第 24 页

the wrong time? Wouldn't it be better to wait, to think about this . . .

But Faye was turning back to Diana, malicious triumph written all over her face. The coven wasn't happy

with Faye tonight, but Faye was still the leader and nothing could change that fact. Now Faye was going

to start her reign by getting revenge on the people she hated most.

"Diana," she said, "I have a little surprise for you."

Don't miss the shocking conclusion of

THE SECRET CIRCLE

Volume III

The Power

"Diana, I have a little surprise for you," Faye said.

Diana's emerald eyes, with their thick, sooty lashes, were swimming already. She still hadn't recovered

from the shocks of tonight, and her face was strained as she stared at Faye.

Well, there was worse to come.

Now that it was finally going to happen, Cassie felt a curious sense of freedom. No more trying to hide,

no more lying and evading. The nightmare was here at last.

"I suppose I should have told you before, but I didn't want to upset you," Faye was saying. Her eyes

burned golden with a savage inner fire.

Adam, who wasn't stupid, glanced from Cassie to Faye and obviously came to a quick, if shattering

conclusion. He swiftly cupped a hand under Diana's elbow.

"Whatever it is can wait," he said. "Cassie ought to go and see her mother, and-"

"No, it can't wait, Adam Conant," Faye interrupted. "It's time Diana found out what sort of people she

has around her." She whirled to face Diana again, her pale skin glowing with strange elation against the

midnight-dark mane of her hair. "The ones you've chosen," she said to her cousin. "Your dearest

friend-and him. The incorruptible Sir Adam. Do you want to know the reason you couldn't make it as

leader? Do you want to know how naive you really are?"

Everyone was gathering close now, staring. Cassie could see varying degrees of bewilderment and

suspicion in their expressions. The full moon shining from the west was so bright that it cast shadows, and

it illuminated every detail of the scene.

suspicion in their expressions. The full moon shining from the west was so bright that it cast shadows, and

it illuminated every detail of the scene.

Finally she looked at Adam.

He was still holding Diana's arm, but his proud, arresting face was tense and alert. His eyes met Cassie's,

and something like understanding flashed between them, and then Cassie looked away, ashamed. She

had no right to lean on Adam's strength. She was about to be exposed for what she was in front of the

entire Circle.

"I kept hoping they would do the decent thing and control themselves," Faye said. "For their own sake, if

not yours. But, obviously-"

"Faye, what are you talking about?" Diana interrrupted, her patience splintering.

"Why, about Cassie and Adam, of course," Faye said, slowly opening her golden eyes wide. "About how

they've been fooling around behind your back."

The words fell like stones into a tranquil pool. There was a long moment of utter silence, then Doug

Henderson threw back his head and laughed.

"Yeah, an' my mom's a topless dancer," he jeered.

"And Mother Theresa's really Cat-woman," said Chris.

"Come on, Faye," Laurel said sharply. "Don't be ridiculous."

Faye smiled.

"I don't blame you for not believing me," she said. "I was shocked too. But you see, it all started before

Cassie came to New Salem. It started when she met Adam down on Cape Cod."

The silence this time had a different quality. Cassie saw Laurel look quickly at Melanie. Everyone knew

that Cassie had spent several weeks that summer on the Cape. And everyone knew that Adam had been

down in that area too, looking for the Master Tools. Cassie saw the dawning of startled understanding on

the faces around her.

"It all started on the beach there," Faye went on. She was obviously enjoying herself, as she always

enjoyed being the center of attention. She looked sexy and commanding as she wet her lips and spoke

throatily, addressing the entire group although her words were meant for Diana. "It was love at first sight,

I guess-or at least they couldn't keep their hands off each other. When Cassie came up here she even

wrote a poem about it. Now how did that go?" Faye put her head on one side and recited:

"Each night I lie and dream about the one Who kissed me and awakened my desire I spent a single hour

with him alone And since that hour, my days are laced with fire." "That's right; that was her poem," Suzan

said. "I remember. We had her in the old science building and she didn't want us to read it." Deborah

was nodding, her petite face twisted in a scowl. "I remember too." "You may also remember how strange

they both acted at Cassie's initiation," Faye said.

"And how Raj seemed to take to Cassie so quickly, always jumping up on her and licking her and all.

Well, it's very simple really-it's because they'd known each other before. They didn't want any of us to

know that, of course. They tried to hide it. But eventually they got caught. It was the night we first used

the crystal skull in Diana's garage-Adam was taking Cassie home, I guess. I wonder how that got

arranged."

Well, it's very simple really-it's because they'd known each other before. They didn't want any of us to

know that, of course. They tried to hide it. But eventually they got caught. It was the night we first used

the crystal skull in Diana's garage-Adam was taking Cassie home, I guess. I wonder how that got

arranged."

"They thought they were alone on the bluff-but somebody was watching. Two little somebodies, two little

friends of mine . . ." Lazily, Faye worked her fingers, with their long, scarlet-tipped nails, as if stroking

something. A flash of comprehension lighted Cassie's mind.

The kittens. The damned little bloodsucking kittens that lived wild in Faye's bedroom. Faye was saying

the kittens were her spies? That she could communicate with them?

Cassie felt a deeper chill as she looked at the tall, darkly beautiful girl, sensing something alien and deadly

behind those hooded golden eyes. She'd wondered all along who Faye had meant when she talked about

her "friends" that saw things and reported back to her, but she'd never imagined this. Faye smiled in

satisfaction and nodded at her.

"I have lots of secrets," she said directly to Cassie. "That's only one of them. But anyway," she said to the

rest of the group, "it was that night they got caught. They were-well, kissing. That's the polite way to put

it. The kind of kissing that starts spontaneous combustion. I suppose they just couldn't resist their lustful

passions any longer." She sighed.

Diana was looking at Adam now, looking for a denial. But Adam, his jaw set, was staring straight ahead

at Faye.

Diana's lips parted with the quick intake of her breath.

"And it wasn't the only time, I'm afraid," Faye continued, examining her nails with an expression of

demure regret. "They've been doing it ever since, stealing secret moments when you weren't looking,

Diana. Like at the Homecoming dance-what a pity you weren't there. They started kissing right in the

middle of the dance floor. I guess maybe they went somewhere more private afterward ..."

"That's not true," Cassie cried, realizing even as she said it that she was virtually confirming that everything

else Faye had said was true.

Everyone was looking at Cassie now, and there was no more jeering from the Hendersons. Their tilted

blue-green eyes were focused and intent.

"I wanted to tell you," Faye said to Diana, "but Cassie just begged me not to. She was hysterical, crying

and pleading-she said she would just die if you found out. She said she'd do anything. And that," Faye

sighed, looking off into the distance, "was when she offered to get me the skull."

"What?" said Nick, his normally imperturbable face reflecting disbelief.

"Yes." Faye's eyes dropped to her nails again, but she couldn't keep a smile from curling the corners of

her lips. "She knew I wanted to examine the skull, and she said she'd get it for me if I didn't tell. Well,

what could I do? She was like a crazy person. I just didn't have the heart to refuse her."

Cassie sank her teeth into her lower lip. She wanted to scream, to protest that it hadn't been that way . . .

but what was the use? Faye's story had enough of the truth in it to condemn her.

Melanie was speaking. "And I suppose you didn't have the heart to refuse the skull either," she said to

Faye, her gray eyes scornful.

Melanie was speaking. "And I suppose you didn't have the heart to refuse the skull either," she said to

Faye, her gray eyes scornful.

"This isn't funny," Laurel cried. She looked stricken. "I still don't believe it-"

"Then how do you think she knew where to dig up the skull tonight?" Faye said smoothly. "She stayed

over at your house, Diana, the night we traced the dark energy to the cemetery. And she snuck around

and figured out where the skull was buried by reading your Book of Shadows-but only after she stole the

key to the walnut cabinet and checked there." Gleeful triumph shone out of Faye's golden eyes; she

couldn't conceal it any longer.

And nobody in the group could deny the truth of Faye's words any longer. Cassie had known where to

dig up the skull. There was no way to get around that. Cassie could see it happening in face after face;

the ending of disbelief and the slow beginning of grim accusation.

It's like The Scarlet Letter, Cassie thought wildly as she stood apart with all of them looking at her. She

might as well be standing up on a platform with an "A" pinned to her chest. Helplessly, she straightened

her back and tried to hold her chin level, forcing herself to look back at the group. I will not cry, she

thought. I will not look away.

Then she saw Diana's face.

Diana's expression was beyond stricken.

She seemed simply paralyzed, her green eyes wide and blank and shattered.

"She swore to be loyal and faithful to the Circle, and never to harm anyone inside it," Faye was saying

huskily. "But she lied. I suppose it's not surprising, considering she's half outsider. Still, I think it's gone on

long enough; she and Adam have had enough time to enjoy themselves. So now you know the truth. And

now," Faye finished, looking over the ravaged members of the Circle, and especially her deathly still

cousin, with an air of thoughtful gratification, "we'd probably better be getting home. It's been a long

night." Lazily, smiling faintly, she started to move away.

"No." It was a single word, but it stopped Faye in her tracks and it made everyone else turn toward

Adam.

Cassie had never seen his blue-gray eyes look this way before-they were like silver lightning. He moved

forward with his usual easy stride and there was no violence in the way he caught Faye's arm. But the

grip must have been like iron-Cassie could tell that because Faye couldn't get away from it. Faye looked

down at his fingers in offended surprise. "You've had your turn," Adam said to her. His voice was

carefully quiet, but the words dropped from his lips like chips of white-hot steel. "Now it's mine. And all

of you" -he swung around on the group, holding them in place with his gaze- "are going to listen."

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