Spirits Rising Read Online Free PDF

turned around in her chair and stared at me, while Jeremy just looked confused. David looked at Manny and back at me. “What’s an anthame?”
    I let out a breath. I was about to ruin the rest of the kid’s teenage years, but I needed answers. “It’s a ritual dagger used in witchcraft.”
    The explosion from David stabbed my heart. I cringed as he unleashed his verbal assault. “Witchcraft?” David shouted, “You’re worshipping the devil in my house?”
    “I didn’t do anything!” Manny said, desperation in his voice. He looked at me, his expressing pleading. “Tell them.”
    “Manny did call me when your house was broken in to,” I said, my tone calm. “That should count for something here.”
    “Manny, why didn’t you just call us?” LeBlanc asked.
    Tears welled up in Manny’s eyes. He wasn’t going to answer any more questions while his father continued to rant under his breath about his son’s eternally damned soul. Guilt pricked me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything and e-mailed or Facebooked him later.
    “Answer her,” David said, his tone absolute.
    Tears spilled from Manny’s wide eyes.
    I could answer for him. It was the least I could do. “Corporal, Manny was afraid the Mounties would call his parents and tell them he was drinking in the basement. So when he called, I contacted Jeremy because I didn’t want to come here alone,” I said, scowling at David, “since his father thinks I’m a Satanist.”
    LeBlanc rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about anyone’s religious beliefs. I just want to understand what’s going on here.”
    “Did you summon those demons?” David asked, still not shouting, his voice still firm.
    LeBlanc narrowed her eyes and looked at me. “Demons?”
    I shook my head dismissively.
    David ignored us. “You summoned demons! In our house!”
    “Honest to God in Heaven, I didn’t summon no demons!” Manny turned his wide eyes to his father. “Dad, you gotta believe me. I didn’t do it!”
    LeBlanc raised a hand. “What is going on?”
    I waved her off. I wasn’t in the mood to explain the supernatural. “Someone had to summon those spirits. They generally manifest wherever the spell originates. That means, someone in this house called them. I doubt it was your parents.”
    Manny slumped in the chair, his arms crossed firmly. Teenaged sullenness stretched across his face. David glared at him and demanded in a stern voice, “Sit up straight, young man, when an adult is speaking to you.”
    Manny instantly sat up straight. I jerked my back straighter myself. I saw Jeremy flinch and sit up, though he caught my eye and smirked. David O’Toole had that voice, the kind that made you react before your brain even registered the words. It made him one strict terror of a father.
    Which is why I knew Manny would never confess. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I knew he’d done it.
    “I’d like to talk to Manny myself.”
    “He’s a minor,” LeBlanc pointed out.
    “And my son,” David said.
    “Your son isn’t going to answer any questions with you snapping at him. Jeremy can stay if you insist.”
    He stared at me for a long moment. I returned the stare. LeBlanc broke the deadlock. “Come on, Mr. O’Toole, let’s make sure the fires in your front yard are out.” She turned to me. “Five minutes, and then I want to know what’s going on.”
    I nodded my agreement. I’d get the truth out of Manny and then I’d prime him on what to actually say to her.
    I looked over my shoulder and waited until the door slammed shut. I turned to Manny and said, “I’ll do my best to protect you, but I need to know the truth.”
    Manuel shifted in his chair. “Look, my parents will kill me.”
    I mustered the most exasperated expression that I could. “They will not kill you.”
    “Close enough.” Manuel crossed his arms. “If they know I’ve been practicing witchcraft, they’ll homeschool me, cut off the Internet, TV—you name it.