The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (book series for 10 year olds .TXT) 📕

see Hadrian, but Julius came with her. Needless to say, it all got messed up, and we are still shy several drops of royal blood.”

“But you have the book?” Natalie asked.

Alex nodded. “There were challenges to complete, but we made it through, and we got it. It’s at Falleaf now—we thought it’d be better off there for now, until we’re ready. There are too many places it could go missing.”

“Would Helena’s blood not work?” she wondered.

Alex glanced between Natalie and Helena. “What do you mean?”

“Well, she has royal blood running in her veins, right? Could you not simply use her blood instead?” Natalie elaborated.

Alex shook his head. “It’s not just any royal blood, actually. The book said it had to be from the king or queen.”

“That’s a shame. I’d have been happy to donate whatever you needed,” Helena said remorsefully.

She wasn’t the only one feeling regret. Surely, the blood running in the king and queen’s veins was the same blood that ran in Helena’s, or at least similar enough. Alex kept the idea in his mind, just in case it became the only option they had.

“Lintz didn’t make it out of the place where we got the book, by the way,” Alex murmured, knowing it had to be said. A gasp went up from the others. “He gave his life so we could have it.”

“No! No, not the professor!” Jari yelped.

“Lintz is dead?” Natalie whispered, her eyes glittering with new-sprung tears. “How can he be dead? Did someone kill him? You tell me who did this and I will—”

Alex cut her off gently. “It was voluntary. He did it because there was no other option… I still can’t believe he’s really gone. I keep expecting to turn around and find him there, tinkering away with some bit of clockwork.”

“Lintz was a good guy… a true hero. One of the best,” Jari added solemnly, wiping his eyes.

Alex nodded. “He was, and it’s because of what he did, because of the book, that we were coming here in the first place, Helena—to see if you knew of any way to infiltrate the royal circle, so we might get our hands on some of the queen’s blood,” Alex explained. “We figured Julius would be too tricky, so we thought Venus might be our best target. If we hadn’t run into the carnage that’s still going on at Kingstone, that’s what we’d have been doing.” He sighed reluctantly.

“Wait, what carnage?” Helena asked, another troubled expression darkening her face.

Alex nodded. “We have people taking care of it, but there are a lot of prisoners on the loose. I kind of hoped we could all help clear up the mess, once we get your mother back into custody. If Aamir manages to get the portal back open, it shouldn’t be too difficult to take back control.”

“Do you think she killed my messengers?” Helena whispered, her voice laced in sadness.

“In order to conceal her arrival at Stillwater House, I wouldn’t put it past her,” Ellabell murmured, resting a friendly hand on Helena’s shoulder.

Helena’s pale eyes flashed with sudden steeliness. “They were just kids. This can’t be allowed to go unpunished—none of this can.”

The silver-haired girl quickened her pace, with Alex and the others hurrying to keep up. Glancing around, Alex realized where they were headed, and knew it would have been his first port of call too. It was the route he had taken a few times before, after being booted out of Alypia’s glass office.

A shiver ran up his spine as he pictured Alypia with her torn face, creeping her way through the old hallways she undoubtedly knew like the back of her hand. While they had been discussing tactics and maneuvers, Alypia had been slithering from shadow to shadow through Stillwater, in search of vengeance, wanting to bring down the royal rage upon the unruly havens.

Alex just hoped their time hadn’t run out.

Chapter 24

Helena stormed up the steps toward the vast double doors that led onto the office. She didn’t bother to knock, just pushed them wide open. Alex and the others followed her.

Alex had forgotten how beautiful Alypia’s office was, with the early evening glow of fading sunlight pouring in through the endless windows. Exotic trees and coiling vines still grew in abundance, showing off the plump fruit that had swollen to ripeness in the heat, though it was clear they had been somewhat neglected of late. Where ordinarily they would have been trimmed and primped, the plants were overgrowing, the creepers and roots stretching toward the huge marble desk that stood in front of the lake-view window. On one tree, Alex saw a lemon that looked about the size of a baby’s head. Evidently, nobody was keeping up with the caretaker duties, not even Siren Mave.

I refuse to think about her, he told himself as he edged farther into the room.

He froze.

There was something moving among the trees. It was hard to make out at first, but a shard of sunlight revealed the unmistakable sheen of impossibly white hair.

Alypia lunged toward the desk, where the top drawer lay open, revealing a large red orb within. Not knowing who had been coming, Alypia had clearly thought she could hide until they left again, but upon seeing that it was Alex and his friends, she must have realized she had been backed into a corner, and she had left her treasure out in the open. The object she seemed intent on reaching looked like the biggest ruby Alex had ever seen, attached to a frame of metalwork that had been shaped to look like a queen bee, with golden wings emerging from the multifaceted surface.

Before Alypia could reach the gem, however, Helena had darted forward and snatched it away.

“Give me that!” Alypia snarled.

“You will not ruin everything, not this time,” Helena replied fiercely.

“You think these idiots are your friends? They would betray you in a heartbeat, if it meant they could get what they wanted,” Alypia spat. “You have always been naïve, Helena,