The Complete Private Collection: Private; Invitation Only; Untouchable; Confessions; Inner Circle; Legacy; Ambition; Revelation; Last Christmas; Paradise ... The Book of Spells; Ominous; Vengeance (294 page)

“Ever since your stunt at the welcome, Miss Billings, lateness has been in fashion,” she said. “And you, Miss Williams, seem to have inspired an influx of patrons to our library.”

Eliza stared at the woman. It was hard to believe that as head of a school, she saw heightened interest in books as a bad thing.

“And I know you two were behind that late-night jaunt to Easton,” she continued. “I saw the two of you wait for the others to return to Crenshaw before you brought up the rear. Why would you do that unless you were the ringleaders?”

Eliza glanced at Theresa out of the corner of her eye, annoyed. Of
that,
she was falsely accused.

“I am certain that whatever is going on with those girls, the two of you are responsible,” Miss Almay said. “Rest assured, I will put a stop to it.”

Eliza stared up at her and a sudden hatred surged through her heart so strongly it shocked her. This was the woman who had squelched May’s spirit and sent her back to Eliza a changed, meek girl. And now here she was, accusing Eliza and Theresa of manipulating their friends, with no real evidence to support the claim.

“We are responsible for no one other than ourselves, Miss Almay,” Eliza said firmly. “I respectfully suggest that if you wish to learn more about those girls and their actions, you ask them.”

Theresa looked at Eliza, stunned. Miss Almay simply froze. She was so still, Eliza couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. Her pupils dilated with anger so that her eyes looked almost black. For a moment it looked as though she was going to reach out and strike Eliza. But then she moved to the door and opened it. “That will be all, girls,” she said.

Eliza and Theresa scrambled to their feet and were out the door so fast, they didn’t even think to bid the headmistress good day. They were mere steps into the hall when the heavy oak door slammed behind them.

“What was that?” Theresa asked Eliza as they scurried toward the main hallway. She sounded impressed. “I’ve never seen you so—”

“So like you?” Eliza shot back.

Theresa blinked. “You say it as if it’s a bad thing.”

“Good or bad, I had to get us out of there somehow,” Eliza replied.

Theresa leaned back against the wall, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked Eliza up and down. “I may have underestimated you, Eliza Williams.”

Eliza felt a surprising flutter of pride over Theresa’s approval.

“Well, Theresa Billings,” she said, lifting her chin. “You may not have noticed before now, but I am not my sister.”

The following night, at the stroke of midnight, Eliza found herself in the basement of Billings Chapel once again, but this time the mood was decidedly lighter than it had been on Sunday. Laughter and conversation filled the chamber, and candles flickered warmly over the decorated walls. Eliza and Catherine paged through the book of spells, waiting for Theresa, who was the only member of the coven yet to arrive. Eliza laughed as Alice skipped by, eating one of the pastries Genevieve had procured in town for the meeting. Powdered sugar covered her chin, and she had woven a wreath of fresh flowers into her hair.

“You suddenly seem very keen on being here,” Eliza said, stopping Alice in her tracks.

Alice tilted her head quizzically, her auburn curls grazing her shoulders. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked without a trace of irony.

Eliza and Catherine exchanged an amused glance.

“No longer afraid of repercussions from above?” Catherine asked, holding the book open in her lap.

“Oh. That,” Alice said. She took a step closer to them and lowered her voice. “I figure that if God disapproved of what we were doing, he would have smote us all down the moment we said the incantation that made us witches. But so far, we’re all fine. So I have to believe he approves!”

With that, she skipped away.

“It must be nice living in Alice’s world,” Eliza mused.

“I wouldn’t mind paying a visit,” Catherine agreed. “But I don’t think I’d want it to be a lengthy one.” She looked down at the page she’d just turned to. “Ugh. Look at this.”

Eliza looked down at the page, and a shudder went through her. In the center was a grotesque illustration of a bare skull with roses sticking out of its eyes. Across the top, in elaborate script, were the words
LIFE OUT OF DEATH SPELL
. She slammed the book closed, almost flattening Catherine’s fingers.

“We won’t be needing that,” she said, standing. “Perhaps we should get this meeting started.” She spoke loudly so the other girls could hear her over their conversation and pastry munching. “Theresa will be here soon. There’s no harm in deciding on a new spell to cast before she gets here.”

She took the book from Catherine and placed it on the pedestal she and Lavender had found in the chapel’s storage closet earlier that evening. The other girls gathered around as Eliza took the position of authority.

Viola clasped her hands beneath her chin. “Are we going to make the Easton boys fall in love with us?”

Everyone laughed.

“A lofty goal, but I think we can come up with something better,” Theresa said, appearing suddenly at the bottom of the stairs. She had her hair swept up dramatically to one side, where it fell in curls along her left cheek. Her dress was jade green with a tight bodice, and she wore a black shawl with beads dangling from its ends in strands of varying length. She crossed the room and stood next to Eliza, practically pushing her out of the way. “I think I can take it from here, Eliza.”

“That’s all right, Theresa. I was just about to begin,” Eliza said, pressing the side of her foot against the side of Theresa’s, trying to regain some ground.

“I can flip through this book just as well as anyone and find us a spell,” Theresa said blithely, turning the pages. “What do we want to do? Give all the adults on campus laryngitis? Make it rain for three days? Learn how to make someone faint on cue?”

“Oh, I don’t like that one,” Bia said fretfully from her spot near the door, next to her sister.

Eliza watched the titles on the pages as Theresa hurriedly skimmed through them. Suddenly something caught her eye and she slammed her hand down on the book, stopping the incessant flipping.

“Eliza!” Theresa scolded.

“Let’s do this one,” Eliza said. “This one will get us exactly what we need.”

“Boys?” Alice asked.

Giggles ensued. Catherine rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“Freedom,” Eliza corrected, her eyes gleaming as she looked out at the other girls. “Although the company of boys could be a welcome side effect,” she added to appease her romance-hungry friends. Alice, Viola, Bia, and Genevieve squealed happily. A picture of Harrison flitted through Eliza’s own mind as well, but she shoved it aside quickly.

“What is it?” Catherine asked, stepping up to better see the page.

“It’s called the Spell of Silence,” Eliza said. Her eyes flicked over the page. “It says that if we cast it successfully, no one but us will be able to hear a sound we make. We’ll be able to shout, slam doors, laugh, scream . . . and Miss Almay will be none the wiser.”

“So we can sneak out and visit the boys!” Alice cried happily, clasping her hands together under her chin.

“For what are we waiting?” Genevieve pushed the last of her cream puff into her mouth, dusted sugar from her fingers, and chewed. “Tell us what we are to do.”

“Wait,” Theresa snapped. “There are hundreds of spells in here that we could try. I don’t see why Eliza has the last word.”

Eliza’s cheeks burned indignantly. “Fine. Then let’s take a vote.”

Theresa opened her mouth as if to retort, but Clarissa interrupted her. “All in favor of Eliza’s spell, say ‘aye,’” she said, flipping one of her braids over her shoulder.

“Aye!” the shouts filled the room. Only Theresa abstained, although Jane’s “aye” was slightly less adamant than the others, and she made sure not to look at Theresa as she cast her vote.

“Spell of Silence it is!” Eliza said triumphantly. She retook her spot at the center of the podium, bumping Theresa out of the way. “Everyone kindly form the circle.”

Theresa’s lips were set in a thin, angry line as she took her spot between Eliza and Jane. It was all Eliza could do to keep from sticking her tongue out at the girl. But she had gotten what she deserved for trying to take over so rudely, and after being more than fifteen minutes late, no less.

“Please take one another’s hands,” Eliza instructed. She reached for Theresa’s and Catherine’s hands. Theresa did not clasp her fingers in return, but left them flat. Alice swung Catherine’s and Clarissa’s hands in anticipation, swiveling her hips as well so that her voluminous skirts swished back and forth.

“I’ll recite the spell once,” Eliza said, “then we’ll all recite it together: ‘Wherever we go, wherever we might, let us walk in silence as the night,’” she intoned.

“That’s it?” Clarissa blurted.

“Sometimes the simplest spells are the most powerful,” Catherine informed her.

“At least it’s easy to remember,” Jane said.

“Shall we get this over with?” Theresa snipped.

The girls nodded and spoke as one. “Wherever we go, wherever we might, let us walk in silence as the night.”

The strange wind picked up again, and Eliza’s grip on her friends’ hands tightened. Even Theresa’s fingers now curled around hers. The wind sent chills all up and down Eliza’s arms. For a moment she
thought of Catherine’s warning about upsetting the natural balance of the world. But when she glanced over at her friend, Catherine seemed perfectly at ease.

Eliza breathed out and told herself it would be all right. If Catherine—the one among them who knew more of magic than the rest—was unconcerned, so should she be. A minute later, the wind stopped. This time, the candles held strong and the light prevailed, but Eliza herself wobbled on her feet. Her vision prickled over, but the sensation quickly passed. Jane staggered forward slightly, but after a few breaths, seemed fine. As Eliza looked around, she could tell that each of the girls had felt the momentary dizziness. Was it a side effect of the spell?

Another thump of apprehension vibrated through Eliza’s chest, but she forced herself not to consider it. They were fine. Everyone was fine.

“Well? What do we do now?” Alice asked finally.

Eliza smiled, deciding to put her concerns aside and embrace the fun. “Let’s go see if it worked!”

“Who’s going first?” Eliza asked, peeking around the corner into the first-floor hallway. The door to Miss Almay’s room stood a few feet away. It was closed, but a shaft of light shone through the crack at the bottom, indicating that the headmistress was, indeed, inside and awake.

“Not so much the fearless leader now, eh, Eliza?” Theresa said, smoothing the front of her green dress as she stepped away from the corner. “You scaredy-cats stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“Theresa! Wait!” Catherine whispered, trying to grab for her skirt.

But Theresa just walked right up to Miss Almay’s door and knocked three times. Loudly. For a long moment Eliza couldn’t move or breathe or even think. All she could see in her mind’s eye was Miss Almay whipping the door open, her face purple with fury.

“Hello!?” Theresa shouted. “Anybody home?”

Then she turned, looked at Eliza and Catherine—the only two brave enough to peer around the corner—and raised her palms.

“We did it!” she said giddily. “Come on, girls! You try!”

Eliza’s heart was still pounding as she pulled Catherine out into the hall by both arms. She started to whistle a jaunty tune as she stomped past the headmistress’s room. Gathering her courage, Catherine hummed the tune as well, knocking her fist against the wall to keep the beat. When the two of them arrived at the far end of the hall without incident, they both collapsed on the floor, laughing with relief and a heady feeling of power. They had really done it.

“This is too fun!” Catherine cried, slinging her arm around Eliza’s shoulders.

“What now?” Viola asked.

“Let’s go over to the boys’ dormitories!” Alice cried.

“Not tonight,” Catherine said, stepping forward.

“What?” Alice lamented. “But Eliza, you said—”

“She’s right,” Eliza put in. “Tonight should be about us. Let’s go outside and have some fun.”

“Part of being a witch is about communing with nature,” Catherine added, taking Alice’s other hand. “I say we go out and celebrate with Mother Earth.”

Alice let out a disconsolate moan. “But boys are far more exciting than boring old Mother Earth.”

“Oh, come along, you,” Theresa said, rolling her eyes. “We’ll take some of the exercise equipment out of the shed and play in the moonlight.”

“I don’t know why we can’t celebrate just as well with the boys,” Alice pouted.

“Because this is not about the boys,” Eliza said. “This is about us.”

The eleven girls, led by Eliza, Theresa, and Catherine, marched down the hallway as loudly as they could possibly manage, talking at the top of their voices and stomping their feet all the way. Outside, Catherine opened the unlocked equipment shed, and Alice and Bia were the first inside, ransacking the shelves and hooks and emerging with armfuls of hoops. Clarissa went in after them and pulled out the badminton racquets and birdies, while Catherine and Eliza extracted a pair of bicycles with wide handlebars.

“Shall we race?” Eliza challenged her friend with a grin.

Catherine opened her mouth to respond, but Theresa came over and took the handlebars right out of her grasp.

“I’ll race you,” she announced. Then she straddled the bicycle and took off after Bia, Viola, and Jane, who shrieked as they chased the hoops down the slight grassy hill in front of Crenshaw House. Eliza’s heart dropped in response to Theresa’s rudeness, and Catherine looked stunned.

“What was that?” Eliza asked.

Catherine recovered herself. She rubbed her palms together and shrugged. “That’s Theresa. She wants what she wants.”

“Come on, Williams! Are you going to race me or not?” Theresa shouted back.

Eliza looked at Catherine uncertainly.

“Go ahead,” Catherine said. “I’ll take the next turn.”