The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (best biographies to read TXT) 📗

paused. With the essence already in his possession, it didn’t seem right to waste time heading back to Falleaf House, but there was something that needed to be done before he could make his way to Kingstone, to pass on the message to Stillwater.

“Hadrian?”

The white-haired man turned. “Is everything all right?”

Alex shifted the bag on his shoulder. “I need to ask that other favor of you.”

Hadrian grimaced. “You want me to invite Venus to c-come here?”

“You could summon her on the pretense of discussing how you might go about enrolling more students to collect more essence, or something like that,” Alex said. “I’m sure she’ll come down and speak with you if you make it sound like she’ll benefit.”

Hadrian flashed him a dubious look. “Venus and I have always been on g-good terms, but even so, I am not sure how quickly she will respond to my summons. They work on their own t-time, at court, and she will come only when she feels like it. If it seems like something that might b-bore her, she’ll stay away longer. If it’s something that might give her a much-needed break from J-Julius, she might arrive sooner.” He winced as he stumbled over his uncle’s name, and Alex couldn’t help feeling sorry for the white-haired man.

Alex couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to be around the king for longer than was absolutely necessary, but he supposed there was more to Julius and Venus’s relationship than met the eye. Perhaps she did love him, though Alex struggled to believe anyone could care for such a vile specimen as Julius.

She’d have to be just as bad, he mused.

“Days or weeks—it doesn’t matter, as long as she comes eventually,” Alex said. “Once she’s here, and we’ve retrieved the blood from her, we can send a message through to the others, to let them know that we’re good to go.”

Hadrian glanced at Alex in surprise. “Blood?”

Alex nodded. “We need it for the spell, Hadrian,” he urged.

“If I send the call as soon as I return to the p-pagoda, you should still have plenty of time to visit Kingstone,” Hadrian promised, punctuated by an anxious gulp.

“I’ll come with you,” Ellabell insisted, resting her hand on Alex’s arm. Alex could see there was no point in objecting; there was a defiance on her face that he knew not to argue with, not anymore. He had learned his lesson.

Aamir chimed in. “I’ll stay here, to keep an eye on things—speaking of which, we should arrange a backup plan, just in case. A warning of some sort, to call you back from Kingstone if something happens, or Venus arrives earlier than expected.”

“Have you still got the beetle beacon on you?” Ellabell asked.

Alex nodded, retrieving it. “Do you have yours, Aamir?”

The older boy fished around in his pocket for a moment before removing a second beacon. “I knew I’d kept it!” he said, triumphant.

“If we can sync them, we can make it so that when you press the button in the middle, it will set mine off, calling us back,” Alex explained, but Aamir was already ahead of the curve. The older boy reached for the beacon in Alex’s hands, putting them side by side. A few seconds later, he was twisting his fingers this way and that, weaving golden strands into the two clockwork objects. They both burned brightly for a moment as the magic settled within them.

“They should be twinned now. I’ll try it out,” Aamir said, handing Alex’s back to him.

As soon as the small beacon was in Alex’s hand, Aamir pressed the central button on his. A loud siren pierced the air. Alex smothered the clockwork object with his hands in a futile attempt to get it to stop. Eventually, he resorted to anti-magic, pushing enough of it through to silence the eardrum-shattering shriek of the beetle. Once it was quiet, Aamir refilled the mechanism. There would be no missing that sound, if it went off.

“Okay, so you’ll definitely summon Venus?” Alex asked, turning his attention back to Hadrian.

The royal nodded, his face pale. “I will d-do it as soon as I return to the pagoda. She can only be called from my study.”

“Could you keep hold of one of the bags of essence?” Alex asked Aamir. “We’ll only need this one, to give to the others. There’s no point carrying both all the way there, just to carry one back again.”

Aamir nodded. “No problem.”

“Right then, looks like we’re good to go,” Ellabell said brightly.

After a brief farewell, Alex and Ellabell set off through the forest. All around them, everything was eerily still, with only the odd rustle to make his pulse quicken. It made the whole place seem ominous, the trees looming in on them. He’d become pretty good at spotting the signs of snares hiding among the foliage, his senses on high alert, listening for the buzz and thrum of nearby perils. Pretty soon he could see a gap on the horizon where the forest ended, giving way to rolling fields.

Alex was eager to return to Kingstone. He hadn’t really allowed his thoughts to dwell too much on the state he’d left Caius and Vincent in, but the thought of them returned to him in a sudden flood of trepidation. He didn’t even know if either of them was alive, and, if they weren’t, he had no idea who might be running the show. Alypia had been restrained by her shackles, but the woman was crafty, and Alex knew she’d get out, if given half a chance.

“We’re nearly there,” he said, flushing as Ellabell reached to take his hand in hers. It was nice, her skin warm and comforting to the touch.

“I’ve barely had a moment alone with you,” she murmured, shyly turning her gaze toward the trees.

He smiled. “I know… We never really had a proper reunion, what with Lintz and Aamir being there. I didn’t think I could kiss you in front of my teacher,” he joked.

“I wouldn’t have minded,” she replied, giving his hand