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

grips with the gigantic villa, Alex noticed that the beautiful students of Stillwater eyed them with a certain wary curiosity, as if they had not seen strangers in a long time. It made Alex think back to Helena’s comment about other Stillwater students not being as welcoming as her, but he shrugged it off as they came to a beautiful water garden at the far end of the school.

The air was heavily scented with floral perfume, and vibrant butterflies flitted from flower to flower under the steady hum of unseen bees. A large pond glistened in the center of the garden, koi fish twisting and weaving beneath the water’s surface, darting away from streams poured by the hands of expertly sculpted statues into the pool below.

The four of them sat for a while on stone benches, in the shade of a delicate willow, though Natalie stretched out on the slate tiles by the pond like a cat, bathing peacefully in the sunshine as she trailed her hand in the water for the fish to nibble at. Not long after, a Stillwater student came running up with a tray of cakes and drinks. Alex figured this wasn’t normal behavior, but he was hungry, and the snacks looked so tempting. They tasted as delicious as they looked. The cakes, moist and light and flavored with lemon, washed down easily with a cup of some exotic red juice that tasted somewhere between cherry and strawberry.

Outside, the architecture could be truly appreciated. All along the archways and levels of the villa, Alex saw tiny details that could only be noticed if you were really looking, like the ornate carvings above the windows, and the clusters of stone grapes, complete with vines, twisting around the eaves of the domes and spiraling towers. Everything at Stillwater House was exquisitely crafted, taking from contemporary and Renaissance influences. Alex knew the villa had to be ancient, yet it didn’t look dated—it was fresh and bright, gleaming in the dazzling, hypnotic sunlight.

As the heat became too intense, making the perfume of the flowers seem almost suffocating, the quartet moved back inside to explore the interior some more. They passed several classrooms and saw glimpses of the lessons going on within, led by teachers of beauty equal to that of the stunning students, and who seemed to encourage the talent of their pupils. It was curious to watch the teachers shout out the sections of each spell, assisting students with a firm but friendly hand, so that nobody got left behind. They seemed to genuinely want their students to do well, which surprised Alex. He guessed it must have been because their jobs weren’t on the line, as they were at Spellshadow; the teachers in that grim place lived in constant fear of being usurped and having their essence torn away from them. Here, he supposed, if they Ascended and chose to become teachers, their survival and position were surely guaranteed.

Moving down some stairs into a section of subterranean corridors, Alex was pleased to see a mechanics’ lab, with a lesson on clockwork taking place within. It meant the students here had a much more varied education than the one at Spellshadow, if clockwork was an actual fixture on the class schedule, as it appeared to be. The sight of it made Alex smile with the bittersweet memory of Professor Lintz, tinkering away at the delicate husk of a clockwork owl, though that thought led his mind back to the students of Spellshadow, and how they were faring. The boatful of guards hadn’t returned, as far as Alex knew, but he wasn’t sure whether that was a good sign or a bad one; it simply meant the matter hadn’t been resolved, one way or the other. He only hoped they were okay, whichever way things were going.

On their second day as actual residents of Stillwater House, a message came for Alex, instructing him to attend an introductory lesson in the Queen’s Courtyard at ten a.m. As he washed and dressed and stepped out into the corridor, he saw that the others had received the same message. They walked toward him with anxious looks on their faces.

“Introductory lesson?” he asked.

They nodded.

“Breakfast first?” he suggested.

Another nod, and they all went down to the refectory together, filled with first-day-at-school nerves. Helena appeared at the bottom of the stairs, waving excitedly to them as she led them the rest of the way to the refectory. Having been spoiled the day before with tray service, they had not met with Helena, as they had promised to do, but had gone back to their rooms instead, with stomachs full of cake and chocolates and delicate finger sandwiches. It seemed she didn’t hold a grudge, as she dragged them over to introduce them to a group of her friends, who did not seem nearly as impressed as she was.

They ate a simple, clean breakfast of fruit salad and yogurt, sitting in awkward silence as Helena tried, and failed, to stir up conversation between the two different groups. Once they were finished, they all walked together toward the Queen’s Courtyard, Helena leading the way, still chirruping enthusiastically as the rest of them followed sullenly, not sharing her delight.

Stepping out into the same courtyard where Alex and Jari had first seen Helena, the quartet were a little intimidated as they saw the rest of the students gathered around them. Some of them, particularly the ones clustered toward the far side of the courtyard, looked much younger than Alex and his friends. All eyes were on them as they waited anxiously for instruction. It came sooner than anticipated, and they were split into pairs with the younger group of the gathered Stillwater students, and set to the task of dueling. The older class, including Helena, paired off on the other side of the courtyard, apparently serving to inspire the younger students.

Alex already knew it would be a wreck for him. He stared hopelessly toward the place where his