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

Ellabell nodded, stepping forward. “Yeah, looks like she was on our side this whole time.” A smile spread across her face. “You should have seen her—the way she came barging past the guards, shouting at them to get out of her way. She came for us almost as soon as you had gone.”

“She’s quite a woman,” Alex agreed, wondering why Ellabell hadn’t tried to hug him. He remembered her face when they had last parted, and the cold kiss she’d left him with. Had the rest of her heart turned to stone, in his absence?

Slowly, she approached him. He opened his mouth to speak first, but before he could say another word, she bent down and kissed him tenderly on the lips, holding his face in her hands. He could feel her shaking as he put his arms around her, so he held her tighter, giving the last threads of energy he had to holding her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pulling away slightly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he replied, kissing her again.

Remembering they had company, Alex and Ellabell separated, and the curly-haired girl sat close beside him on the bench. The others chattered excitedly about what had happened, wanting to know more about the events that had brought Alex back to them. He recounted as much as he could, though his heart wasn’t in it. In fact, his heart wasn’t in any of it. He was thrilled to see his friends again, but he couldn’t muster the emotion he knew they wanted to see from him. Glancing away for a moment, he saw Ceres standing nearby, watching him closely. Her concern made sense to him, given that she was used to dealing with his sort—the half-life survivors who had no idea what to do with themselves.

Still, he pressed on with the story, knowing he owed them that. He could hear his voice lulling, becoming a tired monotone, but he refused to give in to the weariness that was penetrating down to his very bones. He wanted to be the hero his friends thought he was, but he felt about as heroic as a slug.

“So, Virgil left me at the portal and came to fetch Ceres,” Alex finished, his mouth dry from all the talking.

“Whoa, dude, you’re a total legend!” Jari whooped enthusiastically.

Aamir nodded. “Even I have to admit, that is pretty impressive,” he said. “Although, I would never have expected such an act from Virgil. Who’d have thought, after all this time, he’d switch sides?”

Alex shrugged. “I’m not sure he ever really knew whose side he was on.”

“How is he? Is he injured too?” Natalie asked curiously.

“He’s in better shape than me,” was all Alex could say on the matter. As much as he wanted to stay with his friends and talk some more, he could feel himself fading. His eyes burned, his face ached, and every movement sent a thousand shooting pains through his body.

“Is it really that bad?” Ellabell pressed, her eyes wide with concern.

He shook his head. “No, it’s not too bad. I just need to sleep it off, I think.”

“I am not sure you can simply sleep off the loss of half your soul,” Natalie said solemnly.

“No, indeed, you can’t,” Ceres cut in, walking over to the group. “You’re exhausted, Alex. I know you want to keep up the pretense, but you’re in a lot of pain, and I think it’s time you got some rest,” she remarked, offering her hand to him, to help him up.

He didn’t have the strength to protest as she hauled him to his feet, leading him toward the entrance to a nearby tent. The others stayed where they were, upon Ceres’s instruction, and watched him go, their faces morphing into masks of worry. He hated doing that to them, but it was clear he needed help. He had no idea what was going on inside his body, but Ceres seemed to understand.

Once inside the tent, which appeared to be vacant, Ceres led Alex over to a pile of furs that lay stacked in a comfortable nest shape at the far end of the space. There, she made him lie down, while she went off to brew some tea. The furs embraced him like the softest mattress in the world, easing the jolts and jars that spiked through his body. Already, he could feel himself falling asleep, but Ceres made him stay awake a while longer, shaking him gently just as he was drifting off.

“Drink this,” she insisted, handing him a steaming mug of something sour smelling.

“All of it?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Yes, all of it,” she replied sternly, taking a seat on a stool beside the furry nest.

Pulling a face, he lifted the hot drink to his lips and sipped tentatively. It tasted as foul as it smelled, but the warmth soothed the pains in his chest, making him feel more relaxed. Taking sip after sip, until the whole mug was gone, he began to feel marginally better—not a lot, but a fraction less grim.

“What was that stuff?” he asked, wiping the remnants from his mouth.

Ceres smiled. “You really don’t want to know. Herbs, mostly.”

“It tastes like pondwater,” he complained.

“You’re not far off,” Ceres chuckled, stirring something in a pot beside her. “Anyway, you’re probably wondering what’s going on with you, inside, right?”

Alex nodded. “I feel about as close to dead as it’s possible to feel,” he admitted.

“That’s not uncommon,” Ceres replied, lifting her hands to Alex’s face and pulling back his lids to check his eyes. “I’m not entirely sure how it works in someone like you, but I’m guessing it’s the same state the mages came to me in. Half of your life essence has been removed from you—or your soul, if you prefer. As you can imagine, that comes with a lot of suffering, and the need for a lot of recovery. There are magical exercises that you’ll need to do to help repair the damage inside; I’ll guide you through them. They’ll help