That night, in the backseat of Adam's beat-up car, as Cassie lay her head against Adam's chest, she couldn't help but reminisce about the perfect day she had just had. The overwhelming show of love and support from her new family in New Salem, the magic steadily flowing through her blood as though it had never left, the joviality of the celebration in the ocean… she wouldn't change a single moment of it. She thought back to California Cassie, shy and timid, who would only have been able to experience such affection and adventure in her imagination. Only one spot darkened the horizon: Nick. Always Nick. Ever since he had used his love for Cassie to overcome the Blak ancestor trying to possess his body, she had a felt a newfound connection with him, even deeper than the one they had shared previously. She knew now that hurting him was tantamount to hurting herself, and she'd plainly seen the pain in his face when Adam was holding her, touching her, kissing her. Free from any looming threats hanging over their head for the first time in months, seeming indifferent to everybody else's presence, he had been unable to stop constantly showing her affection. He didn't want to seem to stop now as he drew her into another long kiss.

Cassie's body responded immediately and passionately; it took her a minute to realize that she was literally thinking about another guy while kissing her boyfriend. Even as the realization struck her and she opened her eyes to pull away, she could see the silver cord wrapped around them as constant and unwavering as it had been since the moment she had risked herself to rescue Adam from Portia's brothers without even knowing why. "I saved him," she thought to herself traitorously. "Why couldn't he save himself?" She knew his earlier explanation was valid; Absolom was amongst the strongest of all her ancestors, his control would have been harder to resist. Stubbornly, a voice from inside her whispered "Nick would've managed to fight off Absolom." "Oh, shut up, there's no way to prove that" Cassie told the voice, only realizing she'd answered it aloud when Adam turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The sight of him like this, pressed against her, piercing blue eyes meeting her own, with a cute, puzzled expression would have driven her absolutely crazy a week ago. It did nothing for her now. "I should go," she told him, extracting herself from his embrace "Mom's probably waiting for me." He said "Okay," but he still wore the same bewildered expression as if he knew something was wrong. He suddenly reminded Cassie of Raj, after the dog had been told to "Stay" somewhere, and he would watch mournfully as his owner left without him. Cassie fled inside, barely even bothering to throw out a hurried "Goodbye" behind her shoulder.

As Cassie got into bed that night, the knot in her stomach was wound as tightly as ever, and she knew she was due for another round of confusing dreams. Nightmares. First there was Diana, giving her back the chalcedony rose and explaining that the silver cord was an ancient occurrence, signalling soul mates amongst witches. Then there was Nick, repeating what he had told her once "I think we get to choose who we love." She dreamed of her mother and Black John and saw snippets of them throughout the year that they had been together. She knew with all the magic within her that these memories were real. She saw him as John Blake, charming her mother, wooing her, the perfect gentleman. Cassie saw the first time he got angry at her mother, already pregnant, and let some of the darkness rotting inside him show. She forgave him instantly. It was only after many such similar occurrences that she saw her mother crying to Cassie's ancient grandmother fitfully, the older woman barely able to conceal the despair on her face. Cassie felt a pang of longing when she saw her, she missed the old crone and the knowledge she possessed. She remembered how happy her grandmother always was to see Cassie and how unfair it was that they hadn't gotten more time together.

Her alarm rang and Cassie woke up, still half in shock. She'd never seen Black John as anything other than evil, a crystal skull and a body being held together by black magic, and she was taken aback by how much it affected her. In the first part of the dream, he had seemed almost like a normal man. Someone who would potentially make a good father. "What was the dream trying to tell me?" she wondered. She got ready for school, choosing a white sweater and dark-wash jeans, excited for the first moment she would cross Nick in the hallway. "No! Adam!" She scolded herself mentally. "I love Adam, he's my soul mate." As she slid into his car though, leaning over to give him an obligatory peck on the lips, Cassie couldn't deny it no longer brought the obvious pleasure it once had. Gone were the tingles, the rainbows and fireworks. The spark she always felt, that electric current that had first allowed her to admit her feelings for Adam, felt as though someone had turned the voltage to low. Cassie could almost see it sputter to death slowly. Suddenly, her dream took on an entirely new meaning. Was it possible that her subconscious, magic and the elements were working together to show her the disastrous consequences of believing that you had found true love. Yes, it was extreme to compare Black John's proven wickedness to Adam, but her parents' relationship was the one concrete example she had in her life of allowing yourself to become complacent and keep being with your partner because you believed in love.

"I can't do this," she thought to herself tiredly. Despite everything, she still loved Adam and the thought of hurting him was unbearable. She barely listened as he chatted about the plan to have a Circle meeting at the beach later that day. In the hallway, after Adam had left, she finally saw Nick. He was wearing a fitted t-shirt that showed off his muscled physique and he was wearing earphones, entirely oblivious to his surroundings. The crowd parted naturally around him, with girls going out of their way to turn and look at him even after he passed them. Cassie felt a sudden burst of anger and had to resist the magic that had quelled up within her, ready to explode from her fingertips. He looked up suddenly, eyes meeting hers across the hallway, and she knew she was beaming. To her chagrin, Nick merely gave her a curt look and averted his eyes, walking past her almost as if she was no more than an Outsider.

All throughout her morning classes, Cassie could focus on nothing but the expression on his face as he had brushed her off. She knew he was acting from a place of hurting and she couldn't stand it. Still maintaining eye contact with her Algebra teacher, the last period before lunch, she pulled her phone from her backpack and sent Nick a quick text.

Meet me in the band room during lunch.

When he didn't reply, she sent another. Urgent.

He responded instantly saying he would be there, as Cassie had known he would. He could never resist her when he knew she needed something. It was another thing she loved about him

As soon as the bell dismissing her from Algebra rang, Cassie hurried to the band room, not even caring about the Outsiders she almost knocked down in the process. She couldn't recall the last time she had been so eager, so excited to meet anyone. Nick filled her with a longing for excitement and a little danger. She threw open the doors to the band room and there he was, ravishing in all his glory. Cassie instantly lost the ability to speak, she hadn't known what she was going to say even when she texted him. Her plan was simply to get him to stop being so upset. Scarcely knowing what she was doing, Cassie walked up to Nick and just pulled him against her, resting her arms against his shoulders. She could feel all the stiffness in his chest go away after a minute as he finally hugged her back. She was home.

"Cassie, what are you doing?" He asked, still refusing to let her go. "You chose Conant, you can't keep doing this to me. It isn't fair." Cassie knew what a huge admission it was for Nick, usually so stoic and sardonic, to open up to her like this and show her his vulnerabilities. When she didn't say anything, he tried to step away but she held onto her grip. "They're going to miss us in the lunch room," he continued. But Cassie was encircled in a cocoon of Nick and she never wanted to break free. She could feel muscles all around her, his abs and his biceps, and suddenly she felt a wave of desire wash over her. Banishing all thoughts of Adam from her mind, she drew back, saw the disappointment in his eyes appear momentarily, only to disappear when she pushed him against the wall with an animalistic passion she didn't know she had within herself. Before Nick could even react, Cassie had knotted her fingers in his hair and pulled his face down to hers. She kissed him deeply, hungrily and he responded hungrily. His hands snaked around her, squeezing her hips. "God Cassie," he said, voice sounding almost reverent, "What are you doing to me?" He touched his forehead to hers.

"I love you. I want to be with you." She told him firmly.

His eyes widened, a smile playing against his lips.

"What about Conant? That whole soul mates bullshit?"

Cassie shrugged; she didn't have a good enough answer to give herself, let alone him. "I know he'll be hurt and I hate that. But he'll just have to deal." She knew that Adam would be destroyed, devastated even. But this was something she had to do. Besides, she realized her and Adam had been together for less than two months. During that time, they'd fought more than they spoke, they both believed Adam had another cord connecting her to Scarlett, Cassie's sister, Cassie had kissed Nick, she been half-possessed by an inherently evil Book of Shadows, and Adam had been possessed by one of the most malevolent men in history. Cassie had no previous experience with love, but even she had to admit their relationship was far from ideal.

Cassie broke the news to Adam on their ride from school. She told him how she felt, nervously stammering the entire time. Her voice only strengthened when she spoke about her love for Nick and her desire to be with him. Adam sat there quietly while she spoke, tears running down his face the entire way back. He seemed to sad to even be angry

It was only at the Circle meeting later that day that Cassie could relax. She had always known that she making the right choice by choosing Nick but seeing Adam at the meeting only solidified that conviction. He had come when there were no pressing matters to attend to, a rare occasion when an absence from the meeting was entirely forgivable. Rather than mourn at home, he had come to lend the Circle his support. Cassie realized that, whatever else, he would never place anything give anything more importance than magic. Selfish as it may seem, Cassie couldn't settle for anyone who wasn't able to make her the foremost focus in his life. Luckily, Nick's list of priorities started with Cassie.

As she stood there in her ceremonial white shift, Faye and Diana on either side of her, Cassie looked around at the groups of friends that had become her family. Laurel, Melanie, Sean, Chris, Doug, Deborah, Scarlett, Adam and finally… Nick. The twilit beautiful beach was the perfect backdrop for Cassie's feelings. Grinning at Nick, she raised her voice and began, the sound of leadership resonant in her voice, "I hereby call this meeting of the Circle to order…"