The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 3 by Bella Forrest (i can read book club txt) 📕

Jari’s voice drew Natalie and Ellabell, though Aamir remained below.

“Peer out as carefully as you can,” said Alex.

They did as he asked, their faces pale with terror as they drew back from the opening.

“Are they coming for us?” asked Jari.

Alex shook his head. “They’re headed for Spellshadow.”

“How do you know this?” Natalie asked skeptically.

Alex sighed. “I meant to tell you this morning, but, obviously, I got held up,” he began. “I saw the Head the other night—”

A collective gasp cut him off.

He glanced at Ellabell, realizing she hadn’t told them what he’d seen. Flashing a look at her, she shrugged in response—it was apparent she’d had other things on her mind, and her bashful expression kept him silent on the subject of her not telling the others.

“Where?” whispered Natalie.

“I saw them from the tower—the Head and Alypia. They were out in the courtyard for a while, then they moved inside. I followed them and overheard some things,” he continued.

“They were outside?” hissed Jari, his eyes wide with shock.

Alex nodded. “They were, but they didn’t see us. As far as either of them knew, we were still nowhere to be found.” He grimaced, knowing he might have thrown a wrench in the works with his library visit. “Anyway, they got to talking about Spellshadow, and how the Head had lost control—she promised to send a team to help him. I presume that is the team.” He pointed toward the window, the sound of oars fading.

“What can we do?” asked Natalie.

“There is nothing we can do for them,” he breathed.

The words hung in the air. It had remained unspoken for so long, but the realization was no less crushing. The people of Stillwater were far stronger. Even if they wanted to fight back, what hope did they have? Listening to the last whispers of the boat moving across the lake, toward their old school and the unsuspecting classmates within, Alex could not help feeling the vile hands of sorrow and grief clawing at his insides. He could only imagine what was about to happen to their former classmates and teacher, as he prayed their punishment would not be too severe.

It was an optimism he clung to, remaining quietly confident that, at the very least, their former classmates would not be killed. Alypia had said as much. Those students would be needed when they were stronger, for the harvesting of their essence. It was a very poor consolation, but enough to give Alex some hope of still being able to rescue them at some point in the future, once he had discovered a way out of this whole mess. He was more certain now than ever that the stolen essence could play a major role in the mission ahead, if only he could get ahold of it. Not only could he use it as a bargaining chip—one bottle in return for something he wanted—but it would also be a way to exact revenge on the people who had done this to his friends, and to those innocents in Spellshadow and on the field of the arena at Stillwater, and those who were still to be stolen from the outside world.

Alex desperately wanted to find those bottles and either confiscate or destroy them all, leaving those who had created these prisons with nothing. They couldn’t very well use the essence of under-matured students; it would be as fruitless as having no essence at all.

If you want to keep the evil at bay, he thought coldly, you’ll have to resort to your own ranks.

If he had his way, there would be no more innocent blood spilled. Not as long as he still drew breath.

Chapter 18

Away from the gleaming white walls of Stillwater House, the atmosphere was much calmer. Although it frustrated Alex that they were isolated, with no immediate way to move forward with their mission, he comforted himself that this was just a temporary measure, and they’d figure something else out soon enough, once things had died down a bit on the mainland. In the meantime, they could work on honing their magic and anti-magic—never a wasted endeavor.

They were freer in the lighthouse, without as much worry of being spotted by a passing student or guard. Natalie had learned from Helena how to shield the windows from outside eyes, and slowly, they grew in boldness. It was like stretching after sitting for a long period of time, and it felt good.

Ellabell was still a little wary of Alex’s abilities; they weren’t natural, as far as she had been taught, and it had taken some getting used to, seeing the glimmer of black and silver instead of gold and white, but Alex could tell she was coming around to the idea.

A few times, he had seen her watching as he and Natalie sparred, in their strange peripheral way, with Alex aiming for marks dotted on the floor instead of his actual opponent. It was almost as if the bespectacled girl was studying his style and movement, making him feel scrutinized as he fired thin bolts of twisting black toward the wall behind Natalie, though she attempted to snatch them from the air. It was strange; the anti-magic seemed almost slippery to the touch of a magical being, running through their fingers if they tried to grasp it, as well as burning them if they made contact with it. Still, once or twice, Natalie almost managed to pull the anti-magic from the air between them, wincing as the icy-cold energy bit the edge of her skin, forcing her to let go.

By the end of their sessions, both of them were grinning, sweat glistening in a sheen on their foreheads. Ellabell grinned too, a peculiar expression of interest on her face. She would put in her two cents as they debriefed the fight, giving pointers on where she thought they needed to improve, as seen from her ringside seat. It was nice to have an outside opinion, refereeing their strengths and weaknesses.