35
Note: Sorry this is short. I am really busy of late and don't see that changing. I am also very discouraged by the show's low ratings, and the lack of support for Adam and Cassie. I am tired of people dissing Thomas Dekker's performance as I feel he is very good. So, sorry to be down in the dumps. It doesn't make the best bedfellow for writing. Off to watch Vampire Diaries and brood.
Diana was waiting for Adam after their chem class. "What are you and Cassie up to, Adam?" she asked, lowering her voice as Faye and Melissa passed.
Adam gave her a sideways glance and stopped at his locker. "Nothing special."
"Really, so what's all the whispering about? You two are obviously up to something, and leaving the Circle out of it."
He felt inwardly relieved. "It's related to Blackwell, and it's dangerous."
"Isn't it always?" Diana shook out her mane of glossy brown hair and for a second, he remembered what it was like to revel in it.
"Diana, this goes beyond anything we've experienced before." Adam spotted Cassie and when she saw them talking, she nodded in understanding and moved off.
"Which is all the more reason for including us." Pain and betrayal flashed in Diana's beautiful eyes.
"It's not up to me, Diana. This is Karin Balcoin's show."
"Adam, Blackwell's presence affects all of us, and if we're out of the loop, how can we protect ourselves if he comes after us?"
She had a good point, but Blackwell had only one agenda. "He won't, Diana."
"And you know this how?"
They were approaching dangerous territory. "Because, Rob Balcoin is possessed by Blackwell himself."
"And that's supposed to reassure me? That guy is creepy on a good day."
"I know, which is why the witches of Crowhaven Road are involved."
Diana's mouth opened slightly. "Why would they even care?"
"Because Rob is their high priest, and Blackwell must be vanquished."
"By his own sister?" Her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"And a bunch of her friends."
Diana's eyes closed for a moment, and he knew she was thinking about their own circle. "Is that how this all ends, Adam? One of us goes off the rails, and the rest of us gang up on the weak one?"
Reassuring words would be small comfort for what she was feeling now. "I don't know."
"But it may come to that someday."
Adam nodded. "It might."
Diana touched his arm briefly before hurrying off to her next class, leaving him with the stress ball she always carried around. And a fat lot of good that did him with tomorrow's ordeal looming ahead.