Read Online Midnight Magic by Ann Gimpel - Free Book Online

glanced inside, wondering if Tyler had helped himself to anything else. Cassie sifted through the safe’s contents and then shook her head. Since she didn’t really know what was supposed to be in there, her efforts wouldn’t do much good. She chucked the Aston Martin’s keys inside and relocked it.
    Even if it’s kind of like shutting the barn door after the cow’s left, I’ll make an inventory list—tomorrow.
    “Mom,” she called, checking the rest of the second floor rooms. She stopped for a moment, staring into Eleanora’s bedroom. It was an amazing place; in the daytime jewel-toned light from a bank of stained-glass windows spilled through it. Tonight, however, it remained dark and silent. As always, a vestige of her mother’s soothing scent lingered. Taking the stairs to the third floor two at a time, Cassie switched on the lights to the upper hall and searched all seven bedrooms. Eleanora wasn’t in any of them.
    Hearing a thunk behind her, she twirled around, her heart pounding way too fast. Hector stared up at her, his tail swishing back and forth.
    “ Mrrrrow? ” he inquired as he sashayed past with understated grace.
    “Where is she?” Cassie demanded. Another meow, with a long purr tacked on, was all she got. The cat did stop at the bottom of the spiral stairs to the attic. He looked back at Cassionetta and mewed plaintively.
    Reluctantly, she started up the bare wooden risers. Hector seemed to think Eleanora was up here, which made sense. There wasn’t anywhere else to look—except the basement. The uppermost floor of the house always gave Cassie the creeps. She’d gotten tangled in a spell there when she was around five or six, and hours passed before anyone thought to look for her.
    The corners of her mouth turned downward. That had been when her father was still in residence, and it had been one of those days—the ones where he and Eleanora never left their bedroom. Her parents assigned spirits to watch over her, but sometimes the fairies had odd ideas about what was funny.
    Exhaling sharply, she distanced herself from her childhood memories. Cassie pulled open the door at the top of the stairs and entered the attic. She brushed aside cobwebs as she hunted for the pull chain to illuminate the single room that stretched the length and breadth of the large house. Feeling her way forward, she chided herself for not bringing a flashlight.
    Aha. Found it.
    Blinking stupidly in the sudden raw glare from a hundred watt bulb, she spotted Eleanora crouched in a corner, hair falling about her like a mantle. One of her bats was perched on a shoulder, its wings folded against its dark body.
    “Momma.” Cassie came close and squatted next to her mother. “Momma, please come back. I really need you... I-I think I’m in danger.”
    Eleanora stared straight ahead, her eyes unfocussed, her jaw slack. The bat chattered angrily before winging toward the rafters far above.
    “Come on.” Cassie tugged gently at her mother’s arm. “Let’s go downstairs. You know I don’t like it up here.” Something in that last statement, maybe her tone, maybe the words, seemed to reach Eleanora.
    She straightened creakily and allowed Cassie to guide her toward the stairs. As usual, she was dressed all in black: long skirt, threadbare sweater, and woolen shawl. A silver Celtic cross hung from her neck. The stark piece of jewelry accentuated bones that practically stuck through her translucent skin.
    Eleanora shook Cassie’s hand off her arm in the lighted hallway below. Moving quickly, her skirt in constant motion, she continued on down two more floors, turned into the library, and came to a halt next to Murietta’s perch. Hector joined them. Eyeing the tableau, Cassie thought ruefully that every creature in the house missed Eleanora beyond reckoning.
    “Momma magic, awk ,” the bird cooed. “Momma magic.”
    Hector rubbed against Eleanora’s legs, purring like a mad thing. The closer he got, the more