The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 6 by Bella Forrest (books for men to read .TXT) 📕

“We’re doing the spell here?” asked Virgil, pinching his nose.

Alex nodded. “We have to.”

“Are you sure we cannot go to Stillwater or Falleaf?” Natalie wondered, her eyes watering from the stench.

Alex shrugged apologetically. “I’m afraid not. It’s either here or nowhere.”

“Right now, I’d vote nowhere,” Virgil muttered, turning to retch slightly.

“You can’t do that while you’re reciting the spell,” Alex warned.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Which of us do you think has more experience with this spell?” he remarked, silencing Alex. “Speaking of which, I won’t be able to do the spell with these on my wrists,” he said, jangling the cuffs on his wrists.

“Of course you can,” Natalie countered.

“I need my hands for the spell,” he insisted. “One hand needs to be on the book, and I can’t do that with them pulled together like this.”

“I guess not,” Alex said, a little dubious. Still, he moved over to Virgil so he could undo the cuffs on his wrists. Once they were off, he threw them to Natalie, who had taken up her position by the door. Whipping the book and vial from his satchel, he reluctantly handed the two objects to the Head. “Shall we get started?”

“No time like the present,” Virgil replied sourly, taking the book and vial and gesturing for Alex to follow while he approached the pit. “I hope that nasty little shadow friend of yours isn’t going to turn up in the middle of this?” he said as he opened the book to lie flat on the surface of Alex’s palms.

Alex shook his head, still wishing Elias were here. “He’s otherwise engaged.”

Virgil snorted. “Unsurprising—he’d always do anything to get out of hard work.”

With that, Virgil pressed his own palm down on the page. Slowly, the book began to glow, before bursting into a fierce light that backlit Virgil’s hand, making his skin appear to glow too. As it had done before, the writing on the pages lifted, swirling up in a spiral, and then settled in the air before them, hovering just above the pit. The large, glowing letters were paler than they had been the last time, but they were still readable, the words clear.

With a deep breath, Virgil made to begin the incantation.

Suddenly remembering Siren Mave’s advice, Alex cut in, hoping to stop the Head before he spoke the first word. “A friend of mine said the spell had to be properly witnessed, by all who are involved. Does that mean anything to you?” he asked.

But it was too late. Virgil had already spoken the first word. There was no way he could pause to talk; he had to continue. Like a runaway train, there was no stopping him. With every stanza the skeletal man cleared, the earth shook. His voice rang clear and true across the cavern, the words singing smoothly toward the Great Evil.

Gradually, Virgil came to the twelfth stanza, though his eyes stared at Alex strangely. “With the blood of my enemies, I close the circle of pain,” he said.

As the final word echoed across the cavern, Virgil nodded for Alex to pick up the vial on the ground. Leaving the book in Virgil’s grasp, Alex did just that, ducking down to pick up the small bottle.

A second later, the book landed on the ground beside him with a heavy thud, dust flying up from the pages. Looking up in horror, Alex watched as Virgil slowly backed away from the edge of the pit, heading for the door. The skeletal man was trying to escape before he had finished the spell.

“VIRGIL, NO!”

Chapter 17

Virgil broke into a sprint as Alex shouted.

“I can’t finish it. I can’t do it,” he stammered, shaking his head, racing for the door of the pit room. Natalie cut him off, ready with the cuffs, but he feinted out of the way, leaving them to clatter fruitlessly in her hands.

Virgil struggled to pull open the heavy door, but Natalie lunged for him again, tackling him to the ground by gripping his legs. She tried to run her magic under his skin, but his anti-magic half fought back.

Alex dove for Virgil too, creating quite the pileup, though they were getting perilously close to the edge of the pit. Natalie scrambled to her feet before scooping the vial and the book off the ground, away from where the two men were brawling.

“The cuffs!” Alex yelled, still wrestling with Virgil on the ground. Natalie held out the cuffs for Alex to grab. He snatched them from her hands, and tried to shove them onto Virgil’s wrists. The royal was already weak from having the manacles on the first time, but the repeated presence of the gray ivy that wound around the cuffs debilitated him further. A weak coil of hybrid magic emerged from his palms, twisting feebly past Alex’s head. Alex himself could barely conjure a shield, much less fight back. Realizing it was futile, Alex threw the cuffs away, and they hit the wall with a tinny clank.

Instead, he powered through the flurry of Virgil’s twisting fists, ignoring the searing pain as Virgil’s weakened spells landed on him, and clamped his hands onto the sides of the Head’s temples. The Head’s eyes went wide in horror as Alex fed the silvery strands of his mind-control into Virgil’s brain.

As his power took over, Alex felt a twinge of remorse for what he was doing. Part of him wished it didn’t have to be like this, given how much their relationship had progressed, but Virgil hadn’t left him with another option. There was no way he was going to give up on this opportunity, just because Virgil was scared and having second thoughts. Once again, he heard Venus’s voice in his head, reminding him that Virgil was just a person, with hopes and fears like the rest of them. Like everyone else, Alex understood that the Head probably feared death too—it was the great leveler, bringing even the strongest men to their knees.

Still, they had made an agreement. One