The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)(31)

“I don’t get it,” he said.

“Spells which require a huge amount of energy,” repeated Natalie, her gaze expectant, as if waiting for the cogs to click into place inside Alex’s head.

He smiled apologetically. “I have nothing.”

“Alex, the magic of the manor!” she squealed, rolling her eyes at his slowness. “The manor requires a huge amount of energy to function, no? It is always shifting places, from one land to another to another. Do you not think that must use up a lot of magic?”

“I suppose so…”

“Of course it does! A huge amount, Alex. One of the other books explains that to move a big object, such as an elephant or a truck or a building, you need a vast magic source. It is not easy and uses much magic. So imagine the magic needed to move this place,” she whispered, gesturing around the library. “It must take an exorbitant amount, even to just do it once! And this place moves every day. Can you imagine?”

“I have no idea,” he said, trying to take in the enormity of what she was saying.

“It takes a lot of magic just to move a pebble or a beetle or something small. Imagine how much magical energy is needed to move the manor, the grounds and every person within it, every single day!” Natalie explained, her voice quietening to a hushed whisper. “That would require a whole other level of magic, Alex. One which I am not certain any one wizard can possess.”

Natalie’s words began to make some sense to him. The shifting inner hallways of the building, with their windows showing foreign skies and wild landscapes, one moment in Southeast Asia, the next, who knew where. The changing view beyond the manor’s boundaries that he often looked out on from the library window, the building and its compound uprooted from one place to another, never settling. Alex didn’t understand how it all worked, and hadn’t thought about the energy needed to accomplish such a feat. Since he hadn’t even known magic existed until about a year ago, he supposed he had thought it par for the course—that all magical buildings and magical people could be moved and replaced at will. If any wizard was capable of such a feat, the Head was surely a contender; he had already shown Alex what appeared to be the whole world within his palms.

“So not even the Head can move the manor? Really?” he asked Natalie.

“Not even the Head, I do not think. Not without a lot of other wizards to help or extra magic to boost his strength,” she replied, shaking her head.

Alex frowned. “Then how is it possible?”

“There is no mention of any magic so large as this,” explained Natalie. “I have my thoughts on how it can be done, but I think I need more time to study it. When I have more to tell, you will be the first to know, but I have a feeling it is to do with the other side of the magical spectrum,” she whispered, her eyes gleaming as they leveled with Alex’s, her excitement rippling from her like static electricity. Alex could feel it.

“Life magic?” he asked, his voice growing stern.

“Perhaps,” was all she would say, much to Alex’s chagrin. He watched her wander back to her seat.

So much of what he had learned disturbed him. Natalie’s apparent fixation with spells requiring life magic and the thought that the manor moving might have something to do with that kind of magic—it chilled him to the core.

Reading the passage beneath Natalie’s finger more closely, it did indeed seem physically bizarre that the manor should be able to move at all, and yet it did; there was no denying that it did. Windows looking out on Australia and Europe and deep South American jungle were a dead giveaway. Somehow, it was managing to do the impossible.

“What’s this?” he murmured to himself, picking up a large, intriguing-looking tome from the pile. The dyed pink leather caught his eye, the cover vivid against the plain wood of the table and the dull-toned books beneath. On the front, in purple lettering, was the title The Trouble with Travel, by Benjamin Cornwell.

He opened the book on his lap, the ancient cover creaking at the spine. A few pages in, Alex came to the contents page, not expecting the pleasant surprise that awaited him there. Laid out neatly, in uniform print, were names and descriptions of magical travel techniques and how to use them. Alex was stunned, wondering how on earth this one had slipped through the Head’s net of library censorship.

“Look at this,” he whispered excitedly to Natalie, beckoning her back over.

“What is it?” she asked, peering down.

“A how-to guide to magical travel.” He almost laughed. The book was so perfect, each mode of travel resting neatly on the yellowing paper beside a helpful page number, begging to be read.

“Can this be?” She grinned, and Alex nodded as he flipped to the first of the numbered sections.

It was entitled “Simple Teleportation for Beginners.” A sense of triumph ran through Alex’s veins, a smile spreading across his face as he read the brief introduction. The magic seemed easy enough; what he was reading certainly wasn’t beyond Natalie’s powerful skillset.

“What do you think?” he asked her, lifting the book so she could get a better look.

“It doesn’t look too complex, I don’t think,” she agreed, confirming Alex’s suspicions. “I can certainly give it a go.” Her face broke into a childish grin of excitement.

The clock on the wall of the library chimed a quarter to nine, distracting Alex; curfew was almost upon them. Alex felt a flicker of annoyance. He still wasn’t used to the new restrictions, and each reminder of them grated on his nerves.