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"Are you okay?" Cassie asked Suzan, who on "Is everybody okay?"

The Circle was lying scattered over the vacant lot as if so

"I think my arm’s broken," Deborah said, rather calmly Laurel crawled over to her to look at it

Cassie stared around the lot The house was gone Nuht was changing

"Look," Melanie said, her face turned up This time there was joy and reverence in her voice

The ain, just a thin crescent, but now the crescent was growing The blood color was gone

"We did it," Doug said, his blond hair disheveled rinned "Hey! We did it!"

"Cassie did it," Nick said

"Is he really gone?" Suzan asked sharply "Gone for good this ti but brisk air and the endlessly ht but moon and stars

"I think he is," she whispered "I think on" Then she turned quickly to Ada at his belt with the radio "I hope it’s not broken," he said, and put the headphones on, listening

Liathered around hi his head, flicking the channels His face was tense Cassie saw Diana beside her, and reached out to take her hand They sat together, hanging on Then Adaht suddenly

"Gale force winds on Cape Codstor northeastnortheast! It’s turned! It’s heading out to sea!"

The Henderson brothers cheered, but Melanie hushed theh tidesfloodingbut it’s okay, nobody’s hurt Property dae, that’s all We did it! We really did it!"

"Cassie did it - " Nick was beginning again, irritably, but Ada her in the air Cassie shrieked and kept shrieking as he swooped her around She hadn’t seen Adam this happy sincewell, she couldn’t remember when she’d seen Adauessed, when he’d flashed that daredevil sotten, in their rimness wasn’t Adaht, when she was deposited, breathless and flushed, back on her feet The horned god of the forest was a god of joyful celebration Chris and Doug were trying to dance with her now, both together Ada, just as soe and furry hit her and rolled her over

"Raj!" Adam said "I told you to stay at home!"

"He’s about as obedient as all of you," Cassie gasped, hugging the Gerlad you ca around at them

"We couldn’t just leave you in there," Sean said

Doug snickered, but he slapped the ser," he said, and rolled his eyes at Cassie

Cassie was looking at Faye, who had been sitting a little apart frolad you came to join us too," she said

Faye didn’t look anything at all like a stenographer Her mane of pitch-black hair was loose over her shoulders, and the black shift exposed more pale honey-colored skin than it covered She looked a little bit like a panther and a lot like a jungle queen

Her heavy-lidded golden eyes ed at the corners of her lips

Then she looked down "I can do ain, anyway," she said lazily

Cassie turned away, hiding a seet

"If you guys are all finished yelling and dancing," Laurel said, in a carefully patient voice, "can we go home now? Because Deborah’s aruiltily "Why didn’t you say so?"

"Aw, it’s nothing," Deborah said But she let Nick and Laurel help her up

As they walked back, Cassie was struck by another thought Her mother Black John was dead, the hurricane was detoured, but what about her mother?

"Can we take Deborah to the crones?" she asked Diana

"That’s the best place, anyway," Diana said "They know thein her green eyes, then she took Cassie’s hand and squeezed it

I’ve got to prepare ht as they approached Nuot to be ready She could be dead She could be just the sa on that bed She could stay that way forever

Whatever happens, I kept my proain

Cassie glanced up at theup to Melanie’s house It was a thick crescent now, a fat happy ood omen

Inside, candles flickered Cassie wondered for one wild instant if the three old ladies were still dancing around sky-clad, and then she saw the parlor Great-aunt Constance was sitting as stiff as a ramrod on the rounded seat of a chair, i very proper as she served tea by candlelight to her three guests

To her three guests

"Mo over one of Great-aunt Constance’s fragile chairs as she went The nexther wildly on Aunt Constance’s couch And herback

"Good heavens, Cassie," her htly to look at her "The way you’re dressed"

Cassie felt for the diadem, which had fallen askew She settled it on her head and looked into herback at her, and seeing, that she forgot to answer

Deborah’s voice came from the hallway, tired but proud "She’s our leader," she said Then: "Anybody got an aspirin?"

"Well, obviously it isn’t just te nettled "I h," Deborah said, taking a large bite out of an apple with the hand that wasn’t in a cast

It was the next day There was no school, because of e and the disappearance of the principal The Circle was enjoying the unseasonablya picnic in Diana’s backyard

"But we’ve got two leaders now," said Chris "Or is Faye unelected?"

"Hardly," Faye said, with a withering glance

Melanie shifted thoughtfully, her gray eyes considering "Well, other covens have had inal coven did; remember, Black John was only one of the leaders You could share with Faye, Cassie"

Cassie shook her head "Not without Diana"

"Huh?" said Doug

Nick directed an aht not want the honor," he said

"I don’t care," Cassie said, before Diana could say anything "I won’t be leader without Diana I’ll quit I’ll go back to California"

"Look, you can’t all be leaders," Deborah began

"Why not?" Melanie asked, sitting up "Actually, it’s a good idea You could be a triumvirate You know, like in Roht not want to," Nick repeated, with rising inflection But Cassie got up and went over to her anxiously

"You will, won’t you?" she said "For me?"

Diana looked at her, then at the rest of the Club

"Yeah, go on," Doug said expansively