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"Get out of here before any of them see us," the voice said tersely Cassie could smell the acridity of sweat

Jordan, she was thinking The one with the gun The one in the Pistol Club The other one was Logan, as on the MIT debate teaer than Jordan - or was he older? Cassie never had been able to keep Portia’s brothers straight, even when Portia was telling her about the very calmly and clearly

They drove her out of New Sale her squashed on the floor of the backseat the whole ti cold and hard pressed against the back of her head As if I were a dangerous cririef What do they think I’ to do, turn the on her was feuessed No, Sally Portia was too aristocratic to tros

Cassie heard the thudding of the tires as they drove over the bridge to the mainland After that there were a lot of turns, and then a long ride on a bumpy road When they finally stopped, it was very quiet

They were in the middle of a forest Birch and beech and oak, the native trees of Massachusetts, grew thickly all around They let Cassie out of the car, and then the guys hter footsteps of the girls following It see walk, farther and farther away from the road and any se

Soht showed a fire pit, and ropes hanging froht, it was Sally - uys tied Cassie to the tree They used a lot ht necessary

And she didn’t like the look of that fire

"Why are you doing this?" she asked Logan as he stepped back froan from Jordan - Jordan was the one with shark’s eyes

"Because you’re a witch," Logan said briefly

"That’s a reason?"

Portia stepped forward "You lied," she said accusingly "About the boy on the beach, about everything All the time, you were a witch yourself"

"I wasn’t then," Cassie said, trying to keep her voice steady "I a to do noe should have done then"

A hard fist of fear clenched in Cassie’s sto so and metal

I’m in trouble, Cassie realized I am in very, very bad trouble

She needed help She knew that, and knew of only one way to call for it Her only weapon was her power

All right, she told herself; do what you did to call to Sean Get ready, stay calm - now

Adam, she tried to call to him with her mind Adam, it’s Cassie I’m in trouble She wished she had the chalcedony rose to hold while she called; Adam had told her it would help make contact with him But the chalcedony rose was Diana’s

Don’t think about that now Think about Adam You need to ain, putting all her strength behind it Strange that the ability to push with herout, didn’t seeetting stronger as she exercised it Adae simple and clear It’s Cassie I need help

He’ll come, she told herself He’ll find this place somehow; he’ll coht of what ht happen before Adam came that chilled the blood in her veins

So here she was, stuck in the middle of nowhere with four witch hunters And the silence was getting on her nerves

"The least you can do," she said slowly, speaking to Logan and Sally because she didn’t think Jordan or Portia would answer, "is explain yourselves You’ve got me out here, and the least you can do is tell me why you hate witches so much Because I don’t understand"

"Are you crazy?" Logan said, as if it should be perfectly obvious Then, as she continued to stare at him, he said sian " Cassie searched his face in the firelight "We’re just like you We’re more - in touch - with nature, that’s all We study it and we celebrate it, and sos for us But we’re not evil Look," she said, as Logan turned away, "we have our faults like everybody else, but basically we try to be good"

"What about Faye Cha the conversation suddenly "Is she good?"

"There’s good in Faye," Cassie said, even more slowly "Diana said that once to me, and it’s true Faye just has to find it But anyway, you can’t judge all of us by one person"

"How about what they did to the entire school for years? You’re calling that good? They treated everybody like slaves!"

"That rong, I admit it," Cassie said "But Diana didn’t do that - if people treated her like a princess, it wasn’t her fault Faye was the one treating people like slaves So because they didn’t think about it And whatever they did, this isn’t the way to solve it!"

"Mr Brunswick is going to solve it," said Portia briefly

"Mr Brunswick is a murderer! He is not your friend, Portia He’s the one who killed Kori Henderson, Chris and Doug’s sister He killed her because she didn’t fit in with his plans And he killed Mr Fogle, the old principal, because he wanted to take his place And," Cassie said, "he killed Jeffrey, Sally! Yes He did it out of spite as far as I can see - or else to drive the witches and the outsiders farther apart He wants us to hate each other"

"That’s ridiculous," Logan said "Why would he want that?"

"Because," Cassie said, shutting her eyes, knowing it was probably useless, "he is a witch The bad kind The only completely bad one I’ve ever met And I think he wants us to wipe you out Or maybe he just wants to take us somewhere else and wipe out the people there I don’t knohat he wants," she said, opening her eyes, "but whatever it is, it isn’t good It isn’t so to et this crap Let’s get started," Jordan said

"No, wait, I want to get so clear" Sally stood in front of Cassie, eye to eye "You said Brunswick killed Jeffrey - but he couldn’t have He wasn’t even in New Saleht, or when the other murders were committed, either"

"Oh, he was here, he just wasn’t up and around," muttered Cassie She looked at Sally "He didn’t need to be there He’s a witch He sent out power - dark energy - to do it Or else maybe he took over somebody’s mind andgriht down to it, Faye could have pushed Kori down the steps to break her neck, and could have dislodged a boulder to start a rock slide on Mr Fogle She could even have gotten Jeffrey down to the boiler rooled hi up on hi the rope around his neck The police doctors had said one person could do it

"What difference does it make, how?" Cassie asked tiredly "He did it, that’s all that matters

And he did do it, Sally, I pro hard into her eyes, her pugnacious face inches from Cassie’s She shook her head and turned away

"I’m sorry," Cassie said to the back of her rusty head "I liked Jeffrey too I knohat you think, that I was trying to steal hi But I wasn’t I was just - I was so excited that night at Houys wanted to dance with me"

"Oh, I’ around

"It was It’s the truth, Sally," Cassie said passionately "Back in California I didn’t know any guys at all I was just too shy I don’t even knohy they wanted to dance with irl’s tight shoulders helplessly

Sally turned slowly "I guess you don’t ever look in a mirror," she said, but there was less animosity in her voice

Cassie blinked away the tears that threatened "I do, but I don’t see anything special," she said "And I didn’t want to steal Jeffrey; I was just so flattered that he askedseean, blinking again "You don’t kno I felt when I realized he was dead I would have done anything to catch the person who did it"

Logan took a step toward her, but Portia’s voice, sharp as a wasp sting, stopped hi her witch powers on you, right now Don’t be stupid, Logan"

Cassie looked at her "Portia, for God’s sake"

"Portia’s right," Jordan said brutally "If we listen to her, she’ll trick us She’s been a liar fro out of the fire

"What is that?" Cassie asked

"A cattle brand"

Cassie thought about that, and tried to keep her fragile grip on control Jordan stepped infront of her, holding the long rod which was red-hot at the end That didn’t surprise Cassie What surprised her hat he said

"Where are the Master Tools?" he asked

Cassie was dumbfounded "What?"

"Mr Brunswick told us," Portia said, her voice thin and hard "He told us that they’re the source of your power, and that if they’re destroyed you lose it all He wants to destroy them himself and stop you forever"

Cassie had the wild i more trouble So he’d put them up to this And he knew she’d found the Master Tools Right now, heher to tell Jordan to save herself OrCassie would call on hiht No ets, I won’t do it I don’t want to be saved by hi, especially at the shadows that flickered on the edges of the firelight

"He wants the Master Tools, all right," she said distinctly "But not to destroy them He’d use theet us to knuckle under"

Jordan looked unsurprised "You’ll tell us in a while," he said "I expected you to lie at first"

Cassie’s entire body tightened as he brought the glowing brand closer to her I a to cal as I need to be But when she sh her

"Wait! Stop right there, Jurgen and Lon, or whatever your nary and filled with ele between two trees as if she’d just materialized there thisinto the black shadows, and her graceful, stalking posture, she eance