Vintage Soul Read Online Free PDF

pattern that circled the hilt in concentric rings.
    Charts and maps dangled and jutted from the shelves.   A few of these were rolled, or folded, but still others were attached to the wood by tacks or small nails.   One shelf held an assortment of divination equipment, Tarot cards, joss sticks for reading the I Ching , a small geomancy box and a leather bag of stone runes.   In a small jeweled case a set of animal bones rested at odd angles.  
    Still another shelf had a small rack attached beneath it where talismans, crystals, pendants and charms dangled.   There did not seem to be any particular order to them, and there was no index or label to differentiate one from the other.   Their chains and thongs were tangled together, snarled hopelessly and all-but-forgotten.
    Two doorways opened out of this main room, which served as office, library, and sitting room.   One was the hallway that led to the two bedrooms and the bath in the rear of the apartment, the other led to his small kitchen.   Both were separated from the main room by heavy wooden doors, and both were closed.   A third door, larger and more ornate, led to the hallway beyond and, in turn, to the world below and beyond.
    There was little light.   A few feet to the side of where he sat in his arm chair stood a battered old desk.   It was the one uncluttered horizontal surface in the room.   On it sat a computer, a telephone, a pendulum dangling from a small metal stand, and a single lamp. The lamp was old.   Its base was carved metal in the form of a tree.   The tree had ten branches, and from each of these a small and very ancient coin dangled.   A rod ran up the center to a spiked finial, which screwed down to hold the fragile slag-glass shade in place.   The glass itself was thick and lustrous.   It was violet, giving off an odd, soothing radiance similar to that of a weak black light.   Around the rim of the shade, formed of inlaid bits of colored glass, ran the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  
    The lamp, as most of the other objects in the room, had been a gift received in return for services rendered.   Also, as was true of most of the other objects, it served more than its obvious purpose.
    Donovan raised his whiskey tumbler and took a sip.   As he did so, the violet light from the lamp pulsed.   It flared more brightly for a moment, and then returned to its normal glow.   Donovan turned and stared at it with a slight frown.   He placed his glass on the table beside his seat, shooed Cleo from his lap, and stood.
    He was six-foot three inches tall with broad shoulders and an athletic build.   His long dark hair swept back over his shoulders in waves, and when the light caught his eyes, they flashed a violet shade of their own.   His clothing, dark pants, a rather ornate jacket over a shirt open at the neck to reveal several chains that disappeared beneath, and dark, polished boots might have seemed eccentric or affectatious on most men, archaic on others, but not on Donovan.   He wore them like a second skin.    He didn’t move quickly, but his motions were deceptively graceful.   The lamp pulsed a final time, and then settled back to its normal violet hue.   Donovan, who had crossed the room in that space of time, reached for the ornate knob of his outer door.
    Behind him, Cleo leaped back to the seat of his chair and bounded up to the back cushion.   She seated herself and began to wash her face casually.   Donovan heard the thump as she came to rest, and knew she was watching.   It was good to know she had his back.
    A soft chime rang, and Donovan opened the door before the sound could die.   He liked to have the advantage over visitors, and knowing they were at the door before they rang the bell was one method of achieving this.   This particular time, his effort was wasted.
    A very thin apparition stood in the hall outside the door,