"If we don't initiate Scarlett into the Circle," Adam said, "we'll be much weaker when we're fighting the hunters."
The rain continued pouring down in sheets. Cassie watched it through the large bay window in Diana's living room. It was better than staring down at the magenta ink of Scarlett's name on Suzan's family tree.
"We have to initiate her," Melanie said. "Nothing matters more than defeating the hunters, especially after what they did to Suzan."
"But we know she has ulterior motives and can't be trusted," Nick said. "Remember, she wanted Cassie's place in the Circle so she could use our Circle's power for her own agenda. She'd be as bad as initiating Black John himself."
Melanie scoffed at Nick. "That's an overstatement if I've ever heard one."
Cassie wanted this conversation to stop. The sky outside had settled to a deep purple and the clouds rolled and shifted in ever-changing shapes. Cassie saw a heart and then a castle, and then nothing, just a sheet of gray. Her mind wandered and an image flashed into view: herself back at the Mission House on the brink of killing Scarlett. But this time she'd gone through with it. She completed the killing spell and Scarlett's eyes had glassed over the way Suzan's had up on the roof, and then she stiffened to a lifeless statue. Cassie imagined exactly what it would feel like for Scarlett to be gone forever - how the Circle would be free at last.
That's it, Cassie thought. That was the solution. She would have to kill Scarlett. Then they could take their chances with another lost family member to be next in line for the Circle.
But then she shook the idea from her mind. No, she told herself. Send light to that dark thought, and cast it away.
Cassie knew she had to fight off every evil intention the moment it appeared now, before it could really get to her and take hold.
"Cassie," Adam said. "Are you okay? You're as pale as a ghost."
"I'm fine." But the faintness of Cassie's voice gave her away.
"See," Melanie said. "Even Cassie is weaker now. I told you."
"I'm not weaker," Cassie shot back.
But Melanie was adamant. "Yes, you are. We all are."
"Let's just see about that." Chris directed his attention to the bowl of fruit on Diana's coffee table. "Who wants to see me levitate an apple?" he asked. But seconds passed and nothing happened. The apple didn't move, and Chris grew more and more frustrated as the clock continued to tick.
Melanie crossed her arms over her chest, looking smug.
"Maybe if we both try," Doug said, going to his brother's side. He focused his attention on the fruit as well. With their combined powers, the apple began to shiver. It lifted from the bowl for a brief second, but then it dropped back down.
"Shoot." Chris was breathless with fatigue. "We almost had it."
"Thank you for proving just how powerless we are," Nick said. He looked worriedly at Cassie. "We may actually be weaker than we were before you came to town."
Cassie returned her gaze to the window and took a deep breath. It was becoming more and more clear that their only option wasn't destroying Scarlett. It was going against all logic and asking her to join them.
"We can barely do the simplest everyday magic with an incomplete Circle," Melanie said. "Let alone anything strong enough to fight off the hunters. I say we initiate Scarlett, defeat the hunters, and then figure out what to do with her later."
"What do you mean, 'figure out what to do with her later'?" Diana narrowed her eyes at Melanie. "Once she's initiated, we're bound to her. You know that. Using her and then betraying her would compromise the integrity of our Circle. Not to mention our self-respect."
That's probably what Scarlett will do to us, Cassie thought, but saying so would only make things worse. She stood up and took the center of the room.
"There is no good decision to make here," she said. "Only a less bad one. As much as I hate to admit this, I think we do need Scarlett."
Nick's jaw tightened as he ground his teeth. "I don't want her as a member," he said. "There must be another option."
"It's Scarlett or no one," Adam said, refusing to make eye contact with Nick as he addressed the group. "We don't have to trust her, but I think we do have to initiate her. You know what they say about keeping your enemies close. Well, we can't keep her much closer than in our Circle. At least she'll be somewhere we can keep an eye on her."
"Great," Nick said. "So we can have a front-row seat as she takes control of us."
"Now hold on." Diana raised her arms to quiet both of them. "There are eleven of us and one Scarlett. What makes you so sure it'll be that easy for her to take control of us?"
"Yeah," Sean said. "One bad seed can't spoil the bunch, otherwise Faye would have ruined our Circle long ago."
Faye glared at Sean as Diana continued.