Chapter 1 It was a cool, purple night, and the candles continued to burn, flickering orange and yellow against the cave walls. But the hunters no longer mumbled their soft chant. They’d fallen silent. Their hardened bodies littered the ground, with their faces frozen in a soundless eternal scream. Cassie looked at her hands, dirty and shaking. What had she done? She glanced at Adam. He appeared pale and sickened, unsteady on his feet like he might faint. Diana seemed a little dazed, unable to figure out what had just occurred. The smell of death was thick in the air. As Cassie breathed it in, her mouth filled with the heady, metallic taste of guilt. Then Max’s voice boomed. “You just killed my father. He’s dead! Do you understand that?” Slowly, Cassie’s friends surrounded her, but they were no longer themselves—their faces had altered into distorted and ugly shapes. Adam sneered with narrowed blackened eyes and spoke in a voice that wasn’t his own. “Give us the book, dear one,” he said. “Or die.” Diana curled her fingers and twitched. “Better yet,” she said, “give us the book and then die.” So much death, Cassie thought. When will it stop? Fear coursed through her. She tried to back away, but she found herself pinned against the rocky wall