paged through it, searching for some hint or clue as to what to do next. But she knew deep down there were no magical shortcuts. She would have to go to Cape Cod and battle the hunters herself. It was the only way. She could die trying, and she knew it, but she couldn't think of a better reason to die.
Her thoughts were interrupted then by another knock at her bedroom door, this time louder and less gentle.
"Mom, I'm sleeping," she called out.
"It's Adam," said the voice behind the door.
Cassie didn't tell him to come in, but he turned the knob and opened the door anyway. "Your mom said you weren't feeling well," he said, closing the door behind him.
Cassie watched him with indifference. "I'm fine," she said.
He kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed beside her.
Something glistened in his eyes that made Cassie realize he was going to try to sweet talk her.
"I don't recall telling you to make yourself comfortable," she said.
He didn't flinch. "I get it, Cassie. You're angry with me.
But please hear me out."
Cassie made no reply.
Adam took that as his cue to continue. "You know I'm always on your side," he said. "And I want to save Scarlett just as much as you do. We all do."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem," Cassie said. "We all want the same thing."
Adam furrowed his brow. "I wasn't finished," he said. "I want to save Scarlett, but I'm worried about how this is playing out. And I don't want you, or any of us, to get hurt."
"This is beginning to sound like a broken record, Adam.
All anyone talks about is how dangerous everything is, how we can't perform magic, how we can't go after the hunters.
I'm beginning to think Faye is right. This Circle is a bunch of cowards."
Adam pitched forward slightly, as if Cassie had socked him in the gut. "I'm not a coward," he said.
Prove it, she wanted to say, but she felt a spasm of self-reproach. Battering Adam would get her nowhere. There would be no convincing him to see this her way.
"I'm not a coward," Adam said again, tightly, and for a moment Cassie glimpsed something in him that she found frightening. A commanding power that always lay dormant inside him. If only she could harness that power to work for her rather than against her on this.
Cassie knew deep within her soul how powerful the Circle actually was when they worked together. They didn't need to rely on a protection spell to keep them safe. Why couldn't Adam see that?
"I can't talk about this with you now," Cassie said. "I need some time to myself. To think."
Adam stood up. His eyes turned as dark as the sky in a storm. "I love you," he said. "And if you have to be upset with me in order to prove that love, that's fine. But I'm not willing to lose you."
He put his hands on his hips. The sun glimmering through the window brought out all the different colors in his hair, the shining waves of red mixed with brown and gold.
"If time is what you want, okay," he said. "I'll be here when you're ready. But I have one request."
He paused to make sure Cassie was listening carefully to him.
"What's your request?" she asked, still not returning his gaze.
"Don't do anything rash without talking to the Circle first." Cassie buckled. That wasn't exactly a fair thing to ask of her.
"Promise me," he said.
She made the mistake then of looking into Adam's pained, loving eyes. He wasn't a coward. He was a good, brave soul, and he always wanted the best for everyone.
"Please," he said. "Don't do anything reckless." Cassie was no less angry with him than she was when he arrived, but she also loved him with all her heart. And she was powerless against the urge to put his troubled mind at ease. "I promise," she said.
But she knew it was a promise she probably couldn't keep.
Chapter 23
Darkness for miles, that was all Cassie could see. A red-toned darkness like the insides of her own eyelids, but her eyes were wide open. She sensed the ramshackle house far out in the distance, hidden within the blackened night.
She called out, Scarlett!
Scarlett didn't come to Cassie in this dream - Cassie went to her. She forced her way through the pitch-black night as if blind and mad, holl ering Scarlett's name. It was like traveling through outer space in a starless universe,