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

so people tend to keep away. There’s nothing much to see there, and I saw in a book that portals can often be found in that kind of location—isolated, quiet, mostly empty places.”

“Which book?” asked Alex.

“I don’t remember—look, time is ticking. We need to get going, if we’re going,” Helena said. It didn’t escape Alex’s notice that she was pointedly ignoring his question. “The longer we stay, the less chance we have of being successful,” she added.

“What do you think?” asked Alex, looking at the others. Helena had a very good point, echoing what Gaze had said about them needing to step their plans up if they were to have any hopes of leaving.

“I think it could be our best shot,” Jari said eagerly, jiggling in his seat. It was definitely the most proactive plan anyone had come up with so far.

“I think we need to get as far away from the Headmistress and this weird magic air as soon as possible,” Aamir agreed.

“There is something not right here—there is something that keeps distracting us.” Natalie nodded, though there was a touch of reluctance in her voice, quickly masked with a smile.

“I think we should give it a try,” Ellabell said.

Alex paused. “We should go sooner rather than later though, yeah?”

The group agreed wholeheartedly. There was no point in staying somewhere that had such bizarre control over them. Besides, who was to say the magic in the air wouldn’t try to make them forget their plans, if they stayed a while longer? They had to believe Gaze; they had to get out as fast as they could, before anything could stop them.

“Then we’re going,” Alex said, pleased with the conclusion.

Helena cleared her throat. “May I come with you?” she asked.

“You can come, if you take us to see the room with the portal in it,” he bargained.

Helena smirked. “I’m not an idiot, Alex. After all your talk of distrust, I don’t think I’ll be taking you there unless you truly promise to bring me with you.”

She had a point. Alex wasn’t happy with the idea of letting Alypia’s daughter follow along. It made him feel guilty, to be called out like that—to have his honor called into question. And yet she had been right to do it. His need to protect lay only with those who had come with him from Spellshadow; it did not fully extend to the silver-haired girl, but she couldn’t help her heritage.

“Then you’ll have to take us, and come with us,” he said quickly, before he could change his mind.

She grinned excitedly. “I’ll come and fetch you all at midnight, and lead you to the portal! You won’t regret this, I promise,” she whispered. “I’m sorry for not telling you about my mother, but I swear upon everything I hold dear that you can trust me.” A glimmer of emotion flashed in her gold eyes, letting Alex know he had done the right thing.

“Why do want you to leave?” said Jari suddenly.

She sighed. “It’s complicated… I don’t want to be a royal. I never wanted to be a royal. I want more from life than what I can expect if I stay—there are duties and expectations, and I don’t want any of them. I never asked for them, and I want the same choices and opportunities that I’ve heard people can have out in the real world,” she explained sadly. “That is what I long for—to be normal. No magic, no royalty, no title, no pressures. Just me.”

It was the most genuine Alex had ever seen her, with her soul bared and her expression vulnerable. There was a lifetime of hurt and remorse in her voice, but there was hope too—they were the hope. They had turned up at just the right moment for Helena to hold onto her dream. Without them, he wondered what her plan might have been.

Whatever it was, he began to understand that they had more in common than he had realized.

He, too, just wanted to be normal again.

Chapter 37

Alex sat in his room, anxiously waiting for night to come. The others had gone down for something to eat, but he knew he couldn’t stomach a mouthful. Excitement and nerves made it as impossible as sitting still.

Gazing out the window at the rolling, emerald fields that shone dimly beneath the evening sky, he knew he couldn’t just sit there anymore, twiddling his thumbs. His muscles were tense and in need of stretching; he needed to not be surrounded by the echoing voices of students and people, clamoring through the corridors outside, which were only serving to increase his anxiety. He needed peace, to get the plan clear in his mind, like preparation before a big game. He needed room to go over some spells, to calm his nerves. It made him think about what Helena had said about the abandoned quarter of the school and nobody ever going there—he knew firsthand how quiet it could be out there. It was the perfect spot to get his head clear. Plus, if they made it out, he knew this would be his last chance to explore that part of the school, and he liked the idea of saying a fond farewell to the bell tower that had kept them safe in those early days.

Slipping out of his room, he headed cautiously through the hallways and corridors of the school, moving toward the abandoned courtyard with the bell tower in the corner. From there, he would spread out and explore the derelict section of the villa, going over a few defensive spells as he walked through the halls.

Nobody bothered him as he slunk from shadow to shadow, putting up a shield whenever somebody came too close, the crackle of it prickling the hairs on the back of their neck if they got too near, like an unseen breath in the darkness. Spooked, the intruders quickly moved away, leaving him to advance onward.

Stepping out into the familiar courtyard, piled with