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

a head poked out. Agatha grinned at them, reaching a hand out and gesturing for them to come closer. “In a spot of trouble, are you?” she asked knowingly.

Alex nodded. “Something like that.”

“How do you know that?” Virgil countered, suspiciously.

“Look at your faces! They have panic written all over them!” she explained. “Now, can I assist in any way?”

“Can you take us to that place you were telling us about? The one where Ellabell found you?” Alex asked hopefully.

Agatha beamed. “Why, certainly! I have some soup on the stove, if you’re interested?”

“Soup would be lovely,” said Natalie, relief washing over her face.

Leaving the cave behind, they followed the old hippie through the woods, until they came to a vast oak tree at the edge of a glade. It looked like a trap to Alex, but, as they approached, he could see that it was, in fact, a false trunk, opening onto a set of stairs that led below ground. Agatha went first, beckoning the rest of them down.

Once they were below the earth, Alex saw they were in a cottage of sorts, only it had no windows, and the entire structure was forged from hard-packed soil. There were knick-knacks and chintzy ornaments everywhere, which Agatha delighted in showing the group, though all they really wanted to do was sit down and forget about the smell of the bodies and the collapsing pit at Kingstone.

That brief reprieve was given, to their absolute relief, when Agatha went to fetch the soup.

“So, what was missing?” Alex snapped in Virgil’s direction, taking a seat in an oversized armchair beside the roaring fire.

The Head seemed taken aback. “I’m still figuring it out,” he said defensively. “All I know is, as I was doing it, it all felt wrong. There’s something we’re overlooking, I’m almost certain of it. We’ll have to look over the book again when we get back to Starcross… I’ll need some time to process things.”

“You will do the spell again?” Natalie asked, her expression one of disbelief.

Virgil shrugged. “What other choice do I have? Your friend here would force me to do so, regardless.” He cast Alex a dark look.

“I wouldn’t have used mind control if you hadn’t lost your nerve in the middle of the spell,” Alex replied tersely, although he did feel a stab of guilt for how rash his reaction had been.

“My change of heart had nothing to do with lost nerve,” Virgil spat. “As soon as I began, I knew the spell would fail. It was a gut feeling I could not ignore.”

“Well, we’ve only got one shot left now,” Alex said.

The three of them sat in silence, no one daring to voice how utterly hopeless it all seemed.

Chapter 18

Agatha fed them bowl after bowl of hearty vegetable soup, handing them thick slices of crusty bread to dip into the warm broth, until they were so full they felt as if they might burst. Looking at the carriage clock the old hippie had perched on her mantelpiece, sandwiched between two rather frightening-looking porcelain poodles, Alex saw that more than two hours had passed in the underground cottage. How that had happened, he didn’t know, but they had stayed longer than Alex had meant them to.

“We have to go,” he whispered, as Virgil was finishing off his third helping. It was peculiar to see the sunken-cheeked man eating so heartily, given his appearance. For some reason, Alex had simply presumed the strange hybrid didn’t eat at all, but here he was, guzzling down the soup Agatha had made.

Natalie nodded. “If we stay a moment longer, you will have to roll me out of here,” she said, patting her stomach.

Just then, Agatha walked in with a tray of gigantic muffins, an equally giant grin on her face. It disappeared as she saw the trio standing up and preparing to leave.

“No, you can’t leave just yet, my cherubs!” she cried. “You haven’t had your dessert, and Vincent will be back from his little chitchat with Hadrian soon! He’ll be so disappointed if he misses you!”

“Sorry, Agatha, we’ve stayed too long,” Alex replied. “Thank you for your hospitality, and for the delicious food, but we really have to get going. It’ll be dark in a few hours, and we want to get back before then. You’ll have to say hello to Vincent for us.”

Agatha frowned. “Back to your mystery world at the end of that cave?” she asked pointedly.

Alex nodded. “Yeah, back there.”

“Well, if you’re heading back that way, I’d watch out for soldiers if I were you—they’ve been all over the woods near that cave today. Like rats, ferreting about, causing a right old mess! Broke down the door and everything,” she remarked. “They’d just disappeared when you arrived. It’s why I called to you—didn’t want you getting caught up in all that, when they got back!” She smiled proudly, handing them each a muffin. Alex couldn’t focus on it, her words sinking in.

“Wait, where did they disappear to?” Alex asked, suddenly panicked.

Agatha paused in thought. “Well, I suppose they must have gone into the cave… Yes, I think maybe they did. One moment they were there, the next they were gone. Unless they’re very good at magic, I think they might well have gone into that cave,” she replied, rattling out the words stream-of-consciousness style.

The trio glanced at each other, knowing what Agatha said couldn’t be a good thing. Perhaps, Alex hoped, the soldiers had reached the end of the cave and found only the false wall. That’s what it was there for, after all, to keep the entrance to Starcross hidden. Even if they had made it through, surely Ceres’s cavalry would have dealt with them swiftly?

Either way, Alex knew they had to leave now.

With a farewell to Agatha, the three individuals hurried up the staircase, back out into the forest. Running fast, though their stomachs were heavy with food, they headed for the cave entrance as quickly as their legs could carry them. Natalie was starting