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

hiding under your shirt is, but if you think nobody has noticed, you’re insane. It’s more that…well, we respect each other’s secrets here.”

She said the last with a smile, brushing a brown curl away from her glasses. He gave a slight nod, then turned sharply away.

How much did she know? She admitted little, but she could have been lying. And if Ellabell had noticed, then others had more than likely noticed too.

He needed to be more careful.

Chapter 35

Alex lowered himself down into the cellar just as Natalie seized a bolt of Aamir’s lightning and redirected it into the ceiling. There was a low whump in the dirt, and the whole room shook for a moment. Natalie cheered, and Aamir, whom they all had learned was something of a sore loser, scowled.

“I did it!” she cried, doing a graceful little twirl, then steadying herself, looking queasy. “I told you I could!”

Aamir continued to glare at her. “That was luck,” he groused, although he didn’t sound entirely assured. He turned, and, seeing Alex coming down the last rungs of the cellar, he waved. “Alex! Finally decided to join us?”

Alex smiled. “Seems like you two are having fun on your own.”

Natalie spread her arms wide with a proud grin. “Aamir is having fun getting beaten.”

Aamir rubbed at his brow. “You still haven’t even managed to destroy the bottle once,” he said.

True to the older student’s word, a new bottle of wine had been set out, and now it stood at the center of the floor surrounded by burns and cuts of dirt. Natalie seemed unperturbed by her failure to achieve their real objective, however.

“No, but now I can grab your lightning out of the air!” she said, miming a grabbing motion toward Aamir, who sidestepped with a roll of his eyes. Natalie paused, then doubled over coughing.

Aamir turned to Alex.

“The girl should not continue,” he said. “She is not well, and I would not feel good pressing her any further.”

Natalie made a noise of protest, a fiery aura bursting into life around her shoulders, but Alex nodded.

“Did she tell you about her condition?”

Aamir inclined his head. “About the curse? Yes. Horrible business.” He looked over at where Natalie was now standing with her arms folded, indignation all over her face. “I was also cursed in my first year,” he went on. “Took about four months to fade away. It is a nasty affair.”

Alex gaped. “You were cursed too?”

Aamir raised an eyebrow at Alex’s surprise, then shrugged as if being cursed for four months wasn’t a big deal. “I am told that I pushed myself too hard. Personally, I suspect that someone did not like me performing at the level that I was. I have kept my progress to myself since then.”

Alex stood in stunned silence. The pieces were starting to fall into place. He walked over to the bottle, lifting it and carrying it back over to the rack. Slotting it in, he ended the challenge between Aamir and Natalie.

“I’m ready when you are,” he said, hoping this was true.

His efforts the previous day had been lackluster at best. He had learned how to reach into Aamir’s magic and divert it, but the art was inaccurate, and the fact of the matter was that reaching into a fire still hurt, even if it only hurt his hands.

Natalie stalked over to a corner and sat down against one wall as Aamir took his position opposite Alex. As was usual, he took his time building up his power, his fingertips flickering with budding flames. He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep, calming breath.

Alex felt a surge of annoyance. He knew the other boy was taking his time to be kind, to give Alex a moment to prepare himself. Part of him appreciated it, but another part, the part that he was ashamed to admit had been frustrated by magical failure after endless magical failure for months now, hated being condescended to. Aamir assumed he would win and Alex would lose, and what was worse, he was probably right.

Alex planted his feet in a wide stance, staring at Aamir, his jaw set.

Then Aamir’s palm came whipping out, and with it came the fire. In his irritation, however, Alex was too focused on Aamir to watch the flames spearing toward him. Moving on instinct, he dodged to one side, using Aamir’s outstretched hand as a reference for where the flames would go. He saw the boy’s hand flatten, then make a small movement to one side.

On an impulse, Alex stepped forward, and felt a light chill as the flames coursed behind him. Drawing an excited breath, he continued to watch Aamir’s hand, trying to read it. He ducked the next waft of fire, sidestepped another, and then bounded forward toward the older boy.

Aamir blinked in surprise, and with finality he brought his other hand around, a second bloom of fire flowing into existence. Alex hesitated, his eyes darting between Aamir’s hands, trying to follow both movements at once.

Cold smashed into him from both sides as his head tried to dive forward and his body tried to pull back. He spun, falling to his knees amid a shower of icy dust. He coughed, spitting up snow as he cursed.

“That was…better,” Aamir said, his voice soft with surprise. “What did you do?”

Alex struggled to his feet, shaking himself free of his sudden, chill-induced tiredness.

“Just trying something new,” he said. It wouldn’t do to give away his meager strategy, would it? Dodging attacks wasn’t the most impressive thing, but it would be useful in an actual battle.

For the next half hour, Alex practiced watching Aamir’s hands, and before long he could identify several different spells and command signs. Thankfully, he already knew a number of them from when he had been helping Natalie with her pyromancy, but now he learned others. The swift, jabbing fingers of lightning. The firm swipes of water, and the rooted, swaying motions of anima. For the first time, he