Still Not Dead Enough , Book 2 of The Dead Among Us Read Online Free PDF Page B

to sense what I’m doing.”
    Colleen extended one palm and, with a thought, she tapped a nearby ley line and fire appeared just above her hand. But unlike Paul’s hot, bright spark, this was a flickering, dancing flame a few inches tall. Katherine easily sensed her use of the arcane forces.
    Colleen asked, “Were you able to sense what I did?”
    Paul kept his eyes closed as he said, “I felt . . . feel something.”
    Colleen nodded. “Good. I’m going to hold this flame, and I want you to extend your hand again, and try to repeat what I did.”
    Paul extended a hand and his brow wrinkled with concentration. The hot spark appeared, but he said, “No,” and it just as quickly disappeared. And again Katherine had felt nothing. Then a small flame fluttered to life in his palm, and Katherine felt him pulling normal power, pulling on the same ley line. It was interesting that he could pull on a ley line so instinctively. Katherine had expected him to naturally gravitate to earth magic, and from the expression on her father’s face, so had he.
    The flame suddenly flared and grew to about a foot in height, then it shrank back and steadied, though it flickered wildly. Normal magic, with a beginner’s lack of control, but still normal.
    “Release the spell,” Colleen said, as her flame disappeared.
    Paul did so, and his too disappeared.
    Katherine had a sudden inspiration. There were some techniques she’d used with troubled children that might help here. She walked up to the table and said to Colleen, “I have an idea. Let me try something.”
    Colleen stood and walked over to McGowan. Katherine didn’t take her place, but paced back and forth in front of the table as she said to Paul, “I want you to show me something. Not repeat something we’ve taught you. Just something on your own.”
    He looked at her skeptically. “Show you what?”
    “I don’t know. There must be something you can do that no one else can do. Maybe something unique, something you’re really good at. Think about it.”
    “I’m assuming you don’t mean belching the national anthem at a beer drinking frat party.”
    She stopped pacing. “Can you actually do that?”
    “No, but I knew a guy who could.”
    “Come on,” she said. “There must be something you can do that’s unique, and doesn’t involve disgusting bodily functions.”
    He pondered that for a moment, then a little sparkle appeared in his eyes.
    She prompted him, “There is something, isn’t there?”
    “Well, ya,” he said reluctantly. “But it’s just a party trick. I used to do it in college.” He grinned. “It was great for meeting girls.”
    She looked over to her father and said, “See, he’s slutty too.”
    She turned back to Paul. “What is it?”
    He was clearly embarrassed at having to make the admission. “I can throw knives. Well, anything that’s metal and sharp: nails, whatever. I can stick it every time, and I can hit a half-inch target from across the room.”
    “Did you practice this a lot?”
    “No. I can just do it.”
    “So you could do it now?”
    He shrugged, still clearly embarrassed. “I suppose, though I haven’t tried since I was in college.”
    She stopped pacing and faced him squarely. “Let’s give it a try.”
    She turned to her father. “Any knives down here?”
    He shook his head. “Not that aren’t heavily spelled.”
    She looked around the workshop. There were three old wooden cabinets against one wall, all about six feet high, scratched and scarred old things. She pointed at one, looked at her father. “Mind if we use that as a target?”
    McGowan shrugged. “Sure, go ahead.”
    Katherine turned to Colleen. “Would you go up to the kitchen and grab a random selection of knives?”
    Katherine walked over to her father’s workbench, scrounged in a drawer and found a black ink marker, walked over to the cabinet and quickly painted several small circles on the face of it, each about the size of a thumbnail. By