by L. J. Smith
At first Cassie simply shook her head and took off her coat. But she wanted to be able to tell her mom everything, even about the symbol she saw illuminating Constance’s forehead. And for once she did, without holding anything back for her mother’s benefit.
Her mother surprised her by listening, really listening this time. She didn’t change the subject or become so overwhelmed with fear that Cassie had to worry about her more than herself.
Until she mentioned the symbol she saw appear on Constance’s forehead.
“The symbol,” Cassie said, “looked like something primal. Like two bent U-shapes inside a hexagon.” Cassie noticed the alarmed look that flashed across her mother’s face. “What is it?”
Her mother shook her head. “Not two U-shapes,” she said. “One. A W.”
Cassie didn’t understand what she was hearing.
“W, as in Witch,” her mother said.
Cassie was breathless. Her mother closed her eyes for a moment and when she reopened them they looked as grim as two black coals.
“I know what went wrong with the spell,” she said. “There’s a way a witch can be killed that can never be reversed. But there’s only one kind of person who can do it.”
“Who?” Cassie asked. “What kind of person?”
“A witch hunter,” her mother said.
Chapter 9
Witch hunters go back as far as witches. Just as Cassie was descended from a long line of powerful ancestors, the witch hunters, too, had their lineage. That’s what Cassie’s mom told her as they walked down Crowhaven Road toward Melanie’s house.
They walked side by side, her mother carrying a casserole dish and Cassie holding a few soothing herbs from the garden. Cassie felt her hair lifted by the salty wind coming off the ocean, and she watched the trees fill with that same wind. The birds nesting within the trees began to sing and a strange sort of calm came over her.
“The symbol you saw on Constance’s forehead was an ancient mark only a true hunter could make,” her mother said. “Something must have brought them to New Salem.”
Cassie noticed the tiny crocus buds just beginning to poke their heads up from the ground alongside the sidewalk. Spring is still on its way, she thought, even as we’re being hunted and killed. “I wish whatever brought them to New Salem would leave,” she said.
Melanie’s house was so crowded when they arrived that they could barely get through the door. It appeared that everyone who’d been at the spring festival and seen Constance collapse had come now to pay their respects to the old woman. The first familiar face Cassie saw belonged to Sally Waltman. What was she doing here? Had she come with Portia? Were Portia’s brothers, Jordan and Logan, here, too?
A million worst-case scenarios raced through Cassie’s mind. Were they hoping to turn Constance’s wake into a celebration? Jordan and Logan were longtime enemies of the Circle, and Cassie wouldn’t put it past them to gloat publicly over the death of a witch. But when Sally met Cassie’s eyes and approached her with an outstretched hand, she recognized that Sally had come alone, with only good intentions.
“I’m so sorry for your loss, and for Melanie’s loss,” she said. She looked a little nervous to be there. She fidgeted with her dress and played with her rust-colored hair.
“Thank you,” Cassie said hesitantly.
Sally continued, speaking almost directly to Cassie’s hesitation. “I know I don’t belong here,” she said, “and that your friends don’t even like me, but Constance always greeted me warmly when I’d see her in town, and she was a nice lady, and I guess I just wanted to stop by to pay my respects.”
Sally took a breath and Cassie gently patted her on the back. It was true, the Circle didn’t like Sally very much, and she and Cassie would probably never really be friends, but since last fall when they’d overlooked their differences and worked together to get through Black John’s hurricane, they’d had an understanding. Sally was the closest thing the group had to an Outsider ally, and that was nothing to take lightly.
“It was good of you to come,” Cassie said. “Really. This was a nice gesture, and I know Melanie appreciates it.”
That seemed to put Sally at ease. Her small, wiry body relaxed.
“Speaking of Melanie,” Cassie’s mother said. “We should probably go find her.”
“Of course,” Sally said, and Cassie and her mother elbowed through the crowd as politely as they could until they located Melanie.
The group had Melanie surrounded like an army of black-clad secret-service agents. Most days Cassie forgot how intimidating the Circle could appear to others, and how superior they looked compared to average kids their age. It wasn’t only their genetics that set them apart; it was also their attitude. But, Cassie wondered, don’t they ever grow weary of striving to appear so infinitely strong to the outside world? Sometimes vulnerability was appropriate, and this was one of those times.
Cassie locked eyes with Adam and dreamed for a moment that they could run away together, far away from all this. He didn’t even know yet how bad all this actually was. None of the Circle did. How would they react when she told them everything she’d learned from her mother about witch hunters?
Cassie went to Adam first, just to breathe in his scent and feel his strong arms around her body. Then she offered her condolences and the soothing herbs to Melanie.
Diana tapped Cassie on the shoulder and pulled her in for a tight squeeze. Hugging Diana was like hugging daylight, and she was about as constant. Tall, magisterial Diana could always be relied upon. “How are you doing?” she whispered into Cassie’s ear.
But before Cassie had the chance to answer, Diana got distracted. Her attention turned to someone else who’d just walked in. “Scarlett’s here,” she said.
It was a surprise to see Scarlett making her way through the crowd, dressed conservatively in all black with her wild hair tamed into a neat ponytail.
As she meandered through the crowd, Cassie noticed people stepping aside to let her pass. How weird, Cassie thought, but then it occurred to her the reason why: All these strangers must have thought Scarlett was one of the group. She assumed the air of belonging right there with Melanie and the rest of the Circle, and so people believed she did.
But when she finally reached Cassie and the others, some of that confidence fell away. “I know I don’t really know any of you,” she said, looking down. “But I wanted to say I was sorry.”
Diana scanned Scarlett up and down with her sharp green eyes and then said in a slightly artificial tone of voice, “It was nice of you to come.”
“Yes, thank you,” Melanie said.
Like Sally, Scarlett didn’t have to be there, but she’d gone out of her way to show her support to Melanie and the group. Maybe, Cassie thought, if any good could come from this crisis, it would be the start to better relations with Outsiders.
Adam stepped in to make small talk with Scarlett, giving Cassie the chance to grab Diana and lead her to a quiet corner. “Gather the others,” Cassie said quietly. “Melanie, too. I know why the resuscitation spell didn’t work.”
Diana’s eyes grew wide. She took a step back to size up Cassie’s expression and then immediately began rounding up the group.
Constance’s garage was filled with ancient junk and knickknacks that may or may not have been authentic magical relics. Two stone swords rested on hooks in the wall, bronze jewelry boxes and dusty heirloom books were stacked high on drooping shelves, and multicolored stuffed birds hung precariously from wire pitched to the ceiling. A claw-foot table sat in the center of the room in front of a sagging green couch.
Melanie sat on the couch, but everyone else remained standing, spread out between piles of cardboard boxes. They waited silently for Cassie to begin.
Melanie was examining her, leaning forward, eager to hear what Cassie knew. There were dark circles beneath her usually alert eyes, and all the life had escaped from her features. Cassie suddenly worried this news might be more than she co
uld handle at the moment.
Cassie bought some time and tried to soften the blow by explaining, step by step, the conversation she’d had with her mother the night before. She paced herself, carefully building up to the description of the symbol she saw on Constance’s forehead before everything went black during the resuscitation spell.
“Did any of you see it?” she asked.
Everyone shook their head.
“How do you know it wasn’t just a hallucination?” Faye asked, with a tinge of malice. “Or your overactive imagination?”
“Because Cassie has the sight,” Diana said. “Tell us, Cassie, what exactly did the symbol look like?”
“Well,” Cassie glanced quickly at Melanie before she spoke, “I thought it looked like a hexagon with two bent- up U-shapes inside it. But my mother corrected me.”
“It was a W,” Melanie said, almost to herself. “Great-Aunt Constance was killed by a witch hunter.”
The room shuddered.
“This is bad,” Melanie said, shaking her head. “I’ve read about that symbol.”
Adam sat beside Melanie on the sofa. “Do you think this means there’s someone in town targeting us?”
Melanie nodded, too numb to cry. “And not amateurs like the Bainbridge family, either. These guys are the real thing. They’re descendants of an ancient clan of hunters.”
Adam’s jaw tightened, and his eyes sharpened to an intense navy blue. “The hunter could be anyone.”
“Or hunters,” Diana said. “There could be more than one.”
Laurel sat down on the couch on the other side of Melanie and reached for her hand. “We have to be careful.”
“That’s right,” Adam said, jumping up to pace the room, nearly bumping his head on various hanging fowl as he marched back and forth. “And we have to stick together. More than ever. Is that understood?” He stood still and eyed each member of the group individually.
Then his gaze rested on Faye.
To Cassie’s surprise, Faye had no snide remarks this time. She simply nodded. But this out-of-character response worried Cassie more than if Faye had been her inappropriate, obnoxious self. If Faye was frightened, they were in serious trouble.
Diana glanced at the door. The people inside the house were getting louder, and one muffled voice was asking for Melanie.
“I have to get back inside,” Melanie said.
Diana nodded. “You should. Melanie, I’m sorry to leave, but I’m going to run home. I know I’ve seen a protection spell in my Book of Shadows somewhere. I’ll look into it and see what I can do.”
“That’s a good idea,” Melanie said, standing now but still holding on to Laurel’s hand.
Hesitantly, they all began filing out of the garage, but Nick hung back, and Cassie took advantage of the opportunity to talk to him alone. She reached for his arm and started talking before he could say anything.
“I know you’ve been avoiding the group because of me,” she said. “And I want you to stop doing that.”
Nick turned away, but she forced him to look at her. “Listen to me. We have to stay close now. We’re in serious danger.”
He squinted his mahogany eyes at her as if she were a foreign object.
“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Cassie said desperately. “Please.”
“Well, thank you for your concern.” He said it sharply, like it was intended to cut her, but Nick always resorted to sarcasm when he started to feel something. It meant she’d gotten through to him, at least a little bit. She’d take what she could get for now.
Chapter 10
Cassie woke up to sunlight streaming in her windows. Her room was bright but cold, and the March morning air contained a windy chill that shook the windows. She would have given anything to stay beneath her warm covers and hide from the day, but she knew that wasn’t an option. Instead she got up, wrapped herself in her blue terrycloth bathrobe, and made her way outside to fetch the newspaper. She assumed there would be a write-up on Constance in the obituary section.
There was no paper on the front porch, but Cassie did find Adam, curled up beneath his jacket, asleep on the porch swing. She watched him for a moment. How peaceful he looked, but he couldn’t be comfortable. His long legs and arms were pretzeled into the swing, hanging halfway off. He’d probably been there all night.
This boy really loves me, Cassie thought to herself, looking down on his beautifully sculpted body, crunched as it was within the confines of the swing. He probably loves me way too much.
She reached out and grazed his cheekbone with her fingertips.
He smiled sleepily at her, stretching.
“What in the world are you doing out here?” she asked.
Adam quickly took inventory of his surroundings and rubbed the back of his sore neck. “Protecting you.”
“From the witch hunters?” Cassie blurted out. “But who was protecting you while you were out here all night protecting me?”
“I was,” Adam said, and then laughed. “But I guess I dozed off.”
Cassie took his face into her hands. “What am I going to do with you?” She kissed his chapped lips slowly and warmly. “Promise me next time you’ll at least come inside and sleep on the couch.”
Adam kissed her back passionately. He wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her in close. She could smell the ocean on his clothes and in the creases of his neck. She kissed him there and expected to taste salt, but instead it tasted fresh and cold like ice.
“I promise,” he said, with a shiver.
“Will you come inside now and let me warm you up?” she asked flirtatiously.
He blinked his long dark lashes at her and eagerly followed her through the door.
“Where’s Faye?” Diana asked, but nobody seemed to know.
Diana had found a protective spell in her Book of Shadows, and she wanted to cast it upon the group as soon as possible. But they’d been waiting at the beach for over an hour.
“Faye’s been late to every meeting this week,” Diana said. “This is unacceptable. Suzan, will you call her again?”
“She’s not answering,” Suzan said. “She’s been totally sketchy lately.”
Sean nodded. “We had plans with her last night, and she blew us off.”
If it were anyone other than Faye they were talking about, Cassie would have been worried. But she knew Faye would show up eventually. In the meantime, Cassie was glad to be at the beach rather than the lighthouse. She felt safe there among the long stretch of sand, the steady repetition of crashing waves, and the vast, limitless sky. She wanted to enjoy every last second they had before tourist season littered the sand with strangers. She imagined it now like a nightmare: foldout chairs as far as the eye could see, bratty sunbathers, and self-righteous surfers; toppled-over soda cans and screaming, orange-fingered, Dorito-munching children. She much preferred a cold, abandoned beach to a hot, crowded one.
She thought of Scarlett then, how it would be nice to invite her out to the beach one night this week. Maybe they could build a bonfire and make s’mores. It would be a fun way to offset all this stressful Circle business.
Then Faye appeared, waking Cassie from her daydream. “Am I late?” she said. “Sorry.”
“Where have you been?” Diana asked.
“Trust me, you couldn’t handle it.”
Diana ignored her comment. “We need to begin the protection spell before the sun starts to set.”
Cassie tried to assume the role of a leader as the group arranged themselves into a wide circle formation. Diana kneeled in front of a stone kettle, mixing together a dark, oily concoction.
“In this cauldron is salt water from the ocean mixed with blueberry oil and eucalyptus,” she said. Then she looked up at Faye and Cassie. “Will the two of you, together, use the dagger to draw our circle around me?”
Faye unsheathed the silver dagger, which had been concealed beneath her flowing black skirt, strapped to the inside of her thigh. Her eyes narro
wed, as they always did when she had a sharp object in her grasp.
“Give me your hand,” she said to Cassie. She guided Cassie’s thin fingers around the dagger’s pearl handle and enveloped them with her own. Together, as one, they drew the circle in the sand.
Each member of the group stepped inside as Melanie placed two candles on either end of the cauldron Diana was mixing.
“Here I place two candles,” Melanie announced according to ceremony. “One blue, for physical protection, and one purple, for power and wisdom.”
As she bent down to light the candles, she recited a chant from Diana’s Book of Shadows: “Divine Goddess, God Divine, if evil dwells within this place, make it now leave our space.” She then positioned the book on the ground beside Diana and took her spot within the circle next to Laurel.
Diana stood in the center of the circle holding up the cauldron. “In order for this to work,” she said, “you all need to picture a white light around you. Let it surround your whole body as I recite the chant.”
Everyone agreed and closed their eyes. Diana raised the cauldron high up to the sky and said, “By the power of the Source, no evil shall enter here.”
Then Cassie closed her eyes, too, and pictured a white light wrapping itself around her like a warm winter coat. Diana’s voice dropped an octave, and the chant left her throat like thunder.
Psychic hunters in the night
Psychic hunters of the day
Destroy no more what I achieve
Destroy no more what I receive
There were a few seconds of quiet, hindered only by the billowing wind and crashing waves. Then, Cassie heard the bell-like echo of Diana stirring the mixture inside the stone cauldron.
Diana continued.
With this potion, I anoint this Circle
To be protected from you, this magic I do
Cassie opened her eyes and watched Diana rub a smudge of the inky blue mixture upon her forehead with her thumb. Then she did the same to Faye’s forehead, and Cassie’s, and all the others.