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

room, surveying everything. Alex wondered how that must feel for Julius, having his father’s eyes on him wherever he went, considering it was Julius’s fault the man was dead. Alex had a feeling the king didn’t care.

Everything was decked out in gold and precious jewels, managing to be luxurious without looking gaudy. And the books—there were books everywhere. Rows upon rows flanked the walls, some of them kept away in locked cupboards, presumably for Julius’s eyes only. Even on the floor by the king’s throne, there were piles of tomes, stacked up, just waiting to be read. If this was the number of books in the throne room, Alex could not imagine what the king’s library looked like.

Alex glanced around for as long as he dared, finding the room breathtaking despite his unease. However, it wasn’t long before his attention was drawn back to Venus. If she was sitting there, Alex knew Julius must have found her at the windmill, but his worries rested not with the fact that she was back, but with the knowledge that someone had to die as a result of her rescue. As selfish as it sounded, he just hoped it wasn’t someone close to him—someone like Demeter or Ceres.

Once more, his mind trailed back to the chaos of Starcross. The sad truth of it was that responsibility for what happened lay at his feet; there was no escaping it. If he had listened to Hadrian, if he had listened to Ceres, if he had listened to what they had continuously tried to get him to hear, none of it would have happened. Starcross would have continued to be a secret, and all those who had died would still be alive… Storm would still be alive. In his foolish wisdom, Alex had thought he knew better, or that he could somehow whisk them away before Julius’s axe fell, but his misplaced confidence had damned them all. Worse than that, people had died, suddenly and painfully. Perhaps whatever was to come would be his redemption for the suffering he had unwittingly caused.

One thing that surprised Alex, however, was the presence of Virgil. The skeletal man stood a short distance away from Julius, his hands behind his back. His face was battered and bruised, his lip swollen to twice its normal size, congealed black blood covering the wound. As their eyes met, Alex saw that the whites of Virgil’s were covered in crimson ruptures where the vessels had burst. Julius had clearly begun his punishment of Virgil early. Alex mouthed the words “I’m sorry” in the Head’s direction, causing the sunken-faced man to look quickly away, wincing at the sharp movement.

“Darling, your guest is here,” Venus whispered, touching her husband’s arm.

“You think I don’t know that?” Julius snapped, not bothering to look up. “I will get to him when I am good and ready. I am almost at the end of this chapter.”

And so, Alex was left to stand uncomfortably while Julius finished what he was reading. Siren Mave had left, and it seemed nobody else dared to speak, though Venus kept her hand on her husband’s arm. Looking at the small, subtle motion, Alex realized he was likely only alive because of her strange skill—her keen ability to keep the king calm when nobody else could. Though, what had she said—if Alex were to fail on the second attempt, not even she could help him? The memory was foggy, but Alex was sure it had been something along those lines. Yet, here she was, holding her husband’s arm, helping him. Well, keeping him alive at least.

Slowly, she leaned into her husband, whispering something softly in his ear. Whatever it was, it seemed to do the trick. With a loud slam, Julius snapped the book shut and turned to face Alex. A moment later, he got up, prowling across the bridge to where Alex stood. Venus followed, never less than an arm’s length away from him.

“So, here he stands, the mighty Spellbreaker!” Julius taunted, eyeing him as if he were a piece of trash that had just blown in. “And here I was, thinking you a master of The Art of War. You certainly talked a good game, but it seems that’s all it was… talk. What a disappointment you turned out to be, Alex Webber,” he said in a low voice. “Quite the amateur, thinking yourself one step ahead of me, thinking I was trailing behind when, really, I was a dot in the distance, so far ahead of you, you couldn’t even see me!”

“I would never presume to—” Alex began, but the king cut him off sharply.

“You will not speak until you are asked to!” he barked, his eyes flashing with fury. “You do not come into my house and presume to flap your mouth. Is that understood?”

Alex paused, not knowing whether to respond. “Yes, Your Royal Highness,” he said, after a long, tense silence. He had so much anger burning inside him that it was everything he could do not to strike out at the king and damn it all.

“I have had just about enough of you, Alex Webber. You are a thorn in my side, a snake in the grass, a pebble in my shoe, and I would have seen you destroyed, had my good lady wife not persuaded me against it, for the sake of the spell,” Julius continued, his mouth set in a grim line. Without warning, he darted toward Venus, violently grabbing her toward him, holding her face in a vise-like grip. “Isn’t that right, darling? You wouldn’t see him harmed, would you?” he snarled, so close to her face Alex thought he might bite something off. She didn’t flinch. Instead, she looked into his eyes, her mouth moving, though nobody but Julius could hear the words.

“I thought he could be useful to you, didn’t I?” Venus purred softly, her words louder now.

Julius nodded, his manner calmer. “You did, my darling,” he said, releasing his grip on her. When he