Nick pounded on Diana's door thinking Please let her be home.  A slide and click signaled the unlocking of the door and Diana's earnest green eyes looked up at Nick, dancing with inner laughter. "Yes, Nick?"

            He took a deep breath and let the words out in a rush, so that they sounded like one big word.  "I-need-a-spell."

            The green eyes went wide with surprise.  "You?  Need a spell?  You're joking, right?  Oh, you who hates magick?"

            Nick stepped in through the door and shut it behind him.  "No, I'm not kidding.  I need to know what you girls did for the swimming party... fast."

            Brows a shade darker than her hair, that color of sunlight and moonlight woven together, pulled in to the center of her forehead and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  "And, why, pray tell, do you need that, hmm?"

            Then Nick, stoic, unemotional Nick, felt some warmth creep into his cheeks and he looked at the floor, his mumbled answer sounding somewhat like "I met this girl..."

            Diana squealed and clapped with delight.  "A girl?  Who?  When did you meet her?  Where?"  She grabbed his arm and drug him upstairs to her room, flipping the switch to boot her computer once they got there.  She pointed at the bench by her window and said, "Sit.  Spill."  She took the seat at her desk, swiveling it to face him, an expectant look on her face.

            He reluctantly took the cushioned seat and sighed.  He told Diana about the girl he'd just seen on the beach, her beauty, her mystery; he left out the part about feeling panicked as she was walking away from him.  Diana was grinning from ear to ear by the time he was finished and she nodded, "Well then, I'll have to help you, huh?"  With that, she swung the chair back around, inserting the CD-ROM Laurel had finally completed.  The "Floppy Disk of Shadows" had quickly grown big enough to be the "CD-ROM of Shadows" and Laurel had made copies for the entire circle before she left for Connecticut.

            She clicked her way into the quick reference section Laurel had toiled away at for so many months, having constructed a comprehensive database of keywords and ingredients.  With no trouble at all, she found the spell they had used, For Protection and Immunity from Cold Water.  She scanned the ingredients and looked at Nick from the corner of her eye.  "You're lucky.  I have all this stuff."  She smiled and printed the page with the spell.  Diana went to the curio cabinet which she still kept locked and opened it using the tiny gold key around her neck.

            Each of the small jars within contained a different substance and she pulled them out one by one as Nick read each from the list.  She barely had to glance at the labels to know which was which.  "Ginger root," he read and she pulled down a jar with golden yellow powder.  "Ylang ylang;" a vial with white powder.  "Rose hips;" a large Mason jar with dried rose buds.  Then he started naming crystals.  "Citrine;" she pulled a yellow, shimmering stone from a velvet pouch.  "Carnelian;" she picked the palest of the orange carnelians saying, "We don't want to make this poor girl hot and bothered... just warm."  The final ingredient was ruby chips and she sorted out a few small, but flashy, red stone pieces.

            "Diana, this sounds like a love spell."

            She smiled brightly.  "It is.  What else do you know that will raise a person's body temperature like that?"  She laughed at Nick's wide-eyed expression and hushed his protests before he could even begin.  "It's very muted, Nick.  Really.  Nothing else will happen.  Trust me," and, looking into her eyes, he couldn't do anything but trust her.

            "All right, Diana.  Let's do this."

            They measured out the ingredients together, placing everything in a small mesh bag.  Then, Diana formed a small circle and called the elements, giving Nick the minimal protection he would need for the spell.  He recited the verse, concentrating on the small quartz in his hand to focus his power:

Fire hot, fire bright

Protect our bodies from the night

Twirling dancing through the water

The waves ice cold, our bodies hotter.

            The small burst of power left his body and went through the quartz stone into the makeshift tea bag.  They dissolved the circle together and went to place the bag in hot water for two hours, long enough to infuse the liquid with the power in the ingredients.  "Now all we do is wait."  Diana fussed around the kitchen and invited him to dinner, but Nick declined, feeling too nervous to eat anything.  She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling; she was happy he liked a girl again.  She opened a cabinet in the kitchen and pulled out a small bottle of red wine and handed it to him.  "Here," she said, shoving it into his hands.

            "What's this for?"

            She shrugged and smiled, answering him with, "Oh, it's for 'just in case'."

            Blaise paced around the large hotel room, feeling very much like a caged animal.  That boy she'd met, Nick, it felt like he was in her blood.  Something about him... she had even almost lost her impeccable flair for the dramatic today when he offered her his hand, but somehow she'd kept her own hand plastered to her side.

            She knew she shouldn't go to meet him tonight, but she also knew that if she didn't, she would always wonder what sort of power he held over her to make her feel like this.  With a nod of her head, an affirmation to herself that she was going to go, she slipped into the bathroom to get ready.

            An hour later she emerged, the steam in the bathroom smelling of violets and her skin glowing.  She donned the black bikini with the gold accents unselfconsciously and pulled blue jeans and a red sweater over it.  Blaise flopped onto the bed and pointed the remote at the television, clicking through thirty channels of nothing on, five channels of Pay-per-view movies that she'd seen months ago, and three channels of poorly made, unimaginative porn.  Even from the blurred images visible through the snow, she could tell it was nothing special.  A smirk appeared on her face and she clicked off the revolting television, tossing the remote onto the nearby arm chair.

            A few scattered magazines kept her occupied until sunset, when she exited her room and followed the road to get to the beach.  Her wanderings led her to the bottom of a hill labeled Crowhaven Road and she started up the rising expanse of asphalt, admiring the houses along the way.  The bluff overlooked the sea and was thrumming with residual power.  Someone had done magick here, powerful magick at that.  The source was years old, but the residual waves of energy were still startlingly strong.  Maybe this wasn't a wild goose chase after all... perhaps there was an active coven in New Salem.

            She shook off the conflicting waves of good and evil rolling out of the gravel and debris at her feet and headed toward the path leading down the side of the bluff to the shore.  Shivering, her teeth near chattering, she didn't know how the hell this Nick expected to get her into the ocean to swim without some consequences... like hypothermia.  The minute her shoes touched down in the soft sand, she noticed the glowing ember of a cigarette floating in the darkness.  Approaching the tiny flicker, she saw the red glow was supported by Nick's right hand.  He paused, his hand half way to his lips, when he heard her coming.

            "You're late," he said, his voice laced with something like humor, but not quite.

            She trailed her feet through the sand, oblivious to the occasional grit slipping into her shoes.  "I know.  I took the scenic route," she pointed up at Crowhaven Road to signal which route that was.  Nick smirked and a short grunt escaped his throat as he followed where she was pointing.

            "Hardly scenic... or quaint, or cute, or any of those other words tourists tend to use.  It gets old when you've lived there your entire life."

            Blaise blinked and looked back up to the spot where she'd felt such strong magick, then back to Nick.  "Up there?  You've lived on," she searched her mind for the name on the sign, "Crowhaven?  You've lived there your whole life?"

            He winced, suddenly wishing he hadn't told her that.  Maybe she'd heard stories about the kids from Crowhaven?  No, she was just visiting, nothing else.  There would be no reason for anyone to tell her anything about Crowhaven Road.  Still, his answer came out short, sounding harsh, "Yeah, so?"

            The hostility was rolling off Nick in waves, no matter how he tried to control it, and Blaise felt it crashing over her, immediately going on the defensive.  "So I find people who've lived in one place their whole lives fascinating.  I myself probably attended," pauses, a look of deep concentration on her face, "ten different high schools in four years.  New people all the time.  I just can't imagine being with the same people for so long."

            He had obviously calmed at her explanation, but her interest had been piqued.  Why had he been so worried about her knowing he lived there?  She turned her head to the ocean water, a glowing sliver stream streaking across it where the low moon shone.  Through chattering teeth, she managed to say, "So, about swimming... it's a little cold, don't you think?"

            Nick took one last drag on the cigarette and tossed it away, tumbling end over end to land in the sand, smoldering a short distance away.  He smiled, the small action doing wonders to remove the brooding atmosphere which seemed to always surround him.  Blaise blinked in surprise, finding herself truly attracted to him.  Strongly attracted to him.  Her mouth was hanging slack, but closed, and Nick's had fallen to a mirror image, the smile slipping away.  Each turned away at the same moment, Blaise turning toward the bluff and Crowhaven Road, Nick toward the dark water.

            He cleared his throat and held up a canteen.  "This," he said, twisting off the lid, "Is how we will go swimming."  He turned back to look at her and swallowed a fair amount of whatever was in the canteen.  He put the cap back on, then immediately began fanning himself, as thought it had suddenly gotten unbearably warm outside.  Nick gently tossed the canteen to her and she caught it with both hands, watching him curiously as he unzipped his leather jacket and shrugged out of it, letting it fall to the sand.

            Next, he pulled the charcoal grey sweater over his head, revealing a fitted white t-shirt through which Blaise could plainly see his smooth, yet sculpted chest.  Then, the t-shirt came off, too, and Blaise studied his torso with an appreciative stare.  As his hands moved to the button on his black jeans, having already kicked off his shoes, Blaise removed the cap from the canteen and sniffed experimentally.  Deciding it couldn't taste too badly, seeing as it smelled so good, she tipped it back and swallowed what was left.  Nick stepped out of his jeans, revealing black swim trunks with a cluster of stars at the bottom of the left leg.

            The liquid ran through Blaise, seemingly raising her body temperature at an alarming rate, but she didn't feel any effects other than the warmth.  She even felt like she could safely undress to her bathing suit without any ill affects, so she kicked her shoes off into the sand and unfastened her jeans.  Nick took a step back, watching her much as she had watched him – with obvious appreciation.

            He saw black and a flash of gold in the moonlight before her sweater fell to cover where her jeans had been a moment ago.  Her skin glowed a milky white and she reached down to pull the soft red sweater over her head, fully revealing the sparkling black and gold bikini.  So concerned with getting out of her clothes and into the water was Blaise that the oddity of the liquid didn't occur to her immediately.  Instead, she locked eyes with Nick, and then looked to the water, the challenge discreetly implied.

            Each took off for the water at a fast pace, Nick two steps ahead and splashing into the ocean first, Blaise following, having lost the short race.  She splashed into the water behind him, the shock of the cold not affecting her in the least.  Her mind raced in wonder at the miracle drink and then flipped to the real truth, substituting one "m"-word with another.  Not "miracle"... magickal.

            She stopped splashing around immediately and simply looked at him, one elegant brow raised in question, wondering how she had missed the witchy signals until now.  Inclining her head toward the bluff, she asked him, "What happened up there? It's old, but the power is still coming out of the ground in waves."

            At that, Nick also stopped splashing and returned her look, something dark clouding his expression.  "Power?  Do you think you're some kind of psychic or something?  Maybe just into divination?  It's nothing that concerns you, Blaise," and he swam a little further out into the water.

            "You think I'm some sort of New Age obsessed freak?"  She laughed and pointed back at the canteen.  "How long did that spell take?  Did you call the corners or just set up a small circle?"  Her arms crossed in front of her chest, creating cleavage which Nick had to force himself not to look at.

            He stared at her face instead, eyes wide with surprise.  "You're a witch," the phrase more a statement than a question.

            "Yes, and I was sent here to find you.  There was rumor of a coven in New Salem, but no one knew anything for sure.  So, I've found you... where are the rest?"

            Nick's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion.  "And, how do I know you aren't a witch hunter?  They tend to know as much, sometimes more, about witchcraft than the genuine article."

            Blaise smiled and lifted her hand out of the ocean, dripping with salty water.  Despite its being soaked, a small ball of fire appeared there, floating a moment before she allowed it to dissipate.  "I am a witch, I assure you."  He was again reminded of Faye, so completely, that for a moment he forgot to breathe, and he coughed when he inhaled because he swallowed sea water along with the air.  "So, about the others...?" she trailed off, expectantly awaiting an answer.

            Nick looked out to the moon, still rising in the sky, "Most of them are gone.  There are only four of us left on Crowhaven."

            Blaise blinked and bobbed in the water.  "Well, four is all you need for a strong circle, a small coven.  How many of you were there?"

            "Twelve."

            "Twelve?!  No wonder the power is still in the earth up there.  What did you do?"

            He shook his head, brushing her question aside.  "I'm not the one to be asking, Blaise.  How long will you be here?"

            "As long as it takes."

            He sighed.  "Fine.  I'll introduce you to Diana tomorrow."

            "Diana?"

            "One of our leaders.  She's still here," he turned his head to the wide expanse of water again, not wanting to discuss witchcraft or the history of his coven and Crowhaven.  "So, are you going to take advantage of this and swim or what?" and he flicked his wrist, splashing her with water.

            Blaise backpedaled away from him and tried in vain to return the splash, accommodating his need to get off the subject of his past.  Seeing that she would never win a battle, she decided running was her only option, so she twirled in the water and swam away as quickly as she could.

            "Why are you running away, trying not to get wet, when you're in water!" he swam quickly after her, fully intending to drag her under the surface.  He caught up easily enough, powerful legs propelling him in front of her.  She looked over at him and stopped, drawing herself up in the water.

            "I surrender," she held out her hands in defense, panting from the exertion of swimming.

            "You... surrender?  We don't take prisoners," and he reached out to push her under by her shoulders.  Her hands came up to bat him away and he grabbed her wrists, grinning.

            Both expressions melted into confusion and surprise as they touched.  Each of their worlds dissolved, Nick's vision focusing only on Blaise and the thrumming cord connecting them and blinking through the pink haze obstructing that vision.  Blaise saw only Nick and felt as though she were being pulled into his dark eyes.  She saw the thickness of silver between them and focused around the haze the best she could.

            Blaise ripped her wrists from his grasp and pulled them in close to her body, looking almost wounded.  Nick simply stared at her, seemingly in shock, most likely in denial.  "What was in that spell?"  The question came out angry, accusatory.

            "She said nothing would happen!  She promised.  Nothing happened when we used it before..." he was mumbling under his breath obscenities that he normally wouldn't say in front of a beautiful girl he'd just met.

            "Who?  Who helped you with it?"

            "Diana."

            "Well, then, let's go find her and find out what the hell she did," she kicked off for shore, not liking the suspicions in her mind.  She'd listened to Thea talk about touching Eric often enough to know what that was, but her mind pushed the thought away, figuring it for some elaborate glamour weaved into the spell they used to swim.

            Nick followed, unenthusiastic, his mind replaying the last time he'd heard anything about a "silver cord" and the word "soulmates" turned into a distressing mantra as it repeated endlessly in his thoughts.

            As Blaise exited the water, she frowned at her clothes.  The effects of the spell were definitely still there and she didn't think that she could handle wearing the heavy sweater, so she pulled her jeans on over her wet suit and sat in the sand, taking out her hostility on her shoes.

            Nick followed, dressing himself in much the same manner, shoving his shoes on his feet with malice.  He picked up his t-shirt and sweater and wrapped the bottle of unopened and unneeded wine in his jacket, heading toward the bluff wearing only his jeans and shoes.  Blaise gathered her sweater and shook it out, trailing behind him to trek up the sloping path.