Worldweavers: Spellspam Read Online Free PDF

aren’t any crowds,” Thea said innocently,and was rewarded by a sudden irrepressible grin from Magpie and a stubbornly skeptical look from Ben. “We’d better go,” she said, glancing around, “or they will be coming after us.”
    “But he said not to talk…”
    “Not to other people ,” Thea said, tossing the words over her shoulder as she skipped down the stone steps, followed by Magpie. A couple of passing students had stopped to stare, and Thea paused to turn her head briefly, glancing back at Ben. “You’d better get moving,” she said, “before the audience gets any bigger.”
    “You’re impossible,” Ben muttered.
    “So they all seem to think,” Thea said agreeably. “See you later, then.”
     
    “Ben was right, you know,” Magpie whispered to Thea. The halls of the residence were quiet and deserted; once they froze at a sudden muffled noise before realizing it was only someone listening to music after lights-out. “Chen will come checking. Particularly you and me.”
    “They might be fooled,” Thea said. They had left rolls of sweaters and spare blankets tucked under their bedclothes, with the fringe of a black silk shawl spread upon Magpie’s pillow toimpersonate her hair.
    “Not for long,” Magpie said. “Thea, couldn’t we have talked about this tomorrow…? Like…in daylight? Somewhere warm ?”
    “Where? A place where we can’t be overheard…?”
    “We could always break into a classroom again,” Magpie said, her teeth flashing white in the shadowed stairwell.
    “Quiet!” Thea said, flattening them both against the wall. They held their breath, but there was silence, and Magpie finally turned her head a fraction.
    “What?” she demanded.
    “Nothing. Thought I heard a noise. Come on.”
    At first, the back door leading out of the laundry area would not open. It gave suddenly with a muffled crack that made both Thea and Magpie jump. But nobody came to investigate, and they slipped outside onto the small concrete porch.
    “Ew,” Magpie said. “It’s raining.”
    They both uttered small, smothered shrieks as another shivering figure stepped out of the shadows and joined them on the concrete.
    “Where were you?” Tess demanded waspishly. “I had to actually bribe my roommate to shut up,and then you guys show up late— ”
    “We’re not late,” Thea said. “Do the guys know exactly where…?”
    “I told Terry,” Tess said. “He’ll bring Ben. Now come on , already.”
    They all wore hooded parkas, and on Tess’s word, they pulled the hoods low over their eyes and raced off across the lawn into the wooded area beside the residence hall. They reached the gardening shed without incident.
    Magpie inched open the door, and they slipped inside; Thea brought up the rear and pulled the door shut behind her.
    In the darkness, someone sneezed loudly.
    “Ow! Watch it!” said someone else.
    “Hey, that wasn’t me,” Tess said, flicking on her light.
    “That was me,” Ben said, sniffling, his nose wrinkled up in anticipation of another sneeze.
    “Do you smell something interesting?” Thea asked, remembering Ben’s predilection to sneeze in the presence of magic.
    “Not that I can tell,” Ben said. “My hair is wet,” he added after a moment, as though further explanation was required. “I catch cold easily when my head gets wet.”
    “Terry?” Tess said. “You there?”
    A shadow detached itself from the far wall. “All present and accounted for, I think,” Terry said, his hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his parka. “The war council can begin.”
    “You guys first,” Thea said. “What did the principal want with you?”
    “I’ll talk,” Tess said. “Thea, this is far more dangerous for Terry than you realize.”
    “I know,” Thea whispered. “The allergy…Terry can’t actually say anything, can he? Even that spellspam word I just made up. It’s got magic in it, and it would stick in Terry’s throat like a fish bone. If the