The Secret of Spellshadow Manor by Bella Forrest (best way to read ebooks TXT) 📕

much time he would have if he did cross this line. Probably not long enough to go far.

Aamir looked sidelong at him, then led them away, down another set of hallways. The bricks faded away, replaced by rough, battered stones the size of Alex’s head, with deep gouges and scars from where something had torn at them.

This time, the line that Aamir showed them was made of gold. The older student licked his lips. “Really don’t cross this one.”

Alex tilted his head. “What do you mean, really?”

Aamir made a vexed noise. “This one won’t bring a teacher down on you. It’ll hurt you.”

Alex could feel it now. A biting, wintry cold. If the blue line had been like snow, this one was like ice. It was all sharp, angry edges.

“What’s behind it?” he asked.

Aamir didn’t bother looking this time. He held Alex’s gaze, his face serious and set.

“The Head’s domain.”

Aamir then escorted them directly to their next class, with Professor Lintz, whom Aamir described as his favorite teacher. Alex settled into his chair beside Natalie with a buzz of irritation, shivering in the chilly classroom air. He needed to get outside, to try the gates. He couldn’t trust Aamir or Jari, but if he could just get some time alone, he was sure he could figure out this damn manor without their help.

He felt a hand on his arm and looked up to see Natalie gazing at him.

“We’ll make it out, Alex,” she whispered. “We have to keep up hope. If anyone can find the way home, it’s probably the guy who can make sense of Jacques Lacan.”

“How did you know I’ve read Lacan?” he whispered back, frowning.

She smiled faintly. “I saw The Seminar on your bookshelf.”

“Oh, right,” he muttered. He could hardly believe that had just been a few nights ago.

Alex looked up just in time to see Professor Lintz loping into the room.

For an overweight man, Lintz moved with a feline grace, his feet whispering across the floor as his thick-fingered hands floated along at his sides. He had a round, perspiring face, adorned with an impressive mustache that bobbed over sagging jowls.

The class fell silent as he entered, and his wolfish gaze spread out over the classroom.

“New students,” he barked, and Alex stood, sensing the command in the man’s voice. Beside him, Natalie scrambled to her feet too.

“Mm,” said Lintz, stepping forward. He moved straight past Alex, who turned to see the man eyeing Natalie up and down. “Can you produce an aura yet?” he asked, his voice skeptical.

“I…I don’t know, sir,” she replied. “I haven’t tried.”

“Go on, then,” he said sharply. “Try now.”

Natalie closed her eyes, drawing in her breath. Lintz stood still in front of her, staring at her with beady eyes. He let out a grunt of satisfaction when a burst of golden light rippled from her, tracing her form like ethereal fire. She looked utterly surprised.

“Good,” he said. “Unformed, but strong. Very good.” He looked her up and down again as she beamed. “Keep your back straight,” he said, and her smile slipped a little. “Magic is about form and function. You must be iron. Do not forget that.”

Natalie bobbed her head, and Lintz turned his gaze on Alex.

“You!” he said. “Can you produce anything?”

“I don’t think so, sir. I’m not as fast on the uptake as Natalie, and Professor Derhin focused more on style and history,” Alex replied calmly.

Lintz chuckled. “He’s like that,” he said, a note of fondness in his voice. So he and Derhin are friends, then. “But my classes will be a bit different. You don’t need to make a form or anything. Just let out some energy.”

Alex hesitated. “Could you elaborate, sir?”

Lintz paused, flapping his hands at his sides. “Just…let it out,” he said doubtfully. “Honestly, it’s not something most students have any trouble with.”

As stupid as this felt, Alex supposed it was worth a try. He reached inside himself, searching for some magic that he could unleash. He tried to imagine it, warm and golden inside him, but there was nothing. He just felt emptiness. He shivered, the cold running through his bones, looking uneasily up at Professor Lintz. The man regarded him with a critical eye, then let out a huff.

“Well, for every prodigy, I suppose we need a problem child,” he mumbled.

The class laughed, and Alex sat down.

What would be done with him if it became obvious he was non-magical?

“Did you see me?” whispered Natalie excitedly. “I did it! I didn’t know I could!”

“Yes, that was beautiful,” he replied, quite stunned at her ability, but also sinking deeper into worry at the expectation everyone seemed to have of him.

Professor Esmerelda, a beautiful woman with raven-black hair and an apparent love of glittery dresses, held their next class. Although her lesson lapsed in and out of stories about her youth, she still had a commanding grasp of magic. She, too, commended Natalie for her powerful aura, and looked on in some shock as Alex failed to conjure so much as a spark.

“I have never met someone with so little magical energy,” she mused, looking him up and down with her eerie blue eyes. “How very odd that Finder would bring us such a unique individual. We shall have to be tender in your raising, lest we break you.” She had not made that last comment sound reassuring in the least.

Alex left her class with a dry mouth, a worried Jari at his side telling him it took time, Aamir quietly gazing down at his feet, Natalie frowning at him.

“What if I am simply not magical?” Alex asked, and Aamir patted him brusquely on the shoulder.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said. “It is extremely unlikely.”

“Yes, but what if?”

The older boy looked him in the eye. “I shouldn’t like to think,” he said seriously.

At least Natalie didn’t have to worry about that. He glanced at her. Maybe tonight he would finally be able to sneak away, spend the evening exploring, plan an escape