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

appear. Professor Derhin let out a forlorn sigh.

“She’s sick,” another girl said.

“Sick?” Derhin said. “What with?”

The girl—Alex remembered her as Ellabell, Natalie’s roommate—shrugged.

Derhin smirked, an oddly triumphant expression. “One less for me to teach, then,” he said. “We’ll continue as normal—she can join us when she decides she’s ready.”

Alex’s gut did a somersault. Without Natalie, he was as magical as the chair he sat on. While he had never been an impressive student, he had thus far managed to avoid being the abject failure he had begun as. And what did that mean? One less for me to teach. Derhin seemed like he might be pleased that one of his best students had fallen ill. He drummed his fingers on the desk in front of him, frowning.

“Webber, you look unsettled.”

Alex looked up, and was surprised to see Professor Derhin just feet away from him. He gave Alex a knowing smile.

“Worried about the lady?” he said.

There was a titter of laughter, but Alex seized the excuse.

“Yes, sir,” he said, which got a muttered wave of whispers. “Could I go check on her?”

Derhin put a hand over his heart, his eyes fluttering coquettishly. “Ah, young love.” The class tittered again and Alex felt the heat rise in his cheeks. “Well, don’t let me stop you. Off you go, then.”

Alex rose, then hesitated.

“Will I be able to get into the girls’ dormitory?” he asked, remembering Jari’s warning from his first day here.

Derhin looked over at Ellabell, who shrank into her chair. If she was trying to hide, it didn’t work.

“Magri, let Webber into the girls’ dorms. And if you feel the need, stay to chaperone the lovebirds,” he leered.

If Ellabell was upset, she hid it well. She smiled primly. “Yes, sir.”

Wondering if that hadn’t been a little too easy, Alex set off toward the girls’ dorms with Ellabell.

She was a small thing, with a crop of brown curls sitting over a pair of wire-framed spectacles. She walked with a brisk efficiency, her footfalls clacking on the floor.

“Thanks for letting me in,” Alex said, hoping she didn’t really feel the need to stay and supervise.

Ellabell shot him a look. “Just don’t tell Petra where I sleep these days,” she muttered. “His last salvo of affections is only just wearing off.”

Alex chuckled. Aamir had told him during breakfast one morning about Jari’s attempt to woo Ellabell. The girl had been harassed half to death by magic bouquets that exploded into petals over her head in class, violins bursting into song in the dining hall, and even love letters written on the face of the moon. To hear Aamir tell it, she had been driven to some rather extreme measures to get rid of Jari, trying to find information about how to perform anti-magic and eventually mastering invisibility magic.

“I’d never do that to someone,” he assured her.

She gave him a crooked smile.

They traveled down a series of twists and turns, then past doors with little brass numbers that indicated they had entered the girls’ dormitory. As they walked, Ellabell’s brow furrowed. She seemed to grapple with something, looking more and more uncertain until she finally spoke.

“How is she doing? I mean, how is she really doing?” she asked hesitantly.

Alex blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just,” Ellabell said, lines deepening beneath her eyes, “I can tell something’s wrong, but she insists she’s just fine. I chalked it up to a rough adjustment at first, but now…I worry about her. That’s all.”

They passed a line of old paintings of teachers with stern expressions.

“I worry about her too,” Alex said, hoping his secretiveness hadn’t rubbed off on her too much. “I don’t think she’s fine. But are any of us really fine here?”

Ellabell bit her lip. “I guess not,” she said, frowning.

A moment later, they stopped at a door with a brass number twenty-eight affixed to it, and she looked at Alex before knocking.

“Natalie,” she called, “you’ve got a guest. Are you presentable?”

She opened the door a crack, and a muffled groan rolled out into the hallway.

“One minute,” Alex could hear Natalie saying croakily from inside.

Ellabell nodded, then turned to set her back firmly against the door, barring Alex’s way.

“You know,” she said conversationally, “I’m not sure boys are technically allowed into our rooms.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Well, I promise to behave myself.”

Ellabell gave him a mocking look. “If you say so.”

“All right, I am ready,” came Natalie’s voice again. It was nasal, cracked, and hoarse. Alex winced just hearing it.

“I’m going back to class, then,” Ellabell said. “Don’t get up to any mischief, and don’t touch my things.”

She turned, and with a whirl of her brunette curls, she melted away into the air. Alex stared at the place where she had been standing a moment before. Then he shook his head and tugged open the door to Natalie’s room.

It bore a striking similarity to his own quarters, only these hadn’t been bedecked with Jari’s unbridled enthusiasm. There were a few modest garlands of paper snowflakes hung upon the walls, and a shimmering strand of lights hung along the back wall over the desks. As if in deliberate contrast to the simple furnishings, an acrid scent hung in the air.

Natalie had drawn her sheets up over her nose, her hands clutching the top of the blanket, so that only her eyes peeked out at him as he entered. Even by that slight glimpse, Alex could tell that Natalie’s face was flushed with fever, and her hands were shaking and pale.

“Natalie, you look awful,” he said, dragging a desk chair over beside her bed and sitting down.

“I know,” Natalie croaked dismally.

She lowered the blanket down to her shoulders, and now Alex saw chapped, cracked lips. Natalie sighed.

“I couldn’t go to class,” she said. “Ella wouldn’t let me.”

“I can see why. You’re really sick.” He looked worriedly at her, recalling what Jari had told him about magical people having a hard time getting sick.

Natalie struggled to sit up, her expression indignant. “I’m fine,” she said, grimacing and putting a hand to