“It's rose-hip tea,” she said, pouring a cup of fragrant, dark red liquid and smiling at Cassie. “No tea leaves at all, but it'll warm you up and make you feel better. Roses are soothing and purifying.”
“Thanks,” said Cassie, taking it gratefully. Her head was spinning. Information overload, she thought.
I'm a witch, she thought then, wonderingly. Half a witch, anyway. And Mom and Grandma-they're both hereditary witches. It was a bizarre and almost impossible notion to swallow.
She took another gulp of the hot, sweet drink, shivering in spite of herself.
“Here,” Melanie said. She removed the pale green shawl and put it around Cassie's shoulders. “We're used to the cold; you're not. If you want, we can make a fire.”
“No, I'm fine with the shawl,” Cassie said, tucking her bare feet under her. “It's beautiful-is it very old?”
“It was my great-grandmother's great-grandmother's-if you can believe the old stories.”
Melanie said. “We usually get more dressed up for Circles-we can wear anything we feel like, and sometimes it gets outrageous. But tonight…”
“Yes.” Cassie nodded in understanding. Melanie was being nicer than usual, she thought. More like Laurel or Diana. It puzzled Cassie for a moment-and then she got it.
I'm one of them, she thought, and for the first time the full import of this struck her. Not a puppy off the street anymore. I'm a full member of the Club.
She felt the bubbles of excitement, of exhilaration in her bloodstream again. And there was a deeper feeling, too, of recognition. As if something at her core was nodding, saying Yes, I knew all along.
Cassie looked at Melanie quietly sipping her tea, and at Laurel straightening a pink candle that was slumping over. Then she looked at Diana, standing a little distance up the beach with the Henderson brothers, the three blond heads close together. Diana seemed to feel no self-consciousness about wearing the thin white shift and the fancy jewelry. It seemed a natural costume for her.
My people, Cassie thought. The sudden sense of belonging-of loving-was so intense that tears came to her eyes. Then she looked at
Deborah and Suzan, deep in conversation, and at Faye, who was listening with a bland smile to something Sean was excitedly saying, and at Nick, who was staring silently out at the ocean, a can of something that wasn't soda in his hand.
Even them, she thought. She was willing to try and get along with all the other members, with everyone who shared her blood. Even the ones who'd tried to keep her out.
She looked back at Laurel, to find the slim, brown-haired girl watching her with the hint of a sympathetic smile.
“A lot to deal with at once,” Laurel said knowingly.
“Yes. But it's exciting, too.”
Laurel smiled. “So now that you're a witch,” she said, “what's the first thing you're going to do?”
Cassie laughed, feeling something almost like intoxication. Power, she thought. There's so much Power out there-and now I can take it. She shook her head and lifted the hand that wasn't holding rose-hip tea. “What can we do?” she said. “I mean, what sorts of things?”
Laurel and Melanie exchanged glances. “Basically, you name it,” Melanie said. She picked up the book
that Diana had shown Cassie earlier and riffled through it, showing Cassie the pages. They were yellowing and brittle and covered with cramped, illegible writing. They were also covered with pink Post-it notes and plastic tape flags. Almost every page had one and some had several.
“This is the first Book of Shadows we got hold of,” said Melanie. “We found it in Diana's attic. Since then we've found others-every family is supposed to have one. We've been working on this one for maybe five years, deciphering the spells and copying them out in modern language. I'm even putting it on my computer for easier cross-reference.”
“Sort of a Floppy Disk of Shadows,” Cassie said.
Laurel grinned. “Right. And it's funny, you know, but once you start learning spells and rituals, it seems to wake up something inside you-and you start coming up with your own.”
“Instinct,” Cassie murmured.
“Right,” said Laurel. “We all have it, some more than others. And some of us are better than others at certain things, like calling on the different Powers. I work best with Earth.” Laurel took a handful of sand and let it trickle through her fingers.
“Three guesses as to what Faye works best with,” Melanie said dryly.
“But anyway, to answer your question, there's lots we can do,” Laurel said. “It all depends on your taste. Spells of protection, of defense-“
“Or attack,” put in Melanie, with a glance toward Deborah and Suzan.
”-spells for little things, like lighting fires, and for big ones, like-well, you'll find out. Charms for healing, and for finding things out-scrying and divining. Love potions…” She smiled as Cassie looked up quickly. “That interest you?”
“Oh, a little, maybe.” Cassie blushed. God, she wished she could just gather her thoughts properly. She still had that nagging feeling that there was something she was missing, something obvious that she was overlooking and should be asking about. But what?
“There's a certain amount of debate over the ethics of love potions and love spells,” Melanie was saying, her gray eyes not entirely approving. “Some people feel it violates a person's free will, you know. And a spell misused can rebound on the person who casts it-threefold. Some people don't feel it's worth the risk.”
“And other people,” Laurel said mock solemnly, her brown eyes sparkling, “say that all's fair in love and war. If you know what I mean.”