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of the sides of her eyes and spoke without moving her lips. "I was wrong about you."

Cassie looked at her in surprise, but said nothing, leaning over as if to examine Sally's tied wrists.

"You may be right about Brunswick," Sally said, still in almost inaudible tones. "If you are, I feel sorry for you. He's going to do something on the ninth. There's a full moon or something - and that's when he's going to move. He wanted the tools before then."

"Thanks," Cassie whispered and she squeezed Sally's hand behind her back. Then she straightened up as Diana said, "Let's go." As they left, Cassie nudged Adam inconspicuously.

"Are you doing the fire?" she whispered.

"What? Oh." The flames fell, collapsing suddenly into a normal bonfire. "I guess so," he said.

They walked through the woods, Laurel and Deborah leading them surely among the dark trees, Raj trotting alongside. Cassie spent the entire walk thinking about Nick.

She got in the Armstrong car with him when they came to the road. He drove silently, one arm along the back of the seat. The other cars were in front of them, headlights shining on the lonely road as they made their way back to New Salem.

Cassie was trying to find the right words to say. She'd never had to do anything like this before and she was afraid to do it wrong. She was afraid to hurt Nick.

But there was no way around it. From the instant that Adam had kissed her hand she had known. Cassie could like it or hate it, but there was no way to do anything about it.

"Nick ..." she said, and choked up.

"You don't have to say anything," he said, in his old detached, nothing-hurts-me voice. Cassie could hear the pain underneath it. Then he looked at her, and his tone softened.

"I knew what I was doing when I got into this," he said. "And you never pretended anything else. It's not your fault."

He'd said she didn't have to say anything - but she did. She had to try to explain to him.

"It's not because of Adam," she said softly. "I mean, it's not for him, because I know there's no hope. I - accept that now, and I'm happy for him and Diana. But I just..."

She stopped and shook her head helplessly. "This is going to sound totally stupid, but I can't be with anybody else. Ever. I'm just going to have to . . ." She tried to think of a way to put it, but all she could come up with was a phrase out of one of her grandmother's Victorian etiquette books she'd read one rainy afternoon.

"I'm going to have to live a life of single blessedness," she mumbled.

Nick threw back his head and laughed. Real laughter. Cassie looked at him, embarrassed, but glad that at least he was smiling. His voice was more normal too, as he glanced at her sideways, taking his arm off the back of the seat.

"Oh, you think so?" he said.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?"

Nick didn't answer, just shook his head slightly, with another little snort of laughter.

"Cassie, I'm glad I met you," he said. "You're - unique. Sometimes I think you belong back in medieval times instead of now. You and Diana and him, all three. But, anyway, I'm glad." Cassie felt more embarrassed, and she didn't understand. "I'm glad I met you," she said. "You've been so nice to me - you're such a good guy."

He snorted again. "Most people would disagree," he said. "But I'm not so bad. I'll have to make sure I'm not, or I'll still see you looking at me with those big eyes." He started to fish a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket, then glanced at her sideways and tapped it back.

Cassie smiled. She wished she could hold his hand, but that wouldn't be right. She was going to have to make it alone now.

She leaned back and looked through the windows at the lighted houses slipping by.

Chapter Thirteen

"It's the Moon of Long Nights," Diana said. "And it's not just full on the ninth. There's an eclipse."

"A total lunar eclipse," said Melanie.

"Is that bad for us?" Cassie asked.

Diana considered. "Well, all witches' powers are strongest in moonlight. And certain spells are best done at the dark of the moon, or at the full moon, or at some other phase. I'm sure that if Black John is going to move on that particular night, an eclipse