THE SHADOWED ONYX: A DIAMOND ESTATES NOVEL by Nicole O'Dell Page B

her. I never asked.”
    Joy sighed. “Dr. Sinclair had been both Mel’s and my doctor since we were infants. In fact, she’d been in the room when we both were born.” She stared off into space. “So Dr. Sinclair was the one who finally told Maggie that Melanie had died. I was just so glad I didn’t have to do it.” Joy remembered being slumped against the wall while the two women, two mothers, clung to each other and sobbed.
    “What were you feeling in that moment?”
    “I don’t know. Mostly I wished I hadn’t waited so long to go talk to Melanie. If I hadn’t been so self-absorbed, Mel would still be here. I believe that with all my heart.”
    “Maybe.”
    What? Wasn’t the counselor supposed to go on and on about how it wasn’t Joy’s fault? How she couldn’t know what would have happened? How she wasn’t to blame?
    “But even if that’s true, even if she’d be alive, did you have anything to do with her death? Did you encourage it or drive her toward it in any way?”
    Joy shook her head. “No.” The word came out more like a croak.
    “So we’re going to work on letting go of the whole guilt thing.”
    Easier said than done. “It might not be guilt like a shared responsibility. It’s more like regret, like … if only.”
    Mary Alice nodded. “If only. Two of life’s most gut-wrenching words.”

    What is this place?
Joy looked up and down the rows of antique-like trinkets and dark idols carved out of wood or jade. Ivory crystals hung from the ceiling, and the smell of incense flooded the room to the point where it was almost too much for her unaccustomed senses to take.
    Raven smiled at the skinny, Gothic cashier taking money from a middle-aged woman draped in a muumuu and dripping with gold costume jewelry.
    Joy peered at his name tag expecting it to say something like Zeus or Pegasus. Huh? It read K YLE . Really?
    Kyle’s dark eyes widened. “Hey Raven. How’s it going? Haven’t seen you in here for a while.”
    “Yeah, haven’t really needed anything but to save money, so I just stayed away.”
    “I hear that.” Kyle turned his gaze onto Joy.
    “This is my friend, Joy. She’s new. I just thought I’d show her around.”
    Why did she have to say she was new? How embarrassing.
    “Great. Well, poke around—recent additions in the back. Let me know if you need anything.” He turned back to his customer.
    “So what is this place, exactly?” Joy whispered.
    “It’s an unofficial consignment store of sorts. People share, trade, sell, or barter for the things they need to help them get in touch with the spirit beyond. You can get Ouija boards, crystals, and other beads and things like incense and candles to help you connect.”
    Joy felt the edge of a leather journal. “But how do you know the difference between what’s legitimate and what’s commercial?” She picked up a furry rabbit’s foot. Come on, seriously? A rabbit’s foot?
    “Good question.” Raven seemed to think through her answer as she held up a silver necklace with a five-pointed star dangling from the center. “Well, you need to understand that connecting with the spirit world isn’t about the actual game board or the bead itself. It has nothing to do with the individual crystal. It’s all about the faith you ascribe to a specific token or trinket. So if you truly believe the incense wafting through the air and the crystal shining in the candlelight is going to help you clear your mind and release yourself over to what’s beyond, then it will.”
    Joy nodded. That helped, actually. She didn’t have to put her faith in a piece of glass. It was about her faith, not the glass … or whatever the item was. Made perfect sense.
    “Remember the day we used the Ouija board and heard from Melanie?”
    Joy winced. How could she forget?
    “Lucas and I had complete faith we were being contacted by a spirit, so it makes it easy for it to happen.”
    “Yeah, but I had zero faith, so why was I able to