CnC 4 A Harvest of Bones by Yasmine Galenorn Page A

size of a large grapefruit and they darted through the air, shimmering shades of pink and greens, pale yellow, and blue so bright it was almost white. Enchanted, I watched as they swooped and dove around the lot.
    One of the orbs suddenly approached me, hovering at arm’s length. It was almost a perfect sphere, and energy crackled from it. I reached out again, probing for a sense of what it was, but the orb darted away. Then, almost imperceptibly, it began to move forward again until it was hovering right in front of my face. My eyes ached from the light as I held my breath, waiting to see what it would do.
    It circled me slowly, radiating behind my head, and then settled back in front of me. As we stood there in a comfortable standoff, I reached out again with my thoughts and asked, “Who are you? What do you want?”
    Almost instantaneously, every light in the lot flickered and vanished, and a low wail rose from the basement, chilling me to the core. Holy hell, what was down there?
    Shaking, I nervously approached the edge of the foundation and peered beyond the ropes, over the edge. There, against the layers of mulch in the basement, a thick pillar of fog had risen. Perhaps it was the autumn mists that came with the damp, chill nights in western Washington. Or maybe, my mind whispered, maybe it was something else, something trapped down there.
    Whatever it was, I decided I’d had enough. Time to head home while I was still in one piece. I’d deal with this mystery in the morning, during the daylight. As I opened the front door, a distant wail of fire engines reminded me that Joe was out on duty, in danger, and once again, I had to acknowledge that this world could be a most unsettling place in which to live.
    The kids were waiting. I slipped off my jacket and handed it to Miranda, asking if she’d hang it in the closet, then set the flashlight on the table. Both Kip and Randa looked at me expectantly.
    “Did you see them?” Kip asked, and I had the feeling he was both afraid I’d say yes, and afraid I’d say no.
    I nodded. “Yeah, I saw them. You weren’t imagining anything.”
    “Why didn’t I see them, then? And what are they?” Randa asked. She stopped, swallowed, and added, “Mom, are they ghosts?”
    I considered my wording carefully. Randa was better about the supernatural than she’d been a year ago, but she still spooked easily, and while I knew she’d inherited some of my abilities, she had chosen another route in life, even at her young age. Kip, on the other hand, was so open that he shone like a beacon, and it was all I could do to protect him and teach him to ward off anything big and nasty.
    “I don’t think so, honey. I don’t know what they are, but until I can find out, you guys stay away from there. Okay? I don’t want you hurt.”
    They nodded, Randa a little quicker than Kip. “All right. Tomorrow morning, you can run over to some of our neighbors and ask them if they’ve seen Samantha. I’ll bet you anything that she’s hiding. She’ll come waltzing in before you know it.”
    Even as I said it, my gut churned. I was kidding them, as well as myself. We’d been all over the house and she was nowhere to be seen. I swallowed back my tears for the kids’ sake and watched as they trooped up the stairs, faces glum.
     
     
    DURING THE RESTLESS night, I got one break, or at least it seemed that way on the surface. Joe phoned to let me know that he was okay and the fire was out. He’d be staying at the station the rest of the night to finish up reports.
    ”Was anybody hurt bad?”
    He kept his voice low. “Eight. Four serious burns and four minor. Randa knows the son of the couple that are in critical condition, actually—Gunner Lindemeyer’s parents.”
    Oh God. Gunner? I leaned back against the bed, pressing my eyes closed. “Please tell me that the boy wasn’t hurt too bad.”
    Joe sighed. “He was lucky. He woke up in time to get out but couldn’t reach his parents’