The Temptation

by L. J. Smith

Page 13

 

  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.

  “I said everyone,” Laurel insisted.

  “At this point,” Melanie said, tapping the top of Laurel’s hand with her own, “I think it’s safe to say we’re all committed to avoiding the ancestors. We’ll just have to watch each other’s backs to keep it that way, that’s all. ”

  Faye forked at her Caesar salad without looking up. “Fine,” she said. “As long as the puritanical goody two-shoes of our group don’t use that as an excuse to butt into my private life. ”

  Laurel opened her mouth to defend herself, but no sound came out.

  “Agreed,” Diana said. “We’ll watch each other while respecting one another’s privacy. ” She passed a stern look over the group until they all showed their assent.

  “Sounds like a good plan to me,” Cassie said. But she was more worried than she let on. Faye’s face had changed at the mention of dark magic. It was no secret that she’d always been jealous of Cassie’s powers.

  After they finished eating, and the group dispersed to make it to their next classes, Cassie took Adam and Diana aside.

  “I think the three of us should go tonight to steal the book back from Scarlett,” she whispered. “Just the three of us. I’m worried about exposing the others to the ancestors. ”

  Adam nodded, and a look of trepidation crossed Diana’s face. “How will we do it?” she asked.

  “By any means necessary,” Cassie said.

  Chapter 17

  It was a well-known New Salem fact that the old warehouse where Scarlett was staying had one window in the back that was large enough to crawl through. For years it had served as the entrance to secret rendezvous and underage keg parties. Tonight it would be Cassie, Adam, and Diana’s way to the book.

  Adam ran ahead of Cassie and Diana to make sure the window was still penetrable and unguarded. Cassie watched him fiddle with the half-rotten wooden board and slide it out of place. The gaping hole in the building’s facade reminded her of a missing tooth.

  “You’re as good as in,” Adam said. “Just wait for the diversion to make your move. ”

  Adam and Diana left her there to sneak around to the front of the warehouse. Cassie wasn’t supposed to climb into the window until her cue, but she couldn’t help herself. She desperately wanted the few extra minutes to look around.

  She silently lifted herself inside and eyed the surrounding space, mentally calling to the book, alerting it that she had arrived—that she’d come to take it back home. She knew the book would answer her call.

  It only took a few seconds for Cassie to hear the voices coming from the warehouse’s makeshift dining room. She recognized Scarlett’s high shrill and Alice’s oppressive monotone, as well as an ambient collage of tapping forks upon plates, and water glasses shifting.

  Cassie inched toward their sounds and ducked behind some old metal containers to watch them for a few seconds. She was surprised by the portrait that spread before her eyes. Scarlett and all the ancestors were gathered around a circular table that was covered with fine foods: roasted chicken, baked potatoes, salad greens, and vegetables. They were enjoying a meal together, smiling, laughing, debating. They looked like a family, a happy family.

  Charlotte sliced a loaf of corn bread into thick squares while Samuel doled out crisp-looking cobs of yellow corn.

  “Those hunters you killed,” Alice said, “were of the same bloodline as the ones who had me hanged at Salem. Just as your bloodline is the same as ours, Scarlett. ” She raised her glass. “True justice. ”

  “That’s what family’s for,” Scarlett said, clinking her glass to Alice’s.

  They all seemed so at ease with each other. Witnessing their interaction made Cassie wonder if this was what Scarlett had been longing for all along—the connection of a family. The thought made Cassie’s own heart begin to beat more heavily.

  “It’s a shame about Cassie,” Beatrix said to Alice. “She’s a stubborn girl; I don’t think there’s any convincing her. ”

  “But we still need a twelfth,” Absolom said. “By the full moon. Otherwise we’ll have to wait another whole month to perform the spell. ”

  What spell? Cassie wondered.

  Alice glumly set down her water glass. “I really wanted it to be Cassie,” she said.

  Cassie felt a lump form in her throat, and she was overcome with a grief she couldn’t identify. From the Blak family album, she’d learned that Alice began her life trying to be good. It wasn’t until she turned fifteen that she came into her full power and was overcome by her own dark magic. Then the curse Timothy spoke of got the best of her—it drove her to do awful things to the non-witches of Salem. A year later she was hanged.

  Cassie couldn’t help but see a little of herself in her young aunt; they were both the same age when they discovered their magic. And she sensed Alice also saw something of herself in Cassie.

  “I just wouldn’t be able to stand it,” Scarlett said, “if we have to wait another whole month to perform the spell. ”

  Cassie primed her ears to take in more. She needed to learn about this spell they were planning—but just then Adam and Diana’s commotion from outside became audible.

  “Ssh,” Thomas said. “What was that?”

  All the ancestors halted their talk and listened. Scarlett dashed for the front of the warehouse, and Alice followed just behind.

  Scarlett slid the rusty door open. The ancestors gathered around it to an unexpected spectacle. Diana and Adam had conjured a brilliant sphere of light, like a planet or spinning disco ball in the sky. They recited a chant:

  Dark spirits, look at this light, look not away, give no fight. The ancestors were dazed, caught off guard. Their eyes widened to the hypnotic shimmering orb before them. They were mesmerized by it.

  Cassie knew this was her cue to snatch the book. She raised her arms and whispered her call: “Liber, libri exaudi me venire ad me. ”

  From across the warehouse she heard movement, and then a sound like a latch coming undone. She repeated her call again and waited with open hands.

  The book showed itself to her. Freed from its hiding place, it hovered above an open metal chest.

  “Venire ad me,” Cassie said, and the book swiftly flew to her hands.

  Cassie could see that Alice and Beatrix and a few of the stronger ancestors were beginning to resist Adam and Diana’s conjuring. It couldn’t be long before they harnessed enough energy to break their spell.

  With the book safely in hand, Cassie ran back to the window. She’d almost made it through when Absolo
m dropped in front of her, like a bat from the ceiling. He was wearing his black clothes and priest’s collar, and his face was twisted in a cruel sneer. He readied himself to cast a spell, and Cassie froze with terror.

  “Give me the book,” he said.

  Then he turned and pointed at Adam and Diana, bursting their ball of light into thick black smoke.

  Alice shook herself awake. Alert now to her surroundings, she locked eyes with Cassie and saw the book in her grasp.

  She and Absolom simultaneously hurled a spell at Cassie, or at the book—it was difficult to tell which—because the book immediately heated in Cassie’s arms. But it wasn’t burning her. It was reacting. And whatever spells they had cast had no other effect.

  The book suctioned itself to Cassie’s chest. She clasped it close and sensed its attachment, its energy. The book, she felt, was empowering her like a battery.

  Absolom’s brow wrinkled with confusion. He tipped his head at an angle, unable to comprehend how his power was being deflected.

  Alice and the other ancestors stood in similar disbelief.

  “Run!” Cassie screamed out to Adam and Diana, suddenly understanding that the book wanted to be with her—that she would be able to safely escape with it in her arms, but they might be held captive.

  Adam and Diana did as Cassie said. But the ancestors weren’t concerned with them or their escape. They moved in on Cassie with blackened eyes. Samuel had his hands raised and stared, expressionless, at her. Charlotte and Thomas whispered evil chants beneath their breath. But nothing could touch her. The book acted as Cassie’s shield.

  “Just let her go,” Scarlett called out to them. “She can have the dumb book. It doesn’t matter anymore. We’ve got what we need. ”

  The ancestors ignored Scarlett. Absolom attempted the same spell Cassie had used to bring the book to her arms, but coming from him they were just empty words.

  The book wasn’t leaving Cassie.

  Beatrix screamed at the others, “Don’t let her get away!”

  But Cassie was quick to turn around and jump through the window, then sprint toward the road. A few paces ahead of her in the shadowy distance, she could see Adam and Diana running safely through the dark night toward home.

  Back on Crowhaven Road, Cassie, Adam, and Diana finally stopped running. “We’re alright,” Cassie said, trying to calm herself as much as them. “We’re safe. ”

  “Thanks to the book,” Adam said, trying to catch his breath. “Otherwise we would have been finished. ”

  Diana kneeled over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air. “But you did it, Cassie, you got it back!”

  Cassie stuffed the still-warm book beneath her shirt, securing it under the belt around her waist. She wanted to feel victorious, but Scarlett’s voice still echoed in her ears. The ancestors had already gotten what they needed from the book: whatever spell Absolom had mentioned during their dinner.

  “But they’re planning something,” Cassie said. “By the next full moon. With or without the book. ”

  Adam put his arm around Cassie, and she didn’t resist him. “You should be proud of yourself,” he said, trying to keep her morale up as best he could. “For today at least, we won. ”

  Still, as the three of them continued the walk home, a sense of defeat descended upon them. Adam became lost in thought, kicking up pebbles with each step. Diana hopelessly watched the tranquil night sky. For Cassie, running away from a battle never felt good. Even if it was her only option, and even if she’d gotten what she wanted—it still didn’t feel dignified.

  Cowardly. That was how Alice or Beatrix would have described her retreat. Shameful.

  Diana came to a stop when they reached the turnoff that led to Max’s house. “I’m heading this way,” she said.

  Cassie offered her a grin. At least Diana had Max back in her life, her one and only soul mate. That was one joyful thing Cassie could focus on.

  “You’ve earned it,” Cassie said. “We’ll regroup tomorrow and figure out our next move. ”

  Diana trudged off alone, quickening her pace a bit, Cassie noticed, but still watching the sky.

  Adam took Cassie’s hand and walked her the rest of the way to her house. When they climbed up the porch steps, Cassie invited him in, even though she didn’t need to. Neither of them had to say aloud that they, too, didn’t want to be alone.

  Cassie led Adam right up to her room, closed the door, and lay down on her bed.

  “I’ve never seen Diana so head over heels for a boy before,” Adam said.

  Cassie smirked. “Not even you?”

  “Not even me. ” He laughed, pulling Cassie in for a kiss.

  For some reason the silver cord flashed through Cassie’s mind—not the cord between her and Adam but the one between Adam and Scarlett. The fear it instilled in Cassie had been overshadowed lately by all the other more immediate threats she faced, but it never ceased to exist somewhere in the background.