by Smith, L. J.
Quickly Cassie shoved the diadem deep into her bag and replaced the box snugly back into the wall. She rehung the print over the hole and straightened it to just the way she’d found it.
The entire terrible act took less than five minutes to complete. The antique furniture still sat in place, and the prisms still shot colorful rainbows around the room. All appeared just as she’d found it. But the diadem in her bag felt charged—it felt alive. She could sense its power quaking at her side.
Cassie returned to the group innocently, shoving her bag onto the seat of one of the kitchen chairs and then pushing it beneath the table. The group had relocated to the living room, where they were sprawled across the couch and the floor, surrounding the center table. Everyone was looking at Cassie now, and they were peculiarly silent.
Cassie held her breath. Perhaps she’d taken longer than she thought.
“What happened, did you fall in?” Doug Henderson called out, and everyone laughed.
“Sorry.” Cassie exhaled with relief. “I was fixing my makeup.”
Adam scolded Doug with his eyes and then invited Cassie to sit beside him on the couch. The meeting was about to begin.
Cassie smiled harmlessly and went to Adam. She took his warm strong hand in hers and waited for Diana to rise and begin speaking. She felt not a single ounce of guilt for what she’d just done. This was so unlike her, but she knew that if she were in danger, Scarlett would do the same for her. The group would understand once it was all over, once she single-handedly rescued Scarlett and defeated the hunters with the power of the Master Tools at her command. Then they would see that she was right all along, and that even her stealing the Master Tools from her fellow leaders was a necessary evil. A necessary evil, that was a concept Cassie had never really thought about before, but that had to be what this was.
She glanced over at her bag in the kitchen and could swear there was an energy surrounding it, a force of white strength and vigor. She hoped no one else noticed. All she needed to do now was get the garter from Faye.
Chapter 25
Some would say sneaking around outside Faye Chamberlain’s house in the middle of the night was a death wish, and they would be correct. But Cassie had come too far at this point to back down now; plus she’d come prepared. She’d spent the whole day studying her Book of Shadows, memorizing every spell her mind could hold that might help her get through this covert mission undetected.
Faye had way too much fun with spells, so there was no way the garter was going to be left unguarded. Traceable or not, magic was the only way Cassie would be able to get her hands on it. But first she had to find it.
Cassie was familiar with how to break into Faye’s house through the basement. All she had to do was unhook the latch of the wooden cellar door in the backyard and slip down to the cement floor below—the same way she knew Faye snuck in and out during all hours of the night.
Once inside, Cassie looked around. The basement was dark and moldy, crowded with dusty crates and damp cardboard boxes. It crossed Cassie’s mind that if Faye had snuck out tonight and returned through the cellar door behind her, she would be caught. And to be caught by Faye was as good as being destroyed by Faye. Cassie glanced behind her to the closed door and then cautiously around the musty room. She had to keep going; there was no turning back now, regardless of the risk. Before she allowed her fear to get the best of her, she decided to try a summoning spell for the garter.
Grasping the pendant of pink quartz around her neck, Cassie whispered the incantation she’d memorized from her Book of Shadows, modifying it for her current purpose.
Lost for now
Soon to be found
Ancient garter come unbound
Nothing happened at first, but she waited patiently, circled the room, and repeated the words again.
No luck. And she felt nothing. So she decided to try something stronger. It was also a summoning spell, but her Book of Shadows said this spell could track down the energy of an object rather than simply the physical object itself.
For this spell Cassie had to focus extra hard. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply until she’d centered herself to a meditative state. It took a few minutes, but soon her breathing took on a rhythm like a heartbeat. She let herself become immersed in this rhythm until she was overcome with the feeling that she controlled it, as if the pulse of life itself were under her command. When the words came, they started from deep within her belly.
Guiding Spirits, I ask your charity
Lend me your focus and your clarity
Ancient garter, I summon thee
Black to white, dark to light
Show me your precious energy
Cassie opened her eyes to find a glowing aquamarine light in front of her. It hovered, waiting for her to observe it, and then soared forward through the air, leaving a trail in its wake like a comet tail.
Now this was what Cassie always imagined magic to look and feel like. She followed the aquamarine trail around the basement until it led her to the storage space beneath the stairs.
Cassie was elated. This had to be the place.
And then she heard something—footsteps above her head. She lost her breath and felt her whole body stiffen while she listened for the footsteps again. She stood perfectly still, scoping the basement’s corners for possible hiding spots. Then she heard the sound again and realized it was only the wind from outside blowing against the wooden door. It was just a false alarm, thank goodness, but it was enough to break her concentration. The aquamarine light flickered.
The space under the stairs was low and narrow and packed full with boxes. Cassie brushed her hands over a few of their damp surfaces to see if she felt any vibes coming from one over another. Careful not to make too much noise, she sorted through them until she noticed one box with a faint design on its side—a swirl similar to a Celtic knot. Hurriedly, Cassie lifted its flap and looked inside. There she found another box. A steel document box. In her excitement, she reached for it without thinking. It sparked at her touch, singeing the skin of her fingers.
Of course Faye had it guarded. Cassie dug into her pocket and retrieved the obsidian crystal she’d brought from home. Black like lava with sharp edges, the rock was the size of her hand and could easily be used as a weapon. But Cassie brought it for its ability to purify dark matter. She glided the crystal over and around the steel box to disable Faye’s spell while whispering the words she’d memorized: “Darkness be gone, no shields are needed, purity enters and leaves here unhindered.”
And it worked. When Cassie tapped the box with her fingertip a second time to see if it drew a spark, it was cool and quiet to her touch. Confidently now, she popped the lid off the top of the metal box.
But she didn’t find the garter inside. Instead she found a note scrawled in bloodred ink that said, Nice try.
Cassie slammed the box closed, furious. Typical Faye. Cassie was going to have to get crafty if she were to pull this off. She had to think like Faye.
Faye was . . . what? Faye was . . . possessive, to say the least. She would only trust herself as the garter’s security system. She must be keeping it close by. In fact, it probably never left her sight.
Suddenly Cassie knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, what she had to do next. She had to go to Faye’s room, where she was sleeping, and find the garter there. That was the only place it could be, where Faye could protect it even as she slept.
Now Cassie wished Faye had snuck out tonight, leaving her room empty. But Cassie knew it was time to act, not think. A silence spell would help with getting upstairs.
“From my chin to my toes, a mute silence grows.” Cassie slid her fingers from her mouth down the length of her torso, across her arms and legs, all the way to her feet, feeling every inch of her go soundless beneath her touch. When she stepped forward, the feeling of her shoe touching the floor remained the same, but not a single hint of noise accompanied it. Even when she jumped up and down, no sound escaped from t
he motion. It was eerie but amazing.
Like a stealthy thief in the night, she made her way up the main staircase, through the lavish living room, to Faye’s bedroom door. She turned the knob and pushed the door open with assurance.
The room looked the same as Cassie remembered it, but darker. Moonlight shined in from the wide window, but it was still difficult to see, and Cassie couldn’t risk waking Faye with the beam of her flashlight. There were many red candles strewn about, but of course they were all unlit. Cassie waited a few seconds to let her eyes adjust, and then words she hadn’t known before came to her.
By the power of the sun, make the dark become light
And give me sight to see at night
Suddenly, Cassie could see in the dark as if she’d slipped on night-vision goggles. And there Faye was, sleeping, snoring ever so softly. For a split second, Cassie felt a tenderness toward her—it was by far the most peaceful Cassie had ever seen Faye. She looked almost childlike, serenely curled up in her huge bed, surrounded by soft cushions and embroidered pillows. Her tangled, pitch-black hair cascaded down in long full curls, framing her face in such a way that Cassie could hardly remember what it was that made Faye so scary in her waking hours.
But Cassie shook herself from the notion. She knew she was in a dangerous place, and Faye was like a sleeping dragon protecting a jewel. One false move, and Cassie would be—
Before she could even finish her thought, the dust ruffle on the bed stirred, and out poked the head of an orange cat, followed by a gray one.
Cassie had forgotten about Faye’s bloodsucking kittens. They were fully grown cats now. No doubt with sharper teeth and claws than the last time Cassie encountered them. Cassie stood very still and watched the creatures slink out from beneath the bed. She may have been silent, but the cats could still see her and smell her. They sniffed at her toes, purring. The orange one pawed up her leg to the knee and then hissed. Then the gray one clawed at her foot and took a vicious swipe at the skin of her ankle.
Glancing at Faye, she kicked the gray cat from her right foot, sending it tumbling across the carpet. But that only seemed to make the orange one angrier. From where it was perched with both paws upon Cassie’s left knee, it leaped for her face, swiping its sharp claws at her cheek.
No! Cassie screamed, but her voice made no sound. With a swift motion of defense, she grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck. It cut at her wrist with its claws and bit through the skin of her hand. Blood dripped down from her fingers to the floor.
She tossed the orange cat out of the room, closing the door in its face before it could take another lunge at her. Meanwhile, the gray cat had jumped up on the bed, needling at Faye’s neck, trying to stir her awake.
“Ouch!” Faye cried.
And with the speed of a cat herself, Cassie bolted for Faye’s closet, soundlessly shutting herself inside before Faye could detect her.
“Ow—what has gotten into you?” Faye, fully awake now, scolded the gray cat.
Out of habit, Cassie held her breath and closed her eyes from inside the closet.
Faye got quiet again, but Cassie could hear the rustling of bedsheets. She was sure Faye sensed something was amiss. Explanations and apologies raced through her mind. If only she knew a spell to make herself invisible. That was the only thing that could save her now if Faye opened the closet door.
But then Faye chuckled absentmindedly. “That’s better,” she said. “Now let Mama get her beauty rest. You can sleep up here with me tonight if you promise to be good.”
Cassie exhaled. That was too close. But when she reopened her eyes, the closet appeared different. An unusual aquamarine light was radiating from a piece of clothing hanging in the closet.
The location spell had worked, and it was still working for her. The glowing light was hovering just inside Faye’s favorite leather jacket, the one she wore every day in spite of the weather. Cassie rubbed her fingers over its soft leather and across the smooth red satin of its interior lining.
Of course. Faye had sewn the garter into the jacket’s lining. It made perfect sense.
Cassie clawed at the red satin until she broke through its surface and tore it wide open. And there it was, resting in a bed of supple red satin—the green leather garter. Cassie was about to reach into the material to pluck it free when she remembered the sparks that burned her fingers earlier. She retrieved the obsidian crystal from her pocket once more and glided it over and around the garter to disable any spell Faye had on it. Then she was free to reach out and grab it. At last.
The garter felt heavy and triumphant in her hand. She gripped it tightly, admiring its shiny buckles, hardly believing she’d done it. She’d really done it! But there was no time to celebrate. Cassie could hear the orange cat scratching outside Faye’s bedroom door, and she had to escape before Faye woke up again.
Soundlessly, she tried to patch the lining back into place, but without a needle and thread or the proper spell, it would be impossible. Faye would discover it missing in the morning—that was unavoidable. But it didn’t matter. Cassie would be in Cape Cod by then, with the power of all the Master Tools along with her.
She left the jacket hanging like a looted grave, slipped out of the closet, and across the bedroom floor. The moment she opened the door, the orange cat leaped in, but Cassie was down the stairs and out the way she came within seconds.
It was only then, finally, that she let the reality settle over her. She now possessed all of the Master Tools, and the power she needed to save Scarlett, even without the help of the Circle.
Chapter 26
Cassie woke up at five the next morning, on the dot, without her alarm. It was like her body was so attuned to the day’s mission that manmade technologies of convenience, like clocks, were deemed unnecessary. She felt one with the elements today, no longer at their mercy.
She got up from bed and dressed ceremonially, like a Spartan warrior preparing for battle. She wrapped herself in the white shift Diana had given her and proudly snapped the silver cuff-bracelet onto her upper arm, the leather garter around her thigh, and the sparkling diadem upon her head. She was ready to go save her sister.
Cassie made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She had to borrow her mother’s car, but she couldn’t exactly tell her mother she needed it so she could battle the witch hunters and save the sister she was never told about. So she’d have to take it without asking. That seemed to be the theme of this entire mission: Take what you need to get the job done and explain later. And she would. All would be revealed later, to her mother, to Diana, Faye, Adam, everyone. For now, Cassie couldn’t allow any guilt to creep up and distract her—she had to focus solely on getting to Cape Cod.
But as Cassie drove farther away from Crowhaven Road and then farther away from New Salem, a sickness inside her began to form. Nerves, she figured, and she told herself she had every right to feel nervous; this was a dangerous act. The hunters had black magic on their side.
The Master Tools will not let me down in my moment of need, Cassie thought. And that reminded her of the chalcedony rose she had hidden within her pocket.
It was the good-luck piece Adam gave her long ago in case she was in trouble—she’d brought it with her just in case. After everything they’d been through and disagreed over these past few weeks, Cassie still believed in Adam and had faith in their bond. Did they need a rare crystal to connect them at this point in their relationship? No, of course not. Maybe Cassie only brought the chalcedony piece out of superstition, but even so, it calmed her to stroke its rugged surface. The stone felt alive in her grasp the way it did when Adam had first given it to her. Hold on to it tight, he’d told her, and think of me. She did that now and felt her courage grow.
But crossing over the county line into the town of Sandwich, Cassie’s fear heightened to a new level. The decaying sign alerting that she’d arrived read: INCORPORATED 1639, reminding Cassie of the deep-rooted history of the place as the oldest town in Cape Cod. Th
e Tools themselves seemed to react to the setting all on their own. Cassie could swear they were warming to her body, growing hotter by the second as she followed the course she’d mapped out to Hawthorne Street.
She should have a plan of attack, she realized, for when she encountered the hunters. She knew the witch-hunter curse by heart, and the Tools would surely come to her aid, but now that the reality of the situation was setting in, questions began to form in Cassie’s mind. She didn’t know how many hunters there would be. Was there a limit to how many she could take down with the one curse? And what if Scarlett was in even worse shape when she arrived than in Cassie’s dream? There was a fear lurking in the back of Cassie’s mind that Scarlett could have already been killed.
Again, Cassie felt for the chalcedony rose. But even with the crystal’s comfort, when the house at 48 Hawthorne Street came into view, her whole being flooded with fear. It was just as she’d imagined it in her nightmares, identical to the image that came to her during the location spell. It was a broken-down beach cottage with driftwood-gray siding, and it was near the end of a long, desolate, sandy lane, with a large body of water on one side and tidal marshes on the other. There was no other house in sight.
The terrible feeling in Cassie’s gut grew. The acid from her stomach crept up her throat, filling her mouth with a sickening taste. Every inch of her body screamed for her to turn around and drive back home. But she knew she couldn’t allow her fear to get the best of her now. Not when she’d come this far.
With determination, she got out of the car and treaded across the long grass toward the house, but after only a few steps she froze. She tried to continue forward and couldn’t. There was some kind of magical barrier protecting the house’s perimeter, similar to the one Faye used to guard the hidden garter. But that would be easy enough for Cassie to penetrate while wearing the Tools. She touched each relic individually, adjusting them into place, and silently called on their collective power. It wasn’t her imagination, the Tools did feel hot to her touch, she was sure of it.
