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The rest of the squealing herd hurried up the length of the ancestors’ legs They bit at their faces, gnawed on the soft, chewy lobes of their ears

Absolo Beatrix released Scarlett and struggled to shake her li vermin She flailed like a person on fire

Saround, a re it hard and wide in an arc, like a baseball bat, but was successful in fighting off the rats for only a ry, squealing mountain of fur and tails, just like the others

Cassie rushed to Scarlett She listened for her breath and felt for her pulse She was alive, but barely Cassie strived to concentrate in spite of her surroundings, to recall a spell to restore Scarlett’s energy She placed her hands over her body and waited for the words to come When they did, she whispered theroaned, then opened her eyes, and the color returned to her cheeks She took a deep breath and cliod," she said, at the horrible sight of the ancestors

They’ddevoured, but the dah to pieces His skin showed through the shredded cloth, bloody and oozing All of the ancestors’ skin was pockmarked and pus-filled The whites of their eyes had yellowed, and their breathing was slack

Charlotte bent over and coughed, and a black sludge poured out of her ers were blackening, and so were her lips

"What’s happening to them?" Scarlett asked

Absolom and Beatrix were next to double over and retch putrid round

"The Black Death," Cassie said

The rats banded together in a tight pack, eyes ablaze, theirwith blood They scurried back to their wooden box, twitching and satisfied

"Those weren’t just any rats" Cassie threw the top back over the box and observed the ancestors writhing in pain, heaving, spitting, their liue just came back to bite them," Cassie said to Scarlett It looked worse than she’d ever i up that easily They crawled across the dirt to clasp hands They were pooling their energy

Cassie wouldn’t put it past them to overcome even this "We have to finish the spell," she said "Get everyone together"

Scarlett helped Diana and Faye up to standing position Adam, Sean, and the Hendersons rose of their own accord

Cassie hurried over to Nick He’d lost a lot of blood, and his skin felt cold to the touch, but his eyes were open He tried to talk, but Cassie quieted hi to be okay" She held her hands over his injury and searched her ic" Nick’s voice was raspy but forceful "I only need you" He reached for her hand and squeezed it

Cassie could see that the injury to his leg was serious Nick was in shock Magic was the only chance of saving him

Cassie hovered her free hand over the spear of h the flesh, and silently cast a spell: Periculosu opened like athe metal beam to the air It rose and fell to his side, into the red pool of his blood

"I’y on ht Resanesco

Nick stirred as the wound stitched itself sealed, cleanly Still squeezing Cassie’s hand, he lifted his head just high enough to catch a gliht," he said

Cassie inhaled a thankful breath Nick would be okay She was about to help hi of words entered her mind

Let hih She said them to herself silently, just as she had the others

"Thank you, Cassie," Nick said, rolling over onto his side "But I’ed to get everyone else in forth

Cassie helped Nick to his feet and led hian to smolder Gray smoke rose from its source, darker and darker, until it formed a coal-black cloud overhead

Cassie picked up her father’s book froh for all her friends to see Then she held it over the fire and allowed the spell to cooodness

All sources of light and truth, we appeal to you and your sacred boundless power

Be gone, darkness Leave us a dwelling place of light

We renounce you, all symbols of darkness, demons, and all evilThe fire hissed and sizzled Red-hot embers shot up like sparkles froht: What if she didn’t drop the book into the fire? What if the infected rats had accoh to weaken the ancestors? Maybe they were soon to die anyway Then Cassie and her Circle could have the best of both worlds--she could keep the book without her relatives trying to control it

One by one, the ancestors cliled toward the circle’s perimeter Their sickened eyes were furious and helpless as they watched and waited for what Cassie would do next Blood dripped from their noses and ears

The book called to Cassie It screahtly froht It was her last and final connection to her father and to her lineage

It felt like a living precious diamond in her hands A one-of-a-kind power Could she really just cast it away? Destroy it forever?

No She couldn’t

She took one giant step back fro it over her heart It had a heartbeat, too, she realized--its own And their two hearts beat together as one

All other sound drifted up and away Only the book existed to Cassie now And then he spoke to her

"Cassandra, my one and only," he said Him Her father

His voice was like a poison that seized Cassie’s throat

"Don’t disappoint the long line of witches that brought you here," he said "The witches that made you They are all you have"

Cassie’s pulse quickened She couldn’t catch her breath

"All their knowledge is yours," he said "Their power is yours Don’t throw it away"

Everything began to spin Cassie lost all sense of up fro An empty shell

"Don’t turn your back on your past," her father said "Destroying that book will destroy who you really are"

Who aht

I ahter, loving friend