Student Bodies Read Online Free PDF Page A

day.”
    I nodded as I drew on my spirit. I placed both hands on the beaker. Thin tendrils of energy encased them, and then a bright flash of light filled the room. The gray liquid turned fluorescent green for a moment and then, amazingly, the contents of the beaker turned as crystal clear as water from a spring.
    â€œSoul Worms are obviously a form of enthrallment, but why this specific spell when there are a ton of other ones to use?” I asked, as I pulled my hands away from the beaker. Mom opened a drawer in the work table and took out a metal box filled with tiny glass phials. She uncapped each phial and then she reached for a sterile glass syringe.
    â€œI don’t know why and that’s got me worried, because whoever is behind this caught a whiff of your magic,” she said. She began squirting the clear liquid into the phials with the syringe. “The first order of business is to protect you and this potion will mask your magical signature. Remember, Julie, ninety percent of what your father did, what any Shadowcull does, is by means of stealth.”
    Betty slowly stood up and stretched with a loud groan. She shook her entire body, her ears flapping against the side of her enormous head with a series of loud slaps.
    â€œGood thinking, Mother Witch,” she rumbled. “But what’s missing is proof positive that what Julie saw were in fact Soul Worms. Dark magic of that nature will always leave something in its wake.”
    There were other dark spells like the malphobius ; a spell where the victim literally manifests his or her worst possible fears. Mind control magic is forbidden in the covens, so it was possible we were dealing with either a rogue witch or someone much more powerful. Why they chose to target Mike was a mystery and since I didn’t have a clue as to a motive, I needed to talk with Mike and learn more about what he remembered. I grabbed my phone out of my purse and fired off a text to Marcus.
    Â 
    Jules: Hey. What R U Doing?
    HawkingFan: Calculus homework. I’m in heaven.
    Jules: Sigh. U R a hopeless case.
    HawkingFan: What’s going on?
    Jules: We’re in the lab. There’s stuff we have to do.
    HawkingFan: Yeah – I kind of figured as much.
    Jules: We need to talk with Mike Olsen – there’s a reason he was targeted.
    HawkingFan: I kind of figured that out, too. What’s the plan?
    Jules: Head over to his place and find out what the hell is going on.
    Â 
    It was at this point in my text conversation with Marcus that Mom decided I need her undivided attention. I felt the tug of her magic as she whispered a word of power. In less time than it took for me to draw a breath into my lungs, my phone sizzled and popped amid a puff of smoke.
    Afraid that I might burn my hands, I dropped it onto the floor and I spun around and positively glared at my mother.
    â€œWhat the hell, Mom? I was talking with Marcus!” I barked as I stared at my smoldering cell phone. “Jesus, that thing cost me three hundred dollars! Do you have any idea how much freaking babysitting it takes to save up enough money to buy a phone?”
    â€œ This is your priority, Julie,” she snapped. “Not your goddamned boyfriend! Pay attention to what we’re doing, because if your love life is distracting you now in the safety of this house then you sure as hell won’t be paying attention when your enemy attacks!”
    That did it. I tried like crazy to keep my anger in check, but my magic flared up and the atmosphere inside the lab became charged with my power.
    And that was a really stupid move on my part. Betty leaped between the two of us. The lights inside the lab flickered and the air smelled of ozone and burning plastic. The temperature shot up as the Great Dane’s eyes blazed furiously. Betty raised her hackles and the giant dog emitted a deafening growl that I could feel in my fillings.
    â€œThat’s enough!” Betty roared in a