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not,” he tells me.
    And I hate to admit it, but somehow—I believe him.

Chapter Four
    Natalia
    My hands are shaking, and I fumble for the off switch on the iPad again, pushing it frantically, not really believing that it’s going to turn off. Samara’s obviously done something to it so that it’ll just stay on. But this time, miraculously, the screen goes dark.
    I’m starting to have a panic attack, my breath coming in short wild gasps, and so I lean back against the seat of Adrianna’s car and force myself to take in air.
    “Natalia,” Adrianna says. “Are you okay?”
    “Yes,” I say. “I’m okay.” It’s a lie. I’m not okay. Not even close. But I don’t want to freak Adrianna out even more than she already is. Get it together. Stop panicking. Deep breaths. I’m able to slow my breathing, but my hands and feet are tingling, and my skin is crawling.
    “What the fuck is going on?” Adrianna asks. “Who the hell was that?”
    I don’t know what to tell her, and so I don’t say anything. I try to control my thoughts, try to stop them from racing. I run through all kinds of different lies, different excuses, that I could tell her. But I can’t come up with anything that would make sense.
    There’s a vibration coming from my bag, and at first, I think the iPad is turning back on by itself. So I reach down and pull it out. I think again about holding it out the window and smashing it into the pavement. The only thing that stops me is the fact that Brody put himself at risk to give it to me, and if I can’t get it back to him, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble.
    But it’s not the iPad. It’s my phone. It flashes with an incoming call from my mom’s number, and I pick it up immediately, knowing that if I don’t, she’ll know something’s up.
    “Hello?” I say, trying to sound calm.
    “Natalia!” she says. Her voice is excited. “Where are you?”
    “Sorry, Mom,” I say. “I just went out to get a coffee with Adrianna. I thought it would be okay.”
    Adrianna frowns, then shakes her head. She knows I’m lying not only to her, but to my mom as well. But she doesn’t say anything. She just turns and looks out the window, her gaze focusing on something in the distance, her eyes empty and sad.
    I’m pretty sure my mom is going to freak when she finds out I’ve left the house, but she doesn’t. All she says is, “Well, you need to get home immediately. They found the car!”
    “What car?” I ask, confused.
    “My car,” she says. “The car that was stolen. They found it!”
    My breathing starts to speed up again. They found the car. But that’s impossible.
    According to Cam, my mom’s car was burned at the witches’ compound.
    “Who found it?” I ask. My mouth is dry again, and I lick my lips.
    “Some kid in Maine,” she says. “He found the registration and was nice enough to drive it over here. We called the police and they’re on their way.”
    “What… um…. “ I try to figure out how to phrase what I’m about to ask her. If the car was really stolen, I wouldn’t know anything about it. But her tone of voice doesn’t lead me to believe that the car is burned. “Was their any damage?” I ask her.
    “No,” she says. “Natalia, the car’s fine.”

    ***
    I think about going to Brody’s first so I can drop off the iPad. But I know my mom will get suspicious if I don’t come right home.
    I was hoping that the car ride back to my house would be silent, the kind of ride that happens when something horrible is going on, the kind of ride that I’ve gotten used to lately whenever a bad situation arises between me and Cam.
    But Adrianna apparently has different ways of dealing with her anger. Instead of silently seething, she starts yelling at me as soon as we’re on the road.
    “This is fucked up!” she yells. She’s usually so soft spoken. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard her swear before. “You better tell me what the hell is going on, Natalia, and