Read Online The Hunt by L. J. Smith - Free Book Online Page A

gotten a whole lot more complicated. She couldn’t allow a potential love triangle to trip up her search for answers.
    Plus, she had an idea. In the jewelry box where she kept all her precious stones, Cassie had an obsidian crystal. It was the same crystal she’d once used to disable a guardingspell Faye had placed on one of the Master Tools. Cassie squeezed the sharp-edged black rock in her hand now. It was known to purify dark matter. Why not give it a try?
    She glided the crystal over and around her father’s Book of Shadows while whispering the chant that had been successful last time:
    Darkness be gone, no shields are needed, purity enters and leaves here unhindered.
    Then she pulled on the book’s leather string and fanned its cover open. She touched the first page hopefully, but it immediately grew hot, singeing the tip of her pointer finger.
    Cassie drew back, but before the book flapped closed she thrust the obsidian crystal between its pages. At first the book struggled against the stone, rattling and thrashing, and the crystal shook over its pages like a kernel of corn in hot oil. But then the book seemed to tire. Slowly, each page grew calm and quiet beneath the crystal until they were still. The book’s darkness had been tamed just enough to allow the rock to hold it open like a simple paperweight.
    The words scrawled upon the first two pages still looked like an ancient language of lines and symbols. Viewingthem this closely made Cassie’s eyes feel strange and off kilter, like staring at an optical illusion. But at least now she could get to researching and translating. And if she maneuvered the obsidian just so, she could even use it to turn the book’s pages. Wait till Adam saw this.
    Just then her doorbell rang and Cassie realized what time it was. The Circle meeting to go over the events of the night before was set to begin in a few minutes. Cassie removed the obsidian and the book flapped closed. She quickly locked it back in its hiding place before running down to answer the door.
    On her front porch was Nick, carrying a duffel bag over his shoulder. He didn’t look happy, for obvious reasons, but Cassie was glad to have a moment with him before the rest of the Circle arrived.
    She led him inside and asked him to have a seat on the living room sofa. “I’ll show you downstairs in just a minute,” she said. “But first I was hoping we could talk.”
    Nick dropped his bag on the floor and sat down. “Okay.”
    Cassie sat beside him. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I feel like it’s my fault you got marked.”
    â€œScarlett was trying to kill you. You weren’t exactly asking for it,” Nick said.
    â€œI know, I just … you saved my life. And I can’t bear to think what might happen to yours now.”
    Nick shook his head. “It’s not your fault, Cassie. I knew the chance I was taking, and I chose to risk it. Besides, I can handle this.”
    Cassie reached for Nick’s hand. It was a bold move, but she felt like under the circumstances it was worth the try.
    For once he didn’t pull away from her. Cassie opened her mouth to assure him that she would be there for him the way he was for her—but then a loud, pounding noise rattled the floor beneath them.
    Nick jumped with alarm.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Cassie said. “It’s only Faye and a broom handle. She finds the use of it ironic.”
    Nick tried to play it cool, but Cassie knew he was embarrassed about being so easily startled, that the cracks beneath his cool exterior were starting to show.
    â€œIt’s Faye’s special signal,” she said casually. “When she bangs on the ceiling with the broom, it means she’s in dire need of attention.”
    â€œWhen doesn’t Faye need attention?” Nick ran his fingers through his hair and allowed himself to laugh. “So where is this secret room