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Vae sniffed the key Not much smell, even for kindred

Damn Well, she hadn’t expected this to be easy "Co point that’s shown on themansion, so there were several ways up to the attic, and the map, by accident or deliberate omission, didn’t indicate direction So she was hot and dusty, and Vae’s tail was veiled in cobwebs, by the ti point for this stage of the treasure hunt

Of course, that assumed no one had removed or added s in the past few centuries or es to the house And the enerations of furniture had been disposed of by tossing it up here

Cassidy tipped the paper toward the light to read the small print around the section of the attic that had been e wardrobe that has a mirror beside it and a clothes trunk in front of the mirror" She looked around at all the discarded furniture "Hell’s fire, Lia Didn’t you consider that soht toss a trunk or two up here?"

The attic had been divided into sections The interior walls didn’t go all the way up to the roof, but they did offer sufficient privacy Would she find remnants of servants’ quarters at the other end of the attic, or would she find more out-of-reach shelves?

"She tells me the nuht line," Cassidy muttered "So were the walls here then, and she assuh the wood, or were the walls added later?"

Cassie?

"Do alk in a straight line as the h the walls and furniture?" Cassidy asked, more as a question to herself

No Vae shook herself Don’t want to walk through the bad sh just being near this furniture The thought of passing through it and having so

"All right, then I guess we do this the hard way"

"She’s not in her room," Shira said when she returned to the Steward’s office later that one to his room for some rest, which was a relief to her, but Powell, Ranon, Theran, and Gray were still waiting for her report

Gray hugged hiave her said he ondering the sa The fact that any of them would ask that question now

She could al around her

Shira shook her head "No sign of struggle No feel of anything wrong" She hesitated, then decided against ht have been an heirlooht with her, but Shira didn’t think so She’d been tempted to pick up one of the books that had been on the bed as well, but when she’d reached for one, she’d had the feeling that the o aould be lost

Because it wasn’t time for her to touch one or read whatever was inside

When a Black Widow sensed that kind of warning, she heeded it--especially when a friend was suddenly, and

Which hy she had put locks and shields around Cassidy’s rooms Until they knehat had happened to the Queen, she wasn’t taking a chance of anyone upsetting a delicate balance

"Did you try contacting her on a psychic thread?" Theran asked

Didn’t you? Shira wondered as she nodded "No answer"

"But she didn’t"--Theran glanced at Gray--"pack up?"

She shook her head

Poor Gray Cassidy’s retreat from all of the down, little by little, as the possibility of Cassidy disappearing for good began to take root

"Well," she said, trying for a bracing tone and hoping no one--except Ranon--heard the worry, "at least we know Cassidy isn’t alone"

"Why do you think that?" Ranon asked

"Because I can’t find Vae either"

"I guess when you get rid of a wardrobe, theher forehead with a grimy hand as she studied the latest co of water? She was parched, and Vae was panting

I’ any water Lucivar can’t yell about what he doesn’t know

It was teive up, since they had circled and wandered the dah to have crossed their own footprints a few times, but the ansas up here Somewhere

Tired, Cassie, Vae said

And there were ti right

"Me too Last one If we don’t find anything this ti" Maybe they could just pitch every mirror, trunk, and wardrobe onto the lawn until they found the right one And Theran could da After all, this was his inheritance, not hers

Taking a deep breath--and coughing from the dusty air--Cassidy crouched in front of the trunk and warily held out a hand Some of the trunksWhatever they contained was so vile, she couldn’t get near the sick This one

Expectation Anticipation An odd feeling of hope

She slipped the key into the trunk’s lock

and the wardrobe door opened

"Well, that’s clever" She pulled the wardrobe door open a little ainst it to hold it open before she created a ball of witchlight