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

a great thing, and he had kept those people safe for a long time. It was only natural the anxious royal would be worried, Alex realized, when all that hard work was threatened by something that may not even work, but could never be taken back.

Alex smiled apologetically. “I imagine a lot of people have given you a hard time?”

“Not so many, but those who h-have don’t hold back,” Hadrian replied, a sorrowful look in his eyes. “My sister tells me all the t-time what a failure I am f-for not doing more. I suppose she’s right… but I d-did all I thought I could do.”

“Remember, Hadrian, your sister speaks from a place of passion—she is not always in control of her words, or the way in which they tumble from her mouth,” Vincent said, offering up some comfort to the battered royal.

“And, hey, you’re helping us now,” Alex added, softening toward Hadrian. “That is doing more.”

When Alex, Vincent, and Hadrian emerged through the shade of the trees, the crack of a branch went off like a gunshot in the silence of the forest, and the students in the clearing scattered like disturbed rats. Peering into the darkness, all Alex could see were beady eyes staring at him from the gloom, the fear tangible.

“It’s just me,” Alex announced. “And this is Hadrian, the guy who is going to help us. The guy next to him is—”

“I am Vincent, for those who were, perhaps, wondering. I am also here to offer my assistance, though I am afraid I am not quite the grand fromage,” Vincent interrupted.

Natalie snorted with laughter from the back of the group. Figures slowly began to unfurl from the shadows, moving forward on shaky limbs. The four friends approached Alex, Vincent, and Hadrian, though they didn’t bring Virgil with them. A shift of something even darker than the forest shade told Alex that wherever the Head was, tucked back there in the dim light, Elias had handled the situation.

“Alex tells me y-you’re in need of shelter,” said Hadrian. “It is a pleasure to meet you, and a p-pleasure to see familiar faces again. I only wish it w-were under happier circumstances,” he added, going down the line, shaking hands with the four friends. He had yet to meet Natalie and Jari, but he shook their hands all the same, smiling warmly.

“Hadrian has kindly agreed to let us go through to meet with his sister,” Alex explained.

The royal nodded, his stammer fading as he addressed the gathered group. “My sister, Ceres, will be able to take care of you, and keep you safe. I know you must all be cold, tired, and hungry, but you will soon be out of danger,” he promised. The metamorphosis was peculiar to Alex—one moment, Hadrian had been wringing his hands with anxiety; the next he had become an authoritative leader, a voice of comfort to the weary troops. Alex wondered if this was the way his own students saw him.

“Monsieur Hadrian, a few of these students are injured after the battle we had at Spellshadow. Does your sister have medical facilities?” Natalie asked, pointing toward a cluster of individuals curled up in various states of fitful slumber between the twisting roots of an enormous tree.

“She is fully equipped to assist with all kinds of ailments,” Hadrian confirmed. Alex knew it had to be true, given the state in which the survivors must have come through to Starcross, not to mention their lifelong treatment after they’d had half their essence taken away. “If you’d like to follow me, all of you, I can lead you to her. You will have to be as quiet as you can possibly be, and do exactly as I instruct.”

The congregation moved forward, evidently impressed by the manner of Hadrian, who was a million miles away from the Head and Headmistress they had all known in their time at the havens.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” a sultry voice barked from the back of the clearing.

“Ah, I forgot to mention that,” said Alex, turning apologetically toward Hadrian.

The nervous royal frowned. “What?”

“I had to bring Virgil with us,” Alex explained. “If we’re going to try the spell again, we need his help still. There was no way we could leave him there.”

Elias heaved the dangling figure of Virgil forward, throwing him haphazardly onto the grass, where he landed in an unconscious heap.

“He certainly looks as if he has seen better days,” Vincent remarked, eyeing the limp man with curiosity.

Hadrian sighed heavily. “My sister won’t be happy about it, but I can see why you had to bring him. It’s funny, the way that man always seems to dodge the worst of things,” he mused. “Do you need help carrying him?”

Alex shook his head. “No, we’ve got this,” he said, as Jari hurried to pick up one arm and Natalie moved to take the other.

“Where would you all be without me?” Elias grinned, before twisting up into nothingness. The forest of Falleaf was an easy spot for the shadow-man to disappear into, without a trace. Regardless, Alex could still feel Elias’s presence lingering around him. He felt like he was being watched, but knew the surveillance was coming from within him, pulsing at the center of the piece of soul he’d accidentally stolen.

The students trailed after Hadrian, treading carefully. It seemed the royal was taking the long way around, circling the whole forest before coming back toward the place where Alex knew the cave stood, hidden away in a distant section of the woods. Using the slender device that picked out traps, and ensuring that any bands of soldiers were suitably diverted by stern words of broken snares, Hadrian escorted them to the cave without incident. However, Alex knew that was the least of their worries. They still had Ceres to contend with.

“Come on through, but you’ll have to be aware of space—it might get a little cramped,” Hadrian instructed, before opening the narrow door that covered the cave entrance and hurrying inside.