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

It was strong. Much stronger than either Aamir or Natalie had felt, and…cold. It had a calculating, sinister strength to it. If he could change his essence to a blade, he might be able to cut Natalie free, but…

“Alex,” she said, “whatever you are doing, I think—”

She cut off, gagging and convulsing as a throb of red pierced her magic.

He abruptly withdrew his anti-magic, recalling Ellabell’s words.

It would be difficult, even for them.

Natalie was limp on the bed, panting.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking at the swaths of ice now covering her back.

“I am fine,” she groaned irritably. “I just want to lie here for a minute, please.”

“Well,” he said with a shaking voice, “I think we can say for sure that you’re cursed.”

She moaned, pushing her face deeper into his pillow and letting her arms hang over the sides of his bed.

“And I’m afraid I can’t remove it,” Alex said ruefully. “Not without a great deal of practice.”

“Wonderful,” Natalie mumbled dismally into the pillow.

She rolled to a sitting position, then rose from the bed, dusting off her clothes and gathering up her book. Alex watched her in disbelief.

“You can’t be getting back to work?”

“Of course I am,” she said indignantly.

Alex smiled. “If you’re sure, I won’t try to stop you. I’ll stay here and practice. Maybe I can fix it.” He sounded uncertain even to himself.

“Yes, practice. I’m sure you will figure it out,” she said, and strode out the door, leaving him sitting alone on his bed.

“That went poorly,” said a voice.

Alex didn’t even need to look to identify the speaker. A coldness ran against his back as a shadow pulled itself up from the ground, congealing into the shape of a young man sitting next to him on the bed.

“Elias,” he said cordially.

“Alex,” replied the shadow, with a hint of amusement. “How have you been?”

“We got the book.”

“So you did. Although you’re making rather slow progress.” He laughed, shaking his head. “To think you don’t even speak Latin. For shame.”

Alex shot a glare over at the young man, only to find himself shuddering as he stared into jet-black orbs where whites and pupils should have been, and an open mouth that held nothing but darkness.

“What can I do for you this time?” he asked.

Elias looked affronted. “When have I ever asked you for anything?” he said. “I’ve always been the one to help you, have I not?”

“Equal parts helping and taunting,” Alex retorted.

It was true that the shadow had only ever acted to Alex’s benefit, but something about it felt wrong. He felt like he was being strung along in the creature’s presence, and he couldn’t help but feel vulnerable. He didn’t know what he was to the creature, but he was relatively certain he would not qualify as a friend, whatever Elias said.

“Well, then, I suppose I should start helping you,” Elias said. He lowered his voice to a mocking whisper. “Seriously, though, did you only just now figure out that she was cursed? I thought you were letting her suffer on purpose for some reason.”

Alex got to his feet, his eyes dangerous. “You knew?”

Elias held up his hands in mock surrender. “Not only do I know, I know who did it,” he said.

Alex’s voice caught in his throat. He let out a soft noise of frustration, trying to keep his demeanor polite.

“Who?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Elias. “You can’t do anything about him. He’s well beyond you.”

“The Head?”

“No,” Elias said, “but now we’re deviating from the point. I wanted to give you something.”

Alex felt his mouth collapsing into a thin line, but he nodded curtly. He already knew there was no point in trying to persuade Elias. “What is it?”

“Well, the other day, when you broke into the Head’s study, you left some holes in his defenses in your wake,” the shadow said with glee. “So I took the liberty of acquiring something for you. I thought you’d find it interesting.” Ah—was that why Elias had wanted Alex to break in, maybe? So he could steal things too?

Elias plunged a hand into his own chest, seeming to rummage around in the vicinity of his ribcage, then pulled out a battered book bound in fading green paper.

“Just a little present,” he said too casually.

Alex picked the book up, looking over the cover with interest. It had a title embossed in golden letters.

Historica Magica, it read.

“A history book?” Alex said, turning it over in his hands.

“A rather bland one, I’m afraid,” said Elias. “Although I think you’ll find it interesting regardless.”

Alex opened the book, flipping through it uncertainly. It wasn’t until he neared the end of it that he stopped, his mouth slightly open. There were words on every page. No holes. No missing details. He rifled through the pages, moving quickly in his excitement, looking over at Elias.

“Is this—”

“Yes,” said Elias, with more than a hint of amusement. “Although it doesn’t have all the answers you are looking for, it has some of them.”

Alex was silent for a time, the shadow sitting beside him seeming content to simply relax into the absence of words. Eventually, however, Alex found he couldn’t hold his tongue.

“You have all the answers, though, don’t you?”

Alex wasn’t looking, but he could hear the inky smile in Elias’s tone.

“Of course I do.”

“Then why—”

“Why bother helping you at all?” Elias said, his voice lazy. “Why feed you breadcrumbs when I could just stuff the whole loaf in your face?”

He laughed, and the sound chilled Alex’s blood. It was a jackal’s laugh, high and keening, and it cut out with the abruptness of a breaking window.

“A bomb should only be armed once its user is sure it will hit the mark,” he said, his voice creaking with laughter.

Alex drew in a long breath. He knew that outbursts and overt maneuvers would get him nowhere; whatever game Elias was playing, he played it on a level that Alex could hardly fathom, with information Alex didn’t have. Alex couldn’t turn the tables on