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

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