Woman King Read online

  “That sounds suspiciously like another toast,” I said, cajoling the group to clink glasses for a second time.

  Afterward, Lily got up from the booth to stand at the bar with William’s band mate John. The first time we met, I was so nervous that I had not studied him closely. Now, upon further inspection, I realized that he was quite striking. He was as tall as Lily, with long brown hair and green eyes. Dressed in skinny black jeans and a gray T-shirt, he was handsomely disheveled. Lily must have liked what she saw, because she was leaning quite close to him, hanging on his every word.

  “Is John single?” I asked William, who had been following my gaze.

  He laughed. “Darlin, John is in a band in San Francisco. Need I say more?”

  I looked over at my best friend, a fairy hiding in plain site of humans, and decided she could take care of herself.

  “Olivia,” Elsa said, breaking into our conversation, “Aidan and I are going to leave. We’re going to look for a place to grab a bite.”

  I remembered that it was a full moon tonight and wondered if Elsa would go running with her boyfriend in the park. It was sort of a romantic vision, the two of them frolicking in the moonlight.

  “You should go to Stow Lake. It’s a good place to swim at night,” I said. “Just don’t try to get on the small island, it’s covered with sharp blackberry bushes.”

  Aidan laughed, “Do you know this from experience?”

  I nodded. “Elsa gave me peyote tea when we first met. I spent an entire evening running through the park, seeing colors and hearing voices. Lily thinks I disappeared.”

  “We all agreed I made the tea too strong,” Elsa said. “But it worked. She regained her sixth sense.”

  “It was extraordinary. All except the part where I woke up in the lily pond next door to the de Young.”

  “You spent the night sleeping at the pond?” William asked.

  “I was drawn by a voice in my head,” I said. “What I thought was a voice, anyway. It was a hallucination.”

  I noticed Elsa gently place a hand on Aidan’s leg and I assumed she was anxious to leave, so I signaled for our waitress to come over so we could settle our bar tab. William waved her off, telling us that the drinks were on him tonight. Aidan slapped William on the back.

  “If I had known that, I would have stayed for another round,” he joked, and bade us good night.

  Not long after Elsa and Aidan left, we gathered up our belongings to leave. I looked up to find Lily, and saw she was still standing at the bar.

  “Do you think Lily will be OK with John?”

  “I think Lily can take care of herself, Olivia. She isn’t some naïve human woman. I suspect it will be harder on John when it’s over.”

  I glanced one more time at the bar as we were leaving. I caught Lily’s eye. She turned to me and waved, clearly delighted to have a playmate for the night. We exited the club and walked along Divisadero Street for a few blocks until we reached William’s car. It didn’t take long to load his Subaru, and soon we were on the road to my house.

  “I’m sorry I can’t invite you in,” I said, as he pulled into my driveway. “I have a busy day tomorrow and need some rest.”

  “Not a problem,” he said, walking me to my door. We agreed that we would see each other soon, but I was hesitant to make plans with all of the work I had coming in the next few weeks.

  William kissed me deeply on the lips.

  “Remember,” he said, “I don’t sleep. You can call me anytime

  ****

  CHAPTER 24

  Although the campaign office was in Palo Alto, I continued to spend a few days a week in San Francisco, or at least part of the day. Most of the members of the campaign team, including the pollster, had offices in the city. R.J. Klein ran his company out of a small suite on Sutter Street near Union Square.

  As was my usual routine during campaign season, I met with R.J. alone to map out the contents of a poll. In politics, nothing is left to chance, even with skills like mine. Polling is one tool consultants use to learn what voters want, so they can win their support on Election Day. After asking a voter’s opinion on a certain issue, we ask questions about their age, income and even their education. With those kinds of demographic details, I can ensure that Levi’s messages are targeted to various audiences. It’s a backbreaking business, one that takes hours of work to plan, analyze and execute. Our collaboration that morning was successful, and by early afternoon, when I left his office in search of lunch, I had a draft poll in my briefcase.

  After grabbing a lentil and bean salad at a French café next door, I headed back to my car, which was parked in a nearby garage. It was a pleasant, sunny day in San Francisco, and I enjoyed a stroll past some of the country’s most prestigious boutiques and jewelry stores.

  After living with my new skills for several weeks, I’d decided that being an empath is a lot like a bad acid trip. All of the colors and sensations that come zooming at you can be a shock to your nervous system. Early on, there were moments when I was barely able to enter a busy street without feeling overwhelmed by the totality of people’s emotions and feelings. Now, thanks to hours of training and focus, I have learned to shield myself from most of the chatter of everyday life.

  Today, however, it felt as though I was a novice all over again. There was a terrible buzzing in my ears, and it was growing worse as I neared Post Street. It took me a moment to make sense of the sensation in my head: something very powerful was nearby. As I approached Post Street, I could feel the force of the energy vibrating through me. Behind the energy was a wall of emotion: fear, anxiety, and excitement.

  As I approached the corner of Post and Grant, I carefully looked around for the source of the disturbance. I did not want to meet whatever was throwing off such intense energy until I had a chance to see it first. I pushed myself to pick up the direction of the forces I was feeling. I did a visual scan of all four corners of the intersection, but didn’t detect anything, or anyone, out of the ordinary. The fact that I could not see them, however, did nothing to diminish the sensation.

  In addition to the vibration resonating through my sternum, there also was a feeling of pressure building behind my eyes. I realized I needed to redouble my focus on shielding myself before it overwhelmed me. As I worked to get my defenses in place, a sound in the road caught my attention. I looked up to see a black sedan speeding toward me. The darkness of the emotions traveling inside the car, which was careening down the one-way street, left no doubt that its passengers were not human. Despite the pressure on my skull, I felt drawn to the energy, and began to walk toward the oncoming car. I had to get a peek at the passengers inside.

  Before I could glimpse so much as an eyebrow, however, the sedan turned abruptly and jumped the curb, crashing through the majestic gold-trimmed doors of a Peabody Jewelers store. I missed being hit by the car, but collided with a man on the street, throwing us both down onto the sidewalk with a horrible thud. I felt the full force of the impact on my right shoulder as I hit the pavement. As we lay there trying to untangle ourselves, my shoulder throbbing, the car pressed its way further into the store, sending shards of the glass picture windows and two stone planters that had been smashed to bits onto the sidewalk.

  Finally I was able to extricate myself. I stood up off the ground and approached one of the store’s windows to get a better look at what was happening inside. Peabody Jewelers has occupied the corner of Post and Grant Streets since the Gold Rush. Through all that time, it seemed safe to say their sales people had never watched an automobile plow through their main entrance. I’m also fairly sure they’d never witnessed four men exit a vehicle parked in their showroom, fire off several rounds of ammunition from semi-automatic weapons, and then smash the glass display cases containing millions of dollars in rare jewelry and timepieces.

  As I peered through the window, another thought was rapidly forming in my mind: the beings inside were hoping to keep my experience limited. Someone inside the s
tore, a member of the robbery gang, had sensed me and was trying to blind me. I couldn’t tell whether they were aiming for a temporary condition or something more permanent, but the pain behind my eyes now was excruciating. I tried as best I could to ignore the pressure in my head, and continued to watch from the window.

  The men were brazen. They wore no masks or disguises, a detail that only reinforced my conviction that they were Others, supremely confident they would never be found. The thieves used small rock hammers, the kind geologists favor, to shatter the glass cases and scoop the jewels into generic black backpacks. It seemed to me that they could walk out of the store—or maybe into a waiting car—and disappear into the crowd without a single identifying mark. Each of the thieves was young, fit and well coordinated. Four tall beings, each with olive skin; they didn’t speak to one another, nor to the frightened salespeople and customers cowering below the gold-plated display cases. And yet I knew they were communicating, the same way I knew they were trying to blind me.

  I continued to squint through the window, my right arm hanging awkwardly at my side. Maybe a minute or two had passed since the crash. I could hear sirens coming, and decided it was time to leave the area. My efforts to block the force against my eyes was proving feeble: the pressure in my head continued to build, my vision growing dimmer every second.

  I felt the unmistakable warm trickle of blood run down from my nose to my upper lip. I tried to wipe it away and caught site of my hands, which were also covered in blood from the fall. I searched around in my purse for some tissues. Having none, I wiped the blood off my face with my fingers, and then cleaned my hands on my pant legs. I knew I wouldn’t be able to drive with my vision diminished; I was going to have to make it to the Chinatown gate and use the portal. It seemed risky to walk the three blocks covered in blood, but if I moved quickly, perhaps no one would mistake me for more than the usual disheveled homeless person wandering nearby.

  I willed myself, despite the acute pain in my head, to start walking toward the gate. I felt a bit like Richard the III, limping up the street, hurling one side of my body as if it were a deadened limb. I could feel my heart beginning to speed up, my adrenaline finally kicking in. Whoever was in that bank did not want me to see them, and I was worried that if they had their way, I would never look upon anything again.

  What a mad sight I must have been for the tourists as I approached the stone lions at the foot of the green tile gate on Grant Street. I managed to bump into a man, mumbling a hasty “sorry” as I approached the lion’s mouth. I knew I was making a bit of a scene with my appearance, and now I was going to disappear from plain sight, but I had little choice. I had to get away from the thieves.

  I walked up to the statue and placed my fingers inside the beast’s open mouth. This was my maiden voyage using a portal. Elsa had practiced with me, but I had never traveled alone. I managed to remember the instructions, despite being rattled. I visualized the doorstep of my house and then uttered one word: Apěrio!

  The moment the word left my mouth I was transported into darkness, then light. I felt a gentle pull as I dropped out of thin air onto my doorstep. I lay on the landing in a crumpled heap, disoriented and unable to see. I wanted to scream for help, but I was afraid to attract the attention of anyone on the street. I didn’t need the police coming to my doorstep. I would never be able to explain how I managed to leave the scene of a robbery, injured and blinded, without the aide of a taxi or a companion. Instead, I lay still, pushing my anxiety out to my friends with all my might.

  “Help!” I exclaimed at the top of my inner voice, “I need help.”

  Those were my last thoughts, before I lost consciousness.

  When I woke up, I was afraid to open my eyes. The memory of the pain I’d experienced returned and I began to cry, tears streaming down my face from my tightly closed eyelids. The first voice I heard was Gabriel’s.

  “Olivia, please try to open your eyes,” he said. “We’re all here with you, you needn’t be afraid.”

  I shook my head. “Too painful,” I murmured. I felt someone sit down next to me on what must have been my bed, a familiar set of fingers taking my hand.

  “I heard you, darlin,” William whispered in my ear. “I heard you call to me. So whatever happens, I am here. You can open your eyes.”

  I began by blinking to get myself ready; slowly I opened and closed my lids until my pupils would accept the light. The light! I thought to myself, thank God, I can see the light. Eventually I opened my eyes and found myself staring into the faces of William, Gabriel, Lily, Aidan and Elsa.

  It seemed they were destined to be my permanent entourage.

  “Hello,” I said feebly. “I see you got my message.”

  Elsa exhaled the breath she’d been holding. “I was inside the house. I heard you loud and clear, so did Gabriel and William. By the time I pulled you inside, they were practically at our doorstep. How did you manage to do that?”

  “I pushed the words out,” I said. “I was afraid to make a sound. I couldn’t see and didn’t want any strangers calling the police and connecting me with the robbery.”

  “Robbery?” Aidan asked.

  To tell my story properly, I needed to sit up. As soon as I tried to use my hands to prop myself up however, the sharp pain in my injured shoulder caused me to wince.

  “Careful,” William said soothingly.

  With William’s assistance, I pushed myself upright on the bed before I began to speak. “I went downtown early to work on a poll with R.J. When I was finished, I intended to drive to Palo Alto. I stopped for a quick lunch before getting in my car. As I was walking to the parking garage, I noticed something, a sort of buzzing in my ears. I felt like I was walking toward an energy field. I was curious, so I followed the sensation until I got to the corner of Post and Grant, in Union Square. As soon as I made it to the corner, a black Audi sedan came careening toward me. It jumped the curb and crashed into Peabody Jewelers.”

  “Was it an accident?” William asked.

  I shook my head. “No, they meant to crash into the store.” I said. “When the car stopped, four men with guns got out and smashed every display case inside to bits and took the jewelry.”

  The three men exchanged grim glances at each other.

  “Did the men see you, Olivia?” Aidan asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I was knocked down by the force of the car crash, that’s how I cut my hands and hurt my shoulder. I managed to crawl up to a side window to peek in. I wanted to see who was inside. It all happened quickly…the whole robbery was probably completed in less than three minutes. I don’t know if they noticed me. I pushed out toward the energy, and that’s when my head began to ache and it got hard to see.”

  “Can you see now?” Gabriel asked, stepping into my line of sight.

  I nodded. “Yes, but my eyes feel sore and scratchy.” At that moment Elsa, who must have slipped out of the room earlier, returned carrying a tray with a mug of something warm and a small mirror. She handed the mirror to William who turned to face me.

  “Don’t be alarmed, but you look a bit like a zombie,” he said holding the mirror up to my face. I gasped at my reflection, startled to see two red dots staring back at me; whatever had been tracking me used enough force to burst the tiny blood vessels in my eyes so that the pupils were barely visible through pools of crimson.

  “They were trying to blind me,” I said, “Will this heal?”

  “I think so, to both things,” Aidan said. “Someone in the robbery party was an Other and knew there was a empath nearby. My guess is they never actually saw you, they only felt your presence, the same way you could feel theirs. That would explain the nature of their attack.”

  “Are you saying that if they had seen her, they would have attacked her physically?” William asked.

  Aidan raised his hands in frustration. “I am merely speculating,” he said. “I cannot say for certain what would have happened if they’d actually seen her, but I
think we can all guess it wouldn’t have been pleasant.”

  “Who were they, the guys who drove into the jewelry store?” I asked.

  “From what you have described, it sounds like the Serbian mafia,” Gabriel said.

  “The Serbian mafia? Here?” William asked. “Isn’t this a bit far afield, even for them?”

  Aidan shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Since the war, they have branched out far beyond Europe. This kind of robbery has become a signature of their work.”

  William’s face was grim as he faced Aidan and Gabriel. He regarded them both, a deep look of frustration upon his face. “We need to make sure she doesn’t show up on any video. Someone needs to begin searching now. I know a person that can help us delete any footage without leaving a mark.” His response caught my attention, if only because it sounded so tactical, as if he had done something similar before. I wanted to ask him, but I knew better than to bring it up in front of everyone.

  “Can I have some eyes drops?” I asked interjecting myself into the conversation. “My eyes feel like someone ran a rake over them. And maybe some ice for my shoulder.”

  My remark caused Lily to wince, and she quickly came over to my bed and handed me a small bottle of eye drops. “These will help take the sting out,” she said. “I’ll go get an ice pack from the kitchen.”

  I examined the green glass bottle closely before she left the room. It had no label or markings of any kind. “What is this?”

  “Nadia made it,” she said. “She said it would help speed the healing. She also said to remember your fortune and not to be afraid.”

  “Who is Nadia?” William asked, his curiosity peaked.

  “An old witch who lives in the park,” said Elsa said, as Lily left the room. “She is a healer.”