Page 33 of Magic in the Music (Magic and Mysteries #4)

As promised, Cassian stopped by the magical vault on his way to the kitchen. “Have you discovered anything new?”

“Our search would be much easier if the catalogue of items, curses, enchantments and magic was complete,” Eugenia complained instead of answering his question.

“Why Samantha and nobody else? If the room has been here for as long as you believe, why wasn’t it already discovered?”

“We do not know why it chose Samantha because the piano seeks to punish someone who has broken a heart.”

That had already been explained to him.

“But that is not all,” Lady Chandos added. “It also seeks out troubled hearts.”

“Hearts?” Cassian demanded. “Has it claimed a person before?”

“There were at least seven attempts that we know of,” Eugenia answered. “It was the reason the piano had to come here in the first place.”

“Why would it affect someone with a troubled heart? That is what the warlock had suffered, wasn’t it? Or had he only been angered because he had been rejected?”

“It is believed that his tangled emotions, the broken heart and being rejected, might have mingled with the intentions of the curse so that those who have broken a heart can never love again and those with a troubled heart, such as his own, would be innocently caught up in the curse.”

Troubled hearts?

Cassian’s stomach churned with the very idea that if he had just given in to his desire and placed his lips against hers, Samantha would not be trapped right now.

If only he could have just…what, professed his love? She had wanted a kiss. He wanted so much more when he had nothing to offer in return.

“Samantha heard it before,” Maia offered as she came from the vault.

“When?” Cassian asked the same time as Eugenia.

“A few days ago. We came down to help with the cataloguing of magical items. When we left, she mentioned hearing music but I did not.”

“When was that?” he demanded.

Maia pursed her lips as her brow furrowed. “Christmas Eve,” she answered. “The day we were all supposed to be anywhere but in the way of servants.”

What had happened before that could have caused Samantha’s heart to be troubled?

Yes! They had bumped into each other under the mistletoe, but he had stepped away without putting his lips to hers.

“Was that the only time?” Lady Saye asked.

Again, Maia frowned. “No,” she answered slowly. “She also heard it the day after Christmas when we were gathering the crystals. I assumed it was an echo from a piano being played elsewhere.”

“Does that mean you heard it as well?” Alarm heightened Lady Saye’s tone.

“No. Only Samantha.” Maia looked directly at him, her eyes boring into his. “Why is that?”

He could offer the answer because that morning they had again bumped into the other after viewing the sunrise, not that he would tell them anything, of course. Instead, Cassian shrugged.

“The third time was last night,” Lady Saye murmured, trying to find a reason.

Cassian already knew. It was the day after Samantha had come to him for a kiss and he had rejected her.

Troubled heart indeed! He was the bloody cause.

“You have managed to translate so much, but you have no answers as to how it can be broken?” he nearly yelled and some of it was because of the guilt now eating at him.

“There are pages within pages, and the handwriting is not that easy to translate. Some sections are nearly impossible to read,” Lady Saye returned, matching his tone and volume.

If anyone was more worried than him it would be Samantha’s parents, except they didn’t suffer the guilt. “I am sorry,” Cassian said as he pushed his fingers through his hair. “I just hate seeing her like this.”

“At least you can see her,” Lord Saye reminded him. “Take care of my daughter until we find our answer.”

“Yes, of course,” Cassian promised. “Is there anything we can do besides wait for the translation to be complete?” Cassian demanded.

“Yes,” Eugenia answered. “Today is the ninth day of Yule.”

He knew that each day of Yule represented something but he had never really participated in the rituals.

He only did what he was told by one of the witches.

“What does it signify?” Cassian finally asked even though he did not really care unless it was something that could free Samantha from her prison.

“It is a day to clear away the old and make way for the new.”

Cassian frowned. “Is that not what everyone did on the twenty-sixth?”

“Yes, partially,” Samantha’s father answered. “Those magics were from the lunar eclipse. This is different.”

He did not understand how, but Cassian was not going to argue.

“We are going to take crystals to the room now.”

“Could you wait until I return, in case Samantha has questions. She will not be able to ask you.”

“Where were you going?” Eugenia asked.

“To bring her breakfast,” he answered.

“I will go,” Maia offered.

“And we shall cleanse.”

Cassian followed as Eugenia went to the closet with the crystals then stood back as Samantha’s father selected them.

“How can cleansing the space help?”

“It might push the curse away, though unlikely. But it cannot harm either,” Lord Saye answered.

After Samantha’s father selected the crystals, Cassian followed him to the music room where Samantha waited.

“Has my father found a way to break the curse?” There was so much hope in her voice that Cassian hated to tell her that they hadn’t found an answer yet. He also dreaded telling her what else had been learned.

She was going to hate him and he did not blame her.

“Samantha, we are going to purify the room,” Lord Saye announced.

“Is that all?” Her tone had gone from hope to disappointment.

“Yes,” Cassian answered.

“Which crystals?” she asked.

Cassian repeated the question.

“Selenite, which I am placing at four points of the room. It purifies and clears dormant energy.”

The room had been here, and shut up, for seventy-five years, so there was probably a good deal of dormant energy within.

Cassian watched as the amber crystals were placed at each corner.

“Clear quartz to increase positive energy.”

He placed that one in the center of the room.

“Smoky quartz for dispensing negative energy and encourage calm.”

He placed it next to the clear quartz.

“Finally, Fluorite to transform the negative into positive energy.”

He placed the greenish blue with purple crystals next to the others in the center of the room.

“These are only temporary, Samantha, until the translation is done and we can lift the curse,” her father announced. “I will also be taking other crystals outside to be charged by the sun in case these are too weak.”

Samantha fell back against the settee, closed her eyes and nodded—desolate. Cassian could hardly blame her.

Lord Saye paused and looked around the room because he could not see her. “All will be well, Samantha. We will not let you down.” Then he was gone.

“They must be at a loss if all they can think to do is place crystals in the room,” Samantha mumbled.

“It has to do with it being the ninth day of Yule,” he offered.

“What if they never find the answer.”

Cassian reached out and took her hand. “They will. I know they will and you will be free of this place.”

Maybe if he wished it to be so, it would be, but he was afraid this might be her future.

His future because if they did not succeed in freeing her, Cassian could never leave.

* * *

“Samantha, from what we discovered, something was protecting you, or so we assume,” Maia announced as she came in carrying a tray loaded with breakfast foods. Petra followed with a tea service.

“What?” Samantha asked.

“She wants to know what,” Cassian said. “How do you know?”

“More pages were translated.”

Samantha sat forward as the food was placed on the table and then the tea service.

“Why do you think she was protected?” Cassian asked for her.

“Because, if you gave yourself over to the music, it should have taken you quickly. Or, so we had assumed,” Maia explained.

“We are still working on the translations, but we do know that no soul was ever fully claimed,” Eugenia announced. “Each woman was able to escape.”

“Then why do they assume that the piano would have quickly taken me?” Samantha asked Cassian.

He opened his mouth as if to answer, but his grey eyes nearly filled with hopelessness.

The familiar panic began to rise again, but she forced it away. It wasn’t easy, but with steady calm breaths she was able to retain some control over her emotions.

“How were the others able to escape?” Samantha asked since Cassian would not answer her first question.

“It has not been fully explained,” she hedged.

Samantha narrowed her eyes. The music of Lady St. Alban’s words were laced with falsity. She knew, but for some reason had no intention of telling her.

Even if she no longer had the power to produce fire, her ability to hear music had not failed, though maybe a part of her wished it had because nothing was more frightening than knowing they were keeping the truth from her.

“We will know soon, I hope,” Petra added.

Except, she already knew too but they were not telling her. Or, they were afraid to tell her.

Did she press for answers? Or were they being cautious because it may not work?

Oh, Samantha wished they would just come out and tell her but even if she demanded it, she heard enough in their music that they would not be fully truthful while not lying.

“What is important is that your situation is not hopeless,” Lady St. Alban insisted, which was an honest statement.

“Why do you think that I was somehow protected?” Samantha asked since she knew they would not answer her other question or they would have already.

“That is a very good question,” Cassian said. “I would like to know that as well.”

“What?” Lady Saye asked, and Cassian explained.

“We are not yet certain, but it is the only explanation since you claimed to have played without being mindful, and for a length of time,” Lady Saye offered.

“Protection!” Petra announced. “You said that you were returning the crystals, but did you before you came in here?”

Samantha reached into her pocket and pulled the crystals free and held them in her hand.

“She is holding an amethyst,” Cassian said.

“It is a powerful protector and can shield against negative forces. What is the other one?” Petra asked.

“Black tourmaline,” Samantha answered when he looked at her, questions in his silver eyes.

“That is why you are still here,” Petra decided after Cassian revealed what the stone was. “Black tourmaline is also protective and shields a person. It wards off attacks and harmful intentions.”

Samantha looked at both in her hand and gave a shiver. She was also going to keep them in her pocket until she was free of this place.

Or maybe she would keep them with her always.