The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)(62)

Natalie and Jari had been paired together, much to Alex’s relief, meaning one of them could help Alex out when it was his turn to throw magic or defend himself against Ellabell, since he couldn’t put up his real defenses.

The first time the golden streams of light had poured from his palms and snaked through the air toward Ellabell, she had looked at him through her glistening amber shield with suspicion. When he had put up a latticed defense, much like the one Ellabell had used the night of their adventure in the Head’s quarters, she had paused for a moment, forgetting to send out any magic at all. Seeing him using the golden flow of magic seemed to confuse her somehow, and Alex could feel a spike of concern. It was as if an unspoken question lay on the tip of Ellabell’s tongue too, but she dared not say it out loud. Each session, Alex thought she was about to ask that question as she turned to him with her brow furrowed, but she never did, leaving Alex to worry that she had seen more than he thought she had, that night in front of the golden line.

“How are you feeling?” asked Alex one day, watching Ellabell sip from a fresh mug of tea that smelled faintly of lavender.

She turned to him, looking directly in his eyes. “I’m getting there.”

“I promised myself I wouldn’t ask you anything until you were ready, but I can’t help worrying,” he admitted, feeling a twinge of anxiety as he finally spoke the words aloud. He gestured toward the side of her head, and she quickly raised her hand to the bruise, moving her hair to cover it.

“I’ll speak with you if you’ll promise me one thing,” she whispered, her hand still pressed against the side of her head.

“Anything,” answered Alex, grateful for the opportunity.

She sighed heavily, the sound rattling in the back of her throat. “If I agree to talk, you have to promise you’ll leave me alone once I have,” she stated, coughing a little into a fresh white handkerchief pulled swiftly from her pocket.

Alex was taken aback by the request, but her eyes were staring at him earnestly, awaiting his response. He supposed it was the least he could do.

“I’ll leave you alone, if you’ll tell me about what happened,” he agreed reluctantly.

“Not here,” she whispered. “Meet me in the library, on the middle row of the second column, after the lesson, and I’ll speak with you then.” She stepped back, putting up a glittering shield around her body, and gestured for Alex to send magic toward her.

She ran away as soon as the lesson was finished, and Alex followed, heading toward the library as he had been instructed. He climbed the ladder up to the middle section of the second tower and walked along to the very end, until he found her sitting up against the stacks in her favorite place. He sat down beside her, keeping a comfortable distance between them. She seemed calmer than the last time Alex had found her up in the stacks, but knew she could still be a flight risk.

“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing at her.

“I’m much better,” she replied, but her voice faltered slightly. It still had that thick, distorted quality that seemed to cause her pain.

“That’s good to hear,” he said softly, though he had a sneaking suspicion she was lying to him. “So, what happened back there?” he ventured, wondering if he’d get a straight answer.

“At the Head’s library?” she asked.

Alex nodded. “What made you scream like that? And who did that to you?” he pressed, gesturing toward the side of her head that hid the vivid purple bruise.

“It’s silly,” she whispered.

“I won’t think it is, I promise,” he said reassuringly.

Ellabell’s gaze rested on the two points of her raised knees. “It was dark in there, and I stumbled into a bookshelf when I was reaching for something. There was a mirror hanging on the wall, and I caught sight of myself in it and thought—” She chewed her lip. “Well, I thought it was a ghost or a teacher, and I just spooked myself and ended up smacking my head against one of the shelves. That’s why I screamed—I thought I’d seen a ghost. At least, I think that’s what happened.”

Alex listened intently, but the story didn’t add up. Nobody was that afraid of their own shadow that they would spend days in a twitchy, agitated shock. He had seen the panic in her eyes. It was not because of some self-inflicted accident. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. And yet, as he watched the worried expression on her face deepen, he sensed it would be difficult to get another story out of her. It was the truth she had chosen to go with, and Alex had to try to respect that, though curiosity and guilt still raced through his mind. He knew somebody had hurt Ellabell, and though he had his suspicions of figures who kept to the shadows, he couldn’t be certain who it had been.

“Did somebody attack you, Ellabell?” he asked softly, trying again.

Her eyes went wide in panic.

“Is that what really happened?” he pressed. He didn’t want to scare her away, but he wanted to know who or what had done this to her.

“I don’t know… I didn’t see,” she murmured, her gaze darting around anxiously.

“I’ll find whoever did this to you and make them—”

She shook her head rapidly, her face etched with terror as she grabbed Alex’s hand. “No, you can’t… Anyway, it was an accident, like I said—just an accident. I need you to forget about it.”