The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 4 by Bella Forrest (life books to read TXT) 📕

Just then, as if summoned by the mention of his name, Aamir entered with Jari in tow. Ellabell wasn’t with them. Alex kept expecting her to follow, peering through the doorway behind them. But she didn’t. Worry shivered up his spine.

I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m sure she’s just taking care of a portal or something, he told himself, trying not to show his immediate concern.

“Have you seen Ellabell?” Alex asked Aamir.

The older boy shook his head. “No, haven’t seen her since this morning.”

“You missing her already?” Jari grinned, the smile fading as it became clear this wasn’t a laughing matter.

“When did you last see her?” Alex pressed.

Aamir frowned. “I saw her maybe three hours ago—we went down to the courtyard to see Lintz, just after you left to meet with Demeter. He didn’t need our help, but then Jari showed up, so the two of us stayed down there a while longer, keeping the portals away,” he recounted. “Ellabell didn’t want to wait around. She said she was coming here, to help Natalie fix beetles. Did she not come back?” Aamir asked Natalie. Alex greatly appreciated Aamir’s seriousness; he was sincerely beginning to freak out.

“No, it has just been me all morning. She did not return,” Natalie replied solemnly. Genuine alarm glinted in her dark brown eyes.

“So, let me get this straight in my head. When did she leave you?” Alex asked, turning to Aamir.

“Perhaps nine o’clock, maybe a bit earlier,” Aamir replied, running an anxious hand through his hair.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Alex saw that it was just past midday. By Natalie and Aamir’s account, they had all left the tower room around eight-thirty, nine o’clock that morning, meaning she had been AWOL for a good three hours. It didn’t seem like a long time, but, within the walls of the keep, Alex knew it was long enough for something bad to happen.

Fraught with anxiety, Alex paced the room, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. It wasn’t like her to go off on her own, and seeing his own worries reflected in the eyes of his friends, he knew his fear was justified. They already had enough to worry about, and now Ellabell had gone missing in a labyrinthine prison full of psychopaths, necromancers, murderers, and who knew what else. Granted, they weren’t all criminals, but there were enough nut jobs to scare him.

In the pit of his stomach, he felt with sinking certainty that she had been taken, though for what reason and by whom, he didn’t know. He wondered if Caius was punishing them for trying to break his precious barrier and bringing his brother’s wrath down upon him.

It didn’t bear thinking about.

“We need to find her,” said Alex, his voice raw with emotion.

“We will search every nook and cranny of this place until she’s safe,” Aamir promised, resting a reassuring hand on Alex’s shoulder.

“We should get going.” Alex said, and they moved toward the door.

The four of them set off at a sprint, running through the dripping hallways of the keep, calling out Ellabell’s name as they ran. As they made their way through, combing every crevice for a sign of her, the prisoners shouted vile things from their cells.

“The demons have sucked out her soul—you’ll never find her now,” a raspy voice whispered from behind a grate where black eyes twinkled menacingly.

“Poor little girlie, lost in the labyrinth,” another cackled.

“Such beautiful curls. I wonder if she can see without her glasses,” a third voice taunted. That one incited Alex’s wrath. He moved to the door, a ball of liquid anti-magic swirling in his palm, ready to exact justice upon the voice within. Furtive eyes watched him from the darkness of the cell beyond as he raised his arm, prepared to hurl the ball of bristling energy at the unseen creature.

Suddenly, he felt a hand close around his wrist, holding him back. Turning his head sharply to shout at the person who would prevent him from silencing the vile specimen in the shadows, his rage died on his lips. Vincent stood beside him, a troubled expression on his usually serene face. Beneath the necromancer’s translucent skin, the blue veins shifted like ink in water.

“I heard shouting. Is something wrong?” he asked, letting go of Alex’s wrist as the ball of anti-magic evaporated.

Alex exhaled. “It’s Ellabell—she’s gone missing. Nobody has seen her since this morning, and I know it sounds presumptuous, but I think someone may have taken her. I can feel it.”

Vincent looked worried for a moment. “Not presumptuous at all, young Spellbreaker—very shrewd, in fact. This place is not for wandering, and nor should we ever ignore an odd feeling. Let us not forget, our bodies are more in tune with the world than we think; we simply choose to drown out the connection. If it is telling you she isn’t safe, then I trust your instinct. In fact, I believe I may have seen two figures disappearing beyond the barrier not too long ago. Their forms were shifting in the distance… I did think it a little strange,” he said grimly.

“Who was it?”

“That, I can’t say. I couldn’t make them out clearly through the fog, I’m afraid. If I’d had the gift of foresight I might have looked closer,” Vincent said, his long fingers tapping together with apprehension. “Alas, I did not, though I recall thinking it might be Caius and a prisoner he fancied torturing in person—it has been known to happen on very, very rare occasions, and Caius does so love the forest.”

“Caius,” Alex hissed, the word burning like poison in his mouth.

It was the confirmation he needed. Hearing what Vincent had seen, Alex was convinced Ellabell wasn’t in Kingstone Keep anymore, and that the one who had spirited her away was none other than the elusive Caius.

It has to be punishment for what we tried to do, he told himself bitterly.

Fury pulsated within him. He would track the warden down, retrieve Ellabell in one