Then she looked at Diana, whose clear green eyes shone at her for a moment. Then, "Yes, environmentalism is good," Diana said, turning to Laurel. "But we have to think about how to improve relations with the outsiders, too ..."
Cassie looked at Adam and found him looking at her. He took her hand, closing it in his own, both of them holding the chalcedony rose.
Cassie looked down at their intertwined fingers, and it seemed that she could see the silver cord again, wrapping around their two hands, connecting them. But not just them. Filaments of the cord seemed to web out and touch the others of the group, linking them together with silver light. They were all connected, all part of one another, and the light shone around them to touch the earth and sky and sea.
Sky and sea, keep harm from me. Earth and fire, bring my desire.
They had. And they would in the future. With her inner vision, Cassie saw that the Circle was part of something bigger, like a spiral that went on and on forever, encompassing everything, touching the stars.
"I love you," Adam whispered.
From the center of the Circle, Cassie smiled.