Spirit Ascendancy Read Online Free Page B

we can do our best,” I said. “If it doesn’t hold, we’ll just have to think of something else.”
    “Only chance we’ve got,” Finn said.
    He took a decisive step forward, which was impressive amidst the labyrinth of crap, and began to murmur under his breath. His movement caught both Lyle and Hannah’s attention.
    “That’s it, I want all of you out of here right now,” Lyle shouted, throwing Finn a panicked look. “I don’t care what kind of trouble you’re in, you’re not going to desecrate my life’s work with your ignorant…”
    Whoosh. Before Lyle could even put the final touch on his insult, he flew backward through the nearest wall and out of sight, as though snagged and tugged by an imaginary fishing line.
    “What just happened?” Hannah asked.
    “Expelled him,” Finn said.
    “We’re just going to force him out of his own—”
    “Do you have a better idea?” Finn barked. “He was never going to give the place up voluntarily, and I’m not about to tip-toe around this garbage like it’s a museum display for the next month. He had to go.”
    Hannah opened her mouth to argue again, but then closed it and nodded. “You’re right.”
    “I know I am. But he’s going to get his bearings back in a few minutes so you two had better take a crack at setting up some wards. I’m going to try to shift some of this stuff and see what we’re dealing with in the rest of this flat.”
    Finn stalked off through the heaps as Hannah and I set to work. I was essentially useless in the technical aspects of the casting, but luckily Hannah was a natural at all things Durupinen, and within minutes, she had chalked the appropriate runes onto the door and under the windows. We then had to seal them with wax dripped from a white Spirit candle while we both repeated the accompanying words to the casting, which, though they were in an ancient form of Gaelic, were not overly complex.
    “Well, I think that should do it,” Hannah said. “We’re really lucky that we performed the Uncaging last night, or we probably wouldn’t have had any of this with us.” She held up the little leather bag into which she was depositing the chalk, book, and stub of the candle.
    “Yeah, lucky,” I said, fighting a wave of nausea.
    “Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick,” Hannah said, looking at me properly for the first time since we’d begun the ritual.
    “Yeah, I feel sick. I think I just need to lay down and get some sleep,” I said. This was probably a pipe dream, though, because the pain that had been creeping back through my arms was building to a pulsing crescendo. I found myself wishing one of the magazine towers would tumble over and knock me unconscious just to put me out of my misery. “But what about Annabelle? Shouldn’t we head downstairs and see if we can find her flat?”
    Hannah shook her head. “Not at this hour. We’ll scare the life out of her if we go banging on her door now. It can wait until the morning.” She looked at her watch. “Well, I mean, a normal time of the morning. And besides, you need sleep. The question is, is there anywhere in this junk heap where you can actually lie down?” Hannah said, her expression skeptical. She turned and called over her shoulder, “Finn?”
    “Oi?” came Finn’s muffled voice.
    “Is there anywhere Jess can lay down and get some sleep? She’s not looking too good.”
    Crash, crash, bang, shuffle.
    “Bed’s clear,” he shouted. “First door on the left in the back hall.”
    Hannah led the way, picking through the treacherous landscape to a tiny, dusty bedroom. The room was in the same state of disaster as the rest of the flat, except a space had been cleared about three feet in diameter around the narrow bed in the corner. I was too tired and in too much pain to spare more than a passing, whimpering thought about the cleanliness level of the mattress before collapsing upon it.
    Hannah perched herself on the edge of the bed