Free Spiritus, a Paranormal Romance (Spiritus Series, Book #1) by Dana Michelle Burnett Page A

by our exchange, clearing his throat deliberately. “So Becca, Billie was telling me you just moved into one of those old houses on Capitol Avenue. Which one?”
     
    “You know the giant white one with the really big columns?”
     
    “Oh wow.” The boy said raising his eyebrows. “So, have you seen any ghosts yet?”
     
    I was too shocked to answer. I cut my eyes to Billie, sure she gave away my secret, but she was staring open mouthed at the boy too.
     
    Before I could figure out how to answer him, Billie pulled him back to the furthest reaches of the fire. I could hear her talking about the beautiful night, obviously trying to change the subject. She glanced back one last time at me, giving me a wink.
     
    At that moment I was so grateful to her and Ally. I barely knew the two of them and here they were protecting my dark secrets. I never had friends like that before.
     
    Jonah interrupted my thoughts, “So, you didn’t answer me. You don’t like Corydon, do you?”
     
    “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.” I scowled, not caring what it made me look like. He smiled and nodded sympathetically.
     
    Why was he being so nice to me? He couldn’t really care what I thought about Corydon.
     
    I wanted to concentrate on Jonah, regardless of why he was paying me so much attention, but I couldn’t get the boy’s question out of my head. It kept bouncing around, blocking out anything Jonah might be saying.
     
    “Who is that guy that Billie is with?” I finally just asked him straight out.
     
    Jonah glanced over at the pair in the shadows. “Oh, that’s Chris Powers. He’s a pretty good guy.”
     
    While it was good to hear the guy wasn’t a jerk, that wasn’t really my point.
     
    “Why did he ask me if I’d seen any ghosts yet?” I asked as casually as possible.
     
    I had to focus all of my attention on my words and the sound of my own voice, trying not to think too much about the handsome boy next to me or the being in my room. If I did, I would lose my train of thought.
     
    Jonah looked away and shrugged, “I don’t know why he asked that.”
     
    “ Yes, you do.” I scolded.
     
    It was a little annoying that other people seemed to know something about my house that I didn’t. What if this thing that no one would take about would tell me something about the things I kept seeing?
     
    “ You asked me that same question the other day.” I reminded him. “I want to know what it’s all about.”
     
    He took a deep breath, turned back to me, and winked.
     
    “ Do you like a good ghost story?” He asked ominously.
     
    “ Doesn’t everybody?” I asked, trying not to sound too anxious.
     
    “ Alright,” he said with one of his dazzling smiles. “But keep in mind these are just old stories that get passed around.”
     
    “ Fine.” I agreed. I was willing to say anything to keep him talking.
     
    “ Well, this town dates back to the late seventeen hundreds. Anytime a place has that much history, there’s going to be some stories.” He began, dropping his voice and leaning a little closer. Under other circumstances it would have been thrilling, as it was; I just wanted him to say more.
     
    “ A Civil War battle was fought here and some people swear that the ghosts of the soldiers still fight whenever there’s a full moon.”
     
    I could see him smirking in the firelight; obviously he didn’t believe the stories.
     
    “ And then there are the stories about Capitol Avenue.” He said with a sigh.
     
    “ There are ghost stories about my street?” I asked. I was trying to sound only the expected level of curious.
     
    “ Yeah,” he said rolling his eyes. “There’s a ghost that haunts one of the houses.”
     
    “ Which one?” I encouraged.
     
    “ It depends on who you talk to.” He said with an amused smile. “But the story is always the same.”
     
    “ And what’s the story?” I prodded.
     
    Jonah leaned even closer; I could smell the earthy scent