Read Boneyard (The Thaumaturge Series Book 2) for Free Online

sharp. “Even after last week?”
    My chest closed up. I slowly extracted my wrist from him. “Especially after last week.”
    “Ebron. We should talk about it. We need to talk.”
    I pushed past him, slogging through the snow to the truck. “We will,” I said over my shoulder. “We will.”
    I opened the driver's side door and slammed the seat forward, rummaging in the back for the little travel bag I had stuffed with herbs and oils. I had no real use for any of it, but people tended to appreciate the effort. It seemed to ease their minds that I had to perform some sort of ritual, rather than just yanking people out of death like it was a normal Wednesday thing to do, as casual as going to the bank or picking up a bucket of chicken for dinner.
    “Really?” Leo asked, watching me pull out the bag.
    I shrugged. “It won't matter. I can't help him.”
    “I'm just saying that you should try. I think we should consider the possibility that last week altered your parameters.”
    “Altered my parameters?” I asked. “You mean the witches?”
    He shrugged. “I think they, uh, gave you some extra oomph, yes.”
    “Leo, I really doubt—”
    “Just try it. Let's just see.”
    I growled. “I feel like you're not telling me something.”
    “You always feel like that. Come on.”
    He turned, slogging through the snow, and I made a noise, a little sound intended to call him back, but the wind rose up and the words were lost.

Chapter 4
     
    After the brief respite of gloriously fresh cold mountain air, the inside of the house was like an olfactory brain-rape. I held my arm over my nose while we made our way through the maze of garbage.
    Dana stood where we had left her, huddling in her sweatshirt with her gloved hands tucked under her armpits. When she looked up at us, I saw that she shivered, even under her heavy sweatshirt.
    “Do you want to wait in the car?” I blurted out. “Turn the heater on and warm up?”
    She looked startled. “No. No, I want to be here. I need to be here if he—” she cut herself off, biting into her lip.
    “I'm not promising anything,” I said. “He's been gone a long time. I don't know if I can bring him back.”
    She nodded. “No, I understand. I appreciate that you're going to try.”
    “How did you get Ebron's number?” Leo asked her, sidling up next to her and getting all up in her space again. I waited for her to step back and looked annoyed at his close-talking, but she gave a little sigh, relaxing a little when he slid an arm around her back. Some sort of vampire wizardry, no doubt.
    I listened hard for her reply as I cleared a little space on the side table and set the bag there. If nothing else, the herbs would improve the smell.
    “His number's listed on his store's Facebook page.”
    “Oh,” Leo said.
    “I don't have a landline,” I said over my shoulder, but they both just watched as I took out a few bags of rosemary and mugwort.
    “How did you know to call him?” I heard Leo ask quietly.
    She snorted quietly. “Actually, my dad told me about him.”
    My hand froze over the corpse's chest. The herbs in my fingers scattered on his worn wool sweater.
    “Yeah?” Leo sounded only vaguely curious.
    “He went to the herb shop a few times. And people talk, you know.”
    “Yeah,” Leo said shortly. “Ebron, you need help?”
    “No,” I said. I looked down at the dead man's face, trying to put life into his sunken and twisted bones, trying to make out a face from the sagging skin. I didn't recognize him.
    “I, um. I need you to be quiet,” I looked over my shoulder at them. Dana’s red-rimmed eyes went wide.
    “I just need to concentrate,” I told her soothingly.
    “How do you do it?” she whispered. “Do you have to... touch him?”
    “No, I just—” I shrugged. “I can't explain it. And it probably won't work, okay? I'm just saying.”
    She nodded, glancing up at Leo, her shoulder resting in the hollow of his. His eyes fixed on me. He quirked one