The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(16)

“Right, well, I’m off to bed,” announced Ellabell, with a forced brightness in her voice, as she got to her feet. “Goodnight, boys.”

“Goodnight,” they chorused. Alex watched her retreat back into the shadow of the cottage. For a brief second, she paused in the doorway, as if about to turn back around, but the moment passed and she disappeared into the darkness without another word. Whatever it was Ellabell might have wanted to say, she must have thought better of it.

“You blew it, man,” murmured Jari, patting Alex on the back.

I know, Alex thought. I know.





Chapter 7





The next day, the sun rose to reveal another warm, beautiful morning. For once, Alex had actually slept, despite thoughts of Ellabell racing through his mind as he had lain down to sleep. He and Jari had stayed up a while longer, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the evening as they finished off their supper, until exhaustion had finally claimed Alex.

Rested and refreshed, he awoke to find that Aamir had deteriorated in the night. The slick sheen of sweat had returned to his forehead, his face screwed up in a permanent expression of agony. His body twisted and turned in all manner of unnatural positions beneath the exertions of the curse within him. Jari hadn’t left his side, trickling water into his mouth every couple of minutes so he wouldn’t be thirsty.

Seeing the decline of his friend, who had seemed much better the previous day, Alex decided he was going to try and find an infirmary or a pharmacy or something of that ilk within the villa itself, if he could find a way into the building in broad daylight. He was about to leave the cottage when Ellabell called him back.

“You need to eat something,” she insisted, handing him more bread and a handful of dried apricots.

He took them gladly, eating quickly. “Thanks,” he murmured, hoping she had forgotten the awkwardness of the night before.

“I’d like to come with you, if you don’t mind,” said Natalie, picking up some apricots of her own.

“Me too,” Ellabell added.

Alex shook his head. “I have to do this alone. Too many people will arouse suspicion,” he explained. Not for the first time, Ellabell seemed disappointed by his response. Natalie too.

“Nobody will notice us,” insisted Natalie.

“We’re pretty useful—you should know that by now,” Ellabell chipped in.

Alex nodded. “You are both two of the strongest mages I know, but I have to do this alone. There are guards along the walls, and one person might slip past them in broad daylight, but three is too many. Plus, if there are magical barriers and things inside the villa, some of them may not even affect me, but they’ll affect you. I just want to go and test the waters a bit.”

The two girls frowned at him, making their displeasure known, but he was certain things would be simpler if only he went. If there were barriers and magic obstacles within Stillwater House, as there were in Spellshadow Manor, he knew he stood a greater chance of avoiding them, simply because of what he was. Magical security, as far as Alex was concerned, was set up in magical schools to keep mages in line, but not Spellbreakers. After a frosty few minutes, the girls’ resolve thawed and they relented.

With a full stomach and a focused mind, Alex moved stealthily along the shoreline toward the white side-wall of the villa, keeping once more to the shady tree-line. Nobody seemed to see him as he clambered easily up onto the top of the broad battlements and scurried along it, skirting beneath the lookouts so as not to be discovered. He pulled himself up onto a higher wall that looked across one of the piazzas, tiled intricately in terracotta and cream-colored squares. Staying low to the wall, he moved toward the very edge and watched the goings on beneath him. The piazza itself was busy with people going about their business—too many people for him to dare drop down into.

However, as he scanned the archways that led to other sections of the villa, he saw a sign that gave him some hope. On a large square of stone embedded into the brickwork beside the arches, Alex saw, against all odds, a symbol he recognized. He had seen it so often, on all the trips he had taken to the hospital with his mother, that it was instantly familiar. The caduceus, with its two snakes twisting around a rod, and a pair of wings at the top—the symbol for medical assistance. He just hoped it meant the same thing here as it did back in the non-magical world.

Despite his discovery, it looked as if it was going to be tricky to get into during the day. Not once had the piazza been empty enough to venture across. Once again, his endeavors would have to wait for the cover of darkness, but the sight of that symbol had brought him untold optimism. If it did mean the same thing it meant back home, then maybe they would have something to help Aamir.

Spurred on by his finding, Alex returned the way he had come. As he reached the far wall, curiosity got the better of him. He wondered if he could get through to the piazza, and thus the infirmary, from a different entrance. Mulling over the possibilities, he changed course and crept furtively across to the courtyard they had peered down into the previous night, hoping it would be empty. Lying flat on his stomach, he crawled toward a parapet built in the wall and peered around it, looking down.

To his horror, it was as far from empty as it could possibly be.

The courtyard was full of students, more than the whole of the Spellshadow student body put together, doing drills of some kind. To one side of the yard, big circular targets made of compacted hay, much like the ones used for archery practice back in the ordinary world, were set up against the wall for the students to practice their aim against. He watched in awe as time after time, thin darts of glittering gold shot through the very center of the board, never even a millimeter off the mark. Other students were grouped in threes, practicing shielding on one another. One would take aim and fire at another student, while the third put up a shield to protect their partner. Every time they successfully created a thrumming shield that rebounded the fired magic, they swapped places.