Read Online Hunting Down Dragons (Moonlight Dragon #2) by Tricia Owens - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tricia Owens
Ads: Link
was bliss?
I guess I'd soon find out.
"Lev, please hand out the instruments," Celestina directed.
More bewilderment as Lev released me to hand a tambourine to Melanie, a drumstick-shaped rattle to me, and a small hand drum to Christian. Lev settled a similar drum in his own lap. This was starting to feel very hippy to me but none of us were willing to question a ceremony that Celestina was obviously taking very seriously.
The candlelight reflected beautifully off her dark skin and gave her eyes a focused intensity that reminded me a bit of the wolf in Lev. She'd always been one of the more serious and intense of my friends. She was highly intelligent and I was sure she could have found a more lucrative use for her ability to read the future, such as going into the stock market or simply by buying lottery tickets in California.
But as a second generation American she'd been vehemently opposed to falling back into her family's strange, controversial ways. She'd developed a love for the sea and dropped out of college to compete in surfing competitions along the coast, winning most of them. Had she seen the future and it showed her doing well at the sport? I doubted it. At that time she'd been so opposed to using her talent that I think it would have felt to her like cheating to learn which would be the easiest life path for her.
A bad wipe out broke her back, requiring two of her vertebra to be fused together. While she was in the hospital, her grandmother died. The two had been close and Celestina had been devastated. Surfing was out, and to drown her grief she'd come to Las Vegas with friends for a weekend blowout. It had been her first visit. One look at all the desperate gamblers, she'd told me, and she'd recognized that this was where she belonged, following in her grandmother's footsteps and keeping alive the tradition Celestina had tried to run from her entire life.
While she'd thrown the bones for me just for fun, I'd not yet seen her do anything more serious. This séance was looking to change that.
I expected Celestina to chant or call out for my mother but instead she began to sing lyrics I couldn't understand to a melody that was difficult to follow. Lev began lightly hitting his drum, which was the signal for the rest of us to follow suit with our instruments. I felt more than a little bit silly shaking my rattle. We were out of sync since no one knew what the beat was. But when the candles began to flicker I realized that this wasn't music hour with my buddies. Something supernatural was happening.
Chapter 6
Ectoplasm, I thought, but I only knew the word because of Ghostbusters . Lucky guess or not, I knew I was right.
It began as thin streamers of what looked like smoke exhaled from Celestina's nostrils. Immediately I thought of my friend Liliana, who was a succubus. To remind me that she was a form of demon, Liliana had blown smoke at me.
Celestina wasn't a demon, so this wasn't smoke. The streamers thickened both in width and opacity. They began to seep from my friend's ears and drizzle down to her shoulders like honey. The streamers from her nose wound lazily through the air like seaweed floating in the sea.
Melanie made a squeaking noise and dropped her tambourine on the floor. When Celestina abruptly stopped singing that was a cue for the rest of us to set aside our instruments, too.
I looked around at my other friends. Christian's eyebrows were raised but he looked more surprised than afraid. Lev was nodding and smiling proudly. Clearly he'd seen his girlfriend do this before, which relaxed me. I figured no one knew her better than her boyfriend and a wolf shifter. Dogs were always staring at closets and empty corners of the room, right? If Lev's wolf didn't sense anything threatening, we were probably okay.
Celestina began to moan. It raised the hair on the back of my neck. Her gaze remained unfocused and ectoplasm continued to stream from her facial orifices.
"Iris
I guess I'd soon find out.
"Lev, please hand out the instruments," Celestina directed.
More bewilderment as Lev released me to hand a tambourine to Melanie, a drumstick-shaped rattle to me, and a small hand drum to Christian. Lev settled a similar drum in his own lap. This was starting to feel very hippy to me but none of us were willing to question a ceremony that Celestina was obviously taking very seriously.
The candlelight reflected beautifully off her dark skin and gave her eyes a focused intensity that reminded me a bit of the wolf in Lev. She'd always been one of the more serious and intense of my friends. She was highly intelligent and I was sure she could have found a more lucrative use for her ability to read the future, such as going into the stock market or simply by buying lottery tickets in California.
But as a second generation American she'd been vehemently opposed to falling back into her family's strange, controversial ways. She'd developed a love for the sea and dropped out of college to compete in surfing competitions along the coast, winning most of them. Had she seen the future and it showed her doing well at the sport? I doubted it. At that time she'd been so opposed to using her talent that I think it would have felt to her like cheating to learn which would be the easiest life path for her.
A bad wipe out broke her back, requiring two of her vertebra to be fused together. While she was in the hospital, her grandmother died. The two had been close and Celestina had been devastated. Surfing was out, and to drown her grief she'd come to Las Vegas with friends for a weekend blowout. It had been her first visit. One look at all the desperate gamblers, she'd told me, and she'd recognized that this was where she belonged, following in her grandmother's footsteps and keeping alive the tradition Celestina had tried to run from her entire life.
While she'd thrown the bones for me just for fun, I'd not yet seen her do anything more serious. This séance was looking to change that.
I expected Celestina to chant or call out for my mother but instead she began to sing lyrics I couldn't understand to a melody that was difficult to follow. Lev began lightly hitting his drum, which was the signal for the rest of us to follow suit with our instruments. I felt more than a little bit silly shaking my rattle. We were out of sync since no one knew what the beat was. But when the candles began to flicker I realized that this wasn't music hour with my buddies. Something supernatural was happening.
Chapter 6
Ectoplasm, I thought, but I only knew the word because of Ghostbusters . Lucky guess or not, I knew I was right.
It began as thin streamers of what looked like smoke exhaled from Celestina's nostrils. Immediately I thought of my friend Liliana, who was a succubus. To remind me that she was a form of demon, Liliana had blown smoke at me.
Celestina wasn't a demon, so this wasn't smoke. The streamers thickened both in width and opacity. They began to seep from my friend's ears and drizzle down to her shoulders like honey. The streamers from her nose wound lazily through the air like seaweed floating in the sea.
Melanie made a squeaking noise and dropped her tambourine on the floor. When Celestina abruptly stopped singing that was a cue for the rest of us to set aside our instruments, too.
I looked around at my other friends. Christian's eyebrows were raised but he looked more surprised than afraid. Lev was nodding and smiling proudly. Clearly he'd seen his girlfriend do this before, which relaxed me. I figured no one knew her better than her boyfriend and a wolf shifter. Dogs were always staring at closets and empty corners of the room, right? If Lev's wolf didn't sense anything threatening, we were probably okay.
Celestina began to moan. It raised the hair on the back of my neck. Her gaze remained unfocused and ectoplasm continued to stream from her facial orifices.
"Iris
Similar Books
