They were nearing where Colette and I were sitting now, still chatting about the stupid bag.
I scowled. Then my scowl turned into a narrow-eyed death stare. As if on cue, they all seemed to see me at the same time and guilt immediately crept over their faces. Well, everyone’s but Jasmine’s, but she never felt bad about anything.
“Okay, well, let me know what colors you guys want and I’ll go ahead and order them. I bet we could get them here before the end of the session,” Brooklyn said, ignoring the fact that they’d stopped right in front of us. Then, with a wave that would put Miss America to shame, she turned and sashayed away, Eve right beside her.
Sascha, Jinx, Jasmine, and Abby all took their places on the grass beside me. Sascha lay back dramatically on the grass, closing her eyes to the sun. I knew that she was really just avoiding eye contact with me. Hello, it was obvious.
I observed each of them individually, waiting for some kind of explanation that would make sense of what I’d just seen.
“What’s with all the staring?” Jasmine asked abruptly.
“What’s with the new friends?” I responded.
Jasmine snorted and then leaned back so she was resting on her elbows. “Dude, you have got to put an end to the crazy,” she answered.
“What’s crazy is that it seems like you guys are making nice with her,” I said. “And she’s not a nice girl, trust me. You’ve seen how she acts toward me.”
“Yeah, how she acts toward you,” Jasmine pointed out.
“She’s always nice to me,” Sascha added, still refusing to open her eyes. “Maybe you’re wrong about her, Hadley.”
“I’m not. I’ve been watching her and everything she does is sneaky. . . . ,” I started.
“You might want to watch it, Had,” Jasmine warned, cutting me off. “You’re officially entering stalker territory.”
“You’re totally exaggerating,” I said, although I was spending an inordinate amount of time studying Brooklyn when she didn’t think I was watching her. “Tell her, guys.”
I turned to the others, expecting them to back me up. But Jinx and Abby were looking anywhere but at me, while Sascha pursed her lips like she was physically trying to keep them closed. My face dropped as I realized they all agreed with her.
“You’re losing your edge, Had,” Jasmine said, pulling the sunglasses that had been up on top of her head down and over her eyes. “You didn’t even let Parris rattle you like this when he was around. And this is just the witch next door.”
“That’s not true,” I said forcefully. “Brooklyn’s much more dangerous than any of you know. I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but she attacked me earlier this week. And she’s got some special . . . skills that could put all of us at risk.”
I didn’t tell them that she was actually a scary cupid. I was aware of how silly it sounded and I needed them to listen to me right now.
“She attacked you?” Jinx asked, worried.
Finally! Thank you.
“Yeah,” I answered. I hadn’t wanted to go there, but if they wanted the truth, I’d give it to them. We’d learned through the fight with the Parrishables that when one person was threatened it affected all of us. They deserved to know who Brooklyn really was.
“Well, what’d she do?” Jasmine asked, her eyebrow arched up above her dark glasses.
“She nearly drowned me in the bathroom.” I proceeded to tell them about the incident in the shower, including the message that had appeared on the inside of the door and the fact that my magic had been blocked.
“I don’t know, Hadley,” Sascha said slowly. “Sort of sounds like one big bathroom failure. How would she know you were even in there in the first place?”
“My towel was hanging over the door in clear view . . . and the glass is basically see-through,” I said, arguing my case. “Or she could have followed me in.”
“Not everyone follows you around everywhere,” Jasmine said sarcastically.
“What kind of superpowers does she have?” Sascha asked, suddenly interested in the topic.
“She’s like a modern-day Cupid. Abby said she can make people fall for each other. She can match anyone,” I said.
“I thought love spells didn’t exist,” Colette said thoughtfully, speaking up for the first time since we’d all started arguing. So far she was the only one who wasn’t giving me a hard time about everything.
“So that’s what this is really about,” Jasmine said, like it was all becoming clear to her.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re worried about Brooklyn using her powers to go after Asher.”
My mouth dropped open at what she was implying. “Not just Asher. She could do it to any of you. Do you really want her playing with your lives like that?”
Sascha closed her eyes again dreamily. “I wouldn’t mind if she put the love whammy on me and Dane,” she said. “In fact, I might just have to talk to her about that. . . .”
“It’s not right, Sascha,” I growled, annoyed that she wasn’t taking this seriously.
“Ugh. I take it back. You’re not losing your edge at all,” Jasmine said dramatically. “You’re still just as bossy as ever.”
I sighed, feeling like the conversation had completely gotten away from me. I needed to get them to work with me on this, be on my side. And I wasn’t going to instill this sort of loyalty by fighting with them.
No. A good leader knew how to get things done.
“Fine,” I said, conceding. “I’m hearing you. And you want the old Hadley back? Well, I’m all yours. In fact, it’s been a while since we went over the protection and location spells for Samuel and the Parrishables. Why don’t we scrounge the others up and make sure everything’s still quiet?”
Jasmine looked like she hadn’t exactly gotten what she’d wanted in the deal, but she kept her mouth shut for the time being.
“When do you want to meet?” Jinx asked.
“Tonight,” I said. “You wanted me back, so let’s get to work.”
Chapter Sixteen
That night’s meeting was smaller than usual. And not just because the rest of the Cleri was back at home enjoying their summers off. Tonight, we were minus two people: Asher and Jinx. To my disappointment, Asher had already made plans with Dane and Hudson, which he apparently couldn’t get out of. Jinx, on the other hand, had gotten too much sun while we sat around during our break that afternoon and seemed to have a mild case of sun poisoning. I’d visited her before we left for the meeting, and despite the redness of her cheeks, I could tell she wasn’t herself. I promised to look in on her when we got back.
So Jinx was off the hook, but I couldn’t help but be annoyed that Asher was blowing off a Cleri meeting to hang out with his buddies. Of course, if I was being honest with myself, my first thought had been that he was actually going out to meet Brooklyn. But since these thoughts would block me from having a strong casting session—a witch needed total concentration while doing magic to achieve optimum results—I pushed my feelings to the back of my mind and focused on why we needed to be constantly improving our magicking skills: threats like the Parrishables.
And maybe even love spells or other charms by certain blond enemies.
But first, my focus had to be on Samuel and his deranged followers. They were leagues more dangerous than Brooklyn and whatever games she might be trying to play with me. Although both set off alarms in my head, it was more important to make sure Samuel wasn’t coming back anytime soon.
And the only way to know whether this was true was to continue to cast protection spells on our coven, our relatives, and our loved ones. The Cleri also performed location spells to see if there was any of Samuel’s residual energy left in this world, as well as incantations intended to keep our eyes open to the truth in all situations. True, we’d been doing this periodically since we’d come home from the cabin, but this wasn’t a one-and-done deal. I’d probably always be looking over my shoulder for the next big bad. Whether it was a not-so-de
ad Samuel Parris, the Parrishables, or someone—or something—we hadn’t even conceived of yet. We’d have to just wait and see.
At midnight, Abby and I quietly left our room and scooted down the hallway to the back stairwell, taking care not to make any noise as we locked things up behind us. When we got down to the ground floor, there were two doors to choose from: one that led into the cabin lobby, and the other that led outside. We enchanted the knob on the outside door to make sure it remained unlocked so we’d be able to get back in when we were done, and then performed a spell to shroud us in darkness as we ran across the grounds. We didn’t want anyone who just “happened” to be looking outside their windows to spot us and tell the elders.
When we were sure it was clear, we snuck out the door and rushed down the walkway, not stopping until we’d made it around the corner of the amphitheater. We’d decided that the boys’ outdoor class space would be the best option for a meeting spot, since it was completely blocked off from the view of the cabin, and was far enough away that we wouldn’t have to worry about anyone hearing us. Just to make sure, though, I cast a noise-bubble spell that would make it so our voices wouldn’t carry past where we were standing. The bubble was only about ten feet wide, but it would completely envelop our group of five.
“How can it be so cold at night when it’s so hot during the day?” Sascha complained as she appeared out of the darkness, followed by Jasmine and Fallon.
I tried not to stare as Fallon walked right over to Abby and sat down beside her. They started to chat quietly and the change in Abby’s attitude was obvious.
Is it possible she really likes him?
“You guys have any trouble getting away?” I asked the others.
“Nah. It was easy-peasy,” Jasmine said, plopping down in one of the dozens of empty seats around us. “It’s not like this place is Fort Knox or anything.”
“Still, getting caught isn’t an option,” I said. “And unfortunately, it’d be too much of a risk to do this indoors, with everyone around and all. So that leaves us out here in the woods.”
“We’re not in the woods. We’re in the amphitheater,” Sascha said and looked at her phone. “Can we hurry this up? I was sort of hoping to ‘accidentally’ run into Dane tonight.”
“In his room?” I asked. “Because that’s where Asher and the guys are.”
“I figured if I waited outside of it long enough, one of them would come out and invite me in,” she said, as if she had it all planned out. “Then, maybe we’d watch a movie—a romantic comedy or something—and he’d realize I was the witch of his dreams. . . .”
“Sounds like you’re the one who’s dreaming,” Fallon said under his breath. Sascha made a face at him and then went back to her fantasy.
“I wonder how I could get the other guys to leave for a few hours so we could be alone?” Sascha said thoughtfully. “Had, you think you could invite Asher over for a slumber party? Maybe Hudson can come, too? I’m sure Colette wouldn’t mind. . . .”
“Sascha, focus,” I said, trying to get us back on task. The last thing I had time for was planning a hookup party. “Look, it’s been a few weeks since we’ve run through these protection spells—the longest we’ve ever gone before. And even though we’ve all been distracted lately, myself included, it doesn’t mean we can let up on everything. We need to be prepared for anything.”
Sascha looked like she wasn’t ready to give up on a romantic rendezvous with Dane just yet, but was smart enough to stay quiet for now. The others just waited for me to continue.
“Good. Let’s get started,” I said, sitting down between Sascha and Jasmine, and leaving Abby and Fallon on their own across from us.
It took us a little more time than usual to cast the spells, proving that we were slightly out of practice. We’d had the sessions down to a science before, each knowing what we had to do and which order the spells were to be cast. But being down several people and with the threat of being caught by the counselors hanging over us, we were admittedly off our game. Still, we pushed forward.
We started with protection spells, using objects that belonged to each of us as the vessels in which the power of defense was stored. The spells were intended to give us a layer of protection, sort of like magical armor. It wouldn’t make us immune to evildoers, but it was better than nothing.
Each object was charmed individually as the five of us repeated the protection incantation in unison. My ring was up first. The red jewel glistened under the glow of the tiny ball of light that I’d created earlier. The magical flashlight wasn’t bright enough to alert anyone to the fact that we were out there, but it was enough to see what we were doing.
For about the hundredth time since I’d found it, I admired the craftsmanship of the ring that had once belonged to Bridget Bishop before it was passed down to her daughter, Christian. The heirloom had been hidden under the floorboards of our family’s summer home, where I eventually retrieved it after having one of my flashback dreams. It had been on my finger ever since, not just because it was probably worth a small fortune and vintage jewelry was making a comeback, but mostly because of the buzz I got from wearing it. There was something there, a sort of power that was worked into the metal that made me feel connected to the universe. It had become a sort of lucky charm of mine and I rarely went anywhere without it. In fact, I only took it off when we were casting these protection spells. Otherwise it was always on my finger.
Focused on the spell now, we said the chosen words and I watched the ring shine even brighter, proof that the spell was working.
Innocence and light, may you be guarded,
Wrap caring hand round those not yet departed.
Let no ill be cast against the wearer,
May danger return to that of the bearer.
If good meets evil and things look bleak,
Then protect pure of heart and leave
the other one weak.
I waited a few seconds after finishing the spell before picking the ring back up. It was still warm to the touch and felt at home as I slid it on my pointer finger. Then, we went on to perform the same spell on Jasmine’s black spider necklace, as well as on Sascha’s grandmother’s earrings, Fallon’s medallion, and Abby’s locket. Lastly, we finished up by charming Asher’s black leather cuff and the Claddagh ring that Jinx had worn since she was a kid.
Once each had been enchanted, we moved on to the location spell. To do this, we placed a small jar of the soil where Samuel had last stood before we’d vanquished him in the middle of our circle. While saying the designated words, I placed a snakeskin agate—a very powerful and unusual stone that helps to find lost things—on top of the jar. Slowly pulling my hand away from the gem, I watched it balance on its tip without falling.
The way the spell was supposed to work was that the stone would remain in place if the person who’d crossed the soil no longer walked the ground. If he was in fact in this universe—and not in heaven or hell or whatever happens to people after they die—the stone would fall in the direction that the offender stood. For months, the gem had stayed still as soon as I’d let it go. But even so, I found that I always held my breath for a bit until I knew it wasn’t going to move.
Luckily, this time wasn’t any different and I let out a sigh of relief when the bluish-yellow rock remained vertical. I began to get up, pulling my hair behind my shoulders and brushing off my pants.
“Okay, well, guess that’s it. In the future, we should make sure to—” I began.
“Whoa! What’s that?” Jasmine asked, interrupting me.
“What?” My attention drifted back to where she was now staring, wide-eyed. Then, I sat back down with a thud.
“Is the stone . . . moving?” Sascha asked no one in particular.
It was.
At least I thought it was. The stone that had been motionless on top of the jar just a few seconds before now appeared to be vibrating. It wasn’t a lot of movement, but there was something going on.
&n
bsp; But then it just stopped.
If Jasmine hadn’t been looking at it, we probably would’ve missed it altogether. My heart was racing now, as I told myself that we didn’t need to worry since it hadn’t actually fallen over.
“That was weird,” I said, though it was the understatement of the century. “I’m sure it was nothing, though. Maybe a glitch because the others aren’t here?”
“You sure?” Fallon asked, looking over at Abby with a worried expression on his face.
I thought about it for a few seconds and answered the only way I could.
“I hope so.”
Chapter Seventeen
It was difficult getting up the next morning. Not only had we been up late casting the protection and location spells, but I’d also had a hard time falling asleep. I kept picturing the gemstone shaking and couldn’t stop thinking about what it could mean.
But it hadn’t fallen over.
That would be the real sign that Samuel was back.
After all, the movement could’ve been a response to just about anything. Distraction while casting. Not having the full thirteen of us in the circle. Interference from the dozens of other witches inhabiting the camp. There were a ton of excuses why the spell might’ve gone the way it had—yet the only thing I could focus on was the possibility that Samuel was still alive. And if that was the case, then we were all in major trouble.
“It’s too early to be this hot,” Jasmine whined as we walked out the front door of the cabin, dressed in clothes we could cast in. “I don’t know why you guys wouldn’t just let me stay in bed this morning.”
The rest of us walked beside her, most of us dragging our feet the whole way. Only Jinx and Colette looked ready to tackle the day, which we knew wasn’t a coincidence considering both had actually gotten sleep the night before. Sascha, Jasmine, Abby, and I, however, had no business being out among people. The dark circles around our eyes and the fact that we couldn’t stop yawning were dead giveaways that we’d been up late.
“You’re going to have to rally, Jazz,” I said, silently willing myself to do the same. “This isn’t like missing a day of school. We can actually use the stuff we’re learning here.”
The Witch Is Back Page 13