The Secret Circle: The Hunt (The Secret Circle #5)

Once they were back at Cassie's house, Adam and Cassie took a few minutes to sit down on the front porch swing and collect themselves. It was dark, and they both began to yawn now that their adrenaline had settled. Adam turned to Cassie and shyly smiled. "Thanks for saving my butt back there."

Cassie was comforted by Adam's ability to make light of the situation - it meant he was beginning to get over the shock of seeing her overcome by dark magic. Maybe things could finally go back to normal for them. But first she had to address what he'd done.

"I owed you one," Cassie said. "But it was stupid of you to go after Scarlett by yourself. You could have been killed."

"It didn't seem stupid in my head. I knew where you'd hidden the book, and I had hoped to trade it for the Master Tools."

"But do you know how dangerous that book could be in Scarlett's possession?"

"To be honest with you, Cassie, I did it because I wanted to get the book away from you. I thought getting it out of your hands might save you from its darkness. You have to believe me. I was trying to help."

Cassie recalled how the book seemed to be summoning her each time Scarlett turned one of its pages, how it beckoned her to attack Scarlett with black magic.

"After how I acted back there," Cassie said, "I'm worried it's too late. I think the book has done its damage."

"No. Don't talk like that," Adam said. "It was a close call, but nothing irreparable was done."

Cassie's heart instantly flooded with regret. She knew this was the moment to tell Adam what had happened the night before with Nick. If she didn't tell him now, she may never have the courage again.

"I did do something irreparable," she said. "I wish it wasn't true, but it is."

"What did you do?" Adam asked, but when Cassie remained silent, he tried a less accusatory tone. "Whatever it is, we can work through it," he said. "As long as you're honest with me." Cassie still picked up on the hint of dread in his voice.

"Last night," Cassie said, feeling sick with shame, "I kissed Nick."

Adam's whole body constricted. "I can't believe him," he mumbled to the air.

"It was all me," Cassie insisted. "Nick was a perfect gentleman. I practically forced myself on him."

Adam glared straight ahead for a few seconds.

"I am so unbelievably sorry," Cassie said.

She was hoping Adam would say something in return, but he was dead silent.

"I know it's no excuse," Cassie continued. "But when it happened it was like the book was making me want to hurt you. Like it had taken over my mind and my body. I couldn't control myself."

"I get it," Adam said. His voice cracked with emotion. "I don't want to hear any more."

"But I want you to understand that I didn't mean for it to happen. That's not how I feel about Nick. I know that still doesn't make it okay, and you have every right to hate me - "

"I can never hate you," Adam said. "But I can't say I'm not a little hurt."

Cassie placed her hand on Adam's knee, relieved he was at least speaking to her. "It will never happen again," she said. "I promise."

"I know it won't happen again. Especially after we figure out what to do with that book." Adam glanced at the book, which was resting between them alongside the Master Tools. "It's the book I hate, not you."

A pang of worry shot through Cassie's chest. What if Adam's resentment for the book caused him to do something drastic? He wouldn't try to destroy it, would he?

"We've both made mistakes recently," Adam said. "And we have bigger concerns to deal with. One kiss is hardly the worst of them."

"Bigger concerns," Cassie said. "Like me being altogether evil."

Adam shook his head. "You're not evil, Cassie. One day, I promise, our lives will be normal enough that I will sufficiently freak out if you kiss another guy of your own volition, not because a cursed book made you do it."

Cassie had to laugh as Adam gave the porch swing a little nudge, sending them gently back and then forward again.

Adam took a long breath in, held it, and exhaled heavily, as if he were blowing out every hurt feeling and negative thought within him. He looked longingly at Cassie and then leaned over and kissed her.

Cassie had never felt so gratified by a kiss in all her life. For a few blissful minutes she forgot all her troubles. She was healed. She was with Adam and that was all that mattered.

Adam must have felt it, too, because his passion for Cassie now was pressing and pleading. He kissed her like he hadn't seen her in years, like he wanted to erase her kiss with Nick from her mind and claim her for himself.

But Cassie finally, reluctantly pulled away. "We should go inside," she said. "We can continue this later in private, after we tell everyone about getting the Master Tools back."

Adam agreed and the two of them got up from the swing. They straightened their clothes and gathered the book and Tools to carry them inside.

"They're going to freak out when they see these," Adam said, holding the Tools up like a trophy. They glistened in the moonlight.

"I know," Cassie said. "But maybe we can leave out the worst parts of the story about how we got them back?"

Adam didn't argue. The two of them made their way through the house and jogged down the basement stairs. They excitedly revealed the hidden door - but on the opposite side, they found an empty room.

"Hello!" Cassie called out. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Within a few seconds her joviality was quelled. This was no game of hide-and-seek. Not a single member of the Circle was to be found in the room.

There were laptops left open and dishes with food on them still on the table. Laurel's desk lamp hadn't been turned off and neither had the light in the bathroom.

Cassie set down her father's book and the Master Tools, and a knot formed in her throat. "Where could they have gone?" she said. But she couldn't state the worry nagging her: If their friends were discovered, they most likely had been killed.

"There's no way the hunters got in here." Adam scrutinized the room in a desperate search for clues. "They must be with the rest of the Circle. Text Diana."

Cassie rummaged through her bag for her phone. She'd silenced it on her way to Stockbridge and forgot to turn the ringer back on. Now a list of urgent text messages, mostly from Nick, stared her in the face.

She scanned through them nervously. "Faye went after the principal," she said to Adam. "The rest of them are chasing after her, to keep her from doing anything stupid."

"Too late." Adam slammed his hand down on the table. "That half-translated witch-hunter curse will never work."

"The last text says they were headed to the school." Cassie stuffed her phone back into her pocket. "It was sent twenty minutes ago."

Without another word the two of them rushed upstairs. Cassie felt heat stealing into her face and a twisting panic in her stomach. She tried to catch her breath once they were inside Adam's car, but it was no use.

Adam floored the accelerator pedal, his eyes wild. Cassie watched the speedometer arc steadily from left to right. He had to be driving ninety miles per hour, but it still didn't feel fast enough. If they didn't make it to the school in time ... Cassie couldn't fathom it.

But she had to be mentally prepared. Even if their friends were lying dead on the ground when they arrived, Cassie still had to be ready to fight.