Cassie laughed to herself. Of course. Why hadn't she figured that out? "But who was that man?" she asked.
"I know I've seen him before," Diana said.
And then it was Melanie's turn to have a laugh. "I just read The Scarlet Letter," she said. "That was Nathaniel Hawthorne."
"It was probably a clue to a street name," Laurel suggested. "Lots of the streets are named after old authors around there."
"Forty-eight," Adam said, typing it into his phone. "Forty-eight Hawthorne Street, that's where she is."
"Well, what are we standing around for?" Nick said.
"Let's go get her."
"We can't," Diana said firmly. "Cape Cod is outside the realm of the protective spell. It's too dangerous." Melanie, sensing that Cassie was about to explode, backed Diana up. "We'll need all the power we can get if we have a chance at defeating the hunters," she said. "We should wait to battle them here in New Salem, under the guard of the protection spell."
"I'm done waiting," Cassie said. "We can't count on the hunters sparing Scarlett for long."
Before anyone had the chance to respond, there was a spine-chilling scream from the bleachers overhead. It immediately registered that this was not the right kind of scream to hear at a track meet. It was a grisly sound, pain and shock and horror all wrapped into one. It sounded like death.
death.
Cassie and the others hurried out to see what happened, but it was complete havoc when they emerged. They strived to see over the mad crowd of panic-stricken students and frantic teachers and parents.
"There's a student down, on the bleachers," Adam said.
Cassie caught sight of a head of straw-colored hair and instantly knew who it was. It was Portia Bainbridge. And she was lying right above where the Circle did their spell.
"She collapsed," someone from the track team said.
Laurel elbowed through the crowd to see if Portia was still alive. She kneeled over her body, calling her name, and checked for a pulse. But it was no use.
Portia was gone - as lifelessly stiff as Constance had been on the ground the night of the spring festival. And what was worse, what Cassie wished more than anything she hadn't seen, was the faint glimmer of the hunter symbol on Portia's shirt, just over the place where her heart would have been beating.
Cassie didn't need to ask the others if they could also see it this time. She knew by their fright-stricken faces that they could.
"We need to get out of here," Melanie said, ghost-faced.
"Now," Diana commanded. "Everyone to my house." Scattered around Diana's living room, the Circle tried to regroup. But they were reeling from Portia's shocking death, and their own near miss.
Adam was walking in figure eights upon the hooked rug, gnawing on his fingernails. "Don't you see what this means?" he said. "The hunters killed a human, thinking the source of the magic was coming from her. So they don't know who the witches are yet."
"They still don't know it's us," Faye echoed, from where she was lounging on Diana's sofa. "After all this time. I told you so." There was a hint of triumph in her voice.
Laurel cringed at Faye's insensitivity. "But that was a huge price to find that out, don't you think? Portia's dead."
"Ah yes, more Outsider blood on our hands," Faye said mockingly.
Suzan unwrapped a Twinkie she had buried in her purse and emotionally bit off its top.
With her mouth full she mumbled, "I was finally starting to not hate Portia, too. And then we go and get her killed."
"It wasn't our fault," Deborah said. "There was no way we could have known that would happen."
Melanie disagreed. "We knew doing a spell as powerful as that was a risk, and we willingly took that risk. Portia would still be alive if we hadn't."
Until now Cassie had remained silent. Of course she felt responsible for what happened to Portia, but there wasn't time to dwel on it at the moment. She took control of the floor, hoping to channel the group's fear and anger, and even their guilt, toward the task at hand.
"I'm as rattled as the rest of you," Cassie announced.
"This proves the hunters are strong and getting closer. And Scarlett is still being held hostage and tortured in a shack on Cape Cod as we speak. We have to act fast before she reaches the same fate as Portia."
Diana began shaking her head before Cassie had even finished her sentence. "I'm sorry, Cassie, but we just can't risk it. We'll figure out another way."
Melanie jumped right in to aid Diana in shutting Cassie down. "We can't mess with these hunters. Look at what they're capable of."
Faye appeared to be utterly enjoying herself. What was it that charged her up? Was it the brutal loss of human life, the fractioning of the group, or everyone turning on Cassie?
She sat upright from her lounging position on the sofa.
"You had to know there was no way we would step right into the hunters' hands, right?" She narrowed her snakelike eyes at Cassie. "Not with this group of cowards, anyway." Nick rose up from his chair. "Shouldn't we put it to a vote?"
"No." Faye laughed. "It's called veto power. Right, D?" Diana looked down at her thin hands. "It's called an executive decision."
"We can't go after the hunters in Cape Cod," Adam said.
"But what if we try to lure them back here to New Salem?"
"There's no time for that!" Cassie lost her patience.
Chris Henderson shot up and went to Nick's side. "We should vote. Like we always do."
"I agree." Doug joined his brother and Nick in their small insurrection. "Since when did you all become fascists? I say we go rescue Scarlett." Then directly to Cassie he said, "I know what it's like to lose a sister. You shouldn't have to."
"And I trust Cassie's judgment," Nick called out. His jaw was tight, but his eyes were full of emotion. "I'm willing to take the risk."
Cassie's heart was confused. How could her soul mate not understand her the way Nick sometimes did? Adam was standing there now, stubborn and overly protective, shaking his head no while Nick was willing to do whatever it took to support Cassie and rescue Scarlett.
"It's not going to happen, boys," Faye said maliciously.
"We have the right to vote on it," Nick insisted, with Chris and Doug growing visibly more restless at his side.
But even if they voted, it was clear who would win. After everything they'd been through, Scarlett was still an Outsider to them. They would do anything to save Melanie's great-aunt, but when Cassie's own sister was in trouble, and they had a way to save her, they refused.