Bone Dry_ A Soul Shamans Novel - Cady Vance Page 0,19

image of the mortgage notice slid across my vision. I needed this so bad. “Okay…sure. I’ll do it.”

Brent’s mouth formed a thin line. “Thanks. My little sister is in that house. It hasn’t left my room yet, but what if it does today?”

“It won’t,” I said.

“Are you positive?” He took a long gulp of his milk, the red ketchup smearing onto his fingers.

I thought back to everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, and my shoulders sagged. “No, I’m not sure.”

“So, can we do it after school? I don’t want to wait any longer to get that thing out of there.”

I nodded and slid the money into my backpack. “Alright. I’ll meet you there around four, I guess.”

“Thanks, Holly,” he said, standing up and shoving away from the table. He grabbed the tray—his burger still uneaten—and made his way to the trash.

I stared down at my half-eaten sandwich. What had I gotten myself into? Two markings meant two spirits, and if the second one was touching Brent…it was a lot stronger than the first. Just perfect. And, to top it off, Brent only lived a few houses down from Kylie. Two teenagers who lived on the same street both targeted by spirit-summoning shamans. It was too much of a coincidence.

“This sounds a lot different than what happened to me,” Nathan said, making me jump. I’d forgotten he was still there.

“That’s because it is different.”

“Does this have anything to do with yesterday?” he asked, plucking a fry from his plate.

I sighed and decided to explain since he kept seeing and hearing things he didn’t understand. Besides, some part of me wanted to share, although I didn’t completely know why. The way his easy grin lit up his face, and his soft eyes met mine—it made me want to trust him. I must have hit my head too hard on a porch beam when those shamans were chasing me. “Yeah. Kylie had an experience similar to Brent’s, and somehow those two guys yesterday are connected. And because of that, I’m pretty sure they’re connected to this, too.”

He stopped chewing. “But why?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “but if I don’t banish that spirit for Brent, he could get hurt. Like really hurt.” I met Nathan’s confused expression, wondering why I was sharing this information with him. I had to admit it felt awesome, like the two of us were a team or something. “Not all spirits are the same. Some are stronger than others, and the one that attacked Kylie and the ones bothering Brent are nothing like any of the spirits I’ve seen around here.”

Realization dawned in his eyes. “Those two guys brought them, didn’t they?”

“Yeah, I think so, but I don’t know why.” I took the last few bites of my sandwich. But maybe they hadn’t brought the spirits. Maybe those guys were trying to stop the real culprits, and I’d just gotten in the way.

“So, those guys, they saw you at Kylie’s house, then?”

I nodded. “Right after Laura and I walked out of her driveway. And I know what you’re thinking. Yes, Laura is like me. She helps me out sometimes, but don’t tell anyone. She doesn’t want it spread around school.”

“Actually, I wasn’t going to ask. I figured you’d tell me it was none of my business.” He grinned for a moment before turning serious again. “It sounds like it might be a bad idea to go to Brent’s house today. What if those guys show up again?”

I crumpled my sandwich wrapper into a ball to mask the nerves making my body tremble. “I’m not going to let a couple of guys scare me away when someone is being harassed to death by spirits. We’ll figure something out.”

“Just be careful.” He reached out and tapped the open history book. “Good luck on your test.”

He stood, gave me a wave and spun around. I watched him walk away in his matching shirt and belt. I didn’t know why he’d taken such a sudden interest in my life, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. My conscious flared up, reminding me that I’d conned several of his friends and had been willing to con him. Somehow, I didn’t think he’d be so anxious to help me if he knew the truth.

***

I only had fifteen minutes to cram before the bell rang, signaling the time to shuffle to next period. But once I had the test sheet in front of me, I was glad Nathan had