Free The Lost Souls by Madeline Sheehan Page A

couldn’t leave Mira behind knowing what he knew, but neither did he want to leave Tyler or Rachel at the mercy of two men who were proving to be highly unstable. On the other hand, he couldn’t take everyone. Rachael, especially. It would be hard enough wading through the raging storm outside, dodging Skins and searching for food. Having to listen to Rachael complain, or worse, crumple under pressure, which was something she was good at, would only lengthen their time outdoors or worse, result in all of their deaths.
    Sighing in resignation, Hockey nodded in agreement. But he was far from happy about any of this.
    Now he was going to have to come clean about his magic, at least with Mira, and hope to God she didn’t have a nervous breakdown because of it.
    Tyler rose to his full height and Hockey followed suit.
    “If you run into trouble out there,” Tyler said, “don’t worry about us, okay? Just protect yourselves.”
    Half an hour later, Tyler and Hockey were moving aside the stacks of shipping crates and tearing down slats of wood they’d used to barricade the door. Hockey took quick peek into the hallway, his ears straining for any sort of noise that wasn’t related to the weather, and decided it was safe enough.
    Reentering the room, he glanced at each face of his small group of companions. Tyler looked resolute and Rachel appeared worried. Chris looked ambivalent , and David? David just looked insane.
    He didn’t like this. So many things could go wrong. But what choice did he have?
    Turning away from the group, Hockey tossed Mira the other end of the rope he’d triple-wrapped and tightly knotted around his waist. He waited until she did the same, and then he double-checked her knot. After adding another layer of coats, gloves, ski masks, and scarves, they shouldered their empty bags and looked at each other.
    “Ready?” she whispered, looking far more determined that he felt.
    Instead of answering her, Hockey turned to Tyler. “Board this up immediately after we leave,” he said, pointing at the door. “I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”
    “Be safe,” Tyler said, already bending down to pick up a slat of wood.
    From his place behind Tyler, Chris snorted. “They’ll be dead before sunset,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.
    Rolling his own eyes, Hockey headed out into the hallway first, followed closely by Mira. They stopped and turned, watching as Tyler shut the door behind them.
    “You sure?” he asked Mira.
    She nodded. “Are you sure?”
    Ignoring her question, he brought his hand to his mouth and using his teeth, he pulled off his glove. “I have to show you something,” he said, watching her closely. “And I need you to remain calm.”
    Mira smirked. “If you’re about to show me the weird white fire that comes from your hands, don’t bother. I already know.”
    Astonished, his hand fell limply to his side. “You already know?”
    “I’ve seen you,” she said, shrugging. “You keep the fires going when you think everyone’s sleeping. You melt the ice from the windows and your blankets are always crazy warm when everyone else’s are frozen.”
    He stared at her. “I don’t scare you?”
    To further his amazement, the girl burst out laughing.
    “Scare me? You? Hockey, we’re stranded in an abandoned warehouse with a Marilyn Manson wannabe, a useless bimbo, and creepy-ass David. We’re half frozen to death, nearly out of food, and a blizzard to rival all blizzards has us trapped. Let’s not forget about the hordes of people-eating demon freaks who have taken over the world. And you think you scare me? You? The nicest guy in the whole world? No, Hockey, you don’t scare me. I figured it was a Gypsy thing. I’ve never met a Gypsy before, but I’ve seen movies about them, and they always have magic in the movies.” She shrugged again. “So then, are you ready now?”
    Hockey stared at her a moment longer before allowing his threatening smile to break free.