to calm her.
"There must be a way to perform the locator spell without the hunters tracing it."
Everyone got quiet for a moment to think, but Cassie couldn't understand all this deliberation. A feeling of heat overcame Cassie, not from outside - the bluff remained cool and breezy - but from deep inside her gut, where a boiling anger seethed.
There's just no way, she thought to herself. She'd have to find Scarlett on her own.
Then Adam shot up from the log he was sitting on. "We can do it in a crowded place," he said.
Nobody responded, but Adam had a look of delight across his face, and his breathing was heavy. "Don't you get it?" he said. "If we do it in a crowd, the hunters will have a harder time deciphering the source of the magic."
"That, my friend, is brilliant," Chris said, giving Adam a high five.
Melanie's gray eyes widened. "That totally could work.
We could do it during some school event."
"Under the bleachers," Laurel called out. "During the big track meet after school today."
Cassie threw herself at Adam and wrapped her arms Cassie threw herself at Adam and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "This is why I love you," she said. "You always have the best ideas."
Adam's eyes radiated an enchanting blue light. "Is that why?" He started laughing and then said, "Okay, so it's a plan. We do the locator spell this afternoon."
"We should still put it to a vote," Diana said brusquely.
Faye smirked. "Way to kill a moment, D."
"It's only fair to let everyone have their say on this," Diana insisted. "And we should all keep in mind that locating Scarlett is only half of it." She paused to look at Cassie.
"Deciding what we do from there should be another vote entirely."
Cassie lashed out, unable to stop herself. "Do you not understand that they're going to kill her? She's my family.
Does that mean nothing to you?"
Diana's lips parted, but no sound escaped. She searched Cassie's eyes as if she were looking for something in them she'd lost.
Cassie's anger wasn't intended solely for Diana, but it may as well have been. She had screamed almost directly into her face. It was no way to behave, but the way Cassie saw it, this wasn't a time for cool analytics and meticulous strategy. Not when Scarlett's life was at stake.
Diana looked at Cassie for another bewildered and speechless moment before turning away. "We're getting ahead of ourselves," she said. "There's no guarantee the locator spell will even work."
Adam went to Cassie's side and put his arm around her.
"But we're going to try it. Do we all agree?" There were nods all around.
Adam was so good to her, and it was something that the group was willing to try the spell, but it still wasn't enough to console Cassie. All this voting and planning was wasting too much time. At this rate, they'd never get to Scarlett in time.
Chapter 21
Cassie went home during lunch to go over all her notes on the locator spell Constance had taught them. Since she'd never actually performed the spell, the details of how it worked were fuzzy in her memory. Her notes went on for a few pages, but as far as Cassie could tell, the spell was intended to locate lost objects. Nowhere had she written about using the spell to find a lost person.
Just then there was a knock on her front door. It was Adam; she should have known.
"I figured I'd find you here," he said, following Cassie to her bedroom.
"I'm not avoiding the Circle," she said. "I wanted to do some research."
"I know. You're off the hook anyway - everyone went home to gather stuff for the spell." He plopped down on Cassie's bed, beckoning her to join him.
Did he really think this was a good time for a make-out session? Cassie sat beside him, holding her notes between them.
"Is this locator spell really going to work on a person?" she asked. "I didn't realize it's actually a spell to find your missing car keys."
Adam removed the notes from Cassie's hands and placed them down on the nightstand. "It might not work," he said. "But it's possible it will. These spells can be used to said. "But it's possible it will. These spells can be used to find lost people if those people really want to be found." Cassie felt her shoulders settle a bit. There was no question that Scarlett wanted to be found. "But what if the hunters