by L. J. Smith
Scarlett emerged from the back of the crowd then, shoving her way to the front. “I can help,” she said. “I’ve prepared a place for us.”
Beatrix eyed Scarlett like she was a fly to be shooed. “Can I at least destroy this one?” she asked Alice.
Alice shook her head. “Show us this place,” she said to Scarlett, and then she positioned her thin hand on Beatrix’s back. “We’ll destroy them all in good time.”
Adam took a step forward, as if he were preparing to fight them.
“No,” Cassie said, pulling him back.
She tried to keep her Circle corralled behind her as Alice and the others retreated to wherever Scarlett was leading them.
“We can’t just let them go,” Adam said.
“Conant’s right,” Nick said. “They’re weak right now; this might be our only chance.”
“You’re all weak right now, too,” Cassie said. “And so am I after performing that spell.”
She looked around at the surrounding graves and headstones with their skulls and grim reaper etchings, and then at her father’s massive chambered crypt. She looked into the faces of her dear friends, thankfully returned to her, and at the backs of her resurrected ancestors in the distance. “We’ll have our chance to fight them,” Cassie said. “This is only the beginning.”
Chapter 15
The Circle walked straight to Cassie’s house, barely talking. Maybe they were traumatized, or just exhausted. Cassie held Adam’s hand, but much of the joy from their initial embrace had vanished. Once again triumph had led immediately to setback, this one possibly far worse than the first.
But it was a minor victory not lost on Cassie when each of her friends was able to cross the property line to her house unhindered. Cassie hadn’t been sure she’d ever see that wish realized. She glanced at Nick to share in the appreciation of the small blessing, and he half-smiled in response.
The group congregated in Cassie’s living room, and it was just like old times, everyone lying about. Adam hovered close to Cassie on the couch—but for a change, Nick wasn’t keeping a little off to the side. He sat down right beside Cassie, sandwiching her between himself and Adam.
“I’m going to text Max,” Nick said. “He deserves to know what’s going on.”
“You two have become friends?” Diana blurted out.
Cassie offered Diana a reassuring glance.
“Would he really come here?” Diana asked. “I wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see me again.”
“He’s been really helpful these past few days,” Nick said, without looking up from his phone.
“But he may not be ready to forgive the rest of us,” Diana said. “Me especially.”
Cassie feared Diana might be right. Max was still feeling torn. Cassie understood how that felt, with Adam on one side of her and Nick on the other.
No sooner had Cassie come to this conclusion than there was a knock at the door. Diana straightened her posture at the sound.
“It’s Max,” Cassie said, recognizing his light brown hair and lacrosse jacket through the window. She opened the door and invited him in. He stood stiffly in the doorway, eyeing the group before taking the first step toward them. Nobody spoke. Everyone in the Circle was watching Diana, and Diana was watching Max.
“Hi,” was all he said. It was the shortest, most noncommittal word he could have offered Diana, but it was something. Diana rose from where she was seated but restrained herself from running to him.
Max’s eyes filled with emotion. He looked at her now with a long, measured glance. The goodness and purity that shone back at him from Diana was undeniable.
Max took another careful step forward and slightly opened his arms.
Diana nearly collapsed into his embrace. The air around them crackled with electricity. Cassie could feel their connection as if it were her own with Adam. The whole group must have felt it, because everyone’s shoulders settled and their jaws relaxed.
Max became conscious of his audience. He blushed and looked at Cassie and Nick. “So I guess it’s safe to say the evil spirits are gone once and for all.”
Nick let out a snort. “Nothing is ever that simple for us, unfortunately.”
Diana led Max to an empty seat among the group. “The spirits are out of our bodies,” she said. “But now they’re in their own, running around free in New Salem.”
“And we need to figure out how to get rid of them,” Cassie said, taking the floor. She looked at Nick specifically.
“While you were all possessed, the ancestors were insistent on getting the Book of Shadows,” she said. “The book must be the key to it all.”
Nick agreed. “If the book is what invited them back into the world,” he said, “maybe it’s the way to get them out.”
Melanie and Laurel leaned forward. Sean, Chris, Doug, and Deborah were visibly plotting in their minds how they might use the book to thwart the dark ancestors’ plot.
“Then let’s go through the book right now,” Faye said. “Analyze it until we figure out how to get rid of these bastards.”
Cassie’s friends had somehow overlooked the fact that she no longer had the book. They were all still possessed when she’d handed it over to Scarlett. The spell must have occupied all their attention.
Only Nick realized the truth. “Cassie can’t go get the book right now,” he said.
Adam wasn’t used to being one step behind, especially when it concerned Cassie. “Why not?” he asked, frustrated.
Cassie dropped her eyes. “I gave the book to Scarlett. I traded it for her help with the exorcism spell.”
A deadly silence washed over the room.
Cassie shrank beneath it, for having played so easily into Scarlett’s plan. “I’m sorry,” she said. “But it was the only way I knew how to get you all back.”
There were attempts at encouraging nods all around, but the morale of the group had nosedived.
“Well then,” Max said unexpectedly, catching the whole Circle off guard with his tone of cooperation. “The first item of business is to get the book back.”
“Yes.” Diana took Max’s hand. She practically glowed. “That’s exactly what we’ll do.”
Cassie closed and locked the front door as the last of her friends left for the night.
“Alone at last,” Adam said.
It was finally just the two of them, for the first time since he’d been himself again. Cassie took him by the hand and led him upstairs to her room.
She dropped onto her bed, and Adam joined her.
It suddenly occurred to her how exhausted she was. She couldn’t get the sight of those wretched ancestors out of her mind. It left her with a weighty sense of dread, as if she’d swallowed a heavy stone and it had gotten lodged in her chest.
Adam let his hand fall on her leg and kept it there. “You’re glad I’m back,” he asked, “aren’t you, Cassie?”
“Are you kidding? I never want to let you out of my sight.”
Adam looked down at his hand, which he still hadn’t moved. “I wish it had been me to help you these past few days, not Nick. It should have been me.”
Cassie wondered if Adam remembered how close he’d gotten to Scarlett. Was that contributing to his shame?
“I don’t want you to think it’s because my love wasn’t strong enough,” Adam continued. “It wasn’t that. It was that Absolom was too strong.”
Cassie cuddled up to Adam, covering them both with her heavy cotton comforter. It sheltered them like a tent. “I do know that,” she said, as much for her own benefit as for Adam’s.
The pillow behind Cassie’s head was soft, and her sheets smelled fresh and clean. Having Adam with her made everything better.
“I want things to go back to normal,” Adam said. “Between you and me. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
“I want that, too.” Cassie rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s already starting to feel that way.”
Adam pulled her in
closer. “Good.”
Cassie closed her eyes to draw out the moment, to listen to his breath and his heartbeat. It was a slow and steady rhythm now, and she found her own heart adjusted to match it. Their chests rose and fell together, perfectly and unconsciously synchronized.
They began to doze off that way, wrapped up in each other’s arms, descending to restful sleep and sweet dreams.
Chapter 16
“Did you hear what happened at Old Town Hall?”
“I heard it was vandalized. And someone also broke into the history museum.”
“The shopping mall, too. The police are saying it may have been a group of people. They aren’t sure if all the incidents are related.”
Cassie was in English class, eavesdropping on Sally Waltman’s conversation with her friend Tina.
Sally shot Cassie a knowing look when she realized she’d been listening. Cassie returned the gaze and then politely looked away.
These stories of robbery and vandalism weren’t unique, unfortunately. Cassie had been hearing about similar strange things happening around town in the last few hours. The ancestor witches were creating havoc all over New Salem now that they had their bodies back. Cassie kept a mental list of it all, and she feared the worst: that the ancestors were seeking retribution for all they’d lost in their lifetimes, all that had been taken from them by Outsiders.
After the bell rang, Cassie approached Sally as she was packing up her books. “I couldn’t help but overhear,” she said.
Sally scanned the surrounding area to be sure nobody was listening. “I knew something was up when your friends attacked me and ambushed the auditorium, but now it seems like the trouble is spreading into town. What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story,” Cassie said.
“It is witch-related, isn’t it?”
“Ancient witches,” Cassie said as the two of them exited their classroom. “The worst in history.”
They reached Cassie’s locker. She opened it to exchange her English notebook for her math textbook. “I’m afraid what they’re after is revenge—on New Salem, on the whole world.”
“On Outsiders,” Sally added.
“You can be sure of that.” Cassie slammed her locker shut. “Even before they were killed, they wanted to destroy all non-witches. Now they have their own untimely deaths to avenge.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Sally asked.
The offer warmed Cassie’s heart. If only her ancestors had encountered Outsiders so willing to set aside their differences, they might not be so quick to judge.
“Thank you,” Cassie said. “I’ll let you know. For now, keep your eyes open, and be careful.”
Cassie turned around to make her way to her next class, and she came face-to-face with Alice.
She gasped.
“Sally, I’ll see you later,” Cassie said, and Sally had the good sense to walk away.
Black John’s sister still had a sadness about her, but she looked different from the last time Cassie had seen her. She’d let down her dark brown hair, and Cassie noticed it had been cut into layers. Her blue-gray eyes were subtly etched with liner, and her eyebrows had been plucked to a cleanly lined arch. She wore tight jeans, a sheer black blouse, and about a dozen necklaces of various sizes and styles, probably to cover the mark on her neck. She looked good, Cassie thought, and a second later the deeper truth sunk in: She looked modern.
So that’s what the ancestors were doing at the mall. They’d gone on a shopping spree and given themselves makeovers.
Lurking behind Alice was the other ancestor who was young enough to easily pass as a student: Beatrix. She had also updated her look to blend in unnoticed at school, but more shockingly, she no longer appeared burned. She must have done a spell to heal her mottled skin, because it shimmered in a way Cassie could only describe as magical. Her face was pale and smooth and new, untouched by her difficult life.
Alice blinked her cheerless eyes at Cassie. “Niece,” she said.
Her voice startled Cassie just as it did the first time she heard it. It reminded Cassie of the way her own voice had sounded when she had strep throat. She remembered how it felt like someone was stabbing her in the tonsils every time she tried to utter a word.
Cassie unconsciously brought her hand up to her own neck. She swallowed carefully.
Alice reached out to her, but Cassie took a step back, suddenly repulsed by the idea of this body—practically a living corpse—touching her.
Alice wrinkled her eyes, seeming hurt by Cassie’s aversion.
“I want nothing to do with you,” Cassie said, her voice cracking. Before she even realized what she was doing, she took aim at Alice and Beatrix and called out a spell: “Infirmitate super vos!”
Alice deflected Cassie’s magic with a leisurely wave of her hand. “See,” she said. “Now that’s the Blak spirit.”
Cassie’s own surprise at casting that spell wasn’t lost on Alice.
“Those instincts of yours,” she said. “Don’t you feel it? You’re with us. You’re one of the greats.”
She exchanged a side glance with Beatrix. “We need a twelfth member to our Circle, Cassie. And we want that member to be you.”
Cassie considered this. Was she one of them regardless of how hard she tried not to be? So many people, loved ones, had died on her watch as she’d striven to be good. And she was the one who performed the spell that released them into the world in the first place. She’d resurrected their evil, willingly or not.
The thought of it made Cassie sick. The urge to cast another dark spell at them was overwhelming.
“You’ll never have me,” Cassie said, fighting off her baser impulse.
A flush of anger crossed Alice’s face, and Cassie was shocked at how quickly her expression could change from hurt to raw rage. “You think quite highly of yourself, don’t you? Good. You should. But you can’t resist your destiny.”
“My Circle is my destiny,” Cassie said. But her self-assurance was immediately overshadowed by another thought: What about the rest of her friends? The ancestors wanted Cassie, but if they couldn’t get her, they’d just try for someone else. And they’d keep trying until they—
“Forget her,” Beatrix said to Alice. “Every family has a weak link.”
“She isn’t weak,” Alice snapped back.
It occurred to Cassie that the other ancestors might already be going after the members of her Circle—at this very moment. She didn’t have time for this standoff with Alice and Beatrix.
Cassie turned on her heels and left them standing there. Let them think her a coward if they wanted to. She didn’t care. She needed to find her friends, and fast.
Cassie texted the entire Circle: Emergency meeting. Meet at the Colony Diner ASAP!
The Colony Diner was just off school grounds. Close enough to walk to within minutes, but far enough away to be private and protected. Cassie arrived first and sat alone for a few minutes, tapping her fingernails on the orangey-yellow faux wood table. She ordered a strawberry milkshake to keep the waitress occupied. With each second that passed, the knot in her stomach tightened. What if none of them came? What if she’d already lost them?
But Adam arrived within minutes, then Diana, and finally Cassie calmed down enough to take a sip of her shake. Nick, Deborah, and Faye had been in the middle of Phys. Ed together, their least favorite class, so they were quick to cut out and make their way to the diner.
Melanie and Laurel appeared next, from study hall at the library, with overstuffed book bags weighing down their shoulders.
“What’s the emergency?” Melanie asked.
“Has anyone heard from Sean, Chris, or Doug?” Cassie asked. It was no secret those three were all on the impressionable side. Some might even call them reckless.
Just after placing a food order with the waitress, Cassie caught sight of Chris’s Jeep zipping into the parking lot. It settled into a spot, and Sean and Doug jumped out of the backseat. Cassie
’s whole body relaxed as she watched them dash for the diner’s entrance.
“Sorry we’re late,” Sean said, squeezing into the booth beside Nick, with Chris and Doug behind him. “We were at the park.”
“In the middle of the school day?” Melanie raised her eyebrows.
“Never mind that,” Doug said. “What did we miss?”
Cassie pushed her milkshake away and cleared her throat. “Alice and Beatrix showed up at school today. They need a twelfth member for their dark Circle. Which means they’re going to be coming for every one of you.”
Cassie focused on Sean, Chris, and Doug, and then, finally, Faye. “They’re going to corner you, try to manipulate your weaknesses.”
The waitress arrived with their order just as Cassie’s last words trickled into the air. She set down plate after greasy plate and over-full cups, leaving no portion of the tabletop uncovered. It gave the group a much-needed moment to process what Cassie had just told them.
Once the waitress stepped away, Diana spoke. “We have to stand strong,” she said. “We have to be a united front.”
“I think it’s a given,” Deborah said, reaching for the pickle off Melanie’s plate. “Who here wants to side with the demons?” She waited dramatically for a hand to go up. When none did, she said, “I rest my case.”
“You’re missing the point,” Adam said. “You may not want that now, but these spirits were in our bodies. They know every one of our weaknesses, our every dream and desire. They’re experts at manipulation.”
Sean shoved a french fry into his mouth. “Being able to perform dark magic would be pretty cool.”
Nick smacked him on the shoulder, causing him to choke.
“I was kidding,” Sean said, coughing. “Jeez.”
“Not funny,” Laurel said. “Everyone has to promise to have no contact with any of the ancestors. We can’t give them the chance to tempt us.”
“Why are you looking at me?” Faye asked.
It had been obvious that Laurel directed her statement at Faye, but she denied it.
