The Secret of Spellshadow Manor by Bella Forrest (classic english novels txt) 📗

“Where are we going?” he asked. “Where’s Aamir?”

Jari sighed, shooting a look over at Alex. “I need to ask you something,” he said. “And you aren’t in trouble. I just need you to be honest with me.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Okay, shoot.”

“Did you talk to Aamir about graduation?”

The question hung in the air for a time.

“I suppose,” Alex said. “But it was a while ago—and just in passing.”

Silence.

“I thought that might have triggered it,” Jari said.

Alex found himself almost jogging to keep up with Jari, who may have been small, but didn’t lack for speed.

He waved a hand in the air, his fingers twisting like talons. “Aamir,” he said, “he’s…well, he gets stressed out about graduation. You may have not noticed, but I’ve noticed that, gradually, he’s been throwing himself into his studies more and more of late. It’s gotten to the point where he’s getting…really strange notions.”

Alex blinked. “Isn’t that just Aamir?” he asked. “He always seems intense.”

“To an extent,” Jari admitted. “But this—well, I’ll just let you see.”

Jari led Alex through a door out onto the grounds, through the same exit that led to the older gardens and the cellar. Before Alex could even cover his head against the rain, a shimmering barrier of light burst into life around them, and without so much as breaking stride, Jari made his way across the muddy lawn.

Alex’s boots squelched as they walked, and he looked up in wonder at where the rain was ricocheting away from them. He was about to say something appreciative when a drop of rain punched through, spattering on his cheek. He looked over at Jari, but the boy didn’t seem to notice that his spell was anything but flawless. His eyes were downcast, his hands balled into fists.

They reached the cellar, and Jari motioned for Alex to stand back as he leaned down. As he shoved the layer of ivy back from the door, his magic winked out, and Alex found himself abruptly drenched in rain. Jari threw open the hatch, seeming not to notice, and Alex was about to step forward when a roar of energy split the air. He staggered back a step, feet slipping in the mud, and Jari pointed two fingers down into the cellar. A burst of light flashed from his fingertips, and for a moment a bright, clear glow emitted from the hole.

“Okay,” Jari said. “Go on in.”

Alex looked at him, dubious. “Aren’t you coming?”

Jari sniffed. “It’s your turn. He’s not being sensible.” Alex supposed he would just have to see for himself whatever was going on with Aamir.

Chapter 21

He found the ladder warm and dry, in spite of the rain. As he descended, the cold was replaced by a searing heat, causing sweat to prickle out over his back and arms. The air in front of him rippled, and he was starting to feel a little lightheaded by the time he dropped down into the cellar.

Aamir stood on the other side of the room. He had stripped off his shirt, and his lean frame glistened with sweat. He turned toward Alex, showers of sparks rolling off his body to cascade over the ground, then paused and blinked when he saw Alex standing there. With a flick of his wrists, he shot through the air, landing in front of Alex with a dull impact that made the ground roll under Alex’s feet. Overhead, Jari shut the door.

“Jari is making you check in on me?” Aamir asked.

He was radiant. Wisps of magic flickered around him, gathering in pools on his coffee-colored skin. Staring at him, Alex realized that this was what magic could be. Maybe should be. Not the strange, monotonous routines of the classes, but this raw, burning power.

“Yeah,” he said. “So what’s going on?”

Aamir let out a snort and did not answer. The energy around him faded, and he reached out a hand, his shirt flinging itself from a dark corner of the room and landing on his outstretched palm.

“Jari worries too much,” Aamir said. “I’m just practicing.”

“I can see that,” Alex said, sweat still running down the back of his neck from the heat. “I think he’s worried that you’re overdoing it.”

Aamir’s eyes went flinty. With a complex twist of his fingers, he drew a chair of earth up from the ground, and then a second behind Alex. He motioned for Alex to sit as he slumped down.

“I am graduating in a few months,” Aamir said, his voice hollow. “Just a few months, and then…well, who knows? We spoke of it before; what do you think happens?”

Alex licked his lips. He looked around at the dusty, abandoned cellar, sighing and leaning back in his earthen chair.

“To be fair, we don’t know—”

“Alex.”

Alex looked up, his face grim.

“You disappear like the rest,” he said finally.

Aamir nodded. “At least you admit it,” he grumbled. “Jari, he seems to want to carry on like nothing is wrong. Like I will be able to invite him over for coffee at my New Delhi apartment and we can chat about his studies. But that is not how this works.” Aamir stared at Alex, and his stern mask broke to reveal the pleading face of a boy not much Alex’s senior.

“I am afraid,” Aamir said, his voice cracking. “I do not know what happens, but I do know it will be bad.”

Before Alex could say something reassuring, Aamir was talking again. “I have a plan.”

Alex sat forward, interested. “Tell me.”

Aamir drew in a deep breath, as if trying to decide whether or not to let it out. Then he spoke. “I’m going to challenge one of the teachers for their position.”

The room grew very still. Overhead, Alex could hear the storm still pattering away against the hatch.

“Challenge...?” he repeated.

“A teacher, yes,” Aamir said. “Jari thinks I have lost my mind, but there is precedent. The only permanent staff here are the Head and Finder. All others come and go. The woman who tended the