Page 28 of Magic in the Music (Magic and Mysteries #4)

If she had gone to the opposite end, where some of the servants lived, they would have…

let her stay, kicked her out? It did not matter, but Cassian had to at least ask and walked further into the cellar, to the opposite side where he knew stairs led up into the kitchens.

There was storage down there, some sleeping chambers, and a parlor for the servants.

Except, as he passed another dark corridor he paused when he thought he heard something.

It was very faint and he strained to hear then followed what he thought was the sound of crying.

“Samantha was not in the vault,” Petra said coming up behind him.

“What is that?” he asked and pointed to an open door that led only to darkness.

Petra sucked in a breath and stepped back.

“What?”

“That door has never been opened. In fact, it has always been locked whenever I have tried.”

His stomach tightened further. Nightshade Manor was a magical place but dangers could still exist, especially if some items in the magical vault were involved. Except, this wasn’t a vault but a room that was usually locked.

Cassian walked slowly toward the open door, ready to run if he were being honest because one never knew what to expect, and just as he neared the threshold, he strained to hear. The sound was faint.

“Are you going in?” Petra asked.

“Shush.”

“What?”

“Do you hear crying?”

She grew silent and listened then shook her head.

“I do and it is coming from in there.”

“Stay here,” he ordered then stepped inside.

Strange! When he had been just outside the door, the crying sounded far away, faint but once inside, the cries were very close. Only a few feet away.

“Cassian?” His name was barely a whisper.

“Samantha?” he said into the darkness.

“It is so very dark in here, could you please light a candle?”

“Why are you in a dark room?” he asked. “Do you not already possess the gift of light?”

“My powers are now useless, I fear.” Her voice broke on a sob.

He stepped further into the room, raising the lamp to see better. Cassian would have lit the candles in the sconces and candelabras but they had all burned down until nothing was left but the hardened wax that had dripped and cascaded down the sides.

There had to be candles in here somewhere, so Cassian searched each drawer and cabinet until he found some and replaced those that had burned, lighting them as he went until the room was bright. But still no Lady Samantha.

“Where did she go?” he murmured to himself.

“I am still here.”

He strained to see into the space from where her voice had come. It was near an old piano.

As he watched, one of the keys appeared as if it was pushed down and a note was struck.

“Are you a ghost?” Please do not let her be dead.

“I am not certain.”

Her voice was weak, but her image was becoming clearer as if she were shrouded in fog.

“What happened?”

“I do not know. I heard music, so I followed. It called to me and I needed to know who was playing. When I entered, all the candles were lit. When I noticed the piano, I was compelled to play. I cannot explain it otherwise; I just knew that I needed to. I also knew that there was no fear in my music being heard so I allowed my emotions to be free while I played. The more I played the more I needed to, as if…oh, I do not know how to explain it but something came over me. The music…it… touched my soul as no other instrument before. It wasn’t until I missed a key that I glanced down and noticed that my fingers were fading. ”

She sniffed and her voice wavered with her tears.

“I immediately got up from the piano and had intended to leave the room for help, but when I tried to cross the threshold, an invisible power held me here. I have not been able to leave. I called out over and over but nobody ever heard me. Eventually each candle burned down and I was left in the dark. I tried to snap my fingers for light, but my powers were gone.”

The more she spoke, the clearer her image became so that Cassian could finally see her as fully as he could also see the piano behind her.

“Cassian, who are you speaking to?” Petra asked as she started to step into the room.

“Stay there! Do not come in here,” he ordered.

Samantha was already stuck in this chamber and he might be as well, which meant they couldn’t allow anyone else to enter just in case.

“Why?” Petra asked standing just in front of the threshold. “And who were you speaking to?”

“Samantha. She is right there.” He pointed.

Petra stuck only her head in the room and looked around then frowned. “There is nobody there, Cassian. Are you well?”

He blew out a sigh. “I am only going to step out for a moment, if I am allowed,” he told Samantha. It was important to know that others could come and go without being stuck before anything else.

With a deep breath he approached the door and stepped out into the corridor, even walked further way to make certain then stopped.

“Now you enter,” he told Petra. “Go into the room then return. But I should warn you, Samantha is stuck in there and cannot leave, so if you do not want to risk being stuck, I would understand.”

Petra frowned, eyebrows drawing in as if she was worried about him. “I am not concerned, but I am troubled that you are seeing what is not there.” She then stepped inside and walked to the center. Cassian remained on the outside watching.

Petra did a full turn, looking in every direction and shrugged.

“I am right here,” Samantha cried. “By the settee. Can you not see me?”

Petra turned and left the room without any barrier keeping her inside.

Cassian blew out a sigh that Petra could exit and returned to what he would now call the music room, since it held a piano that apparently had trapped Samantha somehow.

“Cassian, there is nobody in this room,” Petra insisted, her eyes full of apprehension as she studied his.

“I am here,” Samantha cried. “Why can she not see or hear me but you can?”

“Samantha is standing beside the piano. She has faded and apparently, I am the only person who can see or hear her.” It was not like him to yell, but he was growing frustrated and he turned to Samantha. “Is there a sign to prove you are here?”

Samantha bit her bottom lip and looked at the piano. Then with one index finger, she depressed a single key, then drew back her hand as if she’d been burned.

Petra gasped.

“She is here,” he said. “Go get your mother, all the mothers, and your female cousins. Get every witch, wizard and warlock in Nightshade Manor.”

“I will return quickly,” Petra promised as she rushed away.

* * *

She had been found!

“How long have you been here?” Cassian asked with concern.

“I left the wedding celebration…it was nearing midnight, I believe…I do not know.”

“That was twelve or thirteen hours ago.”

“It feels like days,” she admitted. “It is hard to tell the passage of time in darkness. What is this room? I had thought maybe it was somewhere the servants relaxed but none of them ever came in here.”

“I do not know. I have never been in here before and Petra said that the door has always been closed and locked.”

“Is it a private parlor?” she questioned. Or a private trysting place that was decorated for Christmas?

“I did not even know that this room existed and wonder if it was to be part of the magical vault.”

“Because of the piano?”

“We can only assume that is the cause of your state since you were playing when you started to fade.”

Samantha blew out a sigh and sank down into a chair. “I am so tired.”

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

“I did lie down on the settee, and I may have dozed, but not real sleep.”

“Is there anything else that I can do for you?”

She noted the kindness and concern in his grey eyes and wanted to cry again.