The Temptation (The Secret Circle 6)

Why hadn’t she reacted better when her friends first proposed the idea of offering up their power? She’d showed them no appreciation at all. She practically threw a tantrum, getting up and walking out on them. It would be her own fault if her mother was the only one to join her at the ceremony today.

That thought trailed Cassie through the rest of her morning, right up to the moment she and her mother were approaching the beach.

From afar the sand looked like a white sheet with a few clusters of people standing upon it. Cassie couldn’t make out any faces through the mist and fog. It might have been another group, some party or gathering of strangers. But as she inched closer she was overwhelmed by the sight that spread, clear and vivid, in front of her.

Faye was there, looking majestic with her dark dress blowing in the wind. Scarlett’s hair shone red in the sun. Adam and Diana were helping everyone get organized. Her whole Circle had come. Max, who was standing close to Nick, gave him a nudge when he caught sight of Cassie and her mother approaching. Nick smiled warmly and waved.

Then Cassie began to look around more carefully. She saw Adam’s grandmother, Mrs. Franklin, alongside Laurel’s grandmother Quincey.

The crones came, she thought to herself. Her own grandmother wouldn’t have believed it, to see these elders out in public fully prepared and willing to perform magic. Cassie said hello to each of them.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, slightly breathless.

Adam’s grandmother squeezed her hand. Her skin felt soft and wrinkled, so old. “I know you’ll use my power well,” she said.

“I promise to,” Cassie answered.

Then Cassie noticed a tall, somewhat awkward man. It was Mr. Meade, Diana’s father. He was standing beside a shorter man Cassie recognized as Suzan’s father, Mr. Whittier. She hadn’t seen him since his daughter’s funeral.

Cassie greeted him, said thank you for coming, and then turned to her mother in disbelief. “You gathered the parents?”

Her mother modestly shrugged her shoulders. “All I did was go door to door and explain the situation. They decided for themselves to come.”

If Cassie hadn’t seen them with her own eyes she wouldn’t have believed it. Chris and Doug were standing beside their nervous, long-limbed parents, who were known to be adamantly against magic. And Deborah’s mom and dad, who had always denied ever being witches at all, were asking her to explain one more time how the spell would work.

Sean’s father, slouching, beady-eyed Mr. Dulaney, who looked just like an older version of Sean, stood beside his son with his hand on Sean’s bony shoulder. And if Cassie wasn’t mistaken, Sean was leaning into his arm ever so slightly. His dad had come through for him. All of the parents had.

Even Faye’s mom, Mrs. Chamberlain, an infamous recluse who never set foot out of bed, had come to the beach this morning. She was pale, lingering a bit apart from the others in a bulky gray sweatshirt that she clutched to her body like a cocoon—but she’d come.

Cassie jumped when a barking dog sprinted toward her. Even Raj had showed up on the beach for the spell. He sniffed his wet nose at her hands as Cassie giggled.

Adam chased after him, carrying a neon nylon leash. “He didn’t want to miss out,” he said, laughing.

There was a sparkle in Adam’s blue-gray eyes, so much like the sun glinting off the ocean. “Can you believe this turnout?” he said. “There’s a lot of love for you on this beach right now, Cassie. I hope you can feel it.”

Cassie’s heart swelled within her chest. Adam was right. This crowd had assembled for her—all of this was just for her. The sight of all these friends, all these loved ones, suddenly brought tears to her eyes. She realized she had a much bigger family than she’d ever known.

Cassie stepped to the center of the gigantic circle composed of every witch left in New Salem. Diana stood at the circle’s northern point with her Book of Shadows in hand. She spoke in a loud, musical voice.

“Thank you for gathering here today,” she said. “As the spell gets under way, each witch present must willingly offer Cassie a portion of his or her power, as a gift. You will get nothing in return. It has to be a completely selfless act.”

Cassie looked around at all the willing faces, old, young, and in-between. Not one of them held her past against her, or her father’s past against her. No one here today blamed her for being a Blak.

“Is everybody ready?” Diana asked.

A murmur of assent was all the prompting she needed. “I’ll go first,” Diana announced and took a step forward, holding up a clear quartz crystal for everyone to observe.

Cassie stood perfectly still, open-handed. She cupped her palms as if she were trying to catch water from a fountain.

Diana ceremoniously placed the quartz in her open palms. She said, “I gift you this crystal, Cassandra Blake, as a symbol of my faith in you, and my allegiance to the community of witches, past, present, and future. Use this power well.”

Her eyes radiated a shining love, for Cassie and for all who were present. Then she quietly returned to her place in the circle.

Adam was the next to step forward. He held up a vivid blue sapphire, then placed the stone beside Diana’s in Cassie’s open hands, repeating the same words: “I gift you this crystal, Cassandra Blake, as a symbol of my faith in you, and my allegiance to the community of witches, past, present, and future. Use this power well.”

Adam kissed Cassie softly on the cheek before returning to his place in the circle.

Melanie offered Cassie pale green jade. Laurel gave her a majestically deep-hued amethyst. Deborah placed a yellow citrine into Cassie’s hand that resembled the high morning sun. Suzan’s father stepped forward holding up Suzan’s favorite gemstone, an orange carnelian. Both of them had tears in their eyes when he offered it to Cassie.

Cassie’s mother had brought her namesake stone, a color-changing alexandrite. She placed it on top of the crystal pile forming in Cassie’s hands with a proud, loving smile.

There were twenty-one of them in all. One by one, each witch present stepped forward and made the offering.

Cassie’s cupped hands filled with a pile of crystals like a multicolored glass mountain. In her palms lay pink danburite, translucent topaz, and precious tourmaline. There was silky tiger’s eye and brassy pyrite; shimmering opal and speckled rainbow jasper. Their surfaces sparkled and felt cool upon her skin. The mass of them grew heavier with each stone, like a sinking, tipping scale.

Nick stepped forward holding up a hefty chunk of green selenite, which was a friendship stone with metaphysical properties. “Just knowing you,” he whispered into her ear, “is enough for me. Seeing you every day, being there. I’ll be your friend for life.” He gave her a tender kiss on the forehead after placing the stone in her hands.

Cassie felt her heart brimming, abundant with love, spilling over.

Faye stepped to the center of the circle just after Nick. She offered Cassie her rare red star ruby. It was a grand gesture—the most powerful stone Faye owned—but she made no grandness of it. She gave Cassie a humble nod when she added it to the pile. “You deserve it,” she said.

Scarlett was the only witch left who hadn’t come forward. Cassie waited, her hands growing shaky now beneath the weight of all the stones. She could already feel their power charging through her, completing her. She was careful not to let a single one slip through her fingers.

Scarlett reached deep into her pocket and pulled out her offering. She held up a silvery black iron rose for everyone to admire. It was a variation of hematite, Cassie’s and Scarlett’s working crystal, with flat hexagonal edges clustered in a formation that resembled a flower. Its sheen reflected the sun like a mirror as she stepped forward. With both her hands, she placed it on the apex of the mountain of crystals in Cassie’s palms.

Cassie felt her eyes widen as she took in the crystal’s natural beauty. It was the perfect stone to top the pile, an exquisite gleaming rosebud. When Scarlett returned to her place in the circle, the offering was complete.

Cassie closed her eyes. The final recitation of the spell was hers to deliver.

She took a deep breath, allowing the power of all the crystals she held in her hands to fill her heart and soul.

She thought hard about the words on the brink of leaving her mouth. She had to mean them. She had to feel them. She had to be sure.

And she was.

“I am open to the power and love offered to me today,” she said. “I accept it with unguarded gratitude.”

She repeated those words three times, louder each time, and the moment the final consonant left her lips, the crystals heated in her hands—all of them together, as one. She suddenly became aware of the salt smell in the air and the splashing waves against the pier. She listened to it and felt her breathing slow. She could feel her own pulse and the pulse of the earth, and she became immersed in its rhythm. Then she felt a warmth flow from the stones, up her arms, through her heart, and out through the top of her head. She felt a light radiating from her pores. She was glowing.

She opened her eyes and looked around. She could see in the faces of her friends and loved ones that they also felt it. They, too, were flushed—not with the reception of power but by giving it freely. The whole group was radiant.

Cassie suddenly felt whole again, but without the darkness fighting her from inside. She felt part of the earth, and the sky, and the sea—she felt both tiny and vast all at once. The spell had worked. She felt like Cassie.

Chapter 29

Cassie reached for Adam’s hand. “I love you so much,” she said.

She looked down at their intertwined fingers, and it appeared: the silver cord, wrapping around their fingers and their hearts, roping their torsos like a lasso.

Adam rested his parted lips against her hair. “Always.”

He kissed her on the mouth, and her whole body felt warm. She could feel the cord pulling them closer, humming and shimmering, more vibrant than ever.

A bright sun shined down on the vast blue water. Adam’s eyes were wide and loving, and Cassie felt like she was collapsing into them as he looked at her. The moment was perfect.

With a swift motion, Adam swept her up into his arms. “I think we deserve a swim,” he said.

“To the ocean!” Cassie called out for everyone to hear.

Nick raced for the tide. Chris, Doug, and Sean followed him. They ran knee-deep into the water, fully clothed.

Scarlett chased after Sean, diving for his head and dunking it underwater. Melanie, Laurel, and Deborah floated in up to their chins. Adam carried Cassie in deep enough for the sandy floor to dip down, and then shot ahead to join the game.

Max and Diana held one another close, treading water together. Cassie could see the filaments of their cord between them as they kissed the water droplets off each other’s face.

Then Cassie noticed Faye, who was bobbing nearby, smiling sideways. Cassie grinned back at her, and Faye slapped a wave of water into her face.

Cassie caught the coming rush of saltwater right in her mouth, and Faye laughed aloud before she fled, kicking up more splashes through the surf behind her.

Cassie wiped the stinging wetness from her eyes. After everything they’d been through, Faye would continue being Faye—she wouldn’t want her any other way.

The Circle drifted farther out into the horizon, chasing and fleeing one another, spraying through the surf.

The dark times are over, Cassie thought. At last. She felt like she could float here, watching her friends like this, forever—her amazing and powerful friends, laughing and playing beneath the shining sun.

This was her destiny, and the things worth fighting for: friends, family, love.

Connection.

Why had she ever wanted to be anything other than what she was? A witch. With a Circle. Eternally linked to one another.

Cassie swam in toward the center of the action.

She was home, and she was herself. Everything was as it should be.