Bone Dry: A Soul Shamans Novel (Volume 1) (9 page)

I shook my head, opened my eyes and snapped my thoughts away from Nathan. Right now, I needed to focus on banishing spirits. The world around me was dark and smudged. I was in the Borderland, Laura with me. Her face was calm and expressionless even amongst the whirling shadows and icy breeze. I felt pride surge through me. Laura had never done this before, but looking at her, you’d never know. She radiated confidence, and I smelled no hint of fear in the room.

I gave her a nod before turning to take in our surroundings. Glancing from one foggy corner to another, I was surprised when I saw no trace of the spirits even though I could
feel
them. Watching us.

“Behind you,” Laura said in a soft whisper, clear and steady even though there was an undertone of uncertainty I could hear, only by knowing Laura so well and being bound to her by our shaman magic.

Her words sent a sudden gust of frost through the room. My hair rose from my shoulders and swirled around me like russet ribbons, and the round, fuzzy rug sitting next to me slid across the floor. The shaman supplies didn’t move an inch. Even the flame of our candle stayed strong and steady, as if there were no wind at all.

“Go,” I whispered back.

CHAPTER 9

L
aura and I linked hands over the flame, and I looked over my shoulder. Two spirits hovered a few feet in the air, their tall, thin frames writhing and weaving like snakes. Their dark mouths were wide in silent screams, and in an instant, I knew our plan wouldn’t work. Not with two.

Something inside told me if we split our efforts, one would attack. The stronger one—the one whose body burned with black.

I glanced at Laura. Our eyes met, and understanding passed through our bond. Power surged through me, down my arm, and pooled where our hands met. My hair billowed around my cheeks, and Laura’s blond and red strands swirled like they were caught in a blender.

When I turned back, the spirits were rising higher off the ground, wind streaming out of their still-open mouths. Wintry air gusted toward us. A trash can tumbled to the floor, papers and tissues streaming over the hardwood. Posters lining the wall ripped from their sticky-tack.

The guys yelled from outside of the room, but I forced myself to block out all sound other than the magic buzzing in my ears.

Laura and I squeezed hands.

“Get out!” We yelled in harmony, magic tumbling through and around us. It fused together and blasted the spirits. The floor rattled. Icy wind stung my eyes.

The spirits hissed and spun through the room, fighting against our power, but Laura and I yelled together again, and their bodies faded before our eyes. It was if their gray forms were being pushed through a wall of white, back into the darkness of the Borderland, until there were no more supernatural shadows in the room.

“That was easier than I thought it would be,” Laura said once we’d calmed our shaking nerves and pulled back into the real world, weaving carefully through murky shadows to get home.

Brent had a major mess to clean, but everyone had been left unharmed.

“Mom told me practice makes us better at it,” I said, sliding the parchment into my backpack. “But I think it was the two of us together that made it work.”

“So, are the ghosts gone?” Brent asked. He was still standing in the doorway staring at Laura like she was some sort of Goddess. Her normally straight hair fell in soft waves, and power shone off her tan skin. No surprise he couldn’t take his eyes off her. I looked up at Nathan, who winked at me, and I wondered if I looked any different to him. Then, I glanced away, down at the black wax clinging to the hardwood floor. Then, I met his eyes again, and the smile I saw in them told me he was at least more impressed than the time I’d fainted on him.

And then I remembered Brent had asked me a question.

“Yep, we just need to pack up our stuff.” I nodded at Laura. She got my message, stood and strode over to the two guys while I dug through my backpack.

She managed to draw them out of the room while I did my boneshaker incantation. Even though I usually did it in front of people, I wanted to toss bones alone this time. It was easier for me to concentrate and make sure the protection was as strong as I could make it.

“All done.” I hiked my backpack over my shoulder and joined the group where they were huddled around the foosball table. Laura cheered and clapped her hands when she got a goal past Brent, who gave her a mock frown, too amused by her excitement to be a sore loser.

He glanced up at me and nodded before heading into his bedroom. While we waited for him to come back, I watched Nathan spin the dials of the foosball table, his tongue sticking out between his teeth. He made a goal, and Laura kicked the table.

“Let me give it a try.” I took Laura’s place, meeting Nathan’s wicked grin with one of my own.

“You may be the master at the art of ghostbusting, Holly, but this,” he waved at the table, “is my expertise.”

“You think so?” I widened my grin. “I’m not sure you know enough about me to make judgments on my foosball abilities.”

“Maybe we should change that.”

My breath stopped puffing out of my mouth, and I stared at Nathan across the table full of little plastic men. Inside my chest, my heart still throbbed, but fear no longer gripped my emotions. It was Nathan, and the way his eyes searched my face for a sign that I’d liked what he’d said. And I was sure my hot-sauce-colored cheeks gave me away.

Brent reappeared with an envelope and handed it over, breaking the moment. I ripped my eyes away from Nathan’s angular face and let out an inner sigh of relief when my fingers touched the money. One step closer to paying the mortgage. I pocketed the cash in my backpack.

“Thanks,” he said. “I owe you one.”

I tapped my backpack. “No, you don’t. You paid.”

Nathan looked at his sports watch and grimaced. “I’ve gotta get home, man. My parents are big on the whole family dinner thing.”

“Me too. Mom’s expecting me home,” I said, surprised at how fast time had disappeared. Even though I’d been dealing with dangerous spirits, the last two hours had been
fun
. It had been awhile since I’d hung out with anyone other than Laura. I actually felt sixteen years old tonight instead of thirty-five.

Brent followed the three of us to the little porch outside his back door. I took in a deep breath, the scent of the ocean mixing with the unique smell of evening air and something chemical, like his parents had sprayed the grass with fertilizer. Skin prickling, my eyes darted to take in the darkness as thunder rumbled overhead. A part of me hoped the shamans weren’t waiting in their SUV at the end of Brent’s driveway. And part of me hoped they were.

“You need me to walk you guys home or anything?” Brent asked, one hand still on his doorknob.

“No, we’re good. We rode our bikes over,” Laura said. She met my eyes for an instant, and I could tell she regretted her words. She wanted Brent to walk her home.
My best friend has a crush on Brent Ackers
. I couldn’t stop the grin from blooming on my face. That explained why she hadn’t been too hesitant about coming over here today.

Brent nodded and looked a little disappointed before taking a step back into the house. “Thanks again, Holly.”

A shadow moved by a tree a few feet from the porch. My skin prickled again, and the world seemed to slow for just a moment in time.
Something is wrong
.

Two rough hands grabbed my arms. I opened my mouth to scream, but fingers shoved a bitter piece of cloth between my teeth, muffling my scream into a whimper. I kicked out my feet, bucking my body, but whoever held me was a hell of a lot stronger than I was. I whipped my head around, and my eyes met those of the guy I’d seen yesterday at Kylie’s house.

The shaman.

I froze, and in that instant, I heard the sounds of struggle.

Laura.

I could hear her muted screams, and I caught a glimpse of the other shaman holding her before something dark and heavy fell across my vision. I hadn’t seen Nathan or Brent at all in the chaos, and I heard nothing to indicate they were here. I hoped Brent had gotten inside. I hoped Nathan had gotten away.

I tried to kick again, but my body wasn’t responding. A sickly sweet smell filled my nostrils, and a deep sense of dread and exhaustion washed over me. I realized it hadn’t been chemicals I’d smelled on Brent’s lawn. It had been whatever the shaman was poisoning me with.

I tried to choke out a warning to my friends, but it was like I wasn’t connected to my body anymore.

Darkness surrounded me. I fought against it. But then all was silent…

***

My head throbbed.

The earth shifted underneath me. My face was smooshed against something hard and cold. Everything vibrated and rolled like the sea. I couldn’t move my arms. My wrists ached and burned.

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but dark shadows. It reminded me of the Borderland. I sucked in a deep breath only to taste blood in my mouth.

My eyes slid closed. I fought to keep them open, but they refused to listen…

***

Consciousness returned, and I immediately stiffened. The world was still, and my body was sitting up straight, my hands behind my back. I wiggled and felt the contours of a chair and heard the unmistakable creak of wood.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, fighting against the pressure throbbing in my skull and the nausea choking my throat.

Bright light shone in my eyes, and I had to blink several times. Nothing was in focus.

The fuzziness cleared after a moment. The light shone from an overhead bulb, and stars twinkled in the night sky through the open blinds. How long had we been sitting here? How far had we gone from Brent’s house?

Panic swirled in my belly. My mom was home alone.

I heard a rustling beside me and saw Laura in a chair to my right, her hands and stomach circled in thick rope. I glanced down and saw rope tied around my belly, too, keeping me strapped into the chair.

Brent and Nathan were nowhere in sight.

I stared at Laura, at her head hanging down with drool slipping out of her cloth-filled mouth. I felt a pang of guilt. She looked terrible. Even from this distance, I could see her eyes were ringed with dark circles.

It was my fault she was here. She’d thought going to Brent’s was a bad idea, and I’d talked her into it. And look where we’d ended up.

Which was where exactly?

I eyed the room. It didn’t look much different than the kitchen in my own house. It was facing a large backyard with lawn equipment and a grill. To the right, there was a small L-shaped counter with stainless steel appliances. Laura and I were strapped into two of the high-backed wooden chairs that belonged to the oval table on my left.

Just an ordinary, everyday kitchen. No sign of runes or dark magic. No blood or bones. I didn’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it.

Who were these people?

A stack of envelopes caught my eye on the end of the table farthest from me. It looked like mail. I wasn’t sure if we’d get out of this, but if we did, it sure would come in handy to know the address of this house.

Now if I could just somehow get myself over there.

I twisted my wrists, grimacing when the tight rope dug into my skin. I pushed my shoulders back and forth, hoping to loosen the bonds, but they didn’t budge at all.

I shuffled my feet and realized they were free. At first thought, it seemed pretty stupid of my kidnappers, but then I realized that they were probably somewhere in the house, and there’d be no way for me to run with the rest of my body tied to this chair. And they had to know I wouldn’t leave my friend behind.

Still…if I could somehow manage to push myself over to the envelopes, it’d be better than nothing.

I leaned forward, and…nothing. With the weight of the chair, there was no way I’d be able to stand while being tied to it.

“Shit,” I mumbled around the cloth jammed into my mouth.

I thought for a few moments before remembering how easy it was to scoot in the desks at school while staying seated. I hooked my feet under the two front legs and threw my body forward. The chair inched forward. The sound of the legs scraping over the tiled floor made me stiffen.

I waited for a few moments to see if anyone had heard the noise. When no one came barreling into the kitchen, I scooted forward some more. Inch by inch, until I was on the other side of the table and could see the writing on the top envelope.

Bingo. The name “Mark Sampson” was prominently displayed on the receiver part of the envelope, as well as his address. I committed it to memory. Six-Seven-Two West Chase Lane, Berrytown, Massachusetts. So, we weren’t that far from Seaport. Only a fifteen minute drive outside the main drag.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with this information, but it felt good to know where we were and at least one of the names of our captors. It also told me they weren’t in the business of regularly kidnappings girls. If they were, they would have known not to leave their electric bill sitting on the closest table to their prisoners.

The muted mumble of voices filtered through the thin walls, and I quickly pushed my chair back to where it had been. The scraping of the legs sounded like Wolverine’s claws down a chalkboard, but when the two shamans strolled into the kitchen a few moments later, they didn’t appear the least bit concerned. They must not have heard me. That little victory felt hollow when I saw the look in their eyes.