Her mother continued holding the book out to her. "It's okay," she said. "You can touch it."
Cassie reached out to take it from her mother reluctantly.
The book felt cruel and cold in her hands - it almost felt alive.
"How did you get this?" Cassie asked.
Her mother sat back down beside her. "It's a long story.
But it's been hidden here in this house for quite some time.
You have to understand, in the wrong hands, this book could be extremely dangerous."
Like the Master Tools, Cassie thought. "And you want me to have it?"
Her mother's face was stern. "You'll need it if you stand any chance of defeating Scarlett."
The book was heavier than it appeared to be, like its contents were greater than the sum of its pages. It was impossible to comprehend the dark spells and secrets it enclosed. Cassie noticed that its black leather cover wasn't completely smooth. It was faintly embossed with a symbol that reminded Cassie of the inscriptions on the silver bracelet and the diadem. There were also dull scratches and indentations, like fingernails had worn into its surface.
And its upper-right-hand corner was eroded almost completely gray, like a deteriorated oval-shaped stamp.
Black John's fingerprint, Cassie realized.
She jerked her eyes away from the grayed spot, and her stomach lurched. She was intrigued by it, but it also upset her.
Cassie refocused on the embossed symbol, trying to remember where else she'd seen that design. And then she remembered: It was identical to the inscription on Black John's lodestone ring, the one used to identify him as John Blake, and later as John Brunswick.
Having this book in her hands was the closest thing now to having Black John there in the room with her. It felt like all the darkness in the world might begin to pour forth from its pages at any moment.
Cassie's mother watched her handle the book apprehensively. "I know it feels alive to you," she said. "But it's just a book, I promise. And you are strong enough to handle it." There was a candidness in her eyes that Cassie had never seen before.
The book shivered in Cassie's hands as she tried to calm herself. It was just paper and words, that's all it was.
And its words contained the key to defeating Scarlett, saving the Circle, and getting the Master Tools back. She didn't have the luxury of pretending this book didn't exist, as evil and frightening as it felt to her. She couldn't simply put it back into its hiding place. It was her responsibility to read it, study it, and ingest its secrets until they became part of who she was. Only then would she be strong enough against Scarlett.
Her mother silently observed her mental struggle and seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.
"Remember, Cassie," she said. "There's so much goodness in you. There's much more light in your soul than dark. Do you recognize that?"
Cassie nodded. "I think so."
"But there are things in this book that won't be easy for you to read. Do you understand what I mean by that?"
"Yes," Cassie said.
"If you open it," her mother warned, "there's no going back."