The Hunt Page 8

  Cassie turned the photo around so the whole Circle could see it. “Now almost half of us are marked,” she said.

  “How did this happen?” Melanie asked, examining the photograph. “This was taken the night of the dance. How did we not know about this until now?”

  Suzan nodded soberly. “We knew we’d been marked. We just … we didn’t want to tell you all just yet. It was stupid of us.”

  “The secret is out now.” Deborah retreated to the corner. She pounded the wall with her fist, and Cassie worried that she might have punched right through the plaster.

  It was stupid of them—to use magic in the first place, and to not tell the Circle they’d been caught—but nobody had the heart to criticize them for their poor judgment. Not when they were facing far graver consequences.

  “This has gone way too far.” Adam stood up. “Two more members being marked means we have to take action.”

  “We’ve made some progress translating the book,” Laurel offered. “The pages we worked on yesterday could be the witch-hunter curse we’ve been looking for.”

  Diana shook her head. “But it’s a haphazard translation. It’s nowhere near ready yet.”

  “I’d say giving it a try is long overdue.” Faye went over to where Deborah was hovering in the corner and led her back to the group. “Let’s go get our revenge.”

  But Diana stood her ground in spite of the circumstances. “We don’t want to use dark magic we don’t understand. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Then it’s time we go after Scarlett.” Faye was growing frustrated. She leaned forward with her jaw set and her golden eyes gleaming. “She’s the only one who can help us understand dark magic.”

  Adam sensibly kept quiet on the matter this time, but Diana surprised everyone by speaking up. “I agree,” she said, and then she looked at Cassie regretfully. “It’s time.”

  “We’re not strong enough to overpower Scarlett, remember?” Melanie said. “Not even all of us put together.”

  Diana took a chance and put her arm around Cassie. “We’re strong enough if we get the Master Tools back.”

  Cassie raised her eyes just in time to see Adam smile. “Exactly,” he said. “With the Tools, we were strong enough to defeat Black John himself.”

  “Then I guess we have to find Scarlett,” Nick said. “But just to get the Tools back. That’s all we can risk right now.”

  Everyone seemed to be in agreement—even Nick. But all Cassie could think about was her mother telling her that if she had any chance of defeating Scarlett, the answers were in the book. Nothing seemed possible or realistic anymore without the secrets it contained.

  “Cassie,” Diana said, and only then did Cassie realize the whole group was watching her. “We need you with us on this.”

  Cassie looked at each of them. Diana appeared desperate but sincere. Deborah and Suzan were newly terrified. Faye was out for blood. Finally, Cassie rested her eyes on Adam. He appeared repentant and regretful for bringing Scarlett back to the forefront of their lives. But he was doing what he thought was best for her, and for their friends. That was plain to see.

  The whole Circle really believed they could do it. They thought they could triumph over evil without resorting to darkness. Cassie envied them, really. There was a time she had believed that was possible, too.

  But what could she say? They were her Circle, and she was obligated to go down with them, if that’s what they were going to do.

  “I’m with you,” she said. “Let’s go get our Tools back.”

  CHAPTER 14

  That night Diana and Adam gathered salt water from the rising tide, while Cassie and the others prepared the secret room for a locator spell to find Scarlett. Suzan and Deborah set up candles on all four cardinal points: north, south, east, and west. Sean lit their wicks one at a time. Chris and Doug cleansed the air with smoking jasmine censers, while Melanie laid out energy-clearing crystals. Cassie allowed a small part of herself to fill with hope. Maybe they did have enough good magic behind them to stand a chance in this fight. Getting the Master Tools back from Scarlett could change everything.

  Diana and Adam returned from outside with a stone cauldron filled to the brim with seawater. They set it down on the floor, and the group joined hands around it, enclosing it in a circle. Just as they had the last time the Circle performed this spell, they all concentrated on the water—on its clarity and depth, its ability to reshape its form to any container, and its utility as a mirror. Then they invoked the elements.

  “Power of water, I beseech you,” Diana said. Together the Circle softly repeated the locator chant four times:

  She who is lost shall now be found

  Hiding places come unbound

  They stared into the cauldron as Diana called out, “Let the water show the location of Scarlett.”

  Then they watched, waiting for the images to come.

  Cassie focused hard, directing all her yearning and desire onto the water. She bent her mind, begging it to cooperate. When the first image started to form she felt a gust of energy rush through her.

  It was an old house—seventeenth-century old. And it was surrounded by a heavy iron gate. The house looked like it should have been a museum, no longer suitable to live in, but not unlike many houses in New Salem and on the mainland.

  Then Cassie saw a bridge, but not one she recognized. It could have been any bridge anywhere; nothing about it struck her as unique. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

  Finally a strange picture began coming together on the surface of the water. Bit by bit, a startling portrait came to light: a man with his head and feet locked through holes in a wooden board. His hands were chained behind him. Cassie knew what she was looking at—she’d seen one of these before. It was a prisoner in colonial-era stocks. Then the water turned to a disquieting black.

  Cassie wasn’t sure what to make of the strange series of images. It seemed like the spell hadn’t worked nearly as well as it had the last time. But Adam looked up at the others with understanding in his eyes. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “She’s so close to New Salem.”

  “I know that place.” Nick nodded along. “It’s the old Stockbridge Mission House, just on the other side of the bridge. It’s supposed to be abandoned, but I guess it’s not anymore.”

  “Well, what are we waiting for?” Faye asked. “Let’s go get her.”

  “Hold on.” Diana blew out all the candles and snuffed out the incense. “First we should research what spells would be useful against Scarlett. So we’re at least prepared for a face-off.”

  Laurel pulled out a notebook and began jotting down a list. “We should study our defense spells,” she said. “And definitely remote summoning spells. Melanie, can you look into what crystals might be of use?”

  Faye flicked Laurel’s pencil from her fingers. “Forget all that. We’ve got Cassie.”

  Cassie looked down at the tattered throw rug, not wanting to acknowledge Faye’s comment. Of course Faye was champing at the bit to attack the hunters. All she cared about was breaking her mark, even if it meant Cassie performing dark magic. But what Faye didn’t understand was the more Cassie used dark magic, the darker she became. Or maybe Faye did understand that, but she was still willing to sacrifice Cassie to the dark side for their cause.

  “Cassie’s not using black magic when we go up against Scarlett,” Adam said. “Under any circumstances. But aside from that, I agree with Faye. We need to act right away, even if we don’t have all the research.”

  Diana gawked at Adam from across the living room table. “This isn’t something to rush into,” she said. “Need I remind you how in our last battle with Scarlett, she made you blind with a single wave of her hand?”

  Suzan and Deborah, who were sitting side by side on the sofa, chuckled meanly.

  “I remember,” Adam said. “And it wasn’t just me, it was all of us. But thanks for bringing that up.”

  Adam turned to Nick for support, a
ssuming they might for once fall on the same side of a dispute. “Don’t you think it’s do-or-die time?” Adam said to Nick. “Study period is over. Am I right?”

  Cassie’s insides were seething. She wanted to go after Scarlett and get the Master Tools back more than any of them, but deep down she knew what they were up against—she was the only one who really understood what they were up against. It was her responsibility to speak up.

  “Having learned something from the trap I walked into in Cape Cod,” she said, “I don’t want to face Scarlett unprepared. She’s stronger than all of us put together. We got lucky last time—we got her to run away, but we couldn’t overpower her. The only way we stand a chance of defeating her now is by outsmarting her.”

  Cassie directed her attention to Adam. “That was a great pep talk and all, but a positive attitude and a whole lot of hope aren’t going to cut it. We need to be realistic. We should have an arsenal of spells at our fingertips before we step through the door of that house. One or two more days of preparation is all we need. It’s not much.”

  “I’m with her,” Deborah said. “Cassie should be the one calling the shots on this mission.”

  Nick raised his hand. “I second that.”

  Adam’s cheeks turned crimson, and Faye let out a begrudging sigh.

  Laurel picked up her notebook and pencil. “Okay then. Who has something to add to the list?”

  Adam lingered at Cassie’s front door, waiting for the others to leave her house with their individual assignments. He tilted his head at her and averted his eyes. “We should talk,” he said.

  “About what?”

  “Scarlett.”

  “It seems like she’s all you want to talk about lately,” Cassie said.

  Adam’s coy look changed into something more serious. “I understand why you’re upset, Cassie. But I didn’t suggest we find Scarlett so I could ask her out to dinner.” He smiled. “You know that.”

  Cassie did know that, but she still resented Scarlett for the stress she was putting on her and Adam’s relationship. And that resentment was transferring directly onto Adam.

  “That’s all I wanted to say.” Adam leaned in and gave Cassie a stiff hug good-bye.

  Cassie accepted his hug with limp arms. In her mind, she knew Adam hadn’t done anything wrong, but her heart was proving to be more stubborn. Scarlett and the cord were all she could see when she looked at Adam now, all she could feel when he touched her. No matter how hard she tried to rationalize her jealousy away, it was there.

  After Adam left, Cassie did the only thing she could think of to distract herself from her love life: She started cleaning the kitchen. Her mother would be home soon, and it would be nice for her to return to a spotless house.

  As she was sweeping the kitchen floor, enjoying the trivial sense of control that came from defeating household dirt and grime, Nick climbed up from the basement.

  Cassie gripped her broom handle tightly. “Going somewhere?” she asked.

  Nick slipped the broom out of Cassie’s hands. “Not unless you’re volunteering yourself as an escort.”

  “I might be.” Cassie laughed. “But not until this floor is clean.”

  “In that case, consider it done.” Nick put his head down and began sweeping the floor with even strokes.

  Cassie watched him, admiring the way he could lose himself so effortlessly in a physical task. Rebuilding engines, wrenching pipes, chopping wood—brute force was where Nick excelled. Fixing things that were broken, or muscling a floor clean if that was all he could get. There was a rugged simplicity to him that Cassie envied.

  Nick stopped sweeping and rested both hands on the broom handle. “A penny for your thoughts,” he said.

  “I should be the one paying you if I start talking.”

  “Try me.” Nick grinned. “First session is free.”

  Cassie leaned against the kitchen counter. “Well, for starters, I’ve been having terrible nightmares.”

  “From the book, do you think?” Nick asked.

  “I guess. I’ve been having a lot of weird feelings since that book came into my life.” Cassie paused. “And things with Adam have gotten pretty messy.”

  Nick usually flinched every time Cassie said Adam’s name, but he didn’t this time. His mahogany eyes were still and clear and his face was calm. Cassie suddenly felt like she could tell Nick anything and he wouldn’t judge her. She took a step closer to him.

  “You know the cord?” she asked. “The one between me and Adam?”

  “The infamous silver cord. Do you even have to ask?”

  “Well, there’s another one just like it,” Cassie said. “Between Adam and Scarlett.”

  “Hmm.” Nick set the broom aside and crossed his thick arms over his chest.

  “What do you think that means?” Cassie asked.

  “The more important question is what do you think it means?” Nick’s voice was caring and warm.

  Cassie shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

  “Personally,” Nick said. He looked pointedly at Cassie. “I think people pick who they love.”

  There was a beat of silence between them, a charged moment, and Cassie felt something tremble inside her. Something uncontrollable. A heat.

  Without thinking, she took Nick’s face into her hands and kissed him. It was urgent, and passionate, nothing like her soft kisses with Adam. She was hungry in a way she didn’t know she was capable of. But at the same time she felt disconnected, the way she had felt in her bedroom that night with Adam, after touching the book. It was like her mind and her body had split. She wanted to stop, but she couldn’t, so she kept kissing Nick until he pulled away.

  He brought his fingers to his lips in shock. “What the heck was that?”

  Cassie was just as stunned as he was. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t do that unless you mean it.” Nick’s eyes blazed at her, and the air between them still felt charged. Cassie knew if she didn’t walk away now she was going to do something she might really regret. She turned and ran up the stairs to her bedroom, securing the door behind her.

  Cassie wasn’t sure what to make of what had just happened. She hadn’t known she was going to kiss Nick until she was already kissing him. In the moment, the thrill of it had rushed through her whole body. The screaming black hunger from deep in her gut was satiated—it had gotten what it wanted—but now all Cassie felt was empty.

  CHAPTER 15

  The next morning, guilt and shame were consuming Cassie from the inside out. It was only a kiss, but it shouldn’t have happened. How could she have let it happen? Before she even kicked off the covers and got out of bed she tried calling Adam. She had to set things right.

  He answered right away but sounded distracted. Or was he annoyed?

  “Is this a bad time?” Cassie asked.

  “It’s fine,” Adam said abruptly. “What’s up?”

  “I was hoping we could talk,” Cassie said. “Will you meet me out on the bluff?”

  “I can’t.”

  “It’s kind of important.”

  Adam nervously cleared his throat. “I wish I could, but I have to study for a history test.”

  He was so obviously lying that it was almost insulting. “Since when are you so concerned about studying?” Cassie said.

  “What are you talking about? Since always.”

  Cassie knew something was wrong. Adam’s voice sounded agitated and higher-pitched than usual. He was hiding something.

  “Can I talk to you now then, for a few minutes?” Cassie asked. “There’s something I’d like to say and I don’t want to put it off.”

  “You know, now really isn’t such a good time. I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

  Cassie could hardly believe her ears. Adam must be angry with her or he would never behave this way. But it didn’t make sense. Just last night he had told her he loved her.

  “I really do want to talk,” Adam said. �
��But it’ll have to wait. I’m sorry, Cassie, but I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.”

  Cassie said good-bye and then listened to the silence on Adam’s end of the line for a few seconds after he hung up. The rift between them must be bigger than she had thought. And Adam didn’t even know the worst of it yet. If he was this upset with her now, what would his reaction be when he found out she had kissed Nick?

  Hours passed, and Cassie still couldn’t get the phone call with Adam out of her head. It wasn’t only the fact that he had lied that was upsetting her. It was that she deserved it. He was right to not even want to hear her pathetic apology. If she were him, she wouldn’t want to talk to her either.

  But there was someone else Cassie should apologize to, and she hoped he would at least hear her out. She filled up a few plates with some chicken and vegetables and brought them downstairs, just as an excuse to seek out Nick.

  When she stepped inside the secret room, Nick was hunkered on the couch watching a bad horror movie with Deborah and Suzan. They were munching on popcorn and laughing. None of them turned to look at her, but the moment Cassie laid eyes on Nick she was overcome with shame. She couldn’t even bear the sight of him. She set the food she’d brought on the kitchen table and turned to run back upstairs as fast as she could.

  Nick noticed her and bolted up to catch her by the arm. “Hey,” he said. “Where are you going?”

  Cassie glanced at Faye and Laurel, but neither of them noticed the commotion. They were both at their computers wearing headphones. And Deborah and Suzan were too engrossed in the blood and guts of their movie to care about what Nick and Cassie had going on. They turned up the volume on the TV to drown their voices out.