Author: Michael C

Chapter One

Payson looked down over the city from her favorite vantage point at the top of the Sheppard Media Tower, and worried her bottom lip. In the light of dawn, she perched at the edge of the large deck and scanned the downtown streets.
From fifteen stories up, any city could look like a happy place. What she saw told her it was not so for the city of Auralia.
A summer breeze tossed her long hair across her face. She shivered. Changes in the quality of energy thrumming in the air prickled her skin. She could see dark energies thriving in the fistfight in a parking lot, hear it in a woman’s screams for help, sense it in its chaotic pulse that throbbed in her bones. Urgency thudded in her chest.
Her eyes closed, she opened her mind to other Aeons in the city and sensed her energy connection with theirs, like lines of light spreading from her in a web across the city. The gentle pulsing of their high energy hummed in her body, assuring her each one was out there living from light. Awareness bloomed in her chest of how each one brought something different to their mission of balancing dark and light. Hers was working as a bounty hunter.
But Dark Sides energies intensifying these days called her and her fellow Aeons to step up their game right now. Hurry, hurry screamed through her to take stronger actions against the darkness before it was too late.
Payson checked the time on her phone, expecting Braden at any minute.
She ran her gaze across the scene below her—tall buildings that didn’t quite reach the tower, cars filling the streets. But in her mind, she saw a seaport bustling with activity, large sailing ships, and buildings reaching upward sitting next to shiny dome buildings. Suddenly, the scene shifted and devastation rushed through her. She rocked on her perch and blinked hard at the reminder of the past.
She had lived her whole life knowing the popular legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, but also knowing most believed it was a cute story, or just a myth, even a parable to warn people away from the evils of challenging laws and traditions.
Her gut clenched and she turned to find Diane Butler strutting toward her. “Great view, huh?”
Payson jumped down to the deck and braced herself for an assault on her senses. Diane carried darkness around as some people wore a smell. “What are you doing here?” 
“The same reason you’re here. To get a bird’s eye view of Auralia.” Diane brushed by her and stopped just short of the low brick wall that stood between the deck and thin air. “It’s exhilarating to stand above it all.”
“Uh huh. I didn’t know you had access to this,” Payson said, sweeping her arms in circles.
Diane gave Payson a frown over her shoulder. “You have permission?”
“I do. I like to come up here to get perspective. But I need the keycode.”
Diane narrowed her eyes. “I go where I want. The keypad is not an obstacle.” She spun around to face Payson and slanted her head. “I can always find you, Payson.” Her voice held a quality that matched her thorny vibration, but Payson just shrugged and expanded her inner flow of light and love to spread to Diane.
	Payson saw Diane gasp and held the flow, hoping Diane would accept it. She had so much hope for her and so much to discuss. “We’re not so different, Diane.”
“Ha! You’re short, I’m tall. I’m white; you’re a mixture of your father’s Indian genes and your mother’s Caucasian ones. I’m a lobbyist and you’re ah, ah,” she looked down her nose, “a bounty hunter.”
Payson blew past Diane’s surface argument. “We both carry the same genes and the mission to save the world from the destructive ways of our ancestors.”
	Diane wrapped her arms around her chest. “What are you blathering about? Ancestors? Mission? Destruction?” She stepped closer.
Payson stiffened. “You know the story. You’re a part of it, whether or not you actively work with the Aeons. Your ability to control energy and mesmerize minds could be useful in reducing darkness in Auralia.”
Loud and mocking laughter spurted out of Diane. “Shut up.”
“No, I won’t. We need your help to protect Auralia. You need to join us, not just hover around dropping sarcasm now and again.” Diane’s anger put burrs on the vibration whining in Payson’s body. “Our ancestors sought power and wealth. You can be different.”
“Ha! Sounds like some pretty smart ancestors. I don’t see your point.”
She wanted to shake Diane into acknowledgement. “It’s important to remember the reason we’re here. Those dark individuals used their knowledge to destroy the beauty and promise of Atlantis.”
“Oh, really. Well, that’s a myth, and even if it were true, how could we be here today? Tell me that, Payson.” Diane slammed a hand on her hip and glared.
Payson dipped her gaze. “Some Atlanteans envisioned what was coming and left before catastrophe hit. They settled in a remote area in Europe and centered their lives on taking care of the planet, doing good, and hoping to save the world from becoming dark again.”
Diane punctuated the air with her finger. “Fake, fake, fake.”
Pain jabbed in Payson’s chest. “I’ll tell you why I want to come up here. I want to see the effects of darkness on Auralia. I want to be prepared for what’s coming. The destruction is here, now.”
	Diane pursed her lips and stood silent. Her vibration pounded inside Payson, battering her heart. “You’re a fool. I know who I am. I’m a successful businesswoman. I have powerful people wrapped around my finger. I have my own plans and you can’t stop me.” She lunged toward Payson and slapped her.
The impact of the hit sent shockwaves through Payson. Her reflexes went to work and she drove a punch of her own at Diane’s gut. Diane doubled over and slumped to the ground.
“Violence? The goody-two-shoes isn’t so good after all.”
Payson took in a big breath and let it out. Deliberately, she filled with peace and reached a hand to Diane. “Being full of light doesn’t mean I’m a push-over.”
Diane slapped her hand away and stood up. For one tiny second her face drooped, and Payson caught a glimpse of her dejection.
Then it was gone.
“I really, really don’t like you. You’re wrong about us being alike. I’m nothing like you.”
Many things came together in serial flashes for Payson, and hung in the air between them: Diane’s vulnerability, her defenses, her delusions. They all stood there with Diane, taking away her conscious choice. “You don’t know me.”
Diane glared. “Kiss my ass.” She rammed her shoulder into Payson as she marched toward the elevator door. “Hi, Braden.”
Braden glanced at Diane, then grabbed Payson’s gaze. “What’s going on here?” He sprinted to Payson.
“Oh she’s fine,” Diane called across the deck. “I just gave her a little reality check.”
The elevator door closed and Braden touched her cheek. “What’s this? Your cheek is red.” The warmth in his eyes shifted to glacial. “Did she hit you?”
Payson nodded. “She did but I hit her too. I’m all right.”
“Let’s sit down, okay?” He took her hand and sat her on top of the short wall. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
“I think she’s been following me. That’s the only explanation for why she knew I might be up here this morning.” Braden rubbed his thumb over her fingers. “I don’t know how she got access.”
“Hmmm…maybe one of her DAs deciphered the access code. I’d say she could have blasted the keypad but it was fine a minute ago.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her against his body. “I’m sorry she invaded your space.”
Noises from the city waking up lifted from the streets. “I can’t explain it, but I feel closer to the city up here.”
“I know. Kind of like putting a finger on the city’s pulse without any of the distractions down there.”
“Yes, exactly.” She breathed in his scent and let it calm her vibration. “Darkness is growing, without a doubt. It hit me strong this morning. It drove me to urge Diane to see it too. I rehashed the history of our ancestors and let her know how I feel about the Aeons’ role in lighting up the city. It only made her more defensive.”
“There’s nothing wrong with trying. It’s too bad she’s resistant to the truth.” Braden stroked her hair and the chaos of Diane slipped away.
“Our ancestors are very real to me, Braden. I feel them in my bones. When I was young and finding it hard to be around my parents, I longed for them.”
“I feel the connection too. It’s a part of us we can’t deny any more than we can ignore what is happening to the city.” He kissed her forehead, then lit up her heart with his smile. Braden’s smile gleamed in his eyes and radiated in his face like sunshine. “But for now, I vote for getting breakfast. Then I have to get to work.”
“Me, too. You go ahead. I have one more thing to do and then I’ll be ready. You go ahead.”
“Okay, you better hurry. I’m ready for eggs and bacon.”
He left her with a glow. She couldn’t drop the images she’d seen earlier in her head. Of course, she’d been born thousands of years after her ancestors. But maybe if she’d had them around, she would have felt like she belonged. Those long-dead strangers could have told her there was nothing wrong with her.
Instead, her parents had looked for ways to deal with their strange daughter who talked about things she couldn’t have known. Payson clenched her teeth, remembering an early time when she’d asked her mother why the neighbor’s wife didn’t like her.
	“Payson, what do you mean, Mrs. Trautman doesn’t like me? Did she say something to you?”
	“No, Mommy. I heard her brain talking about you when she touched me.”
	“Oh, Payson. I’ve told you not to lie, so many times.”
	“I’m not lying, Mommy. Her brain told me she doesn’t like it when you leave Pixie outside and she barks too much.”
	“There is no way Mrs. Trautman’s brain told you that. Now go to your room and write two paragraphs about what happens when you lie.”
Payson found her center and drew strength from the light that was always there, and stood, sighing. Neither her mother nor her father accepted that she was different but still lovable.
Payson stubbed her foot against the low brick wall around the deck, breathing through remembered chaos in her home. Still, Auralia was her hometown, and in the relative safety of it, she’d been able to use her special skills and her work in service of the Aeon mission.
She swallowed anxiety. Now that safety was gone. DAs lived among average people discreetly doing their thing to debilitate hope and good will. Some of them were unaware of how their choices had darkened their soul, but nonetheless they made a mark. The increase in poverty, crime, and violence oozed in her gut like tar.
She closed her eyes and sent out her light energy to the people below. The energy tingled in her body and spread to her limbs, her feet, her fingers. She opened her eyes and saw her energy spread like an invisible blanket of golden light. Hope proliferated like delicate, flowering vines all around her.
“Good morning, Auralia,” she whispered.
She took the elevator down to the building’s street level and stepped into the lobby, where she almost ran into the building owner, Carl Sheppard.
“Good morning, Payson. Did you enjoy your gaze over the city?” The CEO of Sheppard Media was a wealthy businessman with a lot of heart, who gave her hope.
“I did. Thank you for giving me access to the deck. I love it up there, Carl.”
He shook his head. His smile slipped into a sober expression. “Payson, fulfilling your request was the least I could do. I can never do enough for you. You brought back my daughter to me.”
It had been six weeks since she’d located his runaway teen, but his eyes instantly misted. “It’s what I do, Carl. I find people for a living. I’m very glad to have been able to find her and convince her the best place for her was back with you.” She gave him a grin. “Which, by the way, was pretty easy to do at that point.”
His gaze dropped. “It makes me sick to think that some drug dealing pimp had gotten hold of her when she ran away.”
“I know. Are you two working things out?” If any father could learn from his mistakes with his children, it would be Carl. His inner strength came from his light energy, not ego.
“We’re talking with the counselor you suggested, Claire Eve Kelly. Her methods are very effective, so yes, my relationship with my daughter is already improving.”
Sheppard’s assistant walked up behind him. “Mr. Sheppard, your early appointment is waiting in your office.”
Sheppard nodded. “My day starts early, as I see yours does too. Nice seeing you, Payson.”
Payson waved as he walked away, then headed out of the building. She had appointments to keep too. First, breakfast with Braden. Then she needed to review her initial information on a missing young woman and talk with the mother. Later she’d pick up Braden, then retrieve a family’s nest egg.

Find Touch Me, the complete book, on Amazon. Find more about books by Lynn Crandall—paranormal romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary romance—on her Amazon Author Page or her Website, where you can sign up for her newsletter and receive two free books.

Books:
Fierce Hearts series—Secrets, Cravings, Heartfelt, Probabilities, Unstoppable
Aegar Investigations—Dancing with Detective Danger, Always and Forever Love
Two Days Until Midnight
Captured by Christmas
Snowbound
Nutcracker Sweet

What readers say about Lynn Crandall’s books:

"Author Lynn Crandall has a wonderful way with words and description. She makes the scenes and characters come to life in her books, and this one was no exception." --Long and Short Reviews.

“Crandall does a fantastic job of drawing readers into her story & giving them a world to loose themselves in. The novel is well written & edited, the polished finish making it infinitely more enjoyable for the reader.”
-Pure Jonel

“Two Days Until Midnight is an entertaining read. The pacing is quick, and I enjoyed getting to know Tamier and Lark… Fans of fast-paced romance should certainly check this paranormal out.”
-LAS Reviews