The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)(58)

She answered it quickly, and Alex realized she must have stayed up all night, anxiously awaiting their return. Natalie gasped when she saw Ellabell and helped Alex carry her to her bed.

“She needs professional help,” said Natalie, pressing her hand to the back of Ellabell’s forehead to check her temperature.

“No,” whimpered Ellabell. “I’m fine,” she insisted, curling up into the fetal position as Natalie pulled the covers over her.

A look passed between Alex and Natalie. He hadn’t heard Ellabell speak properly until that moment, and the strangeness in the curly-haired girl’s voice was deeply concerning; it was thick and distorted, as if her mouth were filled with liquid.

“You should see someone. One of the professors should be on duty,” pressed Alex, but Ellabell looked up at him in horror.

“No. I don’t want to see anyone. I’m fine,” she repeated, her odd voice catching in her throat as she began to cough violently. Natalie handed her a handkerchief from the top drawer of her bedside table, and Alex was certain he saw blood as Ellabell spluttered into it, the deep red staining the pale pink of the fabric as she held it to her mouth, though she tried to hide it with her hands as she smothered the handkerchief with her fists.

“You should go. I will make sure she is okay,” whispered Natalie as Alex tried to get another look at the handkerchief. He was growing more worried about Ellabell with each fact he didn’t know.

“Are you sure?” he asked, frowning.

Natalie nodded. “I will make sure she is okay. I promise.”

“I hope you feel better soon,” Alex murmured, not knowing what to say to Ellabell as he moved toward the door of the dorm. She didn’t respond, turning beneath the covers to face the wall.

“You can tell me everything tomorrow,” Natalie said as she led Alex to the door and ushered him out into the corridor.

Alex nodded, passing her a wave of goodbye as she closed the door on him.

Back at his own dormitory, Alex changed quickly out of his dusty, dirty clothes and into his clean, crisp pajamas, lying wearily back on his mattress as he stared up at the ceiling, his limbs aching a little from the run. Across the room, Jari was a mirror image, staring up into space with his arms folded across his chest.

“What did you find?” asked Alex, propping himself up on his elbows as he looked over toward his friend.

“The Head is gone,” replied Jari with a low sigh, “but I couldn’t get my hands on what I was after.” There was regret in Jari’s voice, and a subtle hint of anger rippling just below the surface.

“The Head is gone?” Alex was curious that Jari didn’t seem more pleased by the revelation. “How can you be sure?”

“He’s definitely gone. It’s a long story, but let’s just say a little bird told me,” he explained with a vagueness that frustrated Alex. “What happened to Ellabell, by the way?”

“No idea. She won’t say, but it was definitely something bad,” said Alex, wishing he knew what had happened so he could help her. He couldn’t get the image of her wide, terrified blue eyes out of his head.

“Looked it,” mused Jari. “Poor girl.”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, I hope she’s okay.” He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt responsible for what had happened to Ellabell. It was his suggestion that had led her down that rabbit hole and caused her whatever trauma she had experienced. If he had just gone with Jari, like Jari had wanted, it would never have happened. Guilt gnawed at his stomach as he thought of the terrified girl, huddled beneath the covers, scared of the shadows.

“Did you get anything?” asked Jari, breaking Alex’s train of thought.

Alex shook his head. “Not really.”

He wasn’t ready to tell anyone what he had seen and felt in the antechamber—not until he was able to process it in his own mind. The rows on rows of glowing black bottles, glimmering red within. The labels, the dates, the slick floor of the chamber beneath those menacing manacles. It haunted him, flooding his mind as he lay back to go to sleep.

What was that place? Alex wasn’t sure he wanted to know.





Chapter 22





Alex awoke with a churn of nausea in the pit of his stomach. He had slept fitfully through the few hours left between their hasty return to the dormitory and the customary wake-up call, and he knew he was going to struggle to keep anything down that morning.

Blood rushed in his ears, and his hands took on a clammy, sweaty texture that would not be wiped away no matter how hard he tried. He felt as if he could see his heart pounding through his chest as paranoia coursed through his waking body like a virus, his mind recalling the previous night’s events with a sickening dread. He had tried to tamp down any fear or anxiety while the events were happening, but they had caught up with him and were all the more potent for having been kept at bay. He envied Jari, who was still snoring away across the room, once again spread-eagled on top of the covers with his limbs sticking out over the edges of the bed. While Alex had tossed and turned for most of the night, he had heard the snores of Jari’s slumber within moments of his blond-haired head hitting the pillow.

In the cold light of day, the memory of the night’s close shave with danger seemed all the more worrying. Alex’s heart raced as he thought of the dark-cloaked figure with the chilling mask, wondering how much the stranger had seen of Alex and what he could do. Obviously, he knew Alex could create a blockade of ice and snow, but Alex wasn’t sure if the figure had seen his face. If the dark-clad figure had recognized them, Alex knew they were in for a world of trouble. But, if what Jari had said was true and the Head was definitely gone from the premises, then he wasn’t sure who could be hiding behind the mask.