Read Online Hunting Down Dragons (Moonlight Dragon #2) by Tricia Owens - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tricia Owens
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Moody," she sang between the moaning.
I shivered. This was turning out to be heavier than I'd expected. A part of me wanted to jump up and run out of the shop to the heat outside. I was chilled down to the bone. But it wasn't a physical temperature drop that I experienced. It was a mental and emotional chilling, the fear of contacting what lay on the other side of death.
Celestina jerked her shoulders back. Her head tilted to the left and then very slowly turned to the right, as though she were panning her gaze over those of us at the table, though her eyes didn't move. I told myself if her head began spinning I was out of there.
"Daughter…"
My hands went clammy. My heart began beating at my rib cage. Around the table, my friends shared nervous, excited looks with me.
"Daughter…"
The word had come from Celestina. Except this was Celestina plus one. She was channeling something or someone. When her lips moved, spilling more ectoplasm, my mom's voice came out—or what I assumed to be my mom's voice.
"Beware…Gargoyle…miss you so much…"
I swallowed hard, steeling myself against possible fraud. It wasn't Celestina I mistrusted but the spirit or whatever it was that we were hearing. It could have been any entity. Everyone in the magickal community knew to be wary of disembodied voices. Hell, anyone who'd seen a horror movie knew that.
"You ask questions now," Lev whispered from the side of his mouth. "What you want to know?"
What did I want to know? Oh, man, there was so much. But I had a priority and I knew I needed to stick to it no matter how badly I wanted to learn what my mom's and dad's favorite movies were and what was their favorite memory of us as a family. Besides, this might not be Iris Moody I was talking to.
"Can you tell us about the gargoyle golem you were investigating when you died?" I asked the spirit inhabiting Celestina's body.
Her eyes remained half-lidded and she showed no reaction to my question, but after nearly a minute she opened her mouth, spewing curtains of ectoplasm. It looked like she held a knob of dry ice on her tongue and the thick white cold was spilling down her chin.
"Beware…gargoyle…Texas…from the lake…"
I hoped someone was mentally noting every word. This was turning out to be similar to a Ouija board reading where the relevance of each word revealed was a mystery that needed to be solved.
"Who made the golem?" I asked.
"Us…"
I blinked at that. "Us? What do you mean?"
"Dragon…"
"No," I said immediately. I don't know if I meant no, I didn't believe it or no, I refused to.
"…under dark…city hiding…dragon… "
"A dragon sorcerer made the golem," I said. "Is that what you're saying?"
Celestina said nothing.
"Look, I need you to—"
"Easy," Lev murmured. His expression was uneasy. "Must not drive away."
I forced my fisted hands to uncurl and reminded myself I was dealing with something that wasn't human. This spirit was little more than a collection of memories given the fleeting ability to vocalize. It could barely think. For that matter, was it actually replying to my questions or merely speaking random words?
Celestina's head rolled on her shoulders, like she was tense and trying to relax. The ectoplasm streaming from her orifices slowed to a wispy trickle. Something had changed. I sensed it in the air, like that suspended moment in between thunder and lightning.
Above us, the Vodou dolls hanging from the ceiling began to sway in concert. The shop didn't hold a breeze. No one's hair moved, but the dolls moved as one, like a flock of birds did.
Bang!
Melanie yelped and I also jumped where I sat. The wooden carving of a skull that normally sat on a shelf holding gris gris bags for sale rolled across the floor and came to a stop against the ottoman where she and I sat. The skull had been carved from a solid block of wood and weighed at least fifteen pounds. A little wind wouldn't have knocked it off like that.
Beside me, Lev snarled and
I shivered. This was turning out to be heavier than I'd expected. A part of me wanted to jump up and run out of the shop to the heat outside. I was chilled down to the bone. But it wasn't a physical temperature drop that I experienced. It was a mental and emotional chilling, the fear of contacting what lay on the other side of death.
Celestina jerked her shoulders back. Her head tilted to the left and then very slowly turned to the right, as though she were panning her gaze over those of us at the table, though her eyes didn't move. I told myself if her head began spinning I was out of there.
"Daughter…"
My hands went clammy. My heart began beating at my rib cage. Around the table, my friends shared nervous, excited looks with me.
"Daughter…"
The word had come from Celestina. Except this was Celestina plus one. She was channeling something or someone. When her lips moved, spilling more ectoplasm, my mom's voice came out—or what I assumed to be my mom's voice.
"Beware…Gargoyle…miss you so much…"
I swallowed hard, steeling myself against possible fraud. It wasn't Celestina I mistrusted but the spirit or whatever it was that we were hearing. It could have been any entity. Everyone in the magickal community knew to be wary of disembodied voices. Hell, anyone who'd seen a horror movie knew that.
"You ask questions now," Lev whispered from the side of his mouth. "What you want to know?"
What did I want to know? Oh, man, there was so much. But I had a priority and I knew I needed to stick to it no matter how badly I wanted to learn what my mom's and dad's favorite movies were and what was their favorite memory of us as a family. Besides, this might not be Iris Moody I was talking to.
"Can you tell us about the gargoyle golem you were investigating when you died?" I asked the spirit inhabiting Celestina's body.
Her eyes remained half-lidded and she showed no reaction to my question, but after nearly a minute she opened her mouth, spewing curtains of ectoplasm. It looked like she held a knob of dry ice on her tongue and the thick white cold was spilling down her chin.
"Beware…gargoyle…Texas…from the lake…"
I hoped someone was mentally noting every word. This was turning out to be similar to a Ouija board reading where the relevance of each word revealed was a mystery that needed to be solved.
"Who made the golem?" I asked.
"Us…"
I blinked at that. "Us? What do you mean?"
"Dragon…"
"No," I said immediately. I don't know if I meant no, I didn't believe it or no, I refused to.
"…under dark…city hiding…dragon… "
"A dragon sorcerer made the golem," I said. "Is that what you're saying?"
Celestina said nothing.
"Look, I need you to—"
"Easy," Lev murmured. His expression was uneasy. "Must not drive away."
I forced my fisted hands to uncurl and reminded myself I was dealing with something that wasn't human. This spirit was little more than a collection of memories given the fleeting ability to vocalize. It could barely think. For that matter, was it actually replying to my questions or merely speaking random words?
Celestina's head rolled on her shoulders, like she was tense and trying to relax. The ectoplasm streaming from her orifices slowed to a wispy trickle. Something had changed. I sensed it in the air, like that suspended moment in between thunder and lightning.
Above us, the Vodou dolls hanging from the ceiling began to sway in concert. The shop didn't hold a breeze. No one's hair moved, but the dolls moved as one, like a flock of birds did.
Bang!
Melanie yelped and I also jumped where I sat. The wooden carving of a skull that normally sat on a shelf holding gris gris bags for sale rolled across the floor and came to a stop against the ottoman where she and I sat. The skull had been carved from a solid block of wood and weighed at least fifteen pounds. A little wind wouldn't have knocked it off like that.
Beside me, Lev snarled and
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