Penmort Castle (Ghosts and Reincarnation #1)(161)

As he was passing the third door from his, it opened.

Cash stopped and turned to see Cassandra standing in the doorway. Her long, dark hair was down and tousled from sleep. She wore a pair of drawstring, flannel shorts and a tight camisole likely borrowed from Honor as Cassandra was far too curvy to fit in anything Fenella or Suzanne owned.

She leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, crossed her arms on her chest and rested her heel against the side of her opposite ankle.

“I’m sorry, Cash but we did what we had to do,” Cassandra said quietly.

He knew to what she was referring, bringing back his grandmother, his father and, mostly, Ben.

Cash crossed his own arms on his chest. “You knew the circle wasn’t going to work,” he remarked.

She nodded. “Both Angus and I had our doubts. Vivianna was strong and she was smart. She’d know about the circle and she’d know how to defeat it.”

“You had it planned all along,” Cash said and watched her nod again.

“We tried the circle because we didn’t want to use Ben if we didn’t have to. But we knew we’d need to be prepared to throw everything at her. Abby didn’t want her cat involved but we brought Zee along too, just in case. Angus came up with the spell and I activated it, pulling back the veil and recruiting the trinity, one Vivianna had wronged, your grandmother; a past master, your father; and a protector of the innocent, Ben. All of them together, as well as Zee, who’s a powerful little thing, worked. They sucked her power, kept her visible so she couldn’t dematerialise and their presence rooted her so she couldn’t move.”

It was Cash’s turn to nod and Cassandra continued.

“You should know there was another way. A potion Abby could take to fight her. We could have waited six months and gone after her.”

Cash’s body got tight and he declared, “I wouldn’t have allowed that.”

She grinned and replied, “I figured that.” Then her voice dropped low. “Furthermore, as much as Abby was prepared to do it, I reckon Vivianna would have made mincemeat of her. When Angus found out I’d even mentioned the potion to Abby, he went off on one. Of course, we didn’t know at the time that you had any power over her.”

This surprised Cash. Angus had not seemed hesitant to put Abby in the line of fire. Apparently he was only happy to do so if he had Abby’s back and felt in control of the situation, something he would not be if Abby had been in the position of going head-to-head with Vivianna.

Cassandra kept talking, again in her low quiet voice, her eyes had grown intense as they studied Cash’s face. “You should also know, when we made contact with your father, he wanted to come early. He wanted to spend time with you in the castle.” Her arms came uncrossed, she took a step forward, put her hand on Cash’s bicep and informed him, “It was a grave risk, Cash. The longer he was away from the other plane, the less likely it was we could return him there. If we didn’t get him back in time, he’d be stuck here for eternity. Says a lot about him, that he’d take that risk and why he took it, also says a lot about how he feels about you.”

Cash clenched his teeth against the feelings this statement sent surging through him, not wishing to share them with Cassandra, who he liked well enough, but not enough to engage in an intensely private moment.

Instead he felt an overwhelmingly strong desire to get to Abby.

Cassandra took pity and finished, dropping her hand from his arm. “As for Vivianna never appearing in front of Nicola, we don’t know why. Lorna nor Anthony understood it either. I suppose that will just have to remain a mystery.”

Cash nodded again as she took a step back, his voice was deeper than normal when he said, “Thank you.”

She awarded him with a bright smile, suggesting she’d enjoyed every minute of her endeavours because in the end, they’d been successful. “My pleasure.”

Then she took another step back and closed the door.

Cash turned to his room. When he made it safely to the end of the corridor Jane, the cook, was bustling down the hall balancing a silver tray.

“I’ll get that,” Cash said, divesting her of the tray and he put his other hand to the knob. “Mrs. Fitzhugh is in the sewing room, she’ll be needing coffee.”

Jane blinked at him and asked, “Which Ms. Fitzhugh?” When Cash didn’t immediately reply, she hurried on. “I only ask because Suzanne is kind of funny about her coffee.”

“Nicola Fitzhugh,” Cash replied and watched her eyes go round. Deciding she’d likely hear it soon enough, he might as well tell her, “Jane, I’ve foreclosed on the house. Ms. Butler and I’ll be moving in imminently. Mr. Beaumaris won’t be back. The Fitzhugh women, however, will be staying.”

She stared at him, mouth open, stunned speechless.

Then she made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded like strangled laughter. At the sound, her eyes bugged out in horror and she choked back her mirth.

“Sorry, sorry, erm, sorry sir, I’m just shocked,” she stuttered but although her nerves weren’t gone, her eyes were bright and cheerful.

She was, Cash knew, lying.

She wasn’t shocked. She was happy. She disliked Alistair. She also probably liked Nicola.

Cash wasn’t surprised and he smiled. “It’s all right, Jane, he was an ass.”