“What would you like me to do?” Cordelia asked.
“I need for you to tell your brother that I will not be able to attend this evening,” Cassian said quietly. “Could you go to him and explain?”
“I am certain that a note to Lynwood will suffice,” Ares said as he entered the room and looked around. “Is Samantha really in here?”
“Yes!” Cassian ground out and she sensed that he did not want people to keep visiting as if she were no more than a curiosity in a menagerie.
“You spend a lot of time over at Hollybrook Park,” Ares observed. “When did you and Lynwood become so close?”
It was then that Samantha remembered that Cordelia’s brother was Viscount Lynwood, who owned the neighboring estate, where Cordelia had once lived. That is until she met Viscount Bentford, whose mother is a Drakos.
Cordelia stared into Cassian’s eyes for the briefest moment, as if she were afraid to reveal a secret. “I will tell my brother, Cassian.” She quickly left.
Samantha had the strangest sensation that the two were discussing more than a simple visit, but it was none of her concern.
“Hopefully I will be free soon and you will not be forced to miss your appointment.”
“It is not important.”
“Ares, you need to go help the others,” Lord St. Alban ordered as he came into the room carrying a tray with a teapot, cups and a plate of food.
Then St. Alban turned to face Cassian. “My wife sent me here so that she could get to work on breaking the spell.” He smiled. “Here you go Samantha.” He set the tray on the table. “Cassian, a word out in the corridor.”
“If this is about Samantha’s predicament, she has a right to know.”
“Unfortunately, no answer has been discovered. There is another matter I want to discuss.”
Cassian offered a reassuring smile and squeezed Samantha’s hand. “I will be right outside. I will go no further. If you need anything, call out.”
When he stepped from her sight, there was a moment of panic, a fear that he couldn’t come back or that when he did, he would not be able to see or talk to her.
But, as there was nothing she could do until he returned, she reached for the teapot to pour a cup of tea, but she was unable to grasp the handle because her hand went right through it.
This was odd. She was able to pick up other things, such as the journal that had been under the tree.
She noted the figurine on the table and reached for it, her fingers going around the delicate porcelain and lifted it before setting it back down. She then attempted to pour tea again but could not grasp the handle.
Could she only touch things that were original to the room? If that were the case, how was she going to eat or drink?
With a sigh, she leaned back against the settee only to realize that Cassian and St. Alban had not moved so far away that she could not hear them.
It wasn’t right to eavesdrop, even if she was curious, so she walked to the door and called out to Cassian.
She could not see them, but they still were not so far away.
“Cassian!” she practically yelled.
When there was no answer, her panic returned because he promised that if she called out, he would come to her. Yet, he hadn’t. Could she not be heard outside of this room?
Chapter 27
“I have had my suspicions,” St. Alban began as soon as they were out in the corridor. “Do you work for Lynwood?”
“Yes,” Cassian answered.
“Why?” St. Alban demanded.
“I need to make my own way,” he finally answered.
