Pagan Light Series
by JoAnne Keltner
About Possessed (formerly titled Goth Girl, Virgin Queen), Book 1:
Calling Jackie psychic makes her cringe. But Jackie’s no normal seventeen-year-old. She picks up emotions from people and objects like a freak. The emotions make her sick, and the guilt she feels for lying to her church when she was twelve causes her to deny her psychic abilities. But when her jealous friend Trish invites a demon to help her steal Jason's love for Jackie, Jackie must learn how to use her gift to protect Jason and herself and to heal the negative energies around them. To do so means she must overcome her guilt and accept who she is before the demon claims her soul.
Print book page count: 335
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About Spellbound, Book 2:
After battling a demon from her great-grandmother’s past, Jackie Turov, a psychic and healer, accepts that all things are possible—even a romantic relationship with the young seminarian, David. But after an elderly church member, an immigrant from Russia, accuses Jackie and her great-grandmother, Babu, of being witches, Jackie questions if Babu was once an evil witch or just someone blessed with healing light. As Jackie sets out to find the truth about Babu’s troubling past, and ultimately about herself, her future with David hangs in the balance.
Print book page count: 376
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Read an Excerpt from Possessed:
Jackie spent another night in the hospital and was
released the following afternoon. As soon as she stepped into the house, Babu
dropped her needlepoint to her lap and crossed herself. Babbling in Russian,
she hobbled over to Jackie in her slippered feet, grabbed Jackie’s head with
both hands, and kissed her on each cheek.
“I’ll
leave you to two to talk,” Mom said and then disappeared into the kitchen.
Babu
put her arm around Jackie. “Prikhodi,” she said, leading Jackie to her
room. She waved her hand at the bed. “Sidi.”
Jackie
sat down. Babu opened the bottom dresser drawer and took out the photo album
she had showed Jackie the day she had passed out in the haunted bathroom. Babu
opened the album to the photo of the three young women dressed in black. She
pointed to the second woman and then tapped her chest.
“Eto
ya,” she said, and then, with a pitiful look in her eyes, she explained
something to her.
“I’m
sorry, Babu. I know that the woman in the picture is you, but I don’t
understand what you’re telling me.”
Babu
sighed, looking tired and frustrated.
She
had never read Babu. The only vision she had ever picked up from her was pure
white light, and the only emotion she had ever picked up from her was peace.
Jackie
slid the photo album from Babu’s lap to her own and then held her fingers above
the picture. “May I?”
“Da.”
Jackie
touched the black-and-white photo and closed her eyes. In her mind’s eye, she
saw the three women, solemn and still. It was almost as if they were afraid to
move, to even wriggle a nose or blink an eye—that, if they moved, evil would
overtake them.
From
the corner of her inner vision, a black mass floated into view, obscuring the
three women. She waited for the darkness to pass, for the women to reappear,
but the darkness hung in the center of her mind’s eye, expanding and shrinking
as if it were breathing. Concentrating, she tried to reclaim the vision of the
women, but something seized her chest. In the split second of opening her eyes,
a dark voice whispered, “Witches.”
She
stared at Babu, mouth hung open.
Babu,
a frightened look on her face, took the chotki from her bed stand and pressed
it into Jackie’s hand. “Molis’.”
The
chotki was lightweight and tickled Jackie’s palm. It reminded her of the lock
of hair she held after cutting her long tresses. She held it, knowing it had
once belonged to her and thinking she could never reconnect it to her head. It
was gone from her for forever.
“I
understand, Babu. I know things aren’t right with me, but I can’t take your
chotki.” She tried to give it back to her, but Babu kept shoving it into her
hand.
Jackie
showed her the chotki and then patted her chest. “I have one of my own. I’ll
pray with my mine,” she lied. She made prayer hands and then gave the chotki
back to Babu.
Her
forehead and eyes creased with worry, Babu took the chotki.
Jackie
thought about how Madam Sophie kept trying to get her to take the crystal. She
couldn’t take that either. Somehow, it just felt wrong, as if she would be
committing idolatry. How ironic. She couldn’t take the chotki because it was no
longer a part of her, yet she couldn’t take the crystal because the teachings
of the church were too ingrained in her. Madam Sophie was right. But she wasn’t
going to go to her for help. She didn’t ask to be born this way. If all this
misery was caused by the solar storm, she was sure the energy would eventually
die, and everything would return to normal. Until then, she would just have to
tough it out. Maybe, wear Mom’s rollerblading helmet.
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