The Power

by Lisa J. Smith

  The Circle looked back at him. Soberly, Melanie said, "Let me get this right. You're saying there's nothing at all to Faye's accusations?"

  Adam swallowed. "No," he said quietly. "That's not what I'm saying. That night on the bluff . . ." He stopped and swallowed again, and then his voice hardened. "1 can't explain what happened, except that it was my fault, not Cassie's. She did everything she could to avoid me, to keep out of my way. But once we were alone we were drawn together." He looked at Diana without flinching, although the pain was evident in his face. "I'm not proud of myself, but I never meant to hurt you. And Cassie is completely innocent. The only reason she was speaking to me at all that night was that she wanted to give me back the chalcedony rose – so I could give it back to you. In all of this, she's never been anything but honest and honorable. No matter what it cost her." He stopped and his mouth turned grim. "If I'd known she was being blackmailed by this snake – "

  "I beg your pardon," Faye interrupted, golden eyes flashing dangerously.

  Adam returned the look, just as dangerous. "That's what it was, wasn't it, Faye? Blackmail.

  Your little spies saw us that night – when we were sayinggood-bye, and swearing never to see each other alone again, and you decided to make the most of it. I knew there was something going on with you and Cassie after that, but I could never figure out what it was. Cassie was scared to death all of a sudden, but why she didn't just come to me and tell me what you were up to . . ." His voice trailed off and he looked toward Cassie.

  Cassie shook her head mutely. How could she explain? "I didn't want you caught up in it too," she said in a voice scarcely above a whisper. "I was afraid you'd tell Diana, and Faye said if Diana found out..."

  "What?" Adam said. When Cassie shook her head again he gave Faye's arm a little shake.

  "What, Faye? If Diana found out it would kill her? Wreck the coven? Is that what you told Cassie?"

  Faye smirked. "If I did, it was only the truth, wasn't it? As things turned out." She wrenched away from Adam.

  "So you used her love for Diana against her. You blackmailed her to make her help you find the skull, right? I'll bet it took some persuading."

  Adam was only guessing, but his guess was dead on target. Cassie found herself nodding.

  "I found out where it was – "

  "But how?" Diana interrupted, blurting it, speaking for the first time directly to Cassie.

  Cassie looked into the clear green eyes with the tears hanging on the dark lashes and spoke directly back.

  "I did what Faye said," she said tremulously. "First I looked in the walnut cabinet –

  remember when I stayed overnight and you woke up with me in the room? When the skull wasn't there I thought I'd have to give up, but then I had a dream. It made me remember something I'd seen in your Book of Shadows, about purifying an evil object by burying it in sand. So I went and searched the beach and finally found the skull under that ring of stones."

  Cassie paused, looking at Faye, her voice growing stronger. "Once I had my hands on it, though, I realized I couldn't give it to Faye. I just couldn't. But she had followed me and she took it anyway."

  Cassie took a deep breath, making herself meet Diana's eyes again, her own eyes begging Diana to understand. "I know I shouldn't have let her have it. I should have stood up to her, then and afterward, but I was weak and stupid. I'm sorry now – I wish I'd just come and told you in the beginning, but I was so afraid you'd be hurt..." Tears were choking her voice now, and making her vision blur. "And as for what Adam said – about it all being his fault – you have to know that isn't true. It was my fault, and at the Halloween dance I tried to make him kiss me, because I was so upset by then and I thought that nothing really mattered, since I was evil anyway."

  There was wetness on Diana's cheeks, but now she looked taken aback. "Since what?'

  "Since I was evil," Cassie said, hearing the terrible, stark truth in the simple words. "Since I was responsible for killing Jeffrey Lovejoy." The entire coven stared at her, appalled. "Wait a minute," Melanie said. "Run that by me one more time."

  "Whenever anybody used the skull, it released dark energy, which went out and killed somebody," Cassie said carefully and clearly. "Faye and I were the ones who used the skull before Jeffrey was killed. If it wasn't for me, she couldn't have used it, and Jeffrey would still be alive. So, you see, I'm responsible."

  Animation was returning to Diana's eyes. "But you didn't know," she said.

  Cassie shook her head fiercely. "That's no excuse. There's no excuse for any of it – not even for doing worse things because I thought I was evil anyway and what did it matter?

  It did matter. I listened to Faye and I let her bully me." And I kept the hematite, she thought, but there was no point in getting into that. She shrugged, blinking more tears away. "I even let her make me vote for her for leader. I'm sorry, Diana – I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did it."

  "I do," Diana said shakily. "Adam said it already – you were scared."

  Cassie nodded. All the words she'd held back for so long were pouring out. "Once I started doing things for her, I couldn't stop. She had more and more to blackmail me with.

  Everything just went more and more wrong and I didn't know how to get out of it . . ."

  Cassie's voice broke. She saw Faye, lip curled, step forward and try to say something, and she saw Adam shut her up with a single glance. Then she turned and saw Diana's eyes.

  They were as luminous as peridot crystals held up to the light, liquid with unshed tears, but also with – something else. It was a look Cassie had never expected to see again, especially not directed at her. A look of pain, yes, but also of forgiveness and longing. A look of love.

  Something broke inside Cassie, something hard and tight that had been growing since she had started to deceive Diana. She took a stumbling step forward.

  Then she and Diana were in each others' arms, both crying, both holding on with all their strength.

  "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for everything," Cassie sobbed.

  It seemed a long time before Diana drew back, and when she did she stepped away from the group, turning to look into the darkness. Cassie wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. The moon, hanging low on the horizon, shone like old gold on Diana's hair.

  There was absolute silence except for the distant roar and crash of waves on the beach. The entire group stood motionless, as if waiting for something that none of them could quite define.

  At last Diana turned back to them. "I think we've all heard enough," she said. "I think I understand, maybe not everything, but most of it. Listen, everybody, because I don't want to say this again."

  Everyone was quiet, their faces turned toward Diana expectantly. Cassie had the distinct feeling that a judgement was about to be rendered. Diana looked like a priestess or a princess, tall and pale, but resolute. There was a strange dignity about her, an aura of greatness and of certainty that belied the pain in her eyes.

  I'm waiting to hear my punishment, Cassie thought. Whatever it was, she deserved it. She glanced at Adam and saw he was waiting too. His expression asked no favors, but Cassie knew what he must be feeling underneath it. They both stood before Diana, connected by their crime, glad to have it in the open at last.

  "1 don't want anybody to discuss what's happened tonight again," Diana said, her voice soft and distinct. "Not ever. Once I've finished talking we'll all consider the subject closed."

  She looked at Adam, not quite meeting his eyes. "I think," she said slowly, "that I know how it must have been for you. These things happen sometimes. I forgive you. And as for you, Cassie – you're even less to blame. There was no way for you to have known. I don't blame either of you. All I ask – "

  Cassie drew a shuddering breath and broke in. She couldn't hold back any longer.

  "Diana," she said, "I want you to know something. All this time, underneath, I've been angry and jealous because Adam belonged to you and not me. Even up until tonight. Bu
t all that's changed now – truly. Now all I want is for you and Adam to be happy. Nothing is more important to me than you – and the promise I made." For an instant it crossed Cassie's mind to wonder if Adam were less important, but she shoved the thought away and spoke earnestly, with utter conviction. "Adam and I – we both made that promise. If you'll just give us another chance to keep it – just one more chance ..."

  Diana was opening her mouth, but Cassie went on before she could speak.

  "Please, Diana. You've got to know that you can trust me – that you can trust us. You've got to let us prove that."

  There was a slight pause, then Diana said, "Yes. Yes – you're right." She took a deep breath and let it out, looking at Adam almost tentatively. "Well, then, what if – if we just forget all about this for a while? Just – wipe the slate clean?"

  A muscle in Adam's jaw jerked. Silently, he took the hand Diana extended toward him.

  Diana held her other hand out to Cassie. Cassie took it and held on tightly to the slim, cold fingers. She wanted to laugh and cry at once. Instead she just gave Diana a wobbly smile.

  Looking at Adam she saw that he was trying to smile too, although his eyes were dark as storm clouds over the ocean.

  "And that's it?" Faye exploded. "Everything's all right now, all sweetness and light?

  Everybody loves everybody and you're all going home holding hands?"

  "Yes," Adam snapped, giving her a hard look. "As for the last, anyway. We're going home

  – it's past time for that."

  "Cassie needs to rest," Diana agreed. The blank helplessness had left her entirely, and although she looked more fragile than Cassie had ever seen her before, she also looked determined. "We all need that."

  "And we need to call a doctor – or somebody," Deborah said unexpectedly. She inclined her head toward Number Twelve. "Cassie's grandma . . ."

  "Whose side are you on?" Faye snarled. Deborah just gave her a cool look.

  Diana's fingers tightened on Cassie's. "Yes. You're right, we'll call Dr. Stern – and Cassie can come home with me."

  Faye gave a short bark of laughter, but nobody laughed with her. Even the Henderson brothers were serious, their slanted eyes thoughtful. Suzan twisted a lock of strawberry-blond hair around her fingers, looking at Cassie's and Diana's intertwined hands. Laurel nodded encouragingly when Cassie glanced at her, and Melanie's cool gray eyes shone with quiet approval. Sean chewed his lip, looking uncertainly from one member of the group to another.

  But it was Nick's expression that surprised Cassie most. His face, usually so unemotional, was clearly strained, as if there were some violent struggle going on beneath the surface.

  There was no time to think about him now, though. No time even to think about Faye, who was seething uselessly, her plans to fracture the coven in ruins. Melanie was speaking.

  "Do you want to go by my house first, Cassie? Great-aunt Constance is looking after your mom, and if you want to see her ..."

  Cassie nodded eagerly. It seemed like a hundred years since she had seen her mother, since she had been inside that room filled with red light, looking at her mother's glassy, empty eyes. Surely her mother would be all right by now; surely she would be able to tell Cassie what had happened.

  But when the three of them, Melanie, Cassie, and Diana, who hadn't let go of Cassie's hand on the short drive to Number Four, went into the house, Cassie's heart sank. Melanie's great-aunt, a thin-lipped woman with severe eyes, led them silently into a downstairs guest room.

  One look at the ghostly figure on the bed sent chills of dismay through Cassie's bloodstream.

  "Mom?" she whispered, knowing already there would be no answer.

  God, her mother looked young. Even younger than she normally did, frighteningly young, unnaturally so. It was as if it weren't Cassie's mother on the bed there at all, but some little girl with dark hair and big haunted black eyes that vaguely resembled Mrs. Blake's. A stranger.

  Not someone who was going to be of help to Cassie.

  "It's okay, Mom," Cassie whispered, stepping away from Diana to put a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Everything's going to be all right. You'll see. You're going to be just fine."

  Her throat ached, and then she felt Diana gently leading her away.

  "You've both been through enough," Melanie said once they were outside again. "Let us take care of things with the doctor – and the police, if they have to come. You and Cassie get some sleep."

  The rest of the coven was waiting in the street, and they nodded in agreement when Melanie said this. Cassie looked at Diana, who nodded too.

  "Okay," Cassie said. It came out faint and slightly hoarse and she realized how tired she was – bone-tired. At the same time she was light-headed, and the entire scene in front of her was assuming a dreamlike quality. It was just too strange to be standing out here in the wee hours of the morning, knowing that her grandmother was dead and her mother was in shock, and that she didn't have a house to go back to. Yet there were no adults on the street, no commotion, only the members of the Circle and an eerie stillness. Come to think of it, why weren't there any parents out here? Surely some of them must have heard what was going on.

  But the houses on Crowhaven Road remained shuttered and silent. On the way to Melanie's house, Cassie thought she'd seen a light go off in Suzan's house and a curtain whisk back at the Henderson's. If any adults were awake, they weren't getting involved.

  We're on our own, Cassie thought. But Diana was beside her, and she could see Adam's tall form silhouetted against the headlights of the coven's parked cars. A sort of strength flowed into Cassie just at their nearness.

  "We've got to talk tomorrow," she said. "There's a lot I've got to tell you – all of you.

  Things my grandmother told me right before . . . before she died."

  "We can meet at lunchtime on the beach – " Diana began, but Faye's throaty voice cut her off.

  "No, we can't. I'm the one who decides where the meetings are now, or had you forgotten?"

  Faye's head was thrown back proudly, the silver crescent-moon diadem gleaming against the midnight-black of her hair. Diana opened her mouth, then shut it again.

  "All right," Adam said with deceptive calmness, stepping out of the glare of headlights to stand by Faye. "You're the leader. So lead. Where do we meet?"

  Faye's eyes narrowed. "At the old science building. But – "

  "Fine." Adam didn't wait for her to finish; he turned his back on her. "I'll drive you home,"

  he said to Diana and Cassie.

  Faye looked furious, but the three of them were already moving away. "By the way, Diana

  – happy birthday," she called spitefully after them.

  Diana didn't answer.

  THREE

  "Jacinth! Are you in there? Jacinth!" Cassie blinked in the bright sunlight. She'd seen this room before. It was her grandmother's kitchen – except that it wasn't. The walls of her grandmother's kitchen were sagging and dingy; these were straight and clean. Her grandmother's hearth was stained with the smoke of centuries; this hearth looked almost new and was a slightly different shape. The iron hook for hanging pots on shone.

  It was the room in her dream, the dream she'd had the last time she spent the night at Diana's house. The low chair she was sitting in was the same. But this dream seemed to be picking up where the other had left off.

  "Jacinth, have you fallen asleep with your eyes open? Kate is here!"

  A feeling of anticipation and excitement filled Cassie. Kate; who was Kate? Without even knowing why, she found herself standing up, and she realized that she was wearing a dress that brushed the tips of her neat brocade shoes. The red leather Book of Shadows fell from her lap to the ground.

  She turned toward the voice, toward what would have been the side door of her grandmother's house. In this house it seemed to be the front door. It was filled with sunlight, and there were two figures standing there. One was tall, with a silhouette like the engravings of Pur
itan women she'd seen in history books. The other was smaller, with shining hair.

  Cassie couldn't see either of the figures' faces, but the smaller one was holding out eager hands to her. Cassie reached for them, stepping forward –

  – and the dream changed. It was dark and she could hear the tortured scream of wood being ripped asunder. Salt spray stung her face and her eyes struggled vainly to pierce the darkness.

  The ship was going down. Lost, all lost. And the Master Tools were lost as well – for now.

  But only for now. The savage determination of the thought filled Cassie and she tasted bile at the back of her throat. Even as icy water rushed around her legs she felt the dream lose focus. She tried to hang on to it, but it melted and shifted around her, and the darkness of the turbulent, stormy night became the quiet darkness of Diana's room.

  She was awake.

  And relieved beyond reason just to be alive.

  It wasn't really so dark in here. Dawn was brightening the curtains, turning the room gray.

  Diana was sleeping peacefully beside her. How could Diana be peaceful after all that had happened? After what Diana had learned about her best friend and her boyfriend, after losing the leadership of the coven, how could Diana sleep at all? But the dark lashes on Diana's cheek were still and serene and there was no bitterness in Diana's face.

  She's so good. I could never be that good, Cassie thought. Not if I tried all my life. Still, just being near Diana made her feel better.

  Cassie knew she wasn't going to sleep anymore. She sat back against the headboard and thought.

  God, she was glad to have things right with Diana again. And with Adam – Cassie was almost afraid to think of Adam, worried about what kind of pain it would bring. But although there was a deep-down ache at the picture of him, it was not unbearable, and the poison of jealousy and anger was truly gone. She honestly wanted him and Diana to be happy. She was a different person from the one who'd burned with the frustration of not being able to have him these last six weeks.