Read Online Storm by Danielle Ellison - Free Book Online Page B

exactly?”
    “It’s coming. The time is upon us all,” Poncho whispers, and the goosebumps form on my arm.
    “For what?” I ask again.
    “The gift will be known soon,” he says. There’s a moment where he’s quiet, and then Poncho looks at me again. “Matters of the heart are poisonous.” He said that to me right after I got back from De’Intero. What does it mean? And what’s the gift? Before I can ask, he walks away and leaves us in the stacks.
    Carter stares at me. “What does that mean?”
    “I have no idea.”
    But it can’t be good.
    …
    Carter drops me off at home, but we linger outside his car a little longer. There are only a couple of lights still on in the house. Gran’s probably been waiting up for me. The WNN alert beeps and I stare at my phone.
    “I don’t even want to look anymore,” Carter says.
    I don’t check, either, since it’s probably another Static incident. Thousands of Statics exist worldwide, hundreds in our area alone, and if all of them manifest magic, this could never end. “What if we really did this?”
    Carter takes my hand. “Then we’ll figure it out. We’ll undo it or whatever we need to do.”
    “And if we can’t?”
    He doesn’t respond. I need him to say that we can, that I’m being too negative, that there’s always a way. I need him to lie. But I know he won’t.
    “Can’t we tell someone? Your dad—”
    “Not my dad,” he snaps. His face contorts in a way that makes me wish I hadn’t suggested it. “I don’t want him involved in this. Let’s deal with it ourselves. We can figure it out.”
    “Will we?” I challenge.
    “Yes,” he says without hesitation. “Believe me.”
    “I do,” I say. But really, I don’t. It feels bigger than even I can handle. Than we can handle.
    Carter looks at me, his eyes piercing green, and I know he sees my doubt. There’s no way it’s not written all over my face. He brings a hand to my cheek.
    “You’re not a good liar, either,” he says, a grin on his lips.
    “Maybe you know me better,” I say back, echoing our conversation from yesterday.
    “I do. So, please, let’s try this my way, and if it doesn’t work then we can try anything you want.” His eyes are so serious, so pleading, that I agree and nod against his palm. He guides my face closer to his and presses his lips to mine. His kiss holds the same fervor of desperation and desire that I saw in his eyes. We get lost in it, relish it, and let it consume us. This kiss, these moments, feel priceless and fragile in the wake of everything. As if, at any moment, we could fumble and lose each other. I won’t let that happen.
    When we part, he rests his forehead against mine. Neither of us say anything else—we don’t have to. This, that, says everything.
    “You should go in,” Carter says, and I sigh.
    “Yes,” I say. “See you tomorrow.”
    I’m at the door to my house when Carter drives away. Then, I smell sulfur—a demon. Very near. I turn around to look. Nothing.
    My brain kicks into Enforcer mode. Aside from the smell, there are no flickering lights, which means the demon has been here longer than me. New arrivals make the lights flicker from the power surge. A pull gnaws at my stomach, and I move around the front yard. It’s too dark to notice if there’s any dust around, the trail a demon leaves from possession. Gran has the house warded, so I’m not worried about a demon inside.
    It’s definitely here, though. I can smell that tart, rotten egg smell. With BO like that, it’s no wonder they aren’t friendlier.
    Around the back of the house, a hand grabs me. I ram my elbow into whoever it is and feel the scales of a demon. I pull the demon toward me, swipe my foot across its leg, and guide the demon over my hip. In a quick movement, I roll the demon off and over my body with all the force I have. It slams into the ground, and I rip the salt off my chain.
    “Penelope, don’t.”
    When I look, really look, it’s the mauve