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

Peering into the darkness at the bottom of the stairs, he saw subtle movements, as if there were something shifting in the shadows below. Tentatively, he placed his hand on the banister, not knowing whether to step into the unknown or stay at the top of the stairs, until his eyes had at least grown accustomed to the dimness beneath.

The sound of Ellabell’s scream made the decision for him. It pierced the air, and Alex flew instinctively down the stairs, knocking shoulders with something solid in the darkness as he raced toward the spot in the corner where she usually slept, his anti-magic jumping into defensive action as he tried to make out her figure in the blackness. Desperately, his eyes scoured the room, until they rested on two shapes tussling in the center. One of the figures had her, though Ellabell was fighting to get free.

“There’s another one!” an alien voice cried.

Alex wasted no time as he began to work silvery threads of anti-magic between his fingers, building a burning ball between his hands as the shadows swarmed, moving toward him as if drawn to the light. He fired the first barrage of anti-magical artillery at the would-be ambushers, the silver light illuminating their faces for the briefest of seconds as they tried to get closer to him, only to be thrown back by the crackling surge of his energy. They had the beautiful faces of Stillwater residents, all chiseled cheekbones and perfect symmetry, but right now, to Alex, they were as far from beautiful as it was possible to be.

Another blast from his palms sent them flying backward, but it knocked down Ellabell too, who was caught up in the fray. Alex wanted to rush to her, but she was already scrambling to her feet, snatching her hand away from the guard who held her and darting quickly between the invaders, to stand by Alex’s side. She forged golden magic between her own palms as the guards closed in around them.

From the next floor below, Alex heard the thud of magic against the thick stone walls and felt tremors shiver through his body as Natalie cried out. Panic rippled through him as he looked around the room, only just realizing that Natalie wasn’t in her usual place, close to where Ellabell slept. She was below, perhaps already being taken away by the guards.

“What happened to Natalie?” asked Alex, glancing at Ellabell.

“They dragged her down the stairs,” she replied, her voice strained with fear.

It spurred Alex on, and, together, he and Ellabell managed to hold the guards back. Flakes and flurries of snow and ice filled the air as Alex sent barrage after barrage toward the approaching strangers, knocking them back time and time again, but it quickly became apparent that their opponents were extremely strong—just as Alex had known the Stillwater folk to be. Each time he knocked them back, they got up and kept coming, shrugging off the deep chill of his anti-magic. The barrages were one of the only spells he knew that he could use against multiple people, and it did not seem to be strong enough to keep them away indefinitely. He knew his anti-magic weapons might have been stronger, or the underground spirals, but throwing individual weapons would have left them vulnerable to the other attackers, and he was still coming to grips with the latter spell. All he could do was keep sending out the icy barrages, in hopes that the aggressors would eventually stay down.

It was an optimistic hope.

There was something else, too, that alarmed Alex. Squinting into the dark, he was surprised to see something strange happening each time the silvery light of his anti-magic lit up their attackers’ faces, just prior to impact. It was like a mirage, distorting the faces of the guards, making them seem twisted and odd for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was a figment of his imagination, but he couldn’t stop looking at those faces as each icy wave hit them with full force.

Finally, Alex saw an opportunity—a gap opening up between several guards, who seemed to be flagging slightly as he sent yet another pulse of fierce anti-magic. Taking Ellabell’s hand, though the burning gold of her palm sent a shiver up his arm, he ran with her toward the stairs and sprinted down to the lower floor, where Jari was putting up the best fight he could alongside Natalie, who had apparently battled herself free of the guards.

It was easy to forget how skillful Jari was, but his talent was undeniable as the spells twisted and turned from the delicate movements of his hands, his body turned sideways to reduce the target as his eyes tried to read the actions of his attackers. Regardless of their strength, they were not evenly matched with the beautiful aggressors, and there seemed to be more of them pouring in from all angles.

Aamir, in his weakened state, was being hauled away at the edge of the room, unable to put up much resistance, though Jari was trying to make a path toward him through the guards. Seeing his friends’ struggle, Alex sent a flurry of gleaming silver attacks at the guards, stopping them in their tracks as they tried to retaliate, only to find themselves face to face with another wave of pulsing anti-magic.

Using the brief intermission in return attacks, Jari and Natalie ducked forward and grasped Aamir away from the arms of the two guards who had been holding him captive. From below, the staircase was filling with more guards, and the ones from the floors above were streaming into the room. It was clear to Alex that they were cornered. Any and all exits were hidden behind an army of Stillwater mages.

A last-ditch battle ensued as magical shrapnel filled the room in a glittering miasma, exploding from the close-quarter combat and rising up from the blizzards of snowflakes created by Alex’s defenses. Natalie sent shivering snakes of liquid gold toward the attackers,