Free Bone Dry: A Soul Shamans Novel (Volume 1) by Cady Vance

creeping around in the shadows. If you act like you’re doing nothing wrong then people don’t pay attention to you.”
    Nathan’s smile widened, and Brent cocked his head to the side, the anxiety on his face lessening for just a moment.
    “She used to sneak out all the time.” Laura looked down at her all black ensemble with a frown.
    Nathan raised his eyebrows. “All the time?”
    “I liked being out at night and Mom wasn’t too fond of it.” I glanced at the street again, anxious the shamans would come rushing down it at any moment. “Come on, let’s get this done.”
    Everyone’s expression turned serious, and the lighthearted mood drifted away. It had been fun that moment when everything seemed halfway normal, but now I remembered why I was here in the first place. To banish a spirit. I turned around to look at the street again, just to make sure. Still empty.
    “Yeah,” Brent said, “we need to go to my room.”
    He led us around to the back of the house and to a door leading down into a lower level. He twisted a key in the lock and ushered us inside. The room opened up into a large lounge with a big-screen TV, a pool table and an impressive stereo system. It was a lot cleaner than I would have thought a seventeen-year-old guy’s hangout would be, but it did reek of old beer and sweaty socks. Brent grabbed the two beer cans sitting on the edge of the pool table and tossed them into the trash while I ran my finger along the massive DVD collection.
    “Is this whole thing yours?” I asked when I spun around.
    He nodded, leaning against the table and stuffing hands into his black cargo pants. “Yeah, but the…thing has only been in my room.”
    He pointed to a closed door by a flight of stairs leading up to what I assumed was the rest of the house.
    “Okay.” I swung my backpack around to the front. “You two have to stay out here, and Laura and I will take care of it.”
    “What’s Laura doing here anyway?” Brent asked, sending a sideways glance to my friend.
    She gave him a shy smile and turned red in the face, a reaction I hadn’t expected from her. Laura doesn’t usually blush . “I know how to help her.”
    “This one is tougher than what I usually handle,” I said quickly, trying to take the attention off her since I could see how uncomfortable she was. “Laura doesn’t usually help.”
    Brent seemed satisfied with my answer, opened his bedroom door and hit the light switch. This room was messy with football uniforms piled high in the corner and a bed hidden under dumbbells. Two empty pizza boxes battled for space on a mahogany desk in the corner, bread crumbs peppering his MacBook Pro.
    “Can we stand here and watch?” he asked as he watched me march inside and sink to the floor.
    “Actually, we need a little privacy to prepare.” I pushed aside a pair of sneakers and unzipped my backpack. “I’ll open the door in a little bit, though. Just don’t come in.” I paused, thinking of Kylie. “No matter what, do not come in this room. Okay?”
    “Got it,” Nathan said, appearing behind Brent’s shoulder.
    I nodded to Nathan and felt some kind of understanding pass between us as I stared into his green eyes. I felt my own face heat up, and I glanced away, embarrassed I could be distracted by a cute guy when I needed to concentrate on being strong. But I was glad he was here. No matter what, he’d keep Brent out of the room. He realized how dangerous this was.
    Once Nathan pulled the door shut with a click, Laura and I spread out our supplies in the middle of the floor. We went through the motions of our anchor spell in record time. Halfway through our shaman song, I heard the door open. I glanced over my shoulder to see the guys peering in at us with wide eyes. Heat crept up my neck. I’d never had an audience like this before, but we were too far into the spell to ask them to go away.
    Once we were bound and I felt that unbreakable link with Laura, I took a closer look at