Page 85 of Haunting the Deep

“No,” Alice says. “From everything we’ve read, he’ll have to give it to us willingly. For love spells to work well, some part of you has towantto participate. And until you choose tostopparticipating, the spell can’t be broken. However, if he’s under a spell, it’s going to be hard to convince him to give us that bracelet.”

Isit on my bed in a pile ofTitanicnotes. My phone vibrates.

Susannah:Is Jaxon home?

Me:Yeah. I’ll text you as soon as I finish eating.

Alice:Deal

Mary:Hugs?

Alice:No one needs a hugs text with a smiley face. No one needs a smiley face, period

Mary:No one needs a grouch text either

Alice:I have no idea how we ever became friends

Susannah:Because you’re secretly a softie

Alice:Um, no

“Sam!” my dad calls from downstairs. “Dinner.”

Me:Eating now?

Alice:I want out of this circle

Susannah:Who said you were in??

I make my way down the stairs and toward the kitchen. The smell of melted cheese and tomato sauce greets me.

The small table in the kitchen is set. A pan of steaming stuffed shells, which I know were made from scratch, is sitting in the middle.

My dad walks toward the table. “Cheesy garlic bread and veggie meatballs because I know you love them.” He places them down on the table.

“Thanks,” I say, but there’s no enthusiasm in my voice.

I slide into my chair and he sits across from me. I focus on piling stuffed shells onto my plate.

“Sam, I know you’re upset,” he says.

I half grunt, half laugh. “I’m not sure ‘upset’ describes it.”

“No, probably not.” He hesitates, like he’s considering his approach. “I know you really like your friends here.”

I look up at him. “I do.”

“And I know, believe me I know, how hard it was socially for you in New York.”

“Then why do you want to move me away from them?”

“I don’t want to move you away from them. I want to move you away from Salem. And I don’t, under any circumstances, want you doing magic. I know you can’t hear me on this. You think I’m being mean. But it’s the furthest thing from my intention. I’ve always wanted you to experience having best friends, and I can see how much these relationships mean to you. The girls can come and visit on weekends. I’ll send a car for them myself, or pay for their gas, or whatever it takes. I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“Taking me away from Salemishurting me. It’s not just my friends. I mean, it is. But it’s also this house with all of our family stuff in it. It’s the weird town that treats Halloween like it’s the last party before the apocalypse. It’s Jaxon and Mrs. Meriwether. It’s a lot of things.”

My dad almost laughs. “You know, I wanted out of this place from the moment I could drive. But your mom wouldn’t hear of it. To her, Salem was the world. It was part of her identity in a way that I’ll never fully understand. I’ve never told you this, but I truly believe that she would still be alive if we hadn’t stayed here.”

I tense. I know exactly why she died. “You think it was because of magic?”