The Secret of Spellshadow Manor by Bella Forrest (best way to read ebooks TXT) 📕

The Head shook his head.

“I do.”

He turned, facing the crowd with gleaming eyes. “Renmark. Esmerelda.”

The two professors stepped forward, faces pale, but a third form accompanied them. Lintz’s heavy features shook as he planted his feet, sweat beading upon his brow.

The Head looked at him, then nodded. Alex frowned as what he could see of the Head’s mouth twisted with sorrow.

“I’ll do it,” Lintz said in a husky voice.

Derhin’s eyes widened with shock. “Alexander,” he said.

Lintz looked to Esmerelda, who gave a stiff nod, and the two of them marched forward, each seizing Derhin by an arm. The man seemed too stunned to fight back. He looked between his two captors, his expression blank and uncomprehending.

“Alexander,” he repeated. “What are you doing?”

Lintz didn’t respond. Slowly, he began to drag the once professor toward the manor.

“We did so much together,” Derhin pleaded. “We practiced together. We planned together. We were going to escape together.”

Lintz said nothing, his eyes lowered.

“Alexander!” Derhin cried, one hand finally snapping up to scrabble at the big man’s hand. “You can’t do this!”

“Hush,” Esmerelda said, her voice chiding. “Can’t you see he’s doing this for you?”

Derhin’s eyes snapped to Alex and Natalie as he was dragged past them.

“You did this,” he hissed, his heels digging in against the inexorable force of his colleagues. His face was not angry, however. It was set with resignation, and a sudden mirth bubbled out over it. His voice rose up to break into a laugh. “You helped Aamir train! But you’ll never get out of this place.”

Alex stared at the man’s back as he was hauled away, his limbs going limp, his laughter the only sound on the cold air.

“Aamir.”

Alex turned sharply at the voice. The Head stood just beside him, facing Jari and Aamir, who stood next to each other. Aamir stepped forward, and Alex thought he saw a shadow pass over Jari’s face.

“Sir,” Aamir said, kneeling as Derhin had.

With Derhin’s laughter still hanging on the air, the Head began to speak.

“You have demonstrated a great deal of courage and capability,” he said, his voice thick and soft all at once. “Are you willing to pass those qualities on to your students?”

Aamir’s head sank in assent. “I am.”

“Will you teach them to the best of your abilities, and raise them into capable credits to the magical race?”

“I will.”

“Are you ready to make sacrifices for the greater good?”

Aamir hesitated, but in the end, he nodded. Without fully comprehending why, Alex’s heart sank.

“I am.”

Derhin’s bubbling laughter cut off abruptly as the door to the manor snapped shut behind him, and the Head held out a hand.

“Then rise, Professor Nagi of Spellshadow, and come with me. There is much you must know. Much you must understand.”

Aamir reached out, taking the Head’s withered hand, and rose to his feet. He was a tall young man, but somehow the Head dwarfed him as he drew the boy to his feet, then turned and made his limping way back toward the manor.

As Aamir made to follow, Jari stepped forward.

“Be safe,” was all he whispered, reaching out to give Aamir’s shoulder a squeeze.

Aamir glanced over with a smile, then looked to Alex and Natalie.

“How’d it go?”

At Alex’s side, Natalie flashed a quick thumbs-up, and Aamir gave a short nod. The Head had paused, looking back at Aamir, who hurried to catch up. The crowd of students parted as the two made their way through it, vanishing into the manor.

Chapter 41

Aamir did not return to the dorm that night. Natalie had joined Alex and Jari there, and sat on the edge of Alex’s bed as Jari stared over at the empty, neatly made sheets and freshly fluffed pillows of Aamir’s sleeping space. Nobody quite wanted to sit there. It felt like a sacred place.

“I feel like I should be happier,” Jari said, his head low.

Natalie made a soft noise of agreement.

“I mean, he won,” Jari said, laughing humorlessly. “Did you see him punch Derhin? I swear, he’s wanted to do that for about a year now. Must have at least felt a little bit good.”

Nobody spoke.

“Where do you suppose the Head took Derhin?”

An image fluttered into Alex’s mind, of a small room with chains and a bladeless knife beside a ledger. He closed his eyes a moment, trying to rid himself of the thought.

“No clue,” he replied.

“When do you think Aamir will be back?” Natalie asked.

“In the morning, I’m sure,” Alex said.

Jari nodded, his face lightening a little.

“In the morning.”

But Aamir did not return in the morning. When the students filed into the room meant for Professor Derhin’s class, they found it empty. When fifteen minutes had passed and no professor had arrived, most of the students let themselves out, wandering back to their other projects. Alex just sat there, staring at the empty desk.

“My curse disappeared.”

Alex looked up to see that Natalie had taken Aamir’s old seat beside him.

Alex grunted. “Guess that means Derhin is gone.”

Natalie’s face darkened. “I guess so.”

Four orbs of fire blossomed into being all around her, spinning in a tight circle to orbit her hand. She sighed.

“I wonder when Aamir will be back,” she said.

Alex stared at where Jari still sat, his eyes on the door like a dog waiting for its owner to come home.

“Soon, I hope,” was all he could say.

Days passed. Jari’s grief grew to a soft, simmering sorrow. It even reached the point where Ellabell came over to him, putting an uncertain hand on his shoulder in a reassuring pat. Perhaps more alarming still, Jari only nodded in gratitude at the gesture, then looked back down at his desk.

The absence of Jari’s smiles hit Alex harder than he would have expected, harder than he liked to admit. More and more he found himself wandering to the library, attempting to distract himself with the Historica Magica. He found, however, that he couldn’t focus on the book. The words fell together in a gloomy blur, and after a time he would just shut