Free More Than an Echo (Echo Branson Series) by Linda Kay Silva Page B

finally able to free herself from the debts of her “boss,” Bishop went straight to New Orleans and opened up what was to become one of the most profitable tarot reading businesses in the state of Louisiana. Bigwigs, CEOs, restaurateurs and drag queens came to her for advice, solace and a glimpse into their future. But Bishop wasn’t a twenty dollar an hour shill pretending to read cards. Bishop had the sight: the pinnacle of all clairvoyant powers.
    The first time I met her was my third week in the Bayou. Melika and I were working on building a shield I could keep up for more than a minute, when Bishop and her boatman pulled up to our dock.
    Melika and I walked out to the porch. “Oh Lordy,” Melika said under her breath. “She’s earlier than usual.”
    “Is that her?” I whispered. “Your mother?” Jacob had told me about Bishop on one of our morning Bayou trips. She was some big voodoo priestess who scared half the population of New Orleans. They lived and died by her readings, paying a small fortune to see what lay ahead.
    What I saw in the boat was a thin woman draped in all black and wearing a hat. She must have stood less than four feet eight. Her boatman helped her out of the boat, but he remained there staring at her.
    “Yes, dear girl, that’s my mother. She comes to check out the new blood every blue moon. She always knows whenever there’s a new one of us in town. It’s her way. Now don’t let her scare you. That’s her way as well.”
    Zack joined me and Melika on the porch and together the three of us started toward the dock.
    Bishop was the most exotic woman I had ever seen. Her skin had a goldenish hue and her complexion was flawless. No wrinkled old hag, Bishop’s skin seemed to defy time. As she walked across the pier toward us, I beheld a woman of grace and class. She carried herself like she owned the world. Short in stature, she made up for it in attitude.
    “You must be Echo,” Bishop said before I could open my mouth. Like everyone else on this side of the Bayou, she was blocking, so I couldn’t read her at all. “My, my, Melika, what have we here?” Bishop’s low, musical voice mesmerized me but it was her eyes that captured me. Bishop’s eyes were yellow. “Do you know what you have here?” she asked Melika without taking her eyes off mine.
    “I am well aware, mother.”
    Bishop released me from her gaze and looked up at Melika. “Nick of time. Good boy, my Georgie. He’s a gem, that one. How are her lessons going?”
    “She is bright and unafraid.” Melika put her arm around my shoulders and pulled me reassuringly closer. “Eager to learn.”
    “Excellent. Fear is a useless emotion. We need not fear a thing from those who cannot do as we do.” Bishop looked over at Zack. “Ah...a  mover. Tell me, boy, can you move my hat from my head?”
    Zack stared at Melika, who, to my surprise, nodded.
    “Take your best shot, boy.” Bishop winked.
    Blinking a few times, Zack hesitated and Bishop held up her hand.
    “Wait,” she said, turning back to me. “Can you see it?”
    I frowned. As far as I knew, my powers were emotional, not visual. I had never seen— “Not true,” Bishop replied, interrupting my thoughts. “You think your powers are merely emotive, but you’re wrong. My daughter will, of course, show you how to better utilize all of your senses, but for the moment, I want you just to look carefully at Zachary.”
    I nodded and did as she said.
    “Now, relax your eyes. Don’t focus on the physical being of Zachary, but on his image. If you see him but don’t really see him, you’ll notice something about him. Like those silly pictures you stare at until you see something else. What is it you see?”
    Sure enough, as I relaxed my eyes, I could see a slight haze all around him, as if outlining him. “A haze...like a blur.”
    “All living things are creatures of energy, Echo, and for those with your gift, it is visible to the naked eye much in the same