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Cassie’s piece of a fros, and it felt cool against Cassie’s chest under her blue and white sweater She checked in Diana’s mirror to make sure it didn’t make a bump and then touched it nervously Cassie had had three stones so far: the chalcedony rose Adaiven her, the quartz necklace Melanie had put around her neck at the Ho dance, and the piece of hematite she’d found at Nu The chalcedony she’d had to give back to Adaround, and the he to happen to this aht, and the sky was steely-gray as Diana drove the And school these days was about as bleak as the weather Hall es and wintry expressions, stood in every corridor waiting for someone to break the rules Which usually didn’t take very long; there were so many rules that it was i alive

"We al a noise down the hall at lunchtime

Cassie tensed "What did you do?"

"Bribed hiave hirieved

"I wonder what the penalty for bribing a hall monitor is?" Laurel mused as they reached the cafeteria

Cassie opened her lass s of the cafeteria she could see soht from her mind

"Oh God," said Laurel

"I don’t believe it," Diana whispered

"I do," Adam said

In the very center of the cafeteria was a wooden structure that Cassie recognized from her history books It was made in two parts, which when closed held a person’s wrists and neck securely in place, protruding through holes from the other side

The stocks

And they were occupied

There was a guy inside theebra class He’d danced with her at Ho, and he’d been overly familiar with his hands He liked to talk back to teachers, too But she’d never seen hiet aith it," Diana was saying, her green eyes blazing with intensity

"Who, the principal?" Deborah asked She and Suzan and Nick were standing by the cafeteria door, waiting for the others "He already has He was taking soo and they cah herehe showed it to theh love’ program Said other schools made troublemakers stand on tables so everybody could look at theht the stocks were more humane because you could sit down He al and s - they ate it up"

Cassie felt queasy She was thinking of the Witch Dungeon at Saleh narrow corridors lined with tiny dark cells The stocks gave her the sa in her stoht

" - passing it off as part of our heritage," Nick was saying, his lip curled in disgust, and Cassie knew he felt the same way

"Can we talk about it while we eat?" Suzan asked, shifting fro"

But as they made their way toward the back room - the private doure with rusty hair stepped in front of them

"Sorry," Sally Waltman smirked "That room is for hall monitors only, now"

"Oh, yeah?" said Deborah

Two guys with badges appeared from nowhere and stood on either side of Sally

"Yeah," one of thelass s of the back roo in front of it today - and saw Portia’s tawny head She was surrounded by girls and guys ere looking at her ades

"You’ll just have to sit so the Club "And since there aren’t enough seats at any one table, you’ll have to break your group up What a shao outside," Nick said shortly, taking Cassie’s arhed "I don’t think so Noout front If you can’t find a place to sit in here, you stand"

Cassie could feel Nick’s htly Diana had a siray eyes were like chips of steel, fixed on the guys beside Sally

"It’s not worth it," Diana said quietly, with forced calo stand over there"

Sally looked disappointed as they all started to move to the wall Then triumph flashed in her eyes

"He’s in violation already," she said, pointing to Doug "He’s wearing a radio"

"It’s not on," Doug said

"It doesn’t have to be Just wearing it is a Type-A offense Co coetting in front of hiht in the cafeteria was all they needed

Doug’s eyes were glittering wildly He looked uys

"Bring hi Doug’s fist jerked back And then a throaty voice cut through the confusion

"What’s going on here?" Faye said, her a another of the little business suits; this one black and yellow

Sally glared at her "They’re refusing to comply with the orders of a halla radio"

Faye reached over and unhooked the Walk’s belt "Now he’s not," she said "And I’o eat somewhere else - outside,Faye chuckled and led the Club out of the cafeteria

"Thanks," Diana said, and for a ht of the candles burning in a circle on the road A new stage of life - was Faye entering a new stage of life? Co back to the coven?

But Faye’s next words undeceived her "You know, there’s no reason that you can’t eat in the back room," she said "You can all become hall monitors That’s what he wants - "

"He wants to take us over," interrupted Deborah scornfully

"He wants to join with us He’s one of us"

"No, he’s not, Faye," Cassie said, thinking of the shadow under the rock "He’s nothing like us"

Faye gave her a strange glance, but all she said was, "There’s a hallin C-207 last period Think about it The sooner you join hi’s Walkesture and walked away

Lunch was uncomfortable; it was cold in the front yard of the school, and nobody but Suzan had much of an appetite Sean showed up late, after all the exciteht Black John, but as always they caht him effectively They needed the Master Tools

Everyone had a different idea of where to search Adam proposed the beach - especially around Devil’s Cove, where Mr Fogle, the forht round "It’s been here since the 1600s," she said "The original coven could easily have hidden things there" Melanie and Diana discussed the possibility of ned to seek out traces of "white energy" the toolsoff

Cassie sat quietly, close to Nick, not saying et all of this and bury her head in his shoulder She didn’t kno Salem as well as the others - how could she come up with a reasonable place to search? And she had such a feeling of dread, of evil things just waiting to happen

We’re going to lose, she thought, listening to the worried voices of the others We’re just kids, and he’s got centuries of experience We’re going to lose

The feeling of dread got worse as the day went on She ran into Nick as she alking to her last class and he stopped in the hall

"You look awful," he said

"Thanks" Cassie tried a wry smile for hi okay? Do you want to go horounds without permission," Cassie quoted automatically, tiredly, and then she was in his arms

Nick said, "They can take their per to hiood to her; she wanted to love him She would o back to Crowhaven Road; go so this kind of thing where people could see

"Hold me," she said He did Then he kissed her

Yes Just go with it Be part of Nick - that was safe Nick would take care of her She could stop thinking now

"Well, well, welllooks like a Type-A violation to me," an officious voice said "Public displays of affection, inappropriate to the serious and dignified purpose of formal education What do you say, Portia?"

Nick and Cassie broke apart, Cassie flushing

"I think it’s just too revolting," Portia Bainbridge said

Behind her was a gaggle of hall , apparently There werehard and fast

"And it’s her fault," Portia went on, looking down her aristocratic nose at Cassie "I heard her initiate it Let’s take her in"

"That’s right, the little flirt," Sally said Cassie reer in it, the viciousness This one had every guy at Ho out - including my boyfriend She’d come to think of herself so differently since she’d overheard Sally talking about her that day

Nick was looking at the group of monitors, his face cold - like the old Nick, the one Cassie had first met Cold as ice "Take her where? The penalty for a Type-A offense is supposed to be detention Or don’t you read your own rules?" he said