The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(38)

Alex ducked away and ran to the end of the corridor, slipping behind the wall just in time to hear the clunk of a heavy key unlocking the door. He didn’t wait to watch them leave as he took off through the labyrinth of hallways, hoping he was going the right way.

As he reached the courtyard, he paused to catch his breath, praying he hadn’t been seen by anyone on the journey back. It gave him time to wonder whether Alypia had been bluffing, or whether she genuinely wasn’t aware of their presence inside Stillwater. She had seemed pretty sure they weren’t there, but Alex didn’t know how much could be trusted from her hypnotically beautiful face. Still, he hoped she had been telling the truth. The thought that Alypia didn’t know bolstered his trust in Helena. Nobody had come after them yet, after all.

As he opened the tower door and headed up to the first floor, he was met by the soft sounds of sleeping people. Not wanting to wake them with his news, he made a promise to tell them what he had discovered as soon as he awoke the next day. As he climbed up to the bell tower, however, he saw a figure waiting on the steps.

“Where the hell have you been?” hissed the speaker.

Alex squinted into the dark. “Ellabell? Why aren’t you asleep?”

She frowned. “I could say the same of you.”

“Fair point.”

She waited. “So—?”

“The Head was here—”

“What?!” she gasped, panic flashing in her sparkling blue eyes. “We have to get out of here!”

“Calm down,” Alex shushed, slowly sitting down beside her on the stairs. “You’ll wake the others.”

“They need waking if the Head is here!” she hissed.

Boldly, Alex took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. “There’s nothing to worry about,” he promised.

“What do you mean?” she breathed, her voice tight with anxiety.

“He was only here to talk—neither of them know anything,” he assured. “I saw him talking in the courtyard with Princess Alypia, and I followed them. I listened for a while, and learned that the Headmistress doesn’t know we’re here yet. Helena, I think, has done as she promised. We’re not in any immediate danger. If we were, do you think I wouldn’t be down there like a shot, waking everyone up and getting them out of here?”

She frowned. “I suppose not.”

“I wouldn’t put you,” he paused, his voice thick, “or anyone else in danger.”

“Shouldn’t you wake them up anyway—tell them what you’ve just told me?” she asked quietly, turning her face from his.

He shook his head. “It can wait until morning.”

“I should get some sleep,” she said, standing.

He nodded. “Me too.”

“Sleep well, Alex,” she sighed, dropping his hand as she walked toward the staircase leading down.

“Sweet dreams, Ellabell.”





Chapter 15





His own dreams, however, were not sweet.

It was still dark when he awoke to the sound of something moving across the other side of the room—a soft, whispering sound like fabric brushing against the stones beneath. Fear shot through his nerves as he peered into the darkness, trying to see what was making the eerie noise. It was such a quiet sound, like curtains flapping, but there were no curtains on the windows. With a thundering pulse, he let his eyes grow accustomed to the light.

Appearing in the dim glow of the room was a twisting mist of shadow, outlined hazily by the sliver of moonlight glancing in.

For a moment, a strange sense of hope gripped Alex’s heart.

“Elias?” he whispered. Though a minute or two passed, Elias did not appear. “Elias, is that you?” he tried again. Still, Elias did not show.

Alex frowned as the peculiar, smoke-like mist coiled and curled, flitting to and from the window and the staircase in a repetitive pattern. It paused longer on the top of the stairs, unfurling the edges of its inky mist toward the steps themselves, as if beckoning for Alex to follow.

“Elias?”

If it was the shadow-man, he was being particularly elusive in his game-playing. After coming through the portal, Alex wasn’t even sure it could be Elias—could shadow-people move between portals like mortal beings? Remembering the dull red glow within the bottle the Head had held captive from Elias, Alex wondered if that might have given his shadow-guide freer rein of movement. With it no longer in the Head’s possession, perhaps Elias could move away from the confines of Spellshadow Manor, if that had been what held him to the grounds. Or maybe that was the strange creature’s fate, to live out his bizarre half-life in the shadows of that place. Alex wasn’t sure, but this misty being definitely didn’t look like Elias.

The flowing, dark gray vapor seemed more insistent, moving more quickly between the window and the staircase.

Brimming with curiosity, Alex got to his feet, wondering wryly if he would ever get a good night’s sleep in this magical place. The twisting ball of energy seemed to perk up at Alex’s sudden movement, and it shifted a short way down the stairs. Alex followed, keeping up with it as it swooped and swayed all the way down to the ground floor, past his sleeping friends, and out into the courtyard. He glanced at Ellabell as he passed her, hoping she wouldn’t wake again and reprimand his recklessness. This one would be harder to explain than his excursion in pursuit of the Head and Headmistress.