Tempest Reborn by Nicole Peeler Read Free Book Online

continued. ‘If it is true that they are able to exist noncorporeally, that explains why we can’t kill Anyan. All that would do would be just that: We’d kill Anyan, leaving the White still in existence and now free.’
    ‘It would just find another host?’ Daoud asked, obviously uncomfortable with this line of thought.
    ‘I’m sure. I think that a negative result of the Original using the labrys on the Red and the White was to help sever their last link with their bodies. Meaning that now the process of finding a new host might be even more straightforward than it was before, as they apparently don’t even have to worry about their bones or anything. They’re spiritual free agents, so to speak.’ Ryu looked around, his words weighing heavy in the air. I saw Iris shiver, and Caleb put a muscular bare arm around her. Grizzie didn’t react at all, but she also hadn’t done anything weird. Nor had I heard back from the creature. Maybe she was just tired?
    ‘So if we can’t kill the body…’ Daoud said, bringing my attention back to the problem at hand.
    ‘We have to kill the spirit,’ Ryu finished.
    [Which means separating the soul from the body,] came the creature’s voice, rich and bright in our minds.
    ‘Can that be done?’ I asked, my voice breathless.
    My supernatural friends all looked at each other expectantly.
    Crickets.
    ‘Well, I’ve never heard of anything like that,’ Caleb began. He spoke lightly, as if he should have been relaying more positive information.
    ‘Souls,’ Iris mused, looking up at the ceiling.
    Daoud looked down at his pants as if he were wondering what he could pull out of them to help. As a djinn, he could create anything he understood at the chemical level – and then pull it out of his pants. I’ll never understand the physics of that trick, but it made for some alarming hostess gifts.
    ‘Is there anything in your history?’ I prompted. ‘Or your legends, that we could apply?’
    Caleb shook his head. ‘I can’t think of anything. In terms of the Red and the White themselves, we’ve only ever attacked physically. And I can’t think of any other tales of souls, or spirits. We don’t even believe in ghosts, as humans do…’
    My dad and Tracy glanced at each other when Caleb said the word ‘ghosts’. But they didn’t speak up, although they probably thought all of this talk was crazy. I turned to our big gun.
    Creature?
    [I’m listening, Jane. You want to ask your tall friend. The human.]
    I looked at Grizzie. She still looked curiously blank, and she was rocking back and forth. Tracy had noticed, and was watching her partner with worried eyes.
    ‘Grizzie,’ I said, ‘you all right over there?’
    Grizzie was obviously not all right, for Grizzie began to glow. It was just a faint, soft luminescence, but it was definitely not normal.
    Instantly, we supes snapped into action. First Caleb was there, dragging Tracy to safety. Iris pulled my dad back, to join Tracy, and Daoud joined his shield with Caleb’s to keep the two nonmagicals safe behind their defenses.
    Meanwhile, Ryu, Nell, and I fanned out in front of Grizzie. Ryu and Nell had mage balls ready, but I refused to pull a weapon on my friend. Yet.
    ‘Grizzie,’ I said. ‘What’s going on? Can you hear me?’
    ‘She can hear you, child, and she is safe. Do not fear.’
    The voice that spoke from Grizzie’s mouth wasn’t hers. Instead of the usual husky, dark tones I was used to, this voice was resonant. It carried power, and although it wasn’t that loud, it felt as if it were booming.
    ‘And who are you exactly?’ I asked.
    Grizzie’s form laughed, a rich chuckle that sent shivers up my spine.
    ‘I am all, my child. I am everything.’
    We all stared. ‘That’s not very helpful,’ I said, frantically calling the creature’s Bat Phone.
    [Hush,] was all I got in reply. [And listen.]
    ‘What have you done with my wife?’ Tracy yelled, struggling where Caleb held her in a tight