Emma
The campfire burns and crackles in the night air, casting our faces with a warm orange glow.
“If only we had some marshmallows,” I say, and a few of the other girls laugh, which is exactly what I wanted them to do.
But not Haley. Haley never laughs anymore.
“Is this funny to all of you?” she demands as she stands in front of the fire in her long white robe. “This is a coven, not
summer camp. What we’re doing here is serious.”
“Sorry.” I should have known better. I’ve been trying hard to stay on Haley’s good side. I know what happens to people who
don’t. “I was just joking. I mean, I do love s’mores, and it would be great if—”
“What would be great is if you stopped talking,” Haley says.
I shut up—but not before exchanging a look with Meg, sitting across the fire from me. She widens her eyes at me, sympathetic.
She gets it.
For a long time we revered Haley, who can cast a glamour stronger than any witch’s I’ve ever seen, and has a plan for how to save our planet, which is spinning on a seemingly unstoppable path toward complete annihilation.
But now I feel a little afraid of her—and it’s not only because she says Hecate has spoken to her.
Hecate is one of the most powerful and mysterious goddesses of all time. She rules over magic, the moon, the Underworld, and
more. The only goddess more powerful than Hecate is her great-great-grandmother, Gaia, the primordial mother goddess.
But it’s Hecate who is supposed to be the protector of witches.
Except that I haven’t felt protected in a long time. And neither—she confided in me the other night—does Meg.
“It isn’t Haley herself,” Meg whispered to me after the others, including Haley, had gone to sleep. “It’s this place. I think it’s doing something to her—maybe to all of us. And it isn’t anything good, as far as I can see.”
Meg could be right. I’ve done things since coming here that I would never, ever have done back in my old life. Things I’m
not proud of. Things that—
“Hail Hecate, guardian of the crossroads,” Haley is intoning toward the night sky. “We beg thee to accept our sacrifice on
this, the first night along our journey toward the darkest part of the year.”
“Sacrifice?” I take what I hope is an imperceptible step back from the circle we’ve made around the fire. Even though Haley
has explained over and over that there’s no such thing as good magic and bad magic, it’s all down to the intentions of the
witch, I can’t help it: A sacrifice doesn’t sound good. “What are we sacrificing?”
“That which we love most.” Haley lowers her gaze and stares at me. I’m in trouble again for daring to speak. “What else? Otherwise
it wouldn’t be a sacrifice worthy of a goddess, would it?”
“I—I guess not.” I glance uncertainly at the other girls. I don’t like the sound of this at all, and neither does Meg. I can
see her worried expression across the fire.
But the rest of the girls don’t seem bothered. They reach for one another’s hands.
“What’s the matter, Emma?” Haley demands. There’s nothing friendly in her tone—not like when we first met. “You are aware
that tonight is the autumn equinox—the night that we make a sacrifice to thank the goddess for the fruitful harvest that will
feed us during our long journey into the darkness of winter, right?”
That’s when I realize Haley isn’t the only one staring at me. All the girls are. Even Meg.
So I step quickly back into the circle around the flames and seize the hands closest to me.
“Yes,” I lie. We’ve been out in these woods for so long, I no longer have any idea what month it is, let alone what day. What
fruitful harvest is Haley talking about? I really could kill for some marshmallows, let alone a slice of pizza.
“And you believe?” Haley asks me.
“Yes, absolutely, I do.” I know what will happen if I say I don’t. “I do believe.”
“Perfect.” Haley’s dark red lips break into a smile just as the fingers around mine tighten into vises. “Because our sacrifice
for Hecate tonight is . . . you.”