Read Storm for Free Online

magic, and now we’re a double helping from the can of magical whoop ass. I watch across the way as the demons they’re fighting burst into nothing.
    Ric and Maple high five as they walk toward me and Carter, who, ever on alert, scans the woods for more demons. Demons are like a “come kick our ass” beacon to him. I’m almost positive he still hunts them in his spare time, even though I pretend he’s not been doing it more and more over the last week. Hunting and killing. I keep telling myself that he’ll mention it when he’s ready.
    “We are awesome,” Maple says.
    “They should give us all a wall of honor,” Ric adds.
    “And tiaras made of chocolate,” she offers.
    “That’s my girl.”
    I laugh as they bump hips. The warmth of the void is subsiding, yet there’s a shift from strong and good, powerful, to bloated like a balloon. Full, as if I could pop at any moment.
    “Let’s get out of here,” Carter says, leading the rest of us out of the woods. He takes my hand as we walk, and the void stirs up again at his touch. He whispers in my ear. “We have unfinished business.”
    “Are you going to be part of the Enforcer bit for the Observance? The meeting is next week. One month until the biggest party of the century,” Maple says.
    The woods turn into the parking lot at the mall, and pretty soon we’re all moving opposite directions to our cars. My stomach growls. I’m ready for some lunch, after we file our official Enforcer report. Maybe Chinese. I look toward Ric and Maple. “Do I really have a choice, or are you asking nicely?”
    “Nicely,” Ric says. He looks at Carter. “We’ll put on a group number.”
    I can tell from the scowl on Carter’s face that it’s the last thing he wants to do. Which is good for me, because that means we can get out of it. “See you later,” I say.
    Maple waves, and as Carter and I turn to leave them, Taylor Plum plows into us. She looks a mess. Her dress is dirty—and is that the same dress she was wearing last time I saw her? Her hair is long waves all over her face, pointing in different directions. Her eyes are wide when she stares at us, but it’s almost like she’s not even looking at us.
    “Sorry, Taylor,” I say.
    Taylor sputters, and then takes off in a dash down the parking lot. We all stand still, trying to figure out what happened.
    “She’s usually so excited,” I say, stare after her. Taylor’s already lost in the cars.
    “Yeah, she’s normally a doll.” Ric asks.
    Then, there’s a scream. All four of us exchange a quick look, then move at a run toward the sound. It’s the same way Taylor went. Carter shouts out a glamor to cloak us as we move, and faster than I imagine, we’re somewhere in the sea of cars.
    A body is on the ground, and I expect it to be Taylor. But, when I look, it’s some Non. Taylor is in the corner huddled by the back tire of a large pick-up truck, terror on her face, tears streaming down it. I inch toward her and sparks fly from her hands, causing a lamppost behind us to crash to the ground. Taylor screams when it happens, her eyes wild.
    “She did magic,” Ric yells.
    That’s not possible. Statics can’t do magic, but we all saw it. Taylor is shaking and sobbing. Maple bends over the Non and shakes her head. Dead. A Static killed a Non.
    “Are you sure she’s Static?” Carter asks.
    “Positive,” Ric and I say at the same time.
    Yet somehow she has magic. I step toward Taylor and lean down. Carter pulls at my shoulder, but he won’t sway me. I get how jarring it is to have magic when you haven’t before—it’s what happened to me when I met Carter. If she did this with magic, then I can help her. I hold out a hand to her, and Taylor’s wide brown eyes look at me.
    “Taylor, you can trust me. You have magic now?” I ask.
    Taylor nods slowly. Her lip trembles as she talks. “It was only a spark or two earlier but I-I can’t control it. I feel like it’s tearing me apart,” she says. Her