Charmfall Read Online Free PDF Page B

Michael, and Jason—were already seated around the table, waiting for us to begin.
    Paul was a magically enhanced warrior. He was tall, with dark skin and curly hair. His girlfriend, Jamie, was a witch with fire power, and her twin sister, Jill, had comparable skills with ice. The twins were slender, with long auburn hair and pale skin. They were identical, so there was something ghostly about them when they stood side by side.
    Jason and Michael sat side by side, both staring at their cell phones. Along with Scout, we made up the Adepts of Chicago’s Enclave Three. Well, the “Junior Varsity” squad, anyway. We got the nickname because we were all still in high school.
    Daniel, our Varsity Adept, was nowhere to be seen. He was our recently appointed team leader and a sophomore at Northwestern University. He got full varsity status because he was in college.
    He was also the kind of hot that needed two syllables to pronounce. Hah-awt . Tall, curly blond hair, blue eyes. Very easy on the eyes, and a total doll as far as I could tell. And I was doubly lucky: I loved to draw, and Daniel was my studio art teacher at St. Sophia’s.
    Daniel had replaced Katie and Smith—last names unknown—our former team leaders. They were the Adepts who’d been willing to throw Scout to the wolves, who’d refused to help rescue her when she’d been taken by Reapers. They’d been coming to Enclave meetings less and less lately, not that I was going to complain. I wasn’t a fan.
    As we took seats at the table, Michael immediately gave Scout dopey eyes, and Jason gave me the intense ones. I took the chair next to his and squeezed his hand.
    “Where’s Daniel?” I asked.
    “Not here yet,” Paul said. “He’s on his way.”
    “You’re okay?” Jason whispered.
    I nodded. “I’m fine. I’d been working on decorations for Sneak. On the way back to the dorm, one of the other decoration committee girls was being used by a Reaper for fuel. I tried to firespell him, but nothing happened. I managed to knock him out, and that’s when Foley showed up. Foley’s our headmistress,” I added for the rest of the Adepts.
    Jason’s expression tightened at the admission I’d been in trouble, and then it went a little fierce . . . and protective. That sent a little thrill through me.
    “Scout tried her magic,” I continued, “and it’s not working for her, either. That’s when she called Daniel. What about you?” I scanned him up and down, as if that glance would be enough to tell me whether his magic had been affected. “Are you okay?”
    “I can still change,” he said, but he didn’t seem thrilled about it. If the blackout wasn’t affecting him, maybe having a “curse” wasn’t all bad.
    “It’s not magic exactly,” he added, “so I’m fine.”
    “Which means the blackout is only affecting magic,” Michael said. “The other Enclaves are having the same problem. But given what Lily saw, it doesn’t look like Reapers are having the same trouble.”
    “The Reaper’s magic worked,” I added. “And there’s a new stone angel on the grounds to prove it.”
    “Free landscaping for all,” Scout muttered.
    “Maybe he just got in one last lucky shot,” Michael said. “I can’t read anything.” He looked sad, and even his curls looked a little droopier than usual.
    “No ice for me,” Jill said.
    “And no fire, either,” Jamie added.
    We looked at Paul. “I couldn’t even beat up a puppy with magic,” he said, “not that I’d want to.” But then he grinned cheekily and flexed his biceps, which weren’t bad. “But I can still use my own talents.”
    “Show-off,” Scout said with a wink. “And that brings us full circle.”
    “So none of us has magic,” I said.
    “It’s like nightfall, but with charms,” Michael said. “You know, the sunset of our magical careers or something. Total charmfall.”
    “Charm fail ,” Jason coughed.
    “In addition to the charmfall or charmfail or whatever,”