Evelyn sits back in her chair. ‘For years, I assumed my mission was simply to help people understand death. When I recovered from my injuries, I went to work on my first book. To date, I’ve interviewed eighty-seven people, all of whom shared similar near-death experiences with me. I’ve compiled a library of pertinent data, and I’ve written two best-sellers. Despite these postdeath successes, I always felt something was missing. And then my sister died.’

Evelyn stands. Crosses the room. Opens a desk drawer and returns with a color photograph. ‘Maria and I were inseparable as children, born only thirteen months apart. The two of us attended Cambridge together. I’ll never forget the night she told me she was going off on some Mayan expedition with Julius and that jerk, Pierre Borgia. The news just about broke my heart.’

Dominique stares at the photo of the two sisters, taken while they were in England. ‘Your eyes? In this photo they’re black, like your sister’s.’

‘Yes. They changed after the accident. In fact, it wasn’t until after the lightning strike that I became a necromancer.’

‘You said earlier you’ve been in touch with your sister.’

‘She’s been my spiritual companion, my guide into the higher dimensions, the higher states of consciousness. The higher states are the forces of God’s light, the forces of good. The higher our own frequencies of good, the easier it is for us to attune to their light.’

‘Are there forces of evil?’

Evelyn pauses, choosing her words carefully. ‘By creating a world of free will, God allowed for the forces of both good and evil, light and dark. These “lesser lights” as I call them, fall into several different categories. Ghosts are the deceased who remain too confused to move into the light. Sometimes our negative thoughts or ignorance invites them into our lives. Ouija boards, for instance, set us up for ghostly pranks. By praying for these confused entities, we can help them realize the reality of their situation and guide them into the light.

‘More dangerous are poltergeists. Poltergeists have their own agenda. They are dark and evil and believe they can use their knowledge of the universe to manipulate our world. Poltergeists are the false prophets the Bible warns us about. They will entice us with their knowledge, but are not to be trusted. They can cause us great harm.

‘The purer sources of light bring us closest to God. These are the spirits. Spirits are our friends. They never judge or manipulate us, they are here only to help us see the truth. Angels are the brightest lights in the spiritual world, the messengers of God’s essence. They are always available to help, but it is up to us to ask for their assistance. Among the angels are the cherubim, seraphim, guardian angels, and archangels.’

‘And you can see them? You can see your sister?’