The Hunt (19 page)

“Now!” Mr. Boylan screamed, raising his symbol into the air.

Adam shot his hands toward the principal, calling out a defense spell. Nick tried throwing his energy at him with a fire blast. But Mr. Boylan and all the hunters appeared to be resistant to their magic. They clung to their relics and chanted their own curse, unhindered by anything cast their way.

“We have to get those stones out of their hands,” Melanie said.

Together Chris and Doug charged for Louvera's relic, but the moment they came within striking distance, they both dropped to the ground, holding their heads.

Melanie dove for Jedediah's relic, but she was also quick to fall, holding her head as if the relic had struck her.

Cassie, Diana, and Faye were still wearing the Master Tools. They joined hands and moved toward the hunters, chanting, “Earth my body, water my blood, air my breath, and fire my spirit.”

Mr. Boylan showed no fear of the Tools. He stepped forward, holding his symbol out to them, muttering the same words Cassie remembered hearing on the rooftop:

I sum eius agens,

I occidere in eius nomen—

I sum eius agens,

I occidere in eius nomen—

Cassie could feel that the Tools weren't working. She felt weak to the bone and powerless, and the bracelet remained cool and lifeless on her arm.

Mr. Boylan seemed to grow stronger every second he continued his chant. He was getting the best of them. Laurel, Deborah, and Sean had all fallen down onto the ground. Cassie could no longer see anyone else. Her own head began to throb, her vision blurred, and she knew it wouldn't be long before she also lost all her remaining strength.

“Cassie,” Diana said. “I'm …” She folded to her knees.

Max turned to Diana and cried out. He ran to where she'd fallen, standing between her and his father. Mr. Boylan tried to wave him out of the way, but Max wouldn't budge. He placed his stone relic on the ground and raised his arms. “We have to stop this,” he said. “Stop the curse.”

Tears of joy and relief filled Diana's eyes. Max had come through for her.

Adam appeared at Cassie's side, winded and confused. “What's he doing?” he asked.

The hunters had been thrown off by Max's turnaround. For a brief moment they had ceased chanting, looking to Mr. Boylan for direction, but now they resumed again with full force.

Max's father picked up Max's relic from the ground and held it out for him. “Take this,” he said. But Max refused to accept it. He stood tall with Diana behind him.

“Don't make a terrible mistake,” his father said. “Obey your destiny.”

Max glanced back at Diana and then returned his eyes to his father. “I am obeying my destiny,” he said.

The Circle watched Max in awe. There were a few seconds of silence, long enough for Cassie to hear Diana inhale with a quick, shallow breath and stumble to her feet. And then with a swift swipe to the head, Mr. Boylan knocked Max out cold.

Diana dashed to Max's aid, but Jedediah pummeled her with a few ominous words. She spilled onto the ground beside Max's unconscious body.

Laurel crawled over to Cassie, horrified. “Do something,” she screamed. “Whatever you did on the roof, do it again.”

Faye leaned forward at Cassie's side, breathless. “You have to,” she begged. “You're our only hope.”

But before Cassie could say a word, Adam winced as if he'd been shot. Then he dropped facedown onto the ground. Faye also buckled and then collapsed, holding her head in her hands.

Cassie looked around. She was the only Circle member still standing. She locked eyes with Mr. Boylan and burned with a feverish heat. Book or no book, she had the power in her, and she knew it. All she had to do was let it take her over.

Cassie centered her mind and took a deep breath. She told herself that just this one time it was okay to give in, to let the darkness wash over her and surge through her veins. But suddenly her legs went out from under her. Her head felt like it had been cracked open, and a splitting pain assured her she'd acted too late. All her energy was being drained from her body. It was the sensation of dying, she was sure of it.

Through her hazy vision, she could see that Max had awakened and was trying to rise to his feet, but the other two hunters were restraining him. They held him back as they continued the curse, their relics still in hand.

The entire Circle had been overpowered. Each of them lay scattered around the muddy ground like insects left for dead. The hunters' chant became louder. Mr. Boylan had closed his eyes and raised his arms to the sky, ecstatic and triumphant. Cassie could hardly believe that after such a long, hard fight it could end so pitifully for her Circle.

But then Mr. Boylan's eyes shot open again and he
suddenly drew back. “Not again,” he said. “It can't be possible.”

The other hunters anxiously scanned the surrounding area. They'd stopped mumbling their curse and tilted their heads toward the woods to listen.

Cassie faintly heard what they were hearing. Another language, both foreign and familiar. It was Scarlett. She was in the distance, walking toward them, chanting a dark spell.

Jedediah clutched his chest as he had on the roof. His face reddened as he gasped for air, and he screamed for their retreat. He and Louvera backed away from Max and fled in the opposite direction.

Max was dazed. He was squinting his eyes, searching the ground for Diana, clambering like a baby deer new to its hooves. And then he shrieked in pain, clutching his heart.

Chris, Doug, and Sean rose back up to a standing position. Deborah, Laurel, and Melanie did the same. The Circle was regaining its strength even as Max's waned. Diana cried out to Scarlett. “You're killing him!” But Scarlett was unstoppable.

Mr. Boylan hurried to Max and helped him to his feet. “It's an ancient,” he said. “We have to run.” He steadied Max's arm around his neck.

Max, writhing in agony, allowed his father to drag him away, and within minutes they were gone, swallowed up by the shadowy woods. Tragedy had been averted.

“I guess we showed them,” Scarlett said, as she sauntered to the center of the pounded and baffled group. “Or at least I did.” Her eyes were still dark from the forbidden spell.

Cassie recognized the aftermath of intense power and pleasure on Scarlett's face. It made Cassie envious, resentful even. How was Scarlett able to tap into her dark magic without losing all control? She appeared able to turn it on and off at will.

“Don't worry,” Scarlett said. “I don't expect a thank-you. Not yet anyway.” She made her way toward the car. “We'd better get out of here, in case they have any more surprises for us. We need time to regroup and restore our energy.”

Everyone, a little dazed, obediently followed behind her as if she'd just proven herself the Circle's most worthy leader.

Cassie, Adam, and Diana hung back.

“I hate to admit it,” Diana said. “But if we hadn't initiated her, we'd be dead right now.”

“But that was black magic that she used against them.”
Adam glanced momentarily at Cassie. “Wasn't it?”

Cassie nodded.

“Well, whatever it was,” Diana said, “she did it for us. She had the chance to escape into the woods and leave us for dead, and she didn't.”

Adam was in agreement. “We still can't trust her, but maybe she can be useful to us after all.”

“Maybe,” Cassie said. But she knew better than anyone that one good deed didn't change who someone was.

“You can't hide it from us any longer, Diana,” Melanie said. “It
was pretty obvious when he risked his life to protect you.”

The group was gathered around the coffee table in the secret room trying to figure out what had gone wrong in the woods, when the conversation turned to Diana and Max. But the star-crossed lovers didn't stop some Circle members from nervously eyeing Scarlett, on edge now that she was present for these private conversations.

“He did prove himself out there,” Laurel said with a romantic breeziness. “In the moment of truth he chose love.”

“Have you two totally lost your minds?” Faye had been seething quietly on the tufted sofa while Melanie
and Laurel waxed poetic about Max's turnaround, but she made up for it now by raising the volume of her voice well above theirs. “Max is the enemy. Remember? That's what you all told me. But now that Diana's fallen for him, he's suddenly the second coming?”

“Quit your complaining,” Melanie barked back from the opposite side of the coffee table. “You're just jealous. Did you not see what he did for her out there?”

“He did it for all of us,” Diana said. “Faye, I know you had feelings for him once. But you have to understand, we really are in love. Can you find it in your heart to be happy for us?”

Faye turned up her nose. “You're going to make me puke,” she said, and retreated to her foldout bed.

“Max is dangerous,” Chris called out. “You girls need to get the hearts and stars out of your eyes.”

“That's right,” Doug said. “Love has nothing to do with this. This is war.”

Cassie noticed Adam staring down at the wooden floor. Then he glanced at Scarlett, and Cassie caught a brief moment pass between them. Cassie couldn't be sure what it was, but she could tell that regardless of what Adam thought of Max's intentions, he did believe Scarlett had proven herself out in the woods. It was obvious in the
humble way he was looking at her. And she returned his gaze with a sly smile.

Cassie's jealousies flared and an image flashed in her mind. This time she saw Scarlett and Adam in bed together—in Cassie's bed—and they were kissing like hungry lovers. The scene was so vivid and graphic it was like Cassie had burst through the door and caught them in real life. Her rage seeped into the vision itself and she willed Scarlett off Adam, then doused her in a blaze of fire. She stepped closer to watch Scarlett's face blacken and melt hauntingly into the flames, and the sight of it brought a wriggling satisfaction to her stomach. She wanted to watch Scarlett perish until there was nothing left of her but ash.

It isn't real
. Cassie had to shake herself awake, repeating those words to herself until the image disappeared.

Deborah stood up and stepped to the center of the room. “I think I speak for all, or at least most of us, Diana, when I say we want you to be happy. But apart from that, we're in a bad situation here. Every single one of us is in the crosshairs right now. That's what we need to be focusing on.” She paused and Nick picked up where she had left off.

“And, no offense,” he said. “But if we get the slightest hint that Max is working against us, we'll take him down. Whether he's your boyfriend or not.”

“How do you plan to do that, tough guy?” Scarlett said, finally chiming in. “Since it's clear that the only thing that works against the hunters is dark magic.”

She'd been sitting on an ottoman off to the side, alone. The only Circle member willing to be within arm's length of her was Sean, and that was only because she was pretty. But now all eyes turned to her, and she looked to Cassie. “Isn't that right?”

Cassie solemnly nodded. “Yes, that's right. Dark magic is how I forced the hunters to retreat on the roof of the school, and it's what Scarlett used back in the woods.”

“But neither of you were able to strip the hunters' relics of their powers,” Deborah said. “What we need is a spell that will accomplish that. To remove the threat of the hunters forever. Otherwise they'll just keep coming after us until we're all dead and buried.”

Diana winced at Deborah's coldheartedness, but the rest of the group agreed.

“Cassie,” Adam said. “Now might be a good time to go get your father's book. Maybe Scarlett can help us with the spell we've been working on.”

Cassie's stomach dropped in a freefall.

Scarlett said in a throaty, mocking voice, “That's a great idea, Adam. Why don't you do that, Cassie?”

Cassie looked desperately at Diana, who remained tight-lipped and unmoving. Then she turned back to Adam. “I can't,” she said. “I don't have it.”

Scarlett rose from her seat. “What do you mean you don't have it?”

“Cassie asked me to keep it safe for her.” Diana migrated protectively to Cassie's side. “It's hidden someplace no one will find it.”

Faye shot up from where she'd thrown herself down onto her mattress. “Are you kidding me, Cassie? You gave it to Diana and not me?”

“We
all
have a right to see it.” Melanie spoke over Faye. “And not just a few pages at a time that Cassie copies for us, but as a whole book. Diana, you should go get it and bring it back here.”

“I agree,” Laurel said to Cassie. “We're all in this together, we should all know what resources we have.”

“None of you understand. It's controlling me!” Cassie screamed.