42

Karin was happier than she'd been in a long time. Whatever had been bothering Ethan had passed, and he was seemingly on board with the news that he'd be a father again - twice. He'd even agreed to meet her in the morning to check out Peggy's place. "She's down here every day for coffee. Too bad she's leaving."

"Yeah, too bad," was all Karin could muster as a million thoughts zinged through and at her.

They'd discussed Christina, and Karin said she'd never felt anything off about the Hanover house. If Christina's spirit had been lurking, she'd have felt her presence. But no matter, she didn't care where she lived as long as it wasn't behind the Boathouse bar. "Are you OK?"

That was a loaded question. "For the moment," Karin answered.

Ethan furrowed his brow with concern. "What do you mean?"

She'd hugged herself against the cool sea breeze. "It's not over, Ethan. He's still out there."

He'd run his hand down her arm. "I'm sure Rob will show up."

"Not him."

"Are you saying the spell didn't work?"

"No, it did, just not the way I'd hoped."

"So what are you really saying, K?"

She remembered the crystal exploding, and a moment before she'd passed out, a shadow had loomed over her before disappearing into the night. "Francis Balcoin is loose."

"How can that be?"

Karin said, "They be spelled his essence into that crystal before he was burned alive, and I let him out."

"They?"

"The Salem witches."

There was no putting the genie back in the bottle. Her power was gone, and even their collective strength would not defeat him. In the end, a sacrifice would be made to balance the harm she had caused.

"You sound like you know them," Ethan said.

"I didn't just know them, I was one of them. Until they cast me out."

"So what happens now?" Ethan took her revelations in stride, as if time traveling witches were the norm rather than the freak show she really was.

Karin had let out a long sigh. "Someone dies."

That was the moment he spotted Adam and Cassie getting into it, saving her from telling him exactly how it would go down.

Someone dies.

Those words rang endlessly in Cassie's head after she'd picked up on Karin's thoughts.

And worse than that, she kept seeing an endless stream of images which all ended with Karin's death.

I can't let that happen. Adam and his father need her. The Circle needs her. I need her.

"I have to tell someone," she said to herself, suddenly knowing there was only one person to confide in.

Cassie drove home at record speed and she found Jane in the kitchen. Her thoughts spilled out into a word torrent that nearly drowned her audience. "Hold up, Cassie. Are you sure about this?"

She nodded. "Positive. Karin blames herself for everything."

"That may be so, but she has a reason to live." Jane smiled knowingly.

"She's playing a waiting game."

"Karin's not thinking straight. Francis could drop in anytime without us knowing it. He could be anyone, so everyone is suspect."

Except for the twins. She'd felt them too, just as Adam had described, and their innocence was total. "How do we stop this?"

"I'm not sure we can, Cassie. Your ancestor was an evil man, who excelled at abusing power. And Sibyl was his daughter. Like it or not, she knows the old ways and is a force unto herself."

Cassie made a face. "We have to do something."

"Without her power, we're no match for him."

Her mind was forming and tossing out solutions at a rapid pace. "Unless we trick him."

Jane cocked her head. "Trick him how?"

Cassie outlined her plan and Jane's eyes twinkled. "That's ingenious, and might just work."

"It has to work."

"What will you tell Adam?"

"Nothing. This stays between us."

"Are you sure that's wise? He always knows when you're lying."

"That's a chance I'll take."