Cassie reached for her hand, hoping some of the strength would rub off Diana's skin onto hers. And somehow it did. A few moments of holding Diana close calmed her.
"We're doing the right thing," Diana said. "We need Constance."
Cassie remembered what a refuge Constance had been since she lost her grandmother. And all the afternoons she'd spent in her parlor, learning new spells and studying ancient rituals. Constance was the only connection to the old ways the Circle had.
"I know we are," Cassie said in her most courageous voice. "I'm ready to go."
"Okay, everyone, let's get started." Diana emptied the cotton sack onto the table when they arrived at the lighthouse and immediately began reading directions from her Book of Shadows.
It didn't surprise Cassie how everyone automatically turned to Diana in moments like this - moments when it really mattered. She would always be the most natural leader among them, no matter what.
"The body should be entirely covered in white cloth of two layers," Diana read aloud to Adam. "With head and face veiled in tull e." She gestured to a pile of fine white netting on the table.
Adam nodded. "I'll take care of it," he said.
Nick, Chris, and Doug pushed all the furniture to the room's perimeter. Melanie kneeled in the center beside the covered body. Cassie helped Deborah drape the windows with purple linens.
Diana approached Faye carrying two golden censers.
"We have to fumigate the chamber with sage and frankincense," she said.
Faye had changed into her ceremonial black shift, and she was already wearing the green leather garter with its seven silver buckles. She accepted the censers from Diana and then called Sean over to tend to the chore. "Where's the diadem?" she asked.
Diana nodded over to Melanie, sitting solemnly with the diadem on her head. "She's the one who gets to wear the Tools tonight," Diana said. "She's doing the conjuring. The rest of us are her support."
Even Faye couldn't disagree that Melanie should be the one leading this spell, but she still tore the garter from her leg with fury before walking it over to Melanie. Cassie followed close behind her, removing the bracelet from her wrist on her way.
In a few minutes, the room had been properly prepared, and Diana called for the ritual to begin.
"Faye and Cassie, will you do the honors of casting the circle according to my instructions? Forgive me if I go slowly - this text is really hard to read - but I'll do my best. Is everyone ready?"
Cassie looked around the dimly lit room. She wasn't the only one who seemed nervous, but nobody was about to back out now. Melanie appeared to be in a cloudy-eyed daze, but she looked more beautiful wearing the Master Tools than Cassie had ever seen her.
Diana cleared her throat and began reading aloud. "A magic circle is to be formed upon the ground with an ink of soot and port wine. A second circle is formed half a foot within the first."
Together Cassie and Faye formed the circles around Melanie and Constance, using the chalice of ink Diana had prepared.
"And within there," Diana continued, "cast a triangle, the center of which will serve as the resting place of the deceased and primary conjurer."
Cassie and Faye formed the triangle within the circles, outlining Melanie and Constance.
"Everyone get inside," Diana said. "And then I'll close the outer circle with the four layers of protection." Quickly the group arranged itself, kneeling upon the outer circle's perimeter as Diana called on the elements.
"Powers of Air, protect us," Diana called out. "Powers of Fire, protect us."
Cassie closed her eyes and listened.
"Powers of Water, protect us." Diana enunciated each syllable with precision. "And finally," she said, "I call on the powers of Earth to protect us."
Diana then joined the circle beside Cassie and continued reading from her Book of Shadows. "To commence, the conjurer must light a black candle and cast it over the body seven times thereon, calling the name of the spirit to be raised."
All eyes turned to Melanie now. Cassie wondered if she had the strength to do it. But the Tools glistened, and Melanie's posture straightened as she lit the candle and passed it over the white sheet, calling out, "Great-Aunt Constance, Constance Burke, hear us."
Diana continued, "Then from a golden chalice of dried amaranth flowers, sprinkle the body and its surrounding area."
While Melanie did the sprinkling, Diana said, "Melanie, repeat after me: Thou who art mourned, see now the nature of this mourning."
And Melanie repeated, "Thou who art mourned, see now the nature of this mourning."
Cassie felt her eyes fill with tears as Diana chanted: This is the spell that we intone
Flesh to flesh and bone to bone
Sinew to sinew and vein to vein
Constance shall be whole again
They all concentrated hard, harnessing their powers together as one. Cassie could sense an energy rising up from the center triangle, webbing out to each member of the group, linking them all together in a maze of light.
Diana read aloud, "After a moment of silence and concentration, uncover the face of the deceased. Then call to the spirit again, affectionately. Say 'Welcome.'" With
quivering
hands,
Melanie
gently
unveiled
Constance's face. "Great-Aunt Constance," she said.
"Welcome."
"The body will stir," Diana read. "The eyes will open, and then the desired awakening."
The room crackled with energy. Cassie could feel it zipping and twisting around her in spirals, but she wasn't afraid of it anymore. The air around them warmed, and Cassie could see the life flickering back into Constance's face slowly, like the rising sun.
Then a shape began to form. Cassie noticed it faintly at first in the glow on Constance's forehead, but then it grew bigger and brighter until it stood out like an iridescent bruise. It was most definitely a symbol, a primal-looking mark resembling two crooked U-shapes within a hexagon.
Then everything went dark. The light that had come to Constance's face, the symbol, the candles ill uminating the room - all of it disappeared, as if a heavy blanket were dropped from the ceiling, snuffing the room to death.
Diana lit her lantern and held it up to Melanie's grief-stricken face. Her great-aunt Constance was still dead. And now she had to experience her death all over again.
"The spell didn't work," Laurel said.
"But it was working." Diana's eyes franticly searched the group. "Didn't you all feel it?"