Charmfall (The Dark Elite 3)

“Did you ever think your junior year would be this exciting?” I asked Scout.

“I was hoping it would involve a discovery that I was secretly a princess with the power to rule the world and make pop stars my minions,” she said. “I have not yet become aware of any such discovery.”

I patted her arm. “Keep the faith, sister.”

“On to more important topics,” Jason said. “What are we going to do about this blackout?”

“What do you mean ‘do about’ it?” I asked.

“We can’t just sit around and wait for the council to do something,” Michael said. “They put Katie and Smith in charge of the Enclave, after all. That doesn’t show good decision making to me.”

“Michael’s right,” Jason said. “We can’t just wait around and hope they’ll find a fix, and that Reapers will leave us alone in the meantime.”

Scout shook her head. “We also can’t just march into the sanctuary, tell Reapers we’re magic-free, and ask if they’re the reason. We’d be sitting ducks.”

“That’s not a good survival strategy,” I agreed. “But how are we going to find anything else out? We don’t have any leads, and no clues.”

“Enclave Two,” Jason said. “Their specialty is information and technology. Maybe they know more than we do.”

Enclave Two was one of the other groups of Adepts in Chicago. Our focus was on identifying Reaper targets and dealing with Reapers. Enclave Two was all about information—spying on Reapers, bugging sanctuaries, figuring out what they were up to.

“And that Detroit has some crazy mechanics,” Michael said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing what she’s been working on lately.” He winged up his eyebrows dramatically. Scout punched him in the arm.

“I’m right here,” she said.

“According to you, we aren’t dating, so there’s no harm in me looking.”

“Or checking out Detroit’s machinery,” I added (helpfully). But Scout didn’t look like she thought I was being helpful.

Detroit’s magic was the ability to make things—gadgets, machines, electronics. In the short time I’d been an Adept, she’d shown off a machine that helped ghosts communicate with Adepts and a locket that was actually a projector. I wasn’t sure if the blackout was affecting her in the same way, but it would be a shame if she lost those skills.

Scout might not have been dating Michael, but she wasn’t above bullying him. “Keep your mind and your mitts off Detroit.”

“Whatever you say, mi reina.”

Scout made a humphing noise, but she showed a little secret smile that said she didn’t mind when Michael gave her nicknames in Spanish. It did sound pretty hot.

And speaking of hotness . . . Jason looked at Michael and Scout. “Can you give us a minute?”

Scout and Michael looked at each other, then made goofy kissing noises.

“You’re both five years old,” Jason said. But they did walk down the tunnel, giving us some privacy. Not that anything was going to happen; it wasn’t exactly romantic down here. On the other hand, we didn’t have a lot of free time, and moments in the tunnels were sometimes the only “dates” we got.

“Some days,” Jason whispered, his eyes on the couple, “I feel like the only adult in the room.”

“But if you need someone to cheer you up, you can’t do much better than Michael. He is always on.”

Jason looked back at me, a glint in his eye, and my stomach went hot.

“Okay, so you can do a little better,” I cheekily said. “I’m a pretty great girlfriend.”

He didn’t answer with words. Instead, he took my hand and began to kiss the edges of my fingertips. I practically melted right then and there.

Jason sighed, then wrapped his arms around me. I buried my head in his chest. I felt safe in his arms. Secure. Like even if monsters in the dark popped out at me, he could handle them. He might be furry when he did that handling, but still . . . He suddenly tensed up, and I knew he was thinking about the curse.

“You okay?”

He just sighed. “Yeah. Things are just . . . unsettled at home, and now I’m, like, the only Adept in town who has any kind of power. That’s a lot of pressure.”

“What’s going on at home?” He’d hinted before that because of the curse, werewolves saw the world differently and tended to live apart from humans. At some point, his parents would even choose a bride for him from some other werewolf family. And here he was, far from home, hanging out in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the country. I bet that didn’t sit well with the parentals.

“Things are . . . moving along,” he said. “I’ve got cousins who are causing trouble, being more public about their fur than they should be, and that ends up putting more pressure on me.”

He’d told me his family would pull him back at some point. I just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

“I thought you’d have more time?”

“I might have,” he said darkly, “if my cousins weren’t acting like hoodlums. That changes the math. I have to step up earlier than before. When it’s all said and done, my cousins may not listen to me, but at least I can be a good example.”

Okay, I silently thought, but a good example of what?

He brushed a lock of hair back from my face. “You’re important to me. I wanted you to know that.”

I appreciated the thought, but I still moved back a little bit, giving myself some space and distance. I knew there was a risk—a really good risk—that I’d end up being hurt if we kept dating. I just didn’t think it would be right now. So soon.

“I know,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t worry.”

“Fair enough,” he said. He chuckled lightly, and before I could tweak him for laughing at me, his lips were on mine. He pulled me closer and kissed me like he was desperate to do it, like he might never get another chance. And as much as I wanted to just sink into the kiss and forget about the world for a little while, the world continued to spin around us. He was still a werewolf with a family that believed in curses, and I was still a girl who didn’t want a broken heart.

My hesitation didn’t seem to scare him. He held me even tighter, his arms enclosing me like he meant to protect me from the rest of the world. If only he could. If only it were that easy.