Sleep deprivation could drive anyone crazy, Mateo figured. Maybe that was all it was. “That doesn’t prove anything.”
“Generation after generation, the Cabots try to convince themselves of that. And generation after generation, they’re wrong. I tried to end it with your mother, you know. I told her never to marry or have children, and for so long she obeyed. Then your father moved to town when she was forty—even I thought it might be safe by that point—but here you are.” Grandma leaned back in her chair, as though exhausted; this was probably the most talking she’d done in a year. “You can break the cycle, Mateo. You can end this by refusing to father children. Don’t adopt, either. It will only be crueler for them when you go mad.”
“I won’t.” The words came out louder than Mateo meant for them to, so loud that her eyes widened. He tried again. “I mean, it’s not going to happen to me.”
“But it will,” she said quite calmly. “You are the only one of your generation. There is no rescuing you.” Her bony hand reached out to ring the small silver bell that summoned the butler. “A pity, really. You were such a lovely child.”
Then she turned back to her window, and the butler came, and there was nothing for Mateo to do but leave, even more freaked out than he’d been before.
As he stumbled out into the sunlight, which now seemed too strong to his eyes, the countless other questions he had welled up inside: Why did Mom go on for so long without it happening to her? When did it begin? What were the first signs?
And why was Nadia mixed up in it all?
But there were no answers, only the sure knowledge that tonight, when he slept, he would dream again. Once the madness began, it never stopped.
Nadia hung around after school as long as possible, speaking to no one, in hopes of slipping back into the chemistry lab. Of course, she didn’t have her materials with her, the various powders and bones necessary for more complicated magical work … but there had to be some kind of simple spell that would reveal the force underneath more completely.
“Hey.”
Startled, Nadia glanced over to see Faye Walsh standing at the far end of the hallway, a patent-leather file folder in one hand. “Oh. Hi.”
“Looking for something?” In other words, Do you have a reason for loitering on school grounds, or do you want to get a move on?
She’d have to try again another day. “I was just … finishing some stuff up. I’m headed out.”
Ms. Walsh nodded. “Have a good evening.” At least she did Nadia the courtesy of not watching her the whole way out.
So Nadia started home; the walk wasn’t too far, and though she’d only traveled it once, she figured this town wasn’t big enough to get really lost in. It was kind of weird, though, being surrounded by trees and quiet instead of the bustle of city life. Nadia felt safer in crowds. This kind of setting—with nothing but the sky overhead, nobody much around—she associated with trashy true-crime TV. They always put the abduction reenactments in settings like this, showed the cell phone or purse abandoned on the ground.
Nobody’s going to snatch you. Besides, you could protect yourself if they tried. She knew those spells backward and forward, could do them if she was drugged or stunned or anything. That was basic witchcraft self-defense.
Nadia cut across the running track on her way toward the road that led back to her house. There was a little patch of trees back there—probably where the stoners hung out, though right now nobody was around. Somebody’s ancient car, a maroon land yacht from the 1970s or something, was parked nearby but empty. No sound broke the eerie stillness that surrounded her.
It’s not eerie, Nadia reminded herself. Outside Chicago, you can actually hear things like the wind through the trees. Or—wait, what is that?
The rumbling sounded like an earthquake, or at least what Nadia thought an earthquake might sound like. Then the ground began shaking beneath her feet.
Earthquakes in Rhode Island? Nadia grabbed at the trunk of the nearest tree, right at the outskirts of the grove, to steady herself.
But it wasn’t an earthquake.
The ground just—sank. In front of her, an entire trench opened up, dirt flying and trees tilting, all of it sloping into the new ditch. Nadia gaped as the lone car tilted onto one side and slid down into the trench.
Then, as soon as it had begun, it ended.
Breathing fast, Nadia didn’t let go of her hold on the tree; obviously she couldn’t even trust the ground here. What was that? What had just ripped a hole in the earth?
Her mind went first to supernatural explanations. Nadia thought again of that weird feeling she’d had, that something might be lurking underneath the chemistry lab … but she didn’t sense that same energy here. Nobody else seemed to be around, which meant no witches to cast spells. Nadia didn’t know of any magic that could work to rip the earth out from underneath; that didn’t mean no such magic existed, but it seemed doubtful. Besides, what could be the point of a spell like that? Would a spellcaster bother trashing people’s junker cars?
Nadia sighed, now more annoyed than alarmed. Had that been a sinkhole? An underground tunnel or room collapsing? Great, now she lived in BFE and it was collapsing in on itself.
Sucks to be the owner of that car, she thought. All that remained visible was the back bumper. When they get back, they’re gonna be ticked.
And then she thought—maybe they didn’t have to know.
Maybe it was because she’d found herself wishing for something more to be at work, something magical, so she’d have a test for her skills. Maybe it was because Ms. Walsh had made her promise not to limit herself. Maybe she just missed spellcasting.
And a lot of it probably had to do with the fact that this was what she’d wanted to do when her family was in the wreck—but couldn’t while Dad and Cole were there, not unless their lives were in true, inescapable danger.
Whatever it was, it made Nadia decide, I’m going to get that car out of the ditch.
Moving physical objects was surprisingly difficult; witchcraft had more to do with insight and influence than brute strength in the physical world. Nadia had never lifted anything as heavy as a car before, had never even tried. But she knew the spell.
People would surely come running soon to see what had happened. If she was going to do this, she had to try it now.
Nadia glanced around—no, nobody was around yet. The school grounds were deserted; no traffic zoomed along the streets. So she took hold of the sliver of ivory on her bracelet and put the ingredients together: