Page 157 of The Ghost and the Graveyard (Knight Games 1)
"I'm sorry, Logan. I don't mean to use you as my guinea pig, but I think this is our best bet."
"Shoot."
"Lay back into your body."
He did as I asked. I retrieved the canister of salt, making a mental note to buy more, and emptied the remainder around Logan's bed. I stepped into the circle with my bowl and blade. The concentration it took for me to center my power within Logan's body and soul was more than when he was a ghost. A bead of sweat formed on my temple as I pushed my power into him. Like forcing Jell-O into mashed potatoes, fingers of power oozed into the space where his soul was supposed to be. When I had an imprint of his metaphysical energy, I raised the blade, opened my eyes, and said, "Logan Valentine, I release your soul into your body." I sliced my arm; blood flowed into the bowl.
The seizure that hit Logan shook the entire bed. I rolled him onto his side and held him so that he wouldn't hurt himself. Michelle tried to help, but she bounced off the salt circle I'd drawn as solidly as if it were made of glass. Luckily the shaking didn't last long.
"Logan! Logan!" I called. "Are you okay?"
The body under me opened its mouth, and a raspy whisper floated to my ear. "Are you stupid? Of course not."
I rolled him back and squealed.
"I'm me again," he said. As weak as his body had become, for a moment Logan's face looked positively radiant.
he Best
"Grateful, what is going on?" Logan's molecules separated and rejoined. "This A-hole says you agreed to this."
"We did agree. Explain yourself, mi cielo." Rick pointed at the spilled blood on the floor.
"You stay out of this, dirt jockey." Logan turned, pointing a finger in Rick's direction. "Do you know what this bastard almost did to me? I might have never seen you again!"
"It was for the best." Rick spread his hands.
"Logan, I..." My eyes drifted from his.
"You knew, Grateful? How could you agree to this?" Logan's voice blasted at me, shaking the walls and making the hanging pots in the kitchen clink together.
"I didn't want you to spend eternity forgetting yourself in my attic," I yelled. "I thought it was for the best."
"Why did you stop me?" Rick asked. "Have you changed your mind?"
"Of course she's changed her mind! Grateful and I have something. She wouldn't do this to me." Logan's orb form floated closer to my face.
"Actually, Logan, it would have been for the best if I hadn't found what I did."
"What did you find?" Logan and Rick asked in unison.
I walked to the door and opened it for Michelle, helping the gurney's wheels over the threshold. Logan floated over to his body, and Rick stepped closer. After a moment of awestruck silence, Rick jerked.
Logan took longer. He hovered over his body until I wondered if I'd caused some type of metaphysical shock. Eventually, he reformed in front of me, looking like a younger, healthier Logan than the body on the gurney. With a glance toward Rick, he nodded in my direction and said, "Can you put me back in?"
"I hope so. I don't know yet. I need to check the book."
"Can I suggest we move Logan's body to the attic and get cookin'?" Michelle said. "I mean, we do need to sneak Logan back into the hospital tonight if this works. He's already been gone a long time for a CT scan."
"I agree. Rick, can you carry him up the stairs?" I asked.
"What? I don't want that guy touching my body," Logan protested.
"You should have had such qualms when you possessed me, you insolent ball of gas!" Rick threw up his hands in disgust.
"Rick has a point, Logan. And furthermore, there is no way Michelle and I are making it up those stairs with this gurney. If we're going to do this, we need Rick's help."
Logan frowned, placing his hands on his hips and pacing around his body. "I don't look good. Are we sure I'm not going to die anyway?"
