Read Online Earthbound: An Otherworld Novella by Yasmine Galenorn - Free Book Online Page A

sisters are, and I don’t trust my magic around your men. Because of my half human heritage, it backfires all too often and can be dangerous.”
    Chase gazed down at me. “I know you think I can be a sleaze, but I’m really not all that bad. And neither are you, Camille D’Artigo. So stop thinking you’re defective in some way.” And with that cryptic statement, he let himself out the front door and shut it softly behind him.
     
    While I was waiting for them to return, I washed the dishes and puttered around, trying to keep busy. I hated feeling useless, but I was more of a liability out there than I was an asset. Finally, I curled up in the rocking chair with a book.
    Forty minutes later, the door opened. Startled, I dropped my book on the floor as Delilah, Menolly, and Chase entered the kitchen. “Did you find anything?”
    “No, unfortunately we didn’t. Well, we didn’t find any creature, but we found this.” Menolly held out her hand to show me what looked to be a finger bone. It was covered with runes drawn in what appeared to be dried blood. A copper wire was wound around one end, right below a knobby joint.
    “What the hell?” I reach for it, then stopped. “Magic. That’s filled with magic. I don’t think I’d better touch. It might implode if my energy doesn’t mesh well with it.”
    “It looks like a metacarpus, a bone in the upper hand.” Chase scowled. “I’m not sure if it’s human, or possibly Fae. Or maybe something altogether different. But I’m pretty sure it is a hand bone, regardless of the source.”
    “Set it on the table so I can see it easier.” I motioned to Menolly and she gingerly placed it on the table.
    I leaned down, holding my hand close over the bone. The energy radiated off of it like ripples in the ocean. The energy was forceful, although I couldn’t sense a presence behind it. I lowered my hand, bringing it closer to the bone, and the force grew more insistent, trying to find a way around the energy of my hand.
    “It reminds me of a thick gelatin. I know that sounds strange but the energy is trying to find a way around mine. It has a tremendous amount of power behind it, but it’s not trying to push my hand away. It’s just trying to go around me, as though it’s trying to swallow my hand up.”
    “Like the blob?”
    I looked up at Chase. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
    “An old movie.” He paused, then added, “ The Blob is an old movie about an alien creature that lands on earth. It’s a blob that grows as it swallows people up. It reminded me of your reference.” His voice trailed off and he looked almost embarrassed.
    “That sounds interesting. I’d like to see it someday,” Delilah said absently, as she leaned down to watch my hand. “I can almost see sparkles. Not quite, but almost. But I think I can feel the interaction between your energy and that of the bone. It’s like they’re having an argument.”
    “That’s exactly what I mean. And if I were to grab the bone I have a feeling something nasty would happen. I don’t know if it would be big nasty , but I know it wouldn’t be good.” I had enough of shocks and bruises for one night without trying for another. My butt still hurt even though the rocking chair had a thick cushion on it.
    “So what do we do? Who do we contact about this? Do you have anybody on your force who might be able to tell us something?”
    Chase scratched his ear. “I’m not entirely sure. You know, nobody has ever had to field anything like this. What if you girls help me write up some sort of procedure? We can scout out resources, maybe create a file of willing participants to whom we can refer whenever we have something like this that we need help with?”
    It sounded like a good idea. “That makes sense, and it will help us get to know people around the area. Delilah, do you want to take that on?” I really wasn’t trying to foist the job off on her, but since she was the shyest