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

a farcical British accent that made Alex and Helena laugh out loud.

“Some books are kept away from students, you see,” began Helena, wiping the merry tears from her eyes, “so I can’t merely try the library.”

Just like at Spellshadow. “Any way you could get a hold of those books?” asked Alex.

She shrugged. “I can get into the private areas—they’re only really meant for teachers and the Headmistress, but I’ve learned how to sneak in without anyone knowing,” she murmured, looking as if she regretted imparting this information to them.

“How?” pressed Alex.

Helena looked as if she really regretted it now. She fidgeted. “I just know a way—it’s complicated,” she answered finally with a grimace, as if she knew it was a weak excuse.

Alex wondered what Helena wasn’t telling them. She certainly seemed to have secrets of her own. He had wanted to come clean with her about his secret, but her caginess kept him from bringing it up. Besides, he was certain she’d find out what he was soon enough. Right now, Helena was probably the only mage in Stillwater House who didn’t know what he was.

“Hey, how come you guys didn’t get all beat up like me? Did you have to fight too?” asked Jari, distracting Alex from his train of thought.

Alex felt a twist of shame as he heard the hope in Jari’s voice. The boy, Alex understood, had yet to realize that he had been the only one to reject Alypia’s offer. The rest of them had been cowardly.

Alex shook his head. “We took the offers, Jari. Ours were slightly different from yours, I think. She didn’t ask me to spy or anything,” he admitted sheepishly.

“What?” breathed Jari, his forehead furrowed in confusion.

“I had no intention of staying, though. It was just an excuse to buy more time. I figured we’d be better off at Stillwater, coming up with a plan, what with the library and everything… but we were never going to stay. Don’t worry,” he assured Jari.

This news seemed to cheer Jari up. “How about the others—were they in on it too? Where are they?” he asked, glancing around for them.

Alex didn’t feel he had the stomach to tell Jari that the others—particularly Natalie and Aamir—seemed to like Stillwater House, and had been less than forthcoming with their continued desire to leave Stillwater. He didn’t think he could deal with the disappointment he knew he’d see in Jari’s eyes, once the blond-haired boy learned of it, so he didn’t say a word on the matter.

“The arena was pretty crowded. I’m sure they’ll be along soon,” he replied instead, hopeful that they would show up, despite the creeping sense of dread he felt at their absence. He guessed the Headmistress would be angry about what had happened at the arena; he just hoped his friends would not be punished for his actions, especially when they had tried to stop him.

Jari nodded. “Cool. I might take a little nap. You wake me when they get here,” he muttered, his eyelids sliding shut. Within a minute, he was snoring softly. Alex wasn’t surprised. The evening had sucked out about as much energy from Jari as was possible. He hadn’t even expected the blond-haired boy to wake up for a long while, but Jari had never been one to disappoint an attentive audience.

“Do you mind if I stay?” enquired Helena uncertainly.

Alex nodded, smiling at her. “You should stay—he’d want you here.”

They both sat back in their chairs, watching Jari as he slept soundly beneath the covers, resting away the exhaustion and pain of the last few days. It was a relatively new sensation, but Alex couldn’t help feeling a profound sense of protectiveness over his friend, and though he knew he, himself, needed some rest, he kept his eyes open, determined to stand sentinel over his ward.

“What happened out there?” asked Helena.

“In the arena?”

She nodded. “Jari said something about blazing guns and silver eyes.”

“I have a secret.” He sighed, realizing he was going to have to tell her after all.

“What kind of secret?”

“I’ve not been entirely honest with you—about what I am,” he explained.

She tilted her head. “I don’t follow.”

“See, the thing is,” he began, finding his throat dry, “I’m not a mage… I’m a Spellbreaker.”

Her golden eyes flashed with astonishment. “What?” she gasped.

“I would say don’t tell anyone, but I think everyone saw.” He shrugged dejectedly. The admission made it seem real, all of a sudden, and he wasn’t sure how comfortable his new position felt.

“Do the others know?”

He nodded. “They do.”

She looked at him strangely, as though she were trying to figure out whether to despise him or be in awe of him. Her expression settled on a mixture of the two. “I can’t believe you’re a—”

She was cut off by a knock at the door, which stirred Alex from his thoughts. The other three entered the room, looking decidedly sheepish. As annoyed as Alex was with their tardiness, he was pleased to have the distraction; he wasn’t sure how much more he wanted to say about his heritage to Helena. He just hoped she didn’t loathe him for it. It wasn’t exactly his choice, after all.

Alex glared. “Where have you been?” he asked quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping Jari.

“We were detained—the Headmistress wanted to speak with us, but we came as quickly as we could,” replied Aamir, his eyes flitting toward the curled-up figure on the bed.

Alex walked across to Ellabell, pulling her to one side as Aamir and Natalie pushed past him toward Jari.

“What happened?” asked Alex, concern flashing in his eyes as he saw Ellabell’s worried expression.

“The Headmistress had us taken away. She questioned us,” she explained rapidly, her voice shaking. “She wanted to know how long we had known about your powers.”

“Did she hurt you?” he murmured, checking her arms for any bruises.

She shook her head. “No. She didn’t seem mad or annoyed or anything. It was odd.”

Alex frowned. “So what did she say?”

“She just told us we could stay, as planned,