct I take a deep breath the moment the door closes, close my eyes, smile.
Nice trick.
I’m alone in the waiting room, running my finger along the spines of paperbacks by Socrates, Plato, Carl Jung, and Eckhart Tolle. I haven’t studied any of them, but I know the names.
Tonk Jr. suggested I read the Power of Now book, then withdrew the recommendation saying, You live in the moment more than anyone I know. Never mind, Soph.
I took that as a huge compliment even though I didn’t know the context.
The bells jingle behind me and I glance to Luke walking in, a silhouette until the door shuts sunshine out. All the windows have black-out curtains, and I like that. It’s as if whoever owns this doesn’t want curiosity. Only the serious need apply.
Luke strolls up, glancing around before he meets my eyes. “Anyone say hello yet?”
“Nope.”
“That’s because anyone was in the bathroom,” comes a female voice. Orange fingernails push open a black velvet curtain, and a woman with short hair and no makeup save for cherry-red lipstick, gives us the once over, one at a time. Him first, and he wins her approval. “Mmmm, very handsome. What gorgeous hair you have, too.” Her amber eyes flick to me, eyebrows flying up. “And dangerously beautiful. How interesting. Come in.”
She holds the curtain open for us. I don’t know how Luke feels but I’m a little fascinated by this rotund woman. There’s a calm wisdom to her that’s no act.
No forced serenity—no smile.
I like her even though I don’t want to.
We’re introduced to a room with old paintings on the wall, the kind you see in a museum, women in gowns, men in pantaloons. There are crystals, but they’re not trying to impress anyone. One small mirror in the shape of an eye faces the door. It’s the only thing that seems cliché, so I point to it as she motions for us to sit on black leather armchairs. “What’s this for?” I ask.
“Keeps the Evil Eye at bay,” she matter-of-factly answers, taking the seat opposite us, an oak dining table resting between. She picks up Tarot cards, but rather than splaying them out, she slaps them aside like they’re in her way. “You aren’t siblings but you are. Why am I getting that? Past life perhaps,” she hums gazing between us with intense concentration. We don’t help her out. “Hmm, yes, there’ve been many past lives where you were together in some way or another. Mostly lovers, once mother and son.” She points to me. “You were the son.” My eyebrows lift, because that makes sense. “But that’s not what I’m seeing. You’ve known each other your whole lives in this incarnation, haven’t you?” Luke and I glance to each other. “I’m right. I thought so. In the same house, are your parents related? No, that would make you related, as well. Hmm, do you live in a commune?”
Luke chuckles and I throw him a smile, with a get-your-poker-face-back look.
Crinkles edge her eyes as she peers at us. “Not a commune but close? You two aren’t in a cult, too sharp to have fallen for that. And too independent, yet…you live in a large home with many people like you.”
“We’re in a motorcycle club,” Luke tells her, leaning back in his chair with legs spread wide.
“Well, shit,” I mutter, dragging my hair back and eyeing him. “Why don’t you just tell her everything while you’re at it?”
“Okay, when you were my son in that past life, you were a pain in my ass.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“I think so.”
To her I ask, “So, are you Luna or is your store’s name just about the moon?”
“Moon. My name is Santosh Khalsa, I was a Kundalini Sikh until I went my own way, following the gifts passed down from my grandmother when they grew too loud to ignore.” She lifts the tarot cards and fans them out, chooses one and turns it over. “Hmm, there’s a divorce in your future.”
Instantly my heart aches and I glance to my lap, frowning and recrossing my legs. Luke shuffles his weight, too.
From under her arched eyebrows she tells us, “No, I’m not speaking about you two. It’s someone you love. A man. The woman is unclear.” She turns another over, edges worn and the image doesn’t look good. It’s of a man lying on a bed with swords pointed at him. “He’s under stress. He’s waiting. Has been waiting a long time, it seems.”
I frown, “You’re looking at me.”
“You’re the one who knows him. I don’t see a connection to you…” she pauses.
“Luke,” he offers.
“Not to you, Luke. The people in our lives we love have invisible cords connected to our souls. This man’s connection is to you.” Her eyes rest on me as she turns several other cards, including death. “He’s connected to you by blood. And seeing Death in a reading means an ending. That’s the divorce I saw.”
I sit closer to look at the cards. “Where do you see the blood connection?”
“The same way I saw where you two live. My visions aren’t exact, they’re more like dreams, flashing images, sometimes vague, others not.”
“I’m not believing any of this, but…what do you see about him, this guy? It’s not my Dad, is it?” Glancing to Luke I mutter, “No way are my parents getting divorced.”
He makes a face that it’s not possible.
Santosh closes her eyes in concentration. “I see a home, not like yours, large and strange, but warm and quiet. Maybe in the woods, or no…but not in a city. That matters to him. He spends a lot of time there.”
Luke’s staring at me to see if it rings a bell.
I nod, “That could be Ben.”
“He has a good heart, which is why I can feel that disconnect. It’s troubled. He’s searching for something. Hasn’t found it yet. We all have that to a degree, but his is more intense.”
I stand up with sarcasm. “Okay, well, that’s great news.”
Luke chuckles, knowing we’re done here. “It was nice meeting you, Santosh. How much do we owe you?”
“I’m donation only, however…” she trails off and we wait for her to find the words. “This club that you’re in, what do you do in it? I feel I’m supposed to know.”
“Oh, are you?” He laughs and hooks his thumbs in his pockets.
I don’t like what she said about my cousin Ben…if it was about him. I’m super protective of my family. They’re good people, and he’s one of those I’m closest to since we’re less than a year apart. Our parents are the only ones of the Cocker Brothers who only had one child. It’s bonded Ben and I all through our youth, us being on the outside a little. Spent a lot of time at his ranch since our fathers are so close, too. Maybe that bond has Santosh seeing him and his marriage through me.
Since she seems like the real deal, I’m curious to know what she sees about the Ciphers. “Why do you want to know about our club?”
“Soph.”
“No, Luke, let her talk.”
She frowns, hesitating. “Do you help people or hurt p
eople?”
“Both.”
She peers at me and stands up, too. “I have someone who needs help. Am I right in telling you that?”
“Maybe.”
“Excuse me a minute.” Santosh disappears behind a curtain in the back of her shop and returns a moment later with a framed photograph. “This is my son.”
I take it from her and Luke steps closer to see the picture of a young man’s high school yearbook photo. Blue eyes are saying he hates every second of this photo session, and probably school, too. He’s got an edge to him, even with his pretty boy looks.
“He’s twenty-seven now. Struggling.” She sighs and corrects herself, “No, he’s lost. I haven’t been able to get through to him. He’s a good boy, good heart, but doesn’t conform to society’s rules. I was thinking…no, I had a feeling that he might fit in with your club.”
Luke’s eyebrows shoot up. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“Me neither,” I mutter, staring at the image. “But we’re not the psychics. Is your feeling tellin’ you we’re good or bad, Santosh?”
“Good, or else I wouldn’t suggest this for my only child, would I?” It’s the first time she’s impatient, and I can respect that. This crazy proposition coming out of nowhere makes me believe she really is ‘gifted,’ and that just has me more worried for Ben.
Handing the photo back to her I ask, “Does he live in town?”
“He does.”
Luke and I turn toward each other as he says what I’m thinking. “Haven’t brought someone in from the outside since before I was born.”
“The other houses have.”
“Yeah, but not us.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t look into this.”
“We’ll look into it,” he mutters as if that’s obvious. “I’m just not sure what we’re looking for.”
“I think we’ll know when we see it.” Meeting Santosh’s watchful gaze I ask, “What has he been up to?”
“Trouble. Can’t keep a job for long because he hates authority. The best one he had was in construction. Sean’s good with his hands, but there isn’t much building going on here with the recent law to keep things as they are. We don’t want to expand. Quaint and private is what people come to Sedona for. My son has an itch to get into trouble but I’ve raised a good man. Recently he’s been in quite a few bar fights, sent someone to the hospital, but this is a small town so people talk to me. The fights have been for good reasons. He’s defended people, and I’m proud of him for standing up to those people, but it can’t go on. People are getting nervous.” She’s wringing her hands, realizes it, and drops them. “Does that sound interesting to you? I had a feeling I needed to bring it up, but I won’t lie and say I’m not nervous about doing so.”
Sofia Sol Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 13) Page 12