Grave Dance (Alex Craft, #2)(101)

As the other ghosts closed in around me, I saw the woman rush toward the goons. Screams fil ed the room, but I couldn’t see beyond the press of shimmering bodies surrounding me. The ghosts reached for me, their translucent fingers clawing at me as they al tried to touch my skin, my power. And I gave it to them.

My magic poured out of me, into the greedy, spectral hands, and each ghost that touched me became more solid, more real. None manifested as forceful y as the first woman, but they crossed over enough to be wel and true poltergeists.

Chaos erupted as the now visible ghosts took ful advantage of their mostly corporeal state. They rushed at the skimmers, and screams shook the underground space.

The pudgy skimmer I’d spoken to before I reached the mausoleum turned sheet white and hit the ground in a faint.

Tw o other skimmers scrambled over him as they fled toward the stairs.

The ghosts howled and laughed and screamed as they soared around the room, knocking beds askew, tossing things against the wal s, and shoving skimmers. Some were actual y trying to help me, but most did it just because they could. That was just fine with me. It worked. The skimmers were scattering, the ghosts giving chase.

A gunshot sounded, deafening in the tight underground A gunshot sounded, deafening in the tight underground space, and I hit the floor, crouching over PC, who gave a terrified yip. A second, then a third, and a fourth shot banged through the room, and as I hadn’t been hit yet, I chanced a look up.

Both goons had pul ed guns and were emptying their clips into the ghosts. But you can’t kil what’s already dead.

The ricochet off the concrete wal s could do some damage to the living, though. Time to get out of here.

Bel was the only one watching as I dashed for the stairwel , but his bel owing yel s were lost in the chaos. I was stil straddling the land of the dead, which made the stairs treacherous. Several of the steps crumbled under my feet as I ran, and I knew I was doing real damage, but I didn’t care. I burst out of the mausoleum.

Up in the graveyard proper, ghosts were chasing the skimmers who’d fled. If the skimmers had run for the gates, the ghosts wouldn’t have been able to fol ow, but either they didn’t know that or they were too frightened to realize which direction was out. Instead they dashed around tombstones, tripping over grave markers, while the half-manifested specters fol owed close behind.

PC was like a furnace against my chest as I ran. I was cold. Real y cold, and the chil stil sank into my skin from al sides. But I didn’t dare release my touch on the grave yet.

I made a dash for the gates, but stopped just short of rushing through them. If I crossed those gates, I might not be able to reclaim my heat. I couldn’t afford to leave a chunk of my life force behind.

Turning, I reached for my power. The mausoleum was on the opposite side of the cemetery, ghosts stil underneath and others spread across the large graveyard. I’d never tried to use my power to reach across a distance anywhere near that far. Not that I had a lot of choice. I found my heat, my power, and I pul ed. It fol owed the wel -worn path through my psyche back into my body, which did little but make me feel even colder. I slammed my shields shut, make me feel even colder. I slammed my shields shut, blocking the essence stil clawing at me. Then I turned and ran on shaky legs out of the graveyard.





Chapter 28


I ground to a halt in the parking lot. A couple of the cars that had arrived with us were now missing, so I knew that some of the skimmers had managed to escape, but plenty of cars remained. Now would be a good time to know how to hot-wire a vehicle. I could even see. Sort of. In an I-justchanneled-a-massive-amount-of-power-and-my-psyche-took-over-for-my-eyes kind of way. Driving wouldn’t be safe, but I could probably keep the car from hitting a tree.

Unfortunately hot-wiring cars wasn’t part of my repertoire.

Well, I can’t just stand here. Now that I’d reclaimed my heat from the ghosts, they would be a lot less corporeal, which meant the skimmers would be after me any minute. If the goons hadn’t accidental y shot them al .

I dashed across the gravel lot, the rocks shifting under my feet and doing nothing for my already precarious balance. I had the option of sticking to the road or tromping through the woods. I’d make it farther, faster fol owing the road, but the skimmers would also have an easier time catching up with me once they reached their cars. Not that I didn’t think they’d find me in the woods—they stil had those damn tracking spel s, no doubt—but the odds were at least slightly more in my favor.

My lungs burned like ice in my chest, and the muscles in my thighs itched with exertion. I stopped, sagging against a tree as I gulped down air. I was shaking so hard PC would suffer whiplash soon, but I had to keep running. I squeezed my eyes closed. Once I catch my breath.

If I survived this, I was going to have to take up running.

If I survived this, I was going to have to take up running.

Digging my phone out from under PC, I glanced at the time. Nearly two. Somehow I had to make it to the bridge and elude the skimmers, who I could hear crashing through the woods in the distance behind me. I could cal John, but I wasn’t familiar with the area. Where would I tel him to meet me? Hel , right now al I knew about my location was that I was somewhere west of the cemetery and I could hear the river.

I shoved the phone back into my purse and my fingers brushed the enchanted bridle Malik had lent me before we went looking for the kelpie. I stopped. I could hear the river, so I wasn’t far, and a horse could cover ground a whole lot faster than I could.