Free The Secret Circle: The Captive Part II and The Power by L. J. Smith Page A

naturally.”
    “Christopher.”
    “Uh . . .” Chris looked confused. Despite Faye’s frown and Doug’s frantic coaching, he was squinting into nothingness as if searching for a lost decision. Finally, he seemed to find it and he looked at Melanie. “Okay; Diana.”
    Everyone in the circle stared at him. He glared back defiantly. Cassie’s fingers clenched on the piece of hematite in her pocket.
    “Chris, you feeb—” Doug began, but Melanie shut him up.
    “No talking,” she said, and put out a fourth white stone next to the two red. “Suzan.”
    “Faye.”
    Three red, four white. “Deborah.”
    “Who do you think?” Deborah snapped. “Faye.”
    Four red, four white. “Laurel,” said Melanie.
    “Diana’s always been our leader, and she always will be,” Laurel said. “I vote for her.”
    Melanie put a fifth white stone out, a trace of a smile hovering on her lips. “Sean.”
    Sean’s black eyes shifted nervously. “I . . .” Faye was staring at him relentlessly. “I . . . I . . . Faye ,” he said, and hunched up his shoulders.
    Melanie shrugged and put out another red stone. Five red, five white. But although her gray eyes remained serious, her lips were definitely curved in a smile. All of Diana’s adherents had relaxed, and they were flashing smiles at each other across the circle.
    Melanie turned confidently to the last member of the coven and said, “Cassandra.”

Chapter 6
    T here was silence under the silver disk of moon.
    “Cassie,” Melanie said again.
    Now everyone was looking at her. Cassie could feel the heat of Faye’s golden eyes on her, and she knew why Sean had squirmed. They were hotter than the pillar of fire Diana had summoned up to protect them at Halloween.
    As if compelled, Cassie glanced the other way. Diana was looking at her too. Diana’s eyes were like a pool adrift with green leaves. Cassie couldn’t seem to look away from them.
    “Cassie?” Melanie said for the third time. Her voice was tinged with the slightest note of doubt.
    Still unable to look away from Diana’s eyes, Cassie whispered, “Faye.”
    “What?” cried Laurel.
    “Faye,” Cassie said, too loudly. She was clutching the piece of hematite in her pocket. Coldness from it seemed to seep through her body. “I said Faye, all right?” she said to Melanie, but she was still looking at Diana.
    Those clear green eyes were bewildered. Then, all at once, understanding came into them, as if a stone had been tossed into the tranquil pool. And when Cassie saw that, saw Diana really understand what had just happened, something inside her died forever.
    Cassie didn’t know any longer why she was voting for Faye. She couldn’t remember now how all this had started, how she’d gotten on this path in the first place. All she knew was that the coldness from her hand and arm was trickling through her entire body, and that from here on, there was no turning back.
    Melanie was sitting motionless, stunned, not touching the pile of red and white stones. She seemed to have forgotten about them. It was Deborah who leaned forward and picked up the sixth red stone, adding it to Faye’s pile.
    And somehow that act, and the sight of the six red stones beside the five white ones, made it real. Electricity crackled in the air as everyone sat forward.
    Slowly, Melanie said, “Faye is the new leader of the coven.”
    Faye stood up.
    She had never seemed so tall before, or so beautiful.
    Silently, she held out a hand to Diana.
    But it wasn’t a gesture of friendship. Faye’s open hand with the long crimson nails was demanding . And in response to it, very slowly, Diana got to her feet as well. She unclasped the silver bracelet from her upper arm.
    Adam had been staring, thunderstruck. Now he jumped to his feet. “ Wait a minute—”
    “It’s no use, Adam,” Melanie said, in a deadened voice. “The vote was fair. Nothing can change it now.”
    Faye took the silver bracelet with the mysterious, runic inscriptions,