The Witch Is Back Read Free Page B

kind of girl who put a boy before her magic?
    All of these thoughts must have been running across my face, because Asher pulled me back in for a kiss. “We’ll still have plenty of time for us this summer,” he promised. “But I do think we need to make magic a priority again. What happens if Samuel comes back and I can’t even do a simple flame-throwing spell? With my skills as they are, I’ll only be able to give him smoke inhalation.”
    â€œHopefully we won’t have to test that theory,” I said, willing myself to believe my own words.
    Ever since we’d been back, the Cleri had been getting together at night to perform protection spells and location spells to ensure that we wouldn’t be caught off guard again. So far, it looked like Samuel and the rest of the Parrishables were gone, but none of us were naive enough to stop with the precautions.
    â€œI agree,” Asher said, looking into my eyes. “But if it’s not him, you know it could be somebody else. There are a lot of bad people out there who, just like Samuel, are itching to get their hands on our power. Your power.”
    I frowned. He was probably right, but the last thing I wanted to do was worry about all the bad things that could happen. Not when things were finally starting to feel normal again. I wanted to get back to being a normal twitch, with a normal —but abnormally hot—boyfriend, whose only worry was leading her normal coven and heading off to the normal college of her choice. I didn’t want to be carted off to some summer intensive I’d never been to before, where I was going to once again be forced to focus 100 percent on spells. It sounded too much like summer school, and tests and homework were so not my idea of a good time. I wanted to find a balance, a way to have it all.
    But I couldn’t ignore what Asher was saying. We had to stay on top of our magical game, and since Jackson, who’d been in charge of training us, had expired in the fire along with our parents, there was no one to run our magic classes anymore. So, after a few emergency meetings between the guardians of the remaining Cleri members, the adults had decided the best thing to do would be to send us all off for the summer, where we could learn more about our heritage in a safe and supervised environment.
    Just the way I fantasized spending my first summer with Asher. Not .
    The only catch was that the Brighton Summer Intensive was an exclusive program—one that twitches had to be invited to attend. Which meant that it wasn’t as simple as our parents just handing us over for a month. We had to prove that we were among the best and brightest in the witching world. I’d received invitations to attend in the past, but since it fell during the same time that I was away with my squad at cheer camp, I’d always politely declined. Still, it was an honor to be invited, and this year, most of the Cleri had made the cut. This was mainly due to their ability to survive the war with Samuel, but none of them were complaining.
    So me, Asher, his sister Abby, Sascha, Jasmine, Fallon, and Jinx were all welcomed to come to the witch-owned cabin in Colorado for the summer. Peter had been invited as well, but was stuck in summer school. Poor kid was totally broken up about it, worrying that he was going to lose his place in the coven if he didn’t go. No matter how many times I told him this wasn’t true he wouldn’t believe me.
    â€œMaybe you’re right,” I said, with a sigh.
    Asher smiled at me, brushing my long dark hair out of my face. “Think of it this way: It’ll be like our first vacation together . . . just us and sixty strangers.”

Chapter Two
    It was going to take us roughly two and a half hours to get to Colorado. Asher, Abby, and I were the only ones who’d ever been on a plane before, so that was an interesting experience for all involved.