Cassie held her father's Book of Shadows in her hands and shivered. There would be no going back, her mother had said, but now she watched Cassie expectantly. The book's gold deckle-edged pages were cinched closed with a leather string, like a soft, thin belt. Cassie pulled on it, and dust particles flew into the air as its knot came undone, but the book's cover remained in place. "It's not too late to change your mind," her mother said. "Are you sure you're ready?" Cassie nodded. If this book contained the secrets to defeating her half sister, Scarlett, and saving the Circle from the hunters, it wasn't even a question. It was her duty to study it. She carefully fanned open the book. Its spine cracked and Cassie's eyes seemed to meld to the page. The text scrawled upon the paper's yellowed surface was composed of squiggly lines and archaic symbols. The curl of each brushstroke felt forbidden, like Cassie had revealed something not intended for her eyes. But before Cassie could process exactly what she was seeing, the book grew warm in her hands, and then threateningly hot. Within seconds the skin of her fingers was sizzling, and Cassie couldn't stop herself from crying out. Her flesh adhered to the book, and she couldn't pull her hands away despite the scorching pain. Her mother's face